Board of Education Regular Meeting Minutes

August 4, 2009

BOARD OF EDUCATION

REGULAR MEETING

AUGUST 4, 2009

ATTENDANCE: Rosa Murray, Chair; Jody Bishop-Pullan, Vice Chair; Jack Chiaramonte, Secretary, Glenn Iannaccone, Amy Jimenez, Greg Burnett, Migdalia Rivas, Shirley Mosby

STAFF: Dr. Papallo, Interim Superintendent of Schools

CALL TO ORDER

Ms. Murray called the meeting to order at 8:05 p.m.

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

Ms. Murray led those present in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.

SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT

Dr. Papallo greeted everyone and said that he had been working for the last two days. He said that he was happy to have the opportunity to come back to Norwalk and that he felt that there would be good discussion that would benefit the students. Since he had been in a number of different towns in Connecticut and that he had started his career as Interim Superintendent in Norwalk and might finish it up in Norwalk.

PUBLIC COMMENT

Ms. Mary Conlin came forward and said that she was a resident and a teacher at Tracey for more forty years. For the past 30 plus years, she was a Special Education teacher. Ms. Conlin said that she was present to speak about the position of the Assistant Principal. She asked if Dr. Corda had really considered the effect of not having a full time AP at Tracey because a number of the incoming students who are ELL students. The principal will be responsible for supervising teachers and dealing with discipline. Tracey is on the NCLB list and is struggling to regain their academic excellence. Dr. Corda made the decision and walked away. Tracey needs to move forward.

Ms. Lori Gonzales Beckel, a teacher at Tracey School. She requested that the Board reconsidered the decision to change the Assistant Principal position from full time to part time. She mentioned that the incoming number of students were ELL students and Mrs. Lamindola had worked to integrate the bilingual families into the school. With more families coming in, the school needs more support, not less.

Ms. Jan Muldowney came forward and explained that she would be one of the co-presidents of the Tracey PTO next year. Many parents are going back to work and it is harder to get their participation. Ms. Muldowney went on to praise Ms. Lamindola for her participation and hard work in the last few years. Ms. Muldowney said that she remembered that there was a part time Assistant Principal at Tracey, but once a full time position was created, the improvement was evident.

Ms. Carla Montiero came forward and said that she was a Norwalk resident and a Tracey teacher. She said that the school could not afford to loose any more staff. According to Dr. Corda’s comments, it was agreed that having the AP in the building was important, and that Tracey is making progress. When Ms. Montiero came from Stamford, she was very aware of the fact that the District only had part time Assistant Principals. When the positions were made full time, the impact was immediately evident. Ms. Montiero then listed a number of duties that the Asst. Principal performs in supporting the staff and the students. She then requested that Dr. Corda’s recommendation be tabled until further inform

Ms. Kim Bonaddio, a resident of Norwalk and a teacher at Tracey School came forward and requested that the Assistant Principal position be returned to full time. She said that Dr. Corda had decided to keep Silvermine’s Assistant Principal because they were on the NCLB list. Tracey is also on that list and making progress. The other schools that are on the list also have full time Assistant Principals. With the implementation of the data teams, there has been forward progress. One administrator can not handle the amount of paperwork, meetings and instruction for the staff.

Atty. Spahr came forward and explained that he was present also to answer any questions about the parking proposal at Columbus School.

Atty. Spahr said that he resided at 32 Stonybrook Road. He said that he would like to speak about the ADHD awareness week. The U.S. Senate had declared one week in September as ADHD Awareness Week. Atty. Spahr then listed the figures and statistics associated with ADHD. He said that he had arranged for a workshop on ADHD with Ms. Lopez at Columbus. Atty. Spahr requested that everyone work towards having programs about ADHD to increase awareness.

Ms. Theresa Lakin of Riverside Avenue, said that she had held her position as an aide for the past 21 years. She recently then said that her position was being cut to ten hours a week. Ms. Lakin then listed a number of her duties associated with her job. She also explained the details and the process associated with the lottery. Columbus is the only school in the District that fills every seat by lottery drawing. Expecting someone to fulfill these various task in 10 hours a week is an insult.

