Board of Education Meeting Minutes part II

January 13, 2009

Dr. Corda asked for clarification on what information she thinks is incorrect so he can correct it.

Ms. Rivas said she had no idea that there were so many incident reports sitting in a box. She requested documentation at that last meeting on the incidents that occur at the high school. She wants to understand how these cuts will impact children and learning. She requested documentation of how this will impact children so she can make intelligent decisions on these reductions. We are in hard times and they need more information on the impacts. She had never seen the document outlining the incidents handled by the dean of students and thinks it is very serious because they are expected to make a determination as to whether or not to cut that position. Discipline issues are very serious. We need to be sure we are keeping our children safe. She wanted to make good sound judgment decisions and is dissatisfied with the lack of information she received. She also wanted to state that she supports the ELL teacher at Nathan Hale.

Ms. Bishop-Pullan said she is uncomfortable adding a Central Office position. She does not think this sends a good message. She would prefer to see the positions at the high school remain and reduce one custodial position.

Ms. Murray requested that the custodial representatives provide a break down of staffing changes.

Mr. Iannaccone asked Mr. McCain if adding three teachers would allow him to combine students together.

Mr. McCain said he would recommend keeping the 6th grade students together. He does not think mixing grade levels is a good idea.

Ms. Mosby asked to have the team structure explained.

Dr. Moore said she did not request two additional teachers.

Ms. Bishop-Pullan asked Dr. Corda to confirm the additional math teachers at the middle schools.

Dr. Corda confirmed that yes there are additional math teachers at the middle schools.

Ms. Rivas’ first question was that at the last meeting she wanted to address the Cambridge report. What can we do with this budget to somehow address those issues and what are the primary priorities that we should be addressing. Her other question was are we going to vote now on this or are we still in discussions on this. She then asked Dr. Corda why she was not given this information.

Dr. Corda asked her what information she was talking about. She asked what the main priorities were on the Cambridge that needed to be addressed in this budget. She did not receive anything to inform her on this.

Dr. Corda said unfortunately there is not money in the budget that would support any the concentration with respect to improving student performance is really in the work that we are doing within the district improvement plan. It is more of a concentration about looking at student performance data, analyzing that data for the purpose of identifying

what the goals are in each of the schools growth plan and the work that is being done through the unwrapping of standards, assessments, and most critically the outcome of what it is that needs to take place in the classroom either to continue or change. But there are no dollars that are driving that other than the professional development monies. There is no additional staff to the contrary, he thinks that the decisions they have had to make give him great pause for concern about the capacity to continue in the work that we are doing at this level. The elimination of 2 elementary assistant principals is going to have an impact on what it is that they are able to do. He has no doubt in his mind about that. Irrespective of where they will be located, there is going to be an impact. The removal of the Deans of Students at each of the high schools is a step backwards. What that means is the work of the Housemasters is now going to have to shift towards addressing behavior issues that the Deans currently manage. None of this, in terms of the reductions, with very few exceptions will result in our moving forward. The specifics as far as the Cambridge report is concerned essentially will close the achievement gap. The work that they are doing is designed specifically to close the gap. They are trying to examine the current staffing and make a determination about how it is that they can deploy staff more effectively as well as put into place a greater uniformity of practices across the district so that there is a greater level of consistency. But the short answer to the question was, new dollars targeted towards Cambridge or Krecke are not there.

Ms Rivas questioned the impact these cuts would have. She said, although we don’t have the dollars for programming, she would have liked to see a programmed squeezed in so they could at least have what the state required put in place. Her concern is that the issues with the school district be addressed. Those reports specifically state that we have an urgency. So with that urgency she wants to see how this will impact. The impact of not having the programs recommended on a state level. The report that states where your issues are. What can we do to at least offer some kind of program.

Dr. Corda said, Ms Rivas was correct. He is not adding any programs. He said we are looking to see where is it that we have to make reductions. He said, the decision to say they need to consider the reduction of two assistant principals, to him was totally inconsistent to what he believes is essential for them to do. Everything that they heard about the impact of the reduction of elementary assistant principals is absolutely true. He was the guy who recommended the addition of elementary assistant principals because they knew that if they did not begin to focus on working more closely with teachers they would not be able to move forward. They have seen that growth. He said, a direct line cannot be drawn from elementary assistant principals and the performance of the students, just like you can’t draw a direct line to anything. He said he recommended placing the Dean of Students in the high schools. So for him to say lets remove them Deans, wholesale decision without thought, no, absolutely not. He knew the pain this would inflict. He asked if anyone thought they did not think about what the impact of these cuts would be? The number they have to deal with is a 3.5% reduction, and at that point he said, I’m hoping we will be finished at 3.5 %. He said they could talk about adding staff and there is not a person that came to the microphone that did not accurately and appropriately talk about the need for don’t cut this and don’t cut that. But, the fact of the matter is, had they put everything back in, they would be close to 5%. He asked if there was anybody in the room that thought the 5% would fly. And if so, they would need to re-think that. He said, so in talking about where he can point to support Cambridge, Cambridge basically said, concentrate on closing the achievement gap and improving instruction and that is the work that we are doing through the district improvement plan and the school growth plan. And it is probably more about professional development and giving teachers the opportunities to enhance their skills in data analysis and the application of what they learn through instructural practice, that will make the difference.

