Board of Education Meeting Minutes

September 7, 2004

BOARD OF EDUCATION

SEPTEMBER 7, 2004

ATTENDANCE: Jody Bishop-Pullan, Chairman; Rosa Murray; Judy Rivas; Susan Hamilton; David Cole, Thomas Vetter (7:50 pm); Marina Rivera; Robert Polley; The Mayor, Alex Knopp.

STAFF: Dr. Salvatore Corda, Superintendent of Schools; Dr. Karen Lang; Stuart Opdahl; Diane Filardo

CALL TO ORDER

Ms. Bishop-Pullan called the meeting to order at 7:45 pm.

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

All present recited the Pledge of Allegiance

SPOTLIGHT

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

SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT

Plans for 2004-2005

Dr. Corda said that for most the new year starts on January 1st, however for them in schools it starts on September 1st and what they intend to do is to continue with the work that was started three years ago. They have spent a great deal of time in the curriculum process that has resulted in revised curriculum in almost all of the content areas and they will be continuing that process.

Dr. Lang indicated that they are in the final stages in a lot of areas and will be finishing them off.

Mr. Vetter joined the meeting at 7:50 pm.

With regard to benchmarks and assessments, Dr. Corda stated that the curriculum represents the content of what they expect students to learn, the benchmarks give them a sense of where they should be along that pathway and the assessment is designed to tell them how well they are doing. Part of their work will be looking at those measures that will give the most comprehensive indication as possible about how youngsters are performing. More emphasis is also going to be placed on professional development, they expect teachers to revise and enhance their craft as much as they expect their administrators to do the same and they intend to provide the support needed to do this.

Thirdly, Dr. Corda said they would soon be looking at the budget for the 2005/06 year. Their goal is continue is to present the budget in the most clear and comprehensible format as possible and he expected that they would continue to revise the process and they need to strengthen the relationship that exists between the Board of Estimate, the Mayor’s Office and the Common Council.

Finally, their goal is to continue to expand the level of communication with the general public and the parents about what is taking place in the schools and why there are so many things Norwalk can be proud of.

Report on CAPT Scores

Dr. Corda presented the following information as an overview of performance on the CAPT tests.

· 2001 to 2004 CAPT Comparisons – Percent of Proficient Students · CAPT - % at Goal in Mathematics · CAPT - % at Goal in Science · CAPT - % at Goal in Writing · CAPT Mathematics – 2004 Percent of Students by Performance Level · CAPT Science – 2004 Percent of Students by Performance Level · CAPT Reading – 2004 Percent of Students by Performance Level · CAPT Writing – 2004 Percent of Students by Performance Level

With regard to the SAT’s Dr. Corda presented the following:

· SAT 1 – Math · SAT 1 – Verbal

Ms. Filardo indicated that participation for Norwalk is at 69% this year.

· SAT 1 Verbal – Results for test takers who described themselves as black. · SAT 1 Math – Results for test takers who described themselves as black. · SAT 1 Verbal – Results for test takers who described themselves as Hispanic. · SAT 1 Math – Results for test takers who described themselves as Hispanic.

Dr. Corda suggested that to discover any kind of trend they would need to study date over a five to ten year period. He continued with the following:

· SAT 1 Verbal – Results for test takers who described themselves as white. · SAT 1 Math – Results for test takers who described themselves as white. · SAT 1 Verbal – Results for test takers who reported their rank as top 10%. · SAT 1 Math – Results for test takers who reported their rank as top 10%.

Mr. Cole asked if there had been a steady increase in the number of students taking the SAT’s; he commented that the number has gone up, not the percentage.

Ms. Filardo said that in the class of 2003, 450 students took the SAT and in the class of 2004, 415 students took the SAT.

Mr. Cole commented on the fact that the SAT’s have changed in that there is more of an emphasis on writing and that is not one of their strong points; he indicated that this is an area of concern.

Ms. Murray asked where do they go from here regarding the data they have received and when the principals will do further analysis on that data.

Dr. Corda said they begin to analyze the data as soon as the scores come in and the analysis of the data means that teachers have to look at the individual students. It will require more discussion across the grades and individual growth plans that are tied into the data analysis on the performance of students.

Ms. Murray said that she hoped the assistant principals would be playing a role in this.

Dr. Corda said they are fortunate in the assistant principals that they hired as they have very strong skills in language arts and they have already made their influence earlier on. With this kind of administrative staffing there is an opportunity for administrators to be in classroom much more so than in the past for the purpose of improving instruction.