Ms. Emily Lopez came forward and distributed an information packet to the Board. She requested that the Board reconsider the situation. She then clarified the role of the Parent Coordinator at Columbus. Parental involvement was the area that Columbus excelled. She then explained that the information packet contained additional information on the Parent Coordinator at Columbus. She suggested that the funding from Wright Tech and

Ms. Donna Spellman, the co-president of the Columbus PTO, came forward and said that it was sad that the staff was back to plead with the Board. Columbus School is not like other schools in the District. Based on Bank Street model, the Columbus parents are involved in the program and participate at all times. The Parent Coordinator organizes all the activities, which she then listed. She said that Terry Lakin was the first point of contact for most of the parents. She is the magnet coordinator and developed a buddy system for the incoming families and the veteran families. Ms. Lakin has been at the school for over 20 years and her job can not be done on a part time basis.

Ms. Shari Ulman of 2 Silver Ledge Road, came forward. She said that she was a representative of the Norwalk Education Foundation and thanked everyone for their hard work and efforts.

On a personal level, she said that as a former Columbus parent, she could not imagine the school without a Parent Coordinator. She said that she hoped that the Board would allow Columbus to retain their Parent Coordinator.

Ms. Denise Moses, a parent at Tracey, came forward and distributed an information document to the Board members. She then gave a brief overview of the information in the packet with the Board. She said that she did not want to talk about Tracey, but wanted to remind everyone that no child in Norwalk deserved to have a part time assistant principal. It’s been tried before and it didn’t work. She then encouraged everyone to imagine owning two residents and meeting the needs of both places. She requested that the Board envision the schools as a family and

Mr. Jim Yezette came forward and said that he was part of the Food Service staff. He has been on the staff of the Central Kitchen for twenty years. He then distributed a document outlining the details of the four full productions days, and two “light”. He said that he understood that the Board was considering

Mr. Jim Napoli who resides on Yew Street, and whose children attend Columbus came forward. He then spoke about his concerns regarding Ms. Lakin, the Parent Coordinator. He said that she was not just an asset but provided a key function to allow the program to run. Eliminating the operational hours of this position would severely impact the school. Columbus is a school that actually work, the families, the curriculum and the staff that make it work. Losing the Parent Coordinator would be disastrous.

Mr. Bob McCain of Nathan Hale came forward and said that he was hired to be an advocate for Nathan Hale. He said that he felt it was his duty to stand up for his school. The only aides that Nathan Hale had were cut last year. There are only two other positions that would be cut, one would be the guidance secretary and the other would be the in school suspension monitor. While the staff appreciates the work of the Board, it becomes difficult to move forward when the support staff is cut.

Mr. McCain said that he was able to attend to the Youth Pals program in Stamford and that it was a wonderful program.

Ms. Martha Pare came forward and said that she was a resident of Norwalk. She said that Mr. McCain had covered all the points and done so very well.

Mr. Larry Wings came forward and thanked Dr. Papallo for his willingness to work here in Norwalk. He said that he hope it would open the door to cooperation and close the door to partisanship.

Ms. Bishop-Pullan asked if there was anyone else who wished to address the Board at this time. No one came forward. Ms. Bishop-Pullan closed the Public Comment section of the meeting.

ACTIONS

Consent

** MS. RIVAS MOVED THE PERSONNEL ACTIONS. ** MS. MOSBY SECONDED. ** THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF JULY 21, 2009

** MS. BISHOP-PULLAN MOVED THE MINUTES OF JULY 21, 2009. ** MS. MOSBY SECONDED.

The following corrections were noted.

Page 4, motion: please change the following from”

F. Approval of 2009-2010 contracts for Human Resources Officer and Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum

** MS. BISHOP-PULLAN MOVED THE FOLLOWING:

RESOLVED, UPON THE RECOMMENDATION OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, THAT THE BOARD OF EDUCATION

** MS. HAMILTON SECONDED.

To:

F. Approval of 2009-2010 contracts for Human Resources Officer and Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum

** MS. BISHOP-PULLAN MOVED THE FOLLOWING:

RESOLVED, UPON THE RECOMMENDATION OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, THAT THE BOARD OF EDUCATION APPROVE THE 2009-2010 CONTRACTS FOR HUMAN RESOURCES OFFICER AND ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT FOR CURRICULUM.

** MS. HAMILTON SECONDED.

Page 5, Motion: please change the following from:

** MS. BISHOP-PULLAN MOVED TO GRANT A PAID LEAVE TO DR. SALVATORE CORDA STARTING JULY 31, 2009. ** MS. HAMILTON SECONDED. ** THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

To:

** MS. BISHOP-PULLAN MOVED TO GRANT A PAID ADMINISTRATIVE LEAVE TO DR. SALVATORE CORDA STARTING JULY 31, 2009 AND ENDING AUGUST 17, 2009. ** MS. HAMILTON SECONDED. ** THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

** THE MOTION TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF JULY 21, 2009 PASSED WITH SIX IN FAVOR (CHIARAMONTE, BISHOP-PULLAN, MURRAY, BURNETT, MOSBY AND RIVAS) AND TWO ABSTENTIONS (IANNACCONE AND JIMENEZ).