Ms Rivas told Dr. Corda that was not what she had asked. She requested specific information. She did not have anything in her package indicating that Dr. Corda was unable include the information she requested. She requested to see if there was something in Cambridge or other reports to see if there was something they could do. She understand the need of the district. She said she does her homework too. She understands what the children, the community and what the schools need. Her request was not granted. She wanted to see on paper what it would be. Her point was that she asked Dr. Corda for this information for the meeting today and did not receive it. That was her point.

Mr. Iannaccone said he agrees with Dr. Corda in with regard to West Rocks, the money could be used for teachers and not the assistant principal position.

Mr. Chiaramonte said he was concerned because they were looking at different sets of numbers. Who determined these class projections?

Dr. Corda responded by telling him the numbers that received came from the enrollment projections done using the consultant the district has used for the last 7 or 8 years. He said he thought that might explain the difference between what Mr. McCain presented is that he applied the cohort survival ratios to them which would account for over time numbers that would have dropped. What Mr. McCain did, he believed was to take the absolute number and just continue those numbers forward without applying the cohort survival ratio. He thought the difference between the two is probably close enough that it explains the variance.

Mr. Chiaramonte suggested that they use only one set of numbers which is confusing enough rather than using multiple sheets. He said they are enduring very hard times. As Mick Jagger says “You can’t always get what you want sometimes you get what you need”. He said they can’t be fighting amongst themselves, thought as a city they must pull together and see what the real needs are of each school. He said they have a school that has more sub groups. They need more attention for minorities. Mr. McCain stated they could get by with just three teachers this year. He said they have to focus on getting through this year. They have suffered a lot of terrible things with the economy this year. He said he would like to sit up there and make easy and play Santa Claus, but Virginia, there is no Santa Claus.

** MR. CHIARAMONTE MADE A MOTION TO GIVE MR. MCCAIN THREE TEACHERS AND TO ADD TWO TEACHERS AT PONUS SCHOOL.

Mr. Iannacconne said he thinks they should talk about the assistant principal position at West Rocks. He thinks the savings is there and the money should be used in the classroom.

Mr. Burnett supports adding the 3 teachers at Nathan Hill Middle School. The motion of adding 2 teachers at Ponus is not part of any of the documentation that we received. It is almost like it is just a recommendation from the floor. He didn’t receive any numbers and what that means. The level of impact of adding those two teachers as it relates to the all the other items. Are we accepting items from the floor in that manner or are we just making decisions based on what was given to us. Can I get clarification on that - I’m unclear he said.

Ms. Mosby the 2 teachers have been on the agenda at every meeting. And the documentation they received shows the need for additional staffing. This was a recommendation that was brought to Dr. Corda but somehow it was omitted. It should have been part of this budget package. The recommendation came from the principal stating that she needed two teachers added to her school.

Ms. Mosby the two teachers have been on the agenda at every meeting. And the documentation they received shows the need for additional staffing. This was a recommendation that was brought to Dr. Corda but somehow it was omitted. It should have been part of this budget package. The recommendation came from the principal stating that she needed two teachers added to her school.

Dr. Corda asked to respond. He said when a principal makes a recommendation we evaluate that recommendation and determine whether or not in the big scheme of things we are able to respond to that. Now when a principal makes a recommendation that would essentially take a class size of 25.6 and reduce it to 21.3, a reduction of four students per class. He contrasted that with other needs that were presented. There are times that although he would like to respond to the request he can not. So if the choice for him, with all due respect to the students at Ponus, is to add 2 additional staff and as a result of that there is a further reduction he would have to make beyond what he already reduced, he would respectfully request that 25.6 in relation to other class sizes in other places is not something that is unmanageable. He would like to have elementary classes of 18 or 17 across the district but he can’t guarantee from grade to grade within a school that there will be comparability of class size because of the way the numbers break. Sometimes the numbers are higher and sometimes they are lower. He said sometimes when you have to make those decisions you have to say I understand the request but I’m not in a position to grant it. There were other request made that we were not in the position to grant. That is the explanation.

Ms. Mosby said it would have been nice to have the information.

Dr. Corda said with 250 students projected for grade 7 next year and you divide that by 12 is 21.3.

Ms. Mosby said anytime your dealing with students in elementary, middle or high schools any information or data should be brought to their attention. Most especially when these schools have such high volume classrooms.

