Board of Education Meeting Minutes

August 3, 2004

BOARD OF EDUCATION

AUGUST 3, 2004

ATTENDANCE: Jody Bishop-Pullan, Chairman; Susan Hamilton; Judith Rivas; Richard Fuller; Mayor Alex Knopp; Thomas Vetter; Rob Polley; David Cole

STAFF: Dr. Salvatore Corda, Superintendent of School; Stuart Opdahl

CALL TO ORDER

Ms. Bishop-Pullan called the meeting to order at 7:55 pm.

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

All present recited the Pledge of Allegiance.

SPOTLIGHT

Mr. Vetter read the written report, Spotlight on Norwalk Public Schools.

SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT

Dr. Corda said that he wished to provide an update with regard to the teacher’s contract in that the Board of Education and the NFT submitted a stipulated agreement to an arbitrator. The Common Council voted to reject the agreement that had been negotiated between the parties and what that meant in terms of the law was that the matter had to be referred to arbitration. The arbitration took place last Wednesday where both sides stipulated to the agreement that essentially said this is the agreement that should be upheld. With that the arbitrator rendered her decision yesterday upholding the agreement; the next step in the process would be a determination by the Common Council about whether or not they wish to pursue this any further. Dr. Corda indicated that they are assuming that they will operate under the agreement that is now in force, therefore they will be making no decisions about reducing programs at this point. The Board believes in the interest of maintaining stability in the district and allowing their work to go forward. Obviously, if something else occurs down the line they will deal with that when it happens.

Secondly, Dr. Corda indicated that his report was with regard to giving an update to the Board of Education about how they stand with respect to staffing. During the budget process a recommendation was made for staffing and one of the issues that was raised was in light of the fact that there was an actual decline in the elementary enrollment and how was it that they were recommending that their staffing would remain constant with one or two increases. At that time, it was pointed out that staffing determinations were made on a school-by-school basis looking at the enrollment in each grade. Dr. Corda said those numbers are now changing as the enrollment numbers are becoming more definitive. He said recognizing and being as responsible as they can to the tax payers, they have continued to examine the elementary staffing in much greater detail to the point where they have dispatched a member of central office to meet with the principals to verify by name the students in each of the grades. As a result of that they have made some staffing decisions. Dr. Corda went through the numbers of teachers and students in each school - this was accompanied by supporting documentation that was distributed.

Lastly, Dr. Corda stated that the Board policy with respect to permitting students from outside of their attendance area to attend another school indicates that permission may be granted as long as there is no additional cost. If the presence of children from an outside of an attendance area push a grade size beyond a certain number and this means adding another section there is the cost. In accordance with Board policy notification will be sent to twenty parents, whose children attend another school that next year they must return to their home school of attendance.

Mr. Fuller said it is good to give as much notice as possible.

Dr. Corda responded by saying that he would have preferred it if they could have made the decision earlier, but the numbers change from week to week and they did not want to run the risk of having students who had not yet been entered into the system.

Ms. Rivas asked if parents would be supplied with instructions on how to do transfer their children.

Dr. Corda replied that the parent would be give information for the school of attendance and the home school would also be made aware of the transfer.

Mr. Opdahl said other options would be given where there are low enrollment numbers.

PUBLIC COMMENTS

No members of the public wished to address the Board this evening.

ACTIONS

A. CONSENT

** MR. COLE MOVED TO ADD AN ITEM TO THE AGENDA – THE APPOINTMENT OF PRINCIPAL TO THE MARVIN SCHOOL (ITEM C) ** MR. FULLER SECONDED. ** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

** MR. VETTER MOVED TO ADD AN ITEM TO THE AGENDA – AUTHORIZE SETTLEMENT OF A FEDERAL COURT LITIGATION (ITEM D) ** MR. COLE SECONDED. ** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

Items VI A 2 and 3 were removed from the consent calendar.

1. Approval of the minutes of July 20, 2004 4. Budget Transfers

** MR. VETTER MOVED APPROVAL OF THE CONSENT CALENDAR AS PRESENTED. ** MR. POLLEY SECONDED. ** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

2. Personnel Actions

** MS. HAMILTON MOVED APPROVAL OF THE PERSONNEL ACTIONS ** MR. COLE SECONDED.

Ms. Bishop-Pullan indicated that many teacher appointments had come before the Board and she was very impressed with list and very heartened to see the number of math enhancement teachers.

** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

3. Approval of the 2004-2005 contracts – Cabinet

** MR. VETTER MOVED: RESOLVED, UPON THE RECOMMENDATION OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, THAT THE BOARD OF EDUCATION APPROVE THE 2004-2005 CONTRACTS FOR THE FOLLOWING CABINET MEMBERS: DR. KAREN LAND, FAY RUOTOLO, BRUCE MORRIS, MARY PENISTON AND SHERI MCCREADY. ** MR. COLE SECONDED.

Dr. Corda noted that there was an editorial correction with regard to the salary date and dental benefits on the contract of Dr. Lang.

Mayor Knopp asked for the percentage increases.

Ms. Bishop-Pullan said the percentage increases were 2.9% and 3%.