Approval for district to proceed with Columbus Magnet School Parking reorganization.

** MR. BURNETT MOVED TO APPROVE THE FOLLOWING RESOLUTION:

RESOLVED, UPON THE RECOMMENDATION OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, THAT THE BOARD OF EDUCATION PROCEED WITH THE COLUMBUS MAGNET SCHOOL PARKING REORGANIZATION AS PRESENTED TO THE BOARD AT THEIR MEETING OF JULY 21, 2009.

** MS. RIVAS SECONDED.

Ms. Bishop-Pullan asked why the Board was approving this. Atty. Spahr said that there would be a contract, which involved an easement over the Norwalk Housing Authority property. There had been some concerns about the hours that the vehicles were being allowed to drive over the property. DPW said that they would be responsible for plowing but that there are some details that are still being worked out regarding the Norwalk Housing Authority.

Ms. Bishop-Pullan said it sounded like the Board was being asked to approve without the finalized contract. Atty. Spahr explained that the Council does this by authorizing the Mayor to sign the contact that is approved by the Law Department.

Ms. Murray said that at the last meeting the information that Atty. Spahr was presented was not given to the Board and there needed to be some discussion. Ms. Rivas said that she needed more information as to why the Board did not have this information before and she was uncomfortable approving it without all details finalized. Ms. Jimenez agreed but pointed out that snow plowing was an issue. She said that she wanted to have approval from the School District’s attorney. Mr. Burnett reminded everyone that he had asked about snow removal and that Mr. Alvord had replied that DPW would be doing the plowing. He said that he felt that there was ownership regarding this.

** MS. BISHOP-PULLAN MOVED TO AMEND THE FOLLOWING RESOLUTION FROM:

RESOLVED, UPON THE RECOMMENDATION OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, THAT THE BOARD OF EDUCATION PROCEED WITH THE COLUMBUS MAGNET SCHOOL PARKING REORGANIZATION AS PRESENTED TO THE BOARD AT THEIR MEETING OF JULY 21, 2009.

TO:

RESOLVED, UPON THE RECOMMENDATION OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, THAT THE BOARD OF EDUCATION PROCEED WITH THE COLUMBUS MAGNET SCHOOL PARKING REORGANIZATION AS PRESENTED TO THE BOARD AT THEIR MEETING OF JULY 21, 2009, SUBJECT TO THE APPROVAL OF THE FINAL CONTRACT AT THE NEXT BOARD MEETING.

** MS. JIMENEZ SECONDED. ** THE MOTION TO AMEND PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

Mr. Burnett asked if the delay in the approval would delay the project beyond the opening of school. Atty. Spahr said that he would work on the contract to finalize it.

** THE MOTION TO APPROVE THE RESOLUTION AS AMENDED PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

APPROVAL TO DESIGNATE SEPTEMBER 14-18, 2009 AS ADHD AWARENESS WEEK.

** MS. MOSBY MOVED THE FOLLOWING RESOLUTION:

RESOLVED, UPON THE RECOMMENDATION OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, THAT THE BOARD OF EDUCATION DESIGNATE SEPTEMBER 14-18, 2009 AS ADHD AWARENESS WEEK

** MR. IANNACCONE SECONDED.

Mr. Iannaccone said that he fully supported this. He said that his oldest child was ADHD but the district did not pick up on it. Ms. Mosby thanked Atty. Spahr and Mr. Daddona for all their hard work. She said that she was looking forward to more programs like this. Mr. Burnett said that he was pleased with this, but the minutes said that the Special Education Department was developing a plan for the ADHD plan.

Ms. Rivas asked where the plans were for the program. Mr. Daddona said that the vote was on the recognition of the week, and the staff was working on the program.

** THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

INFORMATION REPORTS

Norwalk High School pool update and recommendation for capital expenditures.

Dr. Papallo said that the plan for the pool has come along quite well. With the fees being paid by the other groups, the cost will come down from $125,000 to $80,000. He said he believed that the costs would be reduced even further because of the energy savings that are expected.

