Board of Education Regular Meeting Minutes

September 1, 2009

BOARD OF EDUCATION

REGULAR MEETING

SEPTEMBER 1, 2009

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

STAFF: Dr. Papallo, Interim Superintendent of Schools; Dr. Dan Cook, Norwalk Public School System; George Gianitti, Norwalk Public Schools, Anthony Daddona, Assistant Superintendent of Schools

CALL TO ORDER

Ms. Murray called the meeting to order at 7:45 p.m.

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

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

PUBLIC COMMENTS

Ms. Eva Bartish, a Norwalk School teacher came forward and said that excited parents and children were preparing for the first day of school. However, two Norwalk teachers and their children will not be happy because the former practice of Professional Courtesy has not been extended to the teachers who live out of town this year. Parents and students were requested for out of district placements went out in May, but the decision was not released until almost the end of the summer. This left the parents scrambling to make arrangements for their children.

Mr. Bruce Mellion came forward and said that almost 40 years ago today, he attended his first BOE meeting. Recently, moral has been low because the Board has sent a strong message through their actions to the very core of the working force that teach the Norwalk students.

ACTIONS

A. Consent

1 Approval of personnel Actions 2 Approval of budget Transfers 3 Approve the reinstatement of two Elementary Assistant Principals 4. Extend time period for Human Resources assistants position

** MR. IANNACCONE MOVED TO APPROVE THE CONSENT CALENDAR. ** MS. HAMILTON SECONDED. ** THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

B. Approval of minutes (August 18, 2009)

** MS. HAMILTON MOVED THE ITEM. ** MS. BISHOP-PULLAN SECONDED.

Page 2, paragraph 4, line 1: please change the following: “Ms. Loren Rosotto, president of the Norwalk Education Foundation” to “Ms. Lauren Rosato, president of the Norwalk Education Foundation”

** THE MOTION TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE AUGUST 18,2009 MINUTES AS CORRECTED PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

INFORMATION AND REPORTS

APPOINTMENT OF SUPERINTENDENT SEARCH COMMITTEE

Ms. Murray said that the decision regarding appointments to the Superintendent Search Committee was a very important decision. Ms. Murray thanked all those who offered their services. She then read a prepared statement that said that that she had decided that the Search Committee would remain within the State Statutes, and be comprised of the nine members of the Board of Education. Ms. Murray said there would be times to deliberate in executive session because confidentiality is critical.

The Mayor commented that Ms. Murray’s statement was very succinct and clear about how the Board would handle this.

FACILITY STUDY UPDATE

Dr. Cook said that there were some issues about the various schools and it should go back to the Finance Committee for some additional changes before being presented to the full Board. Ms. Bishop-Pullan said that the Finance Committee had seen the study, but did not have time to give it due diligence.

CONSENT CALENDAR Cont’d

Mr. Burnett asked about the fact that there was only one vote for the numerous items listed under the Consent. Mr. Burnett said that he wanted to make sure for clarity’s sake that everyone understood that all the items were approved by the one vote. A brief discussion followed regarding whether or not this had been done in the manner previously.

FACILITY STUDY UPDATE Cont’d

Dr. Cook said that the report had been presented before and it has been revised. Mr. Gorian said that there was an updated five-year facility audited plan. The 2004 version covered 17 schools. Seven schools have been addressed under that plan, including NHS, Roton, and Nathan Hale. BMHS was covered under a different program.

The original report was reviewed and the projects that were completed were removed from the list. The projects have been rated on a scale of 1-5 with 5 ranking as a Life/Safety issue. There were some projects from the seven schools that received attention, but some of the projects were not addressed. The total estimated value works out to 51 million, with a State share of 7.2 million. There is 5.7 million remaining in the funds from the previous projects. This means that there would be a cost to the City of 37 million. The Priority 5 projects have been listed and ranked in order of need. Mr. Gorian said that he would review the list with the Finance Committee.

Ms. Bishop-Pullan said that she expected that a report would be ready for the full Board by October 1st. Dr. Papallo said that he had not had an opportunity to read the report and would be reviewing the recommendations also. Dr. Papallo said that the report needed to be given to the Finance Committee for discussion. Ms. Murray said that she would like to have more information on the projects for Norwalk High School. She said that she planned to be at the next Finance Committee meeting.

Ms. Jimenez said that she wanted to follow up on Ms. Bishop Pullan’s previous request for an update about the student enrollment. Dr. Cook said that he expected to have the final numbers by October 10th. Ms. Jimenez then asked what the expected timeframe was for this. Dr. Cook reviewed the project timeline with the Board and said that the first scheduled discussion would happen at the September 10th meeting. Ms. Jimenez said that she wondered if it would be realistic to follow the timeline since the information would not be ready until after October 1st. Dr. Papallo said that it might take more than one Finance Committee for the presentation.

UPDATE ON PORTABLE CLASSROOMS

Dr. Cook said that the District has been in frequent contact with the company regarding the portable classrooms. He said that he received an email at 5:00 p.m. and he was told that the portables would be on site on September 10th. Dr. Papallo said that he felt that the company had taken on more than they could handle. Dr. Cook said that he would continue the daily updates. Everything that can be done has been done to move this forward. Apparently there is a problem with the DOT negotiation.