PUBLIC COMMENT

No members of the public wished to comment this evening.

ACTIONS

A. CONSENT

Mr. Polley requested that the minutes of August 17, 2004 be removed from the consent calendar.

2. Personnel Actions

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

Mr. Cole left the meeting.

1. Minutes – August 17, 2004

** MR. VETTER MOVED APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF AUGUST 17, 2004 AS PRESENTED. ** MS. MURRAY SECONDED. ** MOTION PASSED FOUR VOTES IN FAVOR, THREE ABSTENTIONS (MR. POLLEY, MS. RIVAS, MS. HAMILTON).

B. APPROVAL OF THE NORWALK AQUATIC ZEUS SWIM TEAM CONTRACT

** MS. RIVAS MOVED: RESOLVED, UPON THE RECOMMENDATION OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, THAT THE BOARD OF EDUCATION APPROVE THE ATTACHED CONTRACT BETWEEN THE NORWALK BOARD OF EDUCATION AND THE NORWALK AQUATIC CLUB INC (ZEUS). ** MS. RIVERA SECONDED.

Ms. Bishop-Pullan mentioned that a team of people have been working on this including members of the Board, Parks and Recreations and Zeus noting that many issues have been worked out. She thanked all involved.

Mr. Cole re-joined the meeting – he added that he was uncomfortable with the contract at first but was pleased to see the way in which it had turned out.

Dr. Corda indicated that the draft form is not the form that the agreement will take. It is sent to Corporation Counsel and will be translated into the form that the City uses so it will look slightly different.

** MOTION PASSED SEVEN VOTES IN FAVOR, ONE ABSTENTION (MR. POLLEY).

C. APPROVAL OF “I HAVE A DREAM OF NORWALK, INC.” CONTRACT (WEST ROCKS)

** MS. MURRAY MOVED: RESOLVED, UPON THE RECOMMENDATION OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, THAT THE BOARD OF EDUCATION APPROVE THE ATTACHED CONTRACT FOR “I HAVE A DREAM OF NORWALK, INC.” PROGRAM AT WEST ROCKS MIDDLE SCHOOL. ** MS. RIVERA SECONDED.

Ms. Murray said this is a program that has given a great deal of service to the community in the past.

** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

INFORMATION AND REPORTS

A. OPENING OF SCHOOL

Dr. Corda indicated that the enrollment numbers at the elementary schools are fairly consistent with what was reported, however there are a number of areas that they will continue to monitor including grade 4 at Brookside and primary classes at Kendall. With regard to the construction going on at Brien McMahon High School, Dr. Corda said there have been challenges to the teachers and students but to their credit they seem to be managing well. He concluded by saying that the repair work at Ponus Ridge is on schedule.

B. FINANCIAL UPDATE 2003-2004

Dr. Corda distributed the Budget Reconciliation 2003-04 and went through the numbers. He referred to the surplus figure of $422,611 that will be set aside to offset the purchase of textbooks. Overall, Dr. Corda said with $422,611 left over this would indicate that they were 99% accurate – he gave credit to Mr. Opdahl and the Finance Department. This information will be forwarded to the Board of Estimate and Taxation next Monday and then to the Common Council.

Mr. Vetter referred to the cost of oil and asked if there was any contract that exists at the moment.

Mr. Opdahl replied that it is a floating contract at the moment, it is not at a fixed; he said they hoped to have one in place before long.

Mayor Knopp indicated that he looked forward to discussing this with the Board of Estimate and Taxation. He said he was fully supportive of putting the surplus into the textbook reserve as they are under a lot of pressure for next year. He said they have been trying to get a copy of this budget reconciliation for some time noting that the finance records show different end of year figures.

Dr. Corda referred back to his presentation of the financial update showing the Estimate Insurance Reserve Balance 2003-04 noting that this is a set aside for costs related to insurance. He said at the end of the year there is a reserve of just over $1 million. He said one of the questions they could ask is do they need to retain just over $1 million in reserve.

In terms of health insurance, Dr. Corda said there is a surplus of $1.3 million and if you add that to the previous balance this makes a total of $1.7 sitting in the reserve for health insurance purposes.

The next slide in the presentation Payment of Run Out to Cigna – Dr. Corda explained these are costs that have not yet been incurred but have been anticipated and this amount had been calculated by Cigna as $2.5 million; he noted that this is subject to revision. At the end of 24 months, when all of the claims have been made and this figure of $2.5 million has not been reached then what ever is left will come back to them.

