Board of Education Meeting Minutes

September 6, 2005

BOARD OF EDUCATION

SEPTEMBER 6, 2005

ATTENDANCE: Rosa Murray, Chairman; Rob Polley; Bruce Kimmel; Jody Bishop-Pullan; Richard Fuller; Judith Rivas; Susan Hamilton, Tom Vetter

STAFF: Dr. Salvatore Corda, Superintendent of Schools.

OTHERS: Sharon Cadden, Parents for Norwalk High School.

I. CALL TO ORDER

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

II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

Ms. Murray led the Board in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Mr. Fuller asked the Board and the public to observe a moment of silence for the victims of Hurricane Katrina, and for the passing of Mr. Jack Quell, husband of Board member Theresa Quell.

III. SPOTLIGHT

Mr. Vetter reported on Ms. Emily Lavins, a West Rocks Middle School student who was chosen to design the internet safety logo for Children’s Connection. The design was created in Adobe Photoshop and depicts an important message regarding internet safety: “You never know exactly who you are talking with online, and to be very careful not to post personal information.” Mr. Vetter reported that Ms. Lavins has participated in the artistically talented program since third grade. In addition, she plays saxophone in the jazz band and viola in the orchestra. The Children’s Connection of Fairfield County, Inc. is an accredited child advocacy center funded by partially by the State of CT Dept. of Children and Families and is a program of the Human Services Council. This important agency provides prevention and protection services in order to combat neglect and abuse of children and to strengthen families.

IV. SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT

Dr. Corda said that with respect to the concern everyone in the community is feeling and that Mr. Fuller has alluded to in dealing with the tragedy that has occurred in New Orleans, the school district has taken the position that any family from any of the affected states, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, who have family in Norwalk and who will be sending their children to reside temporarily in Norwalk until their own lives are sorted out will be treated as residents of the Norwalk Public School districts. He said the students are welcome and they will do everything they can to make them as comfortable as possible and to provide some degree of normality in their lives as far as their education is concerned. He said in instances where youngsters transfer into the system, the normal procedure is to wait until the child’s school records have arrived before the child is admitted, but in this case, whether or not records may be unavailable is questionable, so the child will be accepted first and then they will work to acquire the records. Dr. Corda said there will be certain procedures that they will put into place to safeguard against those that do not fall into that category coming into the system, but they feel that those procedures are in place. Dr. Corda stated they will be welcoming these affected children into the school system and he knows the community will do the same.

Dr. Corda said that, in addition, there has been discussion within the schools as to how the school children can extend themselves, and this is being worked on. He gave as example students at Brien McMahon High School who are gathering supplies to be sent to the affected areas, and he suspected that similar activities will be taking place throughout the schools. Dr. Corda said it was sad in a way to note that in the past week he had an inquiry as to how the schools will be remembering those who lost their lives on 9/11, and essentially the response is that the kindest and noblest way to honor the dead was to honor the living. He said the goal is to reach out to those who have survived this terrible tragedy and out of respect for the memory of those who lost their lives on 9/11 they are extending themselves to those whose lives were affected by Hurricane Katrina. Dr. Corda reported that he just came from the Board of Estimate meeting where by formal resolution they authorized the expenditure of the $550,000 that the Board had returned to the City to support the operating budget. He said he left before the resolution but he fully expected it to be adopted that authorized the additional $300,000 that was returned as surplus will be returned to be used for the schools’ security officers. He said they are looking forward to the implementation of school resource officers who think that will be a welcome addition to the secondary schools in support of the students as well as maintaining the level of security that they wish.

Dr. Corda reported that 72 of the 77 teaching vacancies have been filled. All elementary school vacancies are filled, and of the five remaining vacancies, two of them will not become available until mid-year, so there are only three positions left to be filled and he expects them to be filled shortly. In addition to that, later the Board will be adopting a resolution that will appoint an Assistant Principal at West Rocks, which he will go into more detail about later in the meeting.

Dr. Corda reported that with respect to class size, although a formal report is not yet ready to be presented to the Board, at this point, although they must recognize that enrollments still will fluctuate over the next week, there are approximately fifteen classes in the elementary schools out of all elementary school classes where they exceed contractual limitations, almost without exception only by one student, although in some cases there are two. He said he was reluctant to give specifics at this point because this was very preliminary information and that there would be more solid information in another week or two and at that time he would then extend a report to the Board. Mr. Kimmel asked if these were projections or actual bodies in the classroom. Dr. Corda said they were registered students, the bodies may not be in the classes but they have formally registered so they are being treated as if they are students in attendance. He said if they have a student that is registered but who does not arrive within the first week or so, usually a telephone call is made to see if the child is still residing in Norwalk and if not, they find out where the child is. Usually they get a request to send records if a family has moved. He said in about a week or so they will begin making the follow-up phone calls to registered children who have not yet arrived in school.