Mayor Moccia then asked if Dr. Cook had the name of the contact from the DOT. Dr. Cook said that he would let the Mayor know as soon as he hears. Dr. Cook said that he wants to know where the portables are physically located right now and might take a ride to verify this. He added that he would be following this issue up very closely.

UNCOLLECTIBLE LUNCH FEES

Dr. Cook said that he had been working with the Finance Committee regarding this issue. When Dr. Cook arrived, there was a closed out debt amount of $70,000. That amount has been halved this year and the Finance Committee has been working on drafts of procedures. The school principals have been involved in the process and the plan may not be uniform at all the schools. Dr. Cook reminded everyone that this was a national problem.

Mr. Iannaccone asked why the matter would not be handled uniformly at all of the schools. Dr. Cook explained that the various principals may want to have different members of the staff involved in implementing the procedure. He then reviewed the information about how the various schools would be handling the issue. Dr. Cook also stated that the District was very willing to work with families who need assistance.

A question was asked about whether the scanning system was ready. Mr. Gianitti said that the scan system was very close to being up and running. The parents will be able to pay an amount ahead of the purchase of the lunches. Dr. Cook said that he had expected it to be up on October 1st. He felt that the system would be up and running well before this.

Ms. Rivas asked whether the parents will be notified when the account gets low. Mr. Gianitti said that this was part of the program.

Ms. Jimenez asked about the Free and Reduced Lunch program. Dr. Cook said that last year, at least 700 students were added after the October 1st deadline. Currently, the District is up to 40% of the total student population. He believes that there would be a leveling off at 50% in the District. Potentially, this could be an additional 800 students in the program. The District benefits from the number of Title One funding and that the students are fed.

Mr. Burnett asked about recommended procedure where the students would not be allowed to participate in graduation if there was an outstanding balance for lunch. Dr. Cook then reviewed the details of the plan with the Board. Mr. Daddona confirmed that students are not allowed to graduate if they have outstanding library fines or other outstanding fees.

Ms. Bishop Pullan said this issue would go back to Finance. Dr. Cook suggested that it be kept on the Finance Committee agenda and that there be quarterly reports to the Board.

Ms. Murray said that she would like to see the pattern change by having the procedures go to the administrators first, rather than after the procedure is developed.

POLICY #6171 REVISION

Ms. Hamilton said that the revisions were in the packet and the Committee along with other policies under reviewed the policy. Mr. Iannaccone said that this was long overdue since the last revision was in 1985.

COMMITTEE/REPRESENTATIVE REPORTS

Curriculum Committee –

Ms. Mosby said that she would give a full report at the next meeting. She pointed out that the next scheduled meeting would be during the ADHD awareness week so the meeting will be moved back to a later date.

Adult Education –

No report.

Human Services Mentoring Committee –

No report

Finance Committee –

Ms. Bishop-Pullan said that the Committee would be meeting next Thursday. At that time, there will be a Title One update, and Committee will be working on the Facility Report. The Committee will also be receiving the report on closing out the last school year.

Regarding negotiations, she said that this was her third teacher’s negotiation. Previously, the negotiations had progressed in a standardized manner. This time, there is a real difference because of the economic situation that the City is facing. It is important that the Board be as fiscally responsible as possible. The Board worked very hard to stay away from the classroom.

BET/BOE Joint Services Study Group –

No report.

CES and NEF –

Ms. Hamilton said that CES would meet on Thursday. September 3rd. The next NEF meeting will be on September 21st.

Norwalk Facility Construction Committee -

No report.

BOARD MEMBER ANNOUNCEMENTS

Mayor Moccia then said that several months ago, the City had the opportunity to apply for a Gang Intervention Grant. It was a very competitive grant. Today the City received notification that they have been approved for $500,000 for 60 youth, ages 10-16. This is for mentoring and after school activities. The program will run for three years. There will be a formal press release in the paper soon.

Ms. Murray said that Dr. Papallo had attended the NAACP meeting earlier in the day and it was well attended. There were many good questions. The City has been allocated $2,500 per student for those who attend Abbott Tech.

NEGOTIATION UPDATE

Discussion of matters, which would result in the disclosure of public records or the information contained in public records described in subsection (b) of Connecticut General Statutes Section 1-120 (executive session anticipation)

** MS. BISHOP PULLAN MOVED TO ENTER INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION FOR DISCUSSION OF MATTERS WHICH WOULD RESULT IN THE DISCLOSURE OF PUBLIC RECORDS OR THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN PUBLIC RECORDS DESCRIBED IN SUBSECTION (B) OF CONNECTICUT GENERAL STATUTES SECTION 1-120

** MS. HAMILTON SECONDED. ** THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

The Board entered into Executive Session at 8:46 p.m. and returned to public session at 9:33 p.m.

ADJOURNMENT

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

The meeting adjourned at 9:33 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Sharon L. Soltes Telesco Secretarial Services

Category: Minutes