Mayor Knopp said that the figures show that there was more of a surplus than $422,000 (for textbooks) and that surplus has been allocated to different things. A couple of meetings ago there was a report showing that there would be $1.3 million in surplus for the fiscal year and various portions of that have been spent. He referred to an item in the Budget Reconciliation 2003-04, the pre-purchasing of equipment noting that this is not really a reflection of accurate budgeting; it is a surplus that has spent, similarly for the Cigna pay down in that it is not a budgeted expense. Last year there was a $900,000 surplus in the budget and this year based on the figures handed out there is somewhere around a $1.3 million figure.

Dr. Corda said in going through the process of trying to deal with what they knew would be an impending reconciliation and it looked at though the opportunity to move to Anthem made sense, part of the challenge was trying to figure out how could they attend to the needs of the district.

Mayor Knopp agreed with the decisions made but said for accuracy and reporting it is a surplus of over $1 million.

Ms. Bishop-Pullan noted that this is only 1% of their entire budget.

Mr. Polley referred to Dr. Corda’s statement about Cigna refunding a portion of the $2.5 that is not spent. He asked if the money would be paid back with interest.

Dr. Corda said he did not know for sure but would guess that it would not because the number is fluid.

Mayor Knopp referred to the $700,000 in deferral saying that it was his understanding that the city’s accountants will frown on that approach, as it does not comport with generally accepted accounting principles to defer it and not count it as a current debt.

Dr. Corda said if this is viewed on a cash basis then the expense becomes real when the bill is delivered.

Mayor Knopp suggested that the auditors might take a different view.

Dr. Corda said on a self-funded plan this is done on a cash basis and there is no violation and this should be taken into account. The reserve fund is there and hopefully they will not have to tap into it.

C. ADMINISTRATIVE EVALUATION PLAN

Dr. Corda presented the following:

· School Leader Evaluation and Professional Development Plan · An opportunity to establish clear links · Teacher growth and student learning · What the plan contains · Based on Connecticut’s standards for schools leader and interstate school leader licensure consortium standards · Enhancing administrator’s professional practice · Each standard is divided into components and further divided areas of focus and knowledge of skills · Standards and components · Similar to teacher evaluation model · A rubric based model of observation and evaluation based on standards of professional practice that provides a consistency of language and understanding of both processes. · A rubric is a criteria that is used to assess the qualitative performance of a task · Specific rubrics for principals, assistant principals and housemasters and central office staff. · An example of definition of standards and components involved.

Dr. Corda stated that the Board will receive the plan in draft form and it will be presented for adoption at the next regular meeting. He continued with the presentation:

· Based on the students and the implementation of the school program growth plans. · Elements the model is based on

Lynn Massey asked is the standards are the same for teachers who are not proficient.

Dr. Corda replied that they were.

Ms. Massey asked about the incentives.

Dr. Corda explained about the incentives concluding by saying that they have to do with recognition and not going through the same process of observations.

Ms. Bishop-Pullan commented that this is another step on the ladder in moving forward.

D. BOARD MEMBER ANNOUNCEMENTS

Ms. Rivas stated that the Policy Committee have met to review the 32-60, the disposition of equipment and that they hope to bring something to the Board in the near future.

Mr. Cole said that the Ed Spec committee toured five schools that was very informative. He said their next meeting is September 15, 2004 adding that they now have two representatives from Gilbane.

Ms. Rivas stated that to celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month there will be a program on September 29, 2004 honoring Latinos who have been involved in public service – it will be held in the Community Room at 7:00 pm.

Ms. Murray said that Mr. Fuller is still in hospital but is improving slowly; she wished him well. She also stated that they intend to reconvene the Racial Balance meetings and go out to different parts of the community.

Mayor Knopp announced that the City has applied for a grant of $3.8 million from CHEFA to fund day care and school readiness expansions in Norwalk. He said they are unclear of the deadlines at the moment and have tried to get their application in early.

EXECUTIVE SESSION

** MR. POLLEY MOVED TO GO INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION FOR THE PURPOSE OF DISCUSSING NEGOTIATIONS AND LITIGATION UPDATE. ** MR. COLE SECONDED. ** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

The Board went into executive session at 9:35 pm and reconvened into public session at 9:53 pm. No action was taken.

** MS. RIVERA MOVED TO ADJOURN ** MR. COLE SECONDED ** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:54 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Kate Kye Telesco Secretarial Services

Category: Minutes