** MOTION PASSED SEVEN VOTES IN FAVOR, ONE VOTE OPPOSED (MR. COLE).

B. APPROVAL OF AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAM CONTRACTS (MIDDLE SCHOOLS)

** MS. RIVAS MOVED: RESOLVED, UPON THE RECOMMENDATION OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, THAT THE BOARD OF EDUCATION APPROVE THE ATTACHED CONTRACTS FOR THE FOLLOWING AFTER SCHOOL PROVIDERS: YMCA OF NORWALK (PONUS RIDGE AND ROTON MIDDLE SCHOOLS); A.C.H.I.E.V.E. (NATHAN HALE AND WEST ROCKS MIDDLE SCHOOLS).

** MR. FULLER SECONDED.

Ms. Bishop-Pullan said they have already approved the contracts for the elementary schools; these are for the middle schools. This is one of the major initiatives the district is undertaking for academic support in after school programs.

** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

C. APPOINTMENT OF PRINCIPAL

** MR. COLE MOVED TO APPOINT MYRNA TORTORELLO AS PRINCIPAL OF MARVIN SCHOOL ** MR. FULLER SECONDED. ** MOTION PASSED SEVEN VOTES IN FAVOR, ONE VOTE ABSTAINED (MS. RIVAS)

Ms. Bishop-Pullan acknowledged the search committee members in the audience who had recommended Ms. Tortorello to the Board of Education as Marvin’s new principal.

Dr. Corda thanked all the parents and teachers who worked on the search committee noting the outstanding job that they did in making sure they had the best possible candidate for Marvin.

D. AUTHORIZE SETTLEMENT OF A FEDERAL COURT LITIGATION

** MS. HAMILTON MOVED: RESOLVED, UPON THE RECOMMENDATION OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, THAT THE BOARD OF EDUCATION AUTHORIZE SETTLEMENT OF A FEDERAL COURT LITIGATION BROUGHT BY A FORMER EMPLOYEE CONSISTENT WITH THE TERMS DISCUSSED IN EXECUTIVE SESSION SUBJECT TO ANY FURTHER LEGAL REVIEW AND THAT THE SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS IS AUTHORIZED TO EXECUTE SAME. ** MR. POLLEY SECONDED. ** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

INFORMATION AND REPORTS

A. TEACHER EVALUATION PLAN REVISION

Dr. Corda indicated that they had shared with the Board of Education the revisions that will be taking place in the future evaluation plans. When the plan was developed years ago, it was done so with the understanding that annually they would revise the plan to make that it is functioning as smoothly as possible knowing there would be issues that would emerge that would need to be clarified at the time. He said there are no substantive changes to the plan, they are editorial clarifications, therefore they had the responsibility to bring them to the Board and that is what they are doing. More importantly, Dr. Corda pointed out is this committee, that consists of teachers, union leaders and administrators has functioned in a way that is not only effective but has provided clear evidence that it is essential that in efforts like this that teachers and administrators work side by side. The teacher evaluation plan is one of the most comprehensive efforts that they have, that will in his judgment improve in the area of instruction – the reason for that is because the emphasis is on improving the work teachers do in classrooms, recognizing that they are in a continuous process of growth and getting better at what they do. The plan requires that teachers and administrators meet to think about what is going to take place in the classroom. It requires that when teachers are observed that administrators concentrate on the work that is taking place in the classroom and after the lesson that the teacher engage in self reflection about what went well and what didn’t go well.

From a personal point of view, Dr. Corda said that he had learned a lot from this process at the same time thanking his colleagues for the time they had spent in thinking about how can they make this process better. He said the Board should be very proud that they have been able to develop this plan.

Mr. Fuller asked if the assistant principal role had been helpful in the process.

Dr. Corda replied that without the assistant principals this process could not occur.

B. BOARD MEMBER ANNOUNCEMENTS

Ms. Bishop-Pullan said that some concern has been expressed with regard to the communication between the Board of Education and other Boards in the City. On behalf of the Board said they looked forward to working on improving this.

Mayor Knopp referred to last night’s meeting of the Board of Estimate and Taxation and will be recommending three special meetings: one in September at which they will have representatives from the Board of Education, members of the Common Council, and representative from CCM and Union to get a better picture of Connecticut legal and policy relationships between Boards of Finance and Boards of Education. In October, the Mayor continued that they hope to sponsor a public hearing, as there have been many good suggestions from the public regarding the budget process and the negotiating process. Thirdly, there will be a working meeting of the Board of Estimate and Taxation on how to avoid some of the communication problems that have occurred in the past and to try to move to a more construction relationship in the future; he said he considered this to be a good suggestion. The Board of Estimate and Taxation did not approve a suggestion made to convene a special meeting for the Corporation Counsel to issue an opinion to investigate any illegal actions that took place during the negotiation process. The Mayor said it was his suggestion that they look to the future and invited that Board of Education’s participation and collaboration.

Mr. Fuller asked the Mayor about the Charter Revision which might delay the budget process.

Mayor Knopp said many times when the city has to adopt its budget by the first Monday in April, the General Assembly has not finished its appropriation process and they would have no idea about state aid. The idea behind delaying the final approval of the budget until May and moving all the other deadlines up so rather than the Board of Education approving their budget in December, they would like to move that process into January or February of the next year to give time to allow more facts to become available.

Ms. Bishop-Pullan said it should be an interesting process getting all the Boards together working together for a common purpose saying that is what they are all willing to do.

ADJOURNMENT

** MR. COLE MOVED TO ADJOURN. ** MR. POLLEY SECONDED. ** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:40 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Kate Kye Telesco Secretarial Services

Category: Minutes