Dr. Corda said that was her point of view.

Susan Hamilton said she understands the need for two additional teachers at Ponus. She is concerned that they would do a disservice not only to mainstream children, but also to the Special Ed kids. It is a disservice to lump the special needs children together. She believes the interaction is incredibly valuable. To have worked so hard to build that team and then to revert backwards makes no sense to her.

Ms. Rivas asked to add to the same motion that is on the floor.

Ms. Murray said they was a motion on the floor and discussions so nothing could be added to the motion. The motion is on adding the three teachers for Nathan Hale.

Mr. Burnett asked if they had the dollar amount for the two teachers at Ponus.

Dr. Corda responded by stating the cost for the two teachers would be approximately $130,000. He understands Mr. Chiaramonte’s recommendations. He said that since the board had not yet adopted a budget, they knew what the bottom line was and yet they were talking about the deployment of staff. He recommended that they first agreed on what the budget numbers will be which would impact the staffing decisions.

Mr. Chiaramonte said he thinks the 3.5% budget that was proposed to the city might not be enough and they could essentially end up returning several times to resolve this. He would love to see Nathan Hale get all five teachers, but if they can get by with three this year then they should. Each area should look carefully at what it will take to get by this year as the economic issues are not going away. They have other problems in their system also.

Ms. Murray stated she thought Dr. Corda was speaking about procedurally on how we should move forward with the budget.

Ms Bishop Pullan knew they had to adopt a budget number but was afraid of the expectation of what was written. She said, but people will still have the opportunity after they have adopted a number to discuss the deployment of staff. She thought they needed to dispose of the motion on the floor somehow.

Mr. Burnett still had an uneasiness about adding a position that is not part of the long list of positions they have been looking at. The other point is that if they go forward with three teachers at Nathan Hale for $300,000. The cost for three would be $180,000 with a savings of $120,000. He asked how they would dispose of the $120,000. Would a motion be made? He thought they should add the Dean of Students and the clerical position at West Rocks back in. Thinking about today and what is in front of us he haven’t heard anyone talk about a finance director for $140,000. The question is the timing. Procedurally he was unsure as to how they will get to the end of the game.

Mr. Chiaramonte said he thought they should settle on the number and then have further debate. So he motioned that they add the five teachers to the budget without naming schools.

Ms. Murray confirmed Mr. Chiaramonte was amending the motion.

Ms. Rivas asked to repeat the motion.

** MR. CHIARAMONTE STATED THE MOTION WAS TO AGREE TO HAVE 5 MIDDLE SCHOOL TEACHERS ADDED AND THEY WOULD DECIDE HOW THEY WOULD BE DESIGNATED AT A LATER TIME. ** MS RIVAS SECONDED THE MOTION ** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY

** MS. BISHOP PULLAN MOVED TO ELIMINATE TWO CUSTODIAL COORDINATOR POSITIONS, ONE AT NORWALK HIGH AND THE OTHER AT BRIEN MCMAHON, AND THE ELIMINATION OF THE HEAD CUSTODIAN POSITION.

Dr. Corda reviewed her motion.

Ms. Bishop Pullan said she was confused over the proposal to add in another position on page 12 of their document hand out package.

Dr. Corda said it is complex and that he would walk everyone through the plan. There was an addition for a custodial foreman at Brien McMahon for $65,000. Replace the two coordinator custodians with one custodial foreman, for a savings of $10,000. The plan was to eliminate both coordinator positions, restoring the current central office position, restoring both head custodians and eliminating two custodial positions, one at each of the schools. He said they needed to calculate that.

Dr. Corda approached the podium and set up a excel spread sheet on a large screen to work through the figures and calculate the total savings with the custodial staffing changes.

After much discussion it was determined and agreed upon that the savings for the custodial staffing changes total $45,566.

** MS BISHOP PULLAN MADE A MOTION TO ACCEPT THE CUSTODIAL STAFFING CHANGES FOR A NET SAVINGS OF $45,566. ** MS HAMILTON SECONDED THE MOTION

Mr. Burnett asked to confirm that $45,566 is a savings.

Dr. Corda said the $45,566 is an additional savings, in addition to the $72,000 already figured in.

Ms. Murray stated that the motion was still on the floor and asked Ms Bishop Pullan to repeat it her initial motion and to add the dollar amounts to it.

** MS. BISHOP PULLAN REPEATED THE MOTION DETAILS. THE HEAD CUSTODIAN BE ADDED BACK IN, THE REDUCTION OF 1 CUSTODIAN AT EACH HIGH SCHOOL, AND A REDUCTION OF THE COORDINATOR CUSTODIANS AS STATED ON PAGE 12 OF THE DOCUMENT HAND OUT. THE TOTAL NET SAVINGS OF $45,566 IN ADDTION TO THE SAVINGS $72,000 FOR A TOTAL SAVINGS OF $117,566. **MS RIVAS SECONDED THE MOTION

Mr. Burnett asked for clarification. He is not clear how they got there and said he would abstain. He did not think it made sense.