Dr. Corda gave a presentation on the performance of the students on the CAPT tests. He indicated that there is a gap and stated where the focus is needed is on minimum proficiency versus where the results should be. He indicated that more students in the subgroups are performing at higher levels but that the levels need to be brought to 100 percent proficiency. Dr. Corda indicated that now, in order to graduate, a student must pass the CAPT test. He said that more students are taking the tests and more students are passing them. Dr. Corda said that in reading, progress is being made and there has been a substantial increase in every subgroup but they have not closed the gap although they are gaining. He said they see an increase in performance from students who participate in the reduced lunch program. They are not seeing progress in math as much as in other areas. In science, there is an increase in Norwalk students overall, but again, a significant increase in students participating in the lunch program over students who are not participating in the program. He sees the same kind of increases in reading and writing, which he pointed out, takes the myth that “poor kids can’t do it” and proves there is no truth in it.

Dr. Corda said the most significant increase has been in Special Education. Math had the most dramatic change with a drop in performance. He said that some youngsters in science have improved and the percentage was over 40 percent.

Mr. Fuller said the Board should give credit to Dr. Corda and that the increases reflect his tenure and that he deserves credit for the improvements and change in climate and attitude.

V. PUBLIC COMMENTS

Ms. Murray recognized Ms. Sharon Cadden, Parents for Norwalk High School. Ms. Cadden wanted the Board to know that she and the parents in this organization were disappointed that at a previous meeting when she had addressed the Board at length regarding issues concerning the Norwalk High School project, none of their questions and comments were addressed at that time. Ms. Cadden asked if she could submit a list of questions to the Board via email in order to receive answers. She stated that, in addition to the previous comments made at that meeting, there was a lack of seating in the school cafeteria which forced many students to eat standing up, and not enough time for students to eat. She also suggested that, since Norwalk High School’s colors were green and white, that the school be painted and tiled in these colors so as to help improve school spirit. Ms. Cadden added that the traffic flow in the hallways needs to be adjusted and reported that an elevator broke down which forced a student on crutches attempting to get from class to class to become stuck twice in one day. Ms. Bishop-Pullan and Dr. Corda requested that Ms. Cadden send her list of questions and concerns to their attention so they could be addressed.

VI. ACTIONS

A. CONSENT ** MS. RIVAS MOVED TO APPROVE THE CONSENT ITEMS. ** MR. FULLER SECONDED. ** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

1. Approval of Minutes (August 16, 2005)

Page 2, V. Public Comments, 1st sentence; change “Ms. Murray” to “Ms. Bishop-Pullan” Page 4, top of page, first motion; change to read: “Motion passed with two abstentions (Mr. Fuller, Mr. Polley)” Page 4, VII. Information and Reports, A. Fund Balance 2004-2005; correct spelling of Stuart Updahl to “Opdahl” Page 5, top of page, second paragraph; add “in the future” to the end of the sentence. Page 5, last paragraph, 7th line down, change “It was pointed out” to read “Mayor Knopp pointed out…” Page 5, last paragraph, 9th line, add “for category 5 and 6 cable wire” after the word “infrastructure”

** MS. BISHOP-PULLAN MOVED TO ACCEPT THE MINUTES OF THE AUGUST 16, 2005 MEETING AS AMENDED. ** MR. FULLER SECONDED. ** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

2. Approval of Personnel Actions

** MR. POLLEY MOVED TO APPROVE PERSONNEL ACTIONS. ** MR. VETTER SECONDED. ** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

3. Approval of Final Plans and Professional Cost Estimate for the Columbus Elementary SDE Project No. 103-0234 A/EC No vote was taken at this time.

4. Approval of Final Plans and Professional Cost Estimate for the Tracey Elementary SDE Project No. 103-0235 A/EC

No vote was taken at this time.

B. APPROVE SUPPORT OF THE STATE OF CONNECTICUT’S NCLB PENDING LAWSUIT AGAINST THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

** MR. FULLER MOVED TO APPROVE SUPPORT OF THE PENDING LAWSUIT. ** MS. HAMILTON SECONDED. ** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

C. APPROVE EXPANSION OF THE SILVERMINE SCHOOL MANO-A-MANO PROGRAM

** MS. BISHOP-PULLAN MOVED TO APPROVE EXPANSION OF THE SILVERMINE SCHOOL MANO-A-MANO PROGRAM. ** MR. FULLER SECONDED. ** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

VIL. INFORMATION & REPORTS

A. Discussion of hourly rental rates

Dr. Corda reported that there will be a deficit in fuel-related costs due to the price increases from Hurricane Katrina. He said he will have more information at the next meeting regarding this issue. There was some discussion about heating of the high schools. Ms. Sharon Cadden, Parents of Norwalk High School, suggested students could wear sweaters and dress in layers in order to keep the heat regulated at a lower temperature. She also pointed out that there have been problems in Norwalk High School where in some rooms the heat was unregulated and was either not high enough, or too high, and if this was corrected there might be a cost savings for the school system.

B. Board Members Announcements

Ms. Bishop-Pullan announced the PTO Council meeting would be held on the fourth Monday, September 26th, in Room A300 at 7:30 p.m. She stated that any interested members of the Board were welcome to attend.

VIII. ADJOURNMENT

** MR. POLLEY MOVED TO ADJOURN THE MEETING. ** MR. VETTER SECONDED. ** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:35 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Linda J. Hayes Telesco Secretarial Services

Category: Minutes