Ms. Jimenez said that to affect the savings, there would be some costs. She asked Mr. Gorian how much that would cost. Mr. Gorian came forward and reviewed the costs. Ms. Jimenez asked where the $60,000 for the funds would be coming from. Mr. Gorian said that the Mayor had suggested that the fund might come from the scrubbing of the accounts for the NHS renovations. Ms. Jimenez said that there had been an offer from Zeus to donate a pool blanket. Mr. Gorian then updated the Board on offer and explained that Zeus could afford the cover or they could afford the fees, but not both.

Dr. Papallo said that he had not had an opportunity to examine the issue thoroughly. He said that he would like to review this issue further and that apparently there would need to be some backfilling. He said that with the economy, everyone is stressed, and that everyone has to work together. Dr. Papallo said that one of the things that was exciting about Norwalk was that there were so many parents and staff who were interested in the schools. He said that he was sensitive to the timing as well.

Mr. Iannaccone said that he agreed with Dr. Papallo and that he should be the one to decide this. Dr. Papallo said that he had spoken to several people and heard several points of view. He said that full time assistant principals are needed, but the funds are not there. Dr. Papallo said that he had several issues with No Child Left Behind because there are a number of meetings for documentation and data gathering without funding support. He pointed out that if one student had a problem, it could tie up half a day for the administration.

Ms. Bishop-Pullan said that this came in the initial Superintendent’s budget and the Board did have to produce a budget that was balanced. She said that the Board was very concerned about having good data. At the time of the budget, the Board did not want to make a decision as to which staff would be cut. Dr. Papallo said that he would come back with some recommendations. As interim, since he knows so many of the situations, he feels that it will not be too difficult.

Ms. Jimenez said that she wanted to reiterate that the budget reconciliation project was very painful. She said that there were two other positions that were personally difficult for her to cut, which were the Deans of Students. It was not a easy decision, it was painful. She wondered if any of the ARRA money could be used for the budget deficiencies. She then asked what else the Board could do to get some of this money into the District. Dr. Papallo said that there was an upcoming meeting on August 20th for a Special Education audit.

Transition Plan of actions for Secretary responsibilities

Dr. Papallo said that the amount of paper is enormous. He said that it would be important to upgrade the District and pointed out that Mr. Daddona has to personally sign a large number of requests. Update on Portable Classrooms

Mr. Gorian said that the portables will be delivered on site on the 17th. There are contingency plans just in case. He said that there had been concerns about needed a third unit because they were expecting 88 new kindergarten students, but today’s count was down to 85.

Transition Plan of actions for Secretary responsibilities Cont’d

Ms. Mosby said that the Board had been told that they would kept apprised of the situation. Dr. Papallo said that he was going to review the information more carefully but that there was an enormous amount of responsibility involved. He said that the State and Federal requirements were extensive. Dr. Papallo said that he would try to clarify the list for the Board members.

Former Central Kitchen area used for district storage

Dr. Papallo said that he had spoken about the Central Kitchen issue and that he had not heard about the other issues until today. He said that he planned to go there himself with Mr. Gorian and Dr. Cook. He believed there would be a good solution for everyone.

COMMITTEE/REPRESENTATIVE REPORTS

Norwalk Facility Construction Committee–

Mr. Iannaccone said that the bulk of the discussion centered around the NHS pool. The other issue that was discussed was a grant received for security through out the schools. Ms. Jimenez asked for details. This will be included in the Friday Report.

BET/BOE Joint Services Study Group –

The next meeting of the group will be on the 17th and will be held downstairs.

Finance Committee –

Ms. Bishop-Pullan said that the next Committee meeting will be on August 13th. Food service issues, collections issues and other items will be on the agenda. Ms. Bishop-Pullan said it was important to remember that there were two budgets, the Superintendent’s budget and the Board’s budget. The Finance Committee will continue to look at the funds that may become available.

Curriculum Committee –

Ms. Mosby said that there was no meeting in July. The next meeting is scheduled for August 19th.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Mr. Burnett asked Dr. Papallo how he would like to receive comments about the Elementary Assistant Principals. Dr. Papallo said that the comments should go through the Board Chair. Dr. Papallo said that he wanted to be in touch with the Board members regularly, so once things are set up, it will be easier. Ms. Murray said that the emails could be sent to Dr Papallo with a cc to Ms. Murray.

ADJOURNMENT

** MR. IANNACCONE MOVED TO ADJOURN. ** MR. CHIARAMONTE SECONDED. ** THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

The meeting adjourned at 9:35 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Sharon L. Soltes Telesco Secretarial Services

Category: Minutes