**MOTION PASSED WITH FIVE VOTES IN FAVOR (MS. BISHOP PULLAN, MR. IANNACCONE, MS. HAMILTON, MRS. MURRAY & MR. CHIARAMONTE) ONE AGAINST, (MR. BURNETT) TWO ABSTAINED (MS MOSBY & MS RIVAS)

** MS. MURRAY MADE A MOTION TO EXTEND THE TIME AT 12 MIDNIGHT OR ADJOURN ** MR. CHIA SECONDED ** THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

** MR. BURNETT MADE A MOTION TO REINSTATE TWO DEAN OF STUDENT POSITIONS AT THE TWO HIGH SCHOOLS. ** MS. MOSBY SECONDED THE MOTION

Mr. Iannaccone said he thought the plan was to adopt the number and then come back to discuss the specific changes.

Mr. Burnett asked why we just spent 45 minutes discussing and making changes to the custodial staffing. He said if we were planning to adopt the budget as is the initial motion was on the five teachers and agreed to keep that in there without putting a label on it then we should have stopped at that point. He said, now we are in the mode of looking at each item. He did not think it was fair that they spent 45 minutes discussing and voting on changing the custodial line item and then stop.

Ms. Rivas said she wanted to discuss it and then said she agreed with Mr. Burnett to add the Dean of Students.

**MOTION FAILED WITH 2 VOTES IN FAVOR (MR. BURNETT & MS RIVAS) FIVE OPPOSED, ( MS MURRAY, MS BISHOP PULLAN, MR. CHIARAMONTE, MS HAMILTON & MR. IANNACCONE ) ONE ABSTAINED, (MS MOSBY)

** MS RIVAS MADE A MOTION TO RESTORE THE CLERICAL POSITION FOR $23,000 AT WEST ROCKS. ** MR. BURNETT SECONDED THE MOTION

Ms. Bishop Pullan said she thought they should eliminate the clerical position.

Mr.Chiaramonte said they could restore it but it would result in the board returning to the table when the city turned down the budget.

Mr. Burnett said if that was the case, he asked how did the board members turn down a suggestion after they just agreed to add something back. He said if the just talked about adding a critical position back into the budget where they really need the position then how could the board members vote it down. And then respond by saying, the would be looking at everything all over again anyway. He said he didn’t understand the thinking of the voting taking place.

Mr. Chiaramonte said he understood but that it would just come back to them to reduce it by 3.5%.

Ms. Hamilton requested that the meeting reconvene the following night because she was personally very exhausted.

Ms. Rivas stated that there was a motion on the floor and they were in discussion. She asked if they vote down and it is on the minutes how can possibly bring it back up later.

Dr. Corda said the answer was reconciliation. He said all the budget does is adopt a number and how those monies are deployed, how staffing allocations made. can be discussed and agreed on at any point. Once the number is adopted you just work with the number. He said, all you have to do tonight is to agree to a number and sort it out later on. If you think the number will be higher that we will have to continue this meeting.

Ms. Mosby stated she was confused. She asked to understand exactly how this would affect the overall budget number. She said she was lost.

Ms. Rivas said she was very confused at that point.

Ms. Bishop Pullan stated she could clarify this and said if they voted for this then the overall reduction of the overall budget would be $22,000 .

**MOTION PASSED WITH FIVE IN FAVOR, (MS. MOSBY, MS. MURRAY, MS. RIVAS, MR. CHIARAMONTE, MR. BURNETT) ONE ABSTAINED, (MS. HAMILTON)

VI. BOARD ADOPTION OF 2009 – 2010 BUDGET

**MR. IANNACCONE MADE A MOTION TO ADOPT THE BUDGET BY REDUCING THE $45,466 FOR CUSTODIAL POSITIONS, ADDING $23,000 FOR THE CLERICAL POSITION FOR A TOTAL BUDGET OF $153,364,310 **MR. CHIARAMONTE SECONDED THE MOTION **MOTION PASSED WITH FIVE IN FAVOR (MS. BISHOP PULLAN, MS MURRAY, MR. IANNACCONE, MR. CHIARAMONTE, MS. MURRAY) THREE ABSTAINED: ( MS. RIVAS, MS. MOSBY & MR. BURNETT)

VII ADJOURNMENT

**MS. MURRAY MOVED TO ADJOURN **MS. RIVAS SECONDED THE MOTION ** THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

The meeting adjourned at 12:25 am.

Respectfully submitted,

Angela M. Catigano Telesco Secretarial Services

Category: Minutes