Norwalk Board of Education Meeting Minutes

October 18, 2005

BOARD OF EDUCATION

OCTOBER 18, 2005

ATTENDANCE: Rosa Murray, Chairman; Rob Polley; Bruce Kimmel; Maria Rivera; Thomas Vetter; Jody Bishop-Pullan; Richard Fuller; Judith Rivas (7:54); Susan Hamilton (7:49).

STAFF: Dr. Salvatore Corda, Superintendent of Schools.

OTHERS: Stuart Opdahl

I. CALL TO ORDER

Ms. Murray called the meeting to order at 7:46 p.m.

II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

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

III. SPOTLIGHT

Mr. Vetter reported that in September Dr. Corda encouraged the schools to participate in an activity for the living as a remembrance for those who died on Sept.11. Local 371 UFCW and the Fairfield County Labor Council spearheaded a Relief Kit Campaign. Each child was asked to bring in a clear 12x12 Ziploc bag filled with the assorted items including toothpaste, toothbrush, band-aids, etc. Each child was encouraged to write a simple note telling the recipient that we are thinking of them. They could sign their name and the name of the school they attend. Naramake School collected one hundred eighty-five kits and Nathan Hale Middle School raised $3,664.00 from student, parent and faculty contributions for the hurricane relief effort in collaboration with Peale C. Anderson Middle School in Dallas, TX which has taken more than 60 new students from New Orleans, and the money raised will go directly to student need.

The district received an emailed message from a resident of Pascagoula, Mississippi, Ms. Karen Joplin, who commented, “Just a quick note of thanks and praise for your school system, faculty and students.” Ms. Joplin commented that she was employed by the City of Pascagoula and visited the Central Fire station to get relief supplies, which is how she received the relief kit, and wanted Norwalk to know that she, and others, felt more relief through the messages of support than from the actual kits themselves. She asked that her thanks be passed specifically to Norwalk students Nicholas Schwartz of Silvermine School, Natasha Khokhar of Naramake School, and Juliana of Nathan Hale and said she would cherish their notes always.

IV. SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT

Dr. Corda said his brief report tonight was part of the annual information he provides to the Board and concerned enrollment in the public schools. He said the information would tell them not only how many students are enrolled but what the students looked like.

Dr. Corda presented a slide showing enrollment by grade across the district. He said there was nothing remarkable about the numbers in terms of the fluctuations that have taken place. If you take a look at the enrollment of students through Kindergarten to the sixth grade, there have been about 800 to 850 students. He said that at the elementary level they have factored it and believe it will remain level; they don’t anticipate any spikes in the number of students. And now when grades seven and eight are looked at, the bulge of students from the elementary grades are now beginning to move into the middle and high schools. Dr. Corda said he would discuss the implications of this information is, down the road. Essentially the elementary numbers remain flat, but the secondary represents the increase in enrollment that has taken place over the past few years that had been originally seen at the elementary level.

He said that in looking at the Kindergarten enrollment you can see that there are 849 Kindergarten students, 847 first grade students, 820 in second grade, 850 in third grade, the numbers are relatively flat. These numbers are used as a departure point for asking what kind of meaning can be attached to this information. As a basis for beginning, look at the Kindergarten enrollment comparison between 2004 and 2005. The 2004 Kindergarten is this year’s coming first grade. There is a jump of more than fifty students from this year’s Kindergarten compared to last year’s Kindergarten. What does this mean?

Dr. Corda went on to explain that the administration checks the live birth data and uses it as a basis to average out the projected number of students in five-year increments. For example, babies born in 2005 would be entering Kindergarten in 2010. From the live birth data they can estimate how many students to expect to enroll in 2010. This information can also be compared going backwards as well. A spike in live births can possibly be seen as an explanation for the larger enrollment of students in certain years. Dr. Corda said the ratio between live births and the number of students who enroll in Kindergarten is about 65 percent, so if the live births were 1,000 children, they’d see 650 of those children, on an average, showing up in Kindergarten.

Enrollment in Cranbury was higher than the other schools in the district by 32 students. Dr. Corda said this could be an aberration but there wasn’t yet enough information to determine this. That they may have shown up in the Cranbury area is something they have to speculate about. He said this could also be caused by an increase in construction, houses or condominiums, which might explain the higher numbers. It could be accidental or something they haven’t picked up on yet. He said if they look at the difference in enrollment on a school-by-school basis, it’s only a difference of 32 students, but if you look at the percentages, it’s a difference of about one third, so it’s relatively comparable. Dr. Corda said Jefferson went up 20 students which was about 20 percent, so in terms of looking at it as a percentage basis, the increase at Cranbury does jump out, but as far as the rest of the schools go, there is nothing remarkable about the numbers that suggests there are concerns. He said he would become concerned if they saw an enrollment like this at Cranbury again, because if this trend were to continue, this school, with five sections in each grade, would have to be expanded in order to accommodate the enrollment.

Mr. Kimmel asked if the increased enrollment at Cranbury was creating a concern at the moment, were there enough teachers and classrooms. Dr. Corda said he wasn’t sure if there were five classrooms of comparable size or if they differ significantly in size from the others, but he hasn’t heard from the principal that there are any anticipated or experienced problems. Dr. Corda explained that as far as predicting enrollment is concerned, they do look at the live birth records to see whether or not there are any trends they have to pay attention to. At this point in time, it appears as though the Kindergarten enrollment is starting to stabilize.

Dr. Corda said from looking at this information they can see where they may be three or four years down the road, and have made projections using middle school numbers to the year 2008. Then they compared the information from what they project to 2008 to the actual enrollment of 2005-2006. Assuming the classes move forward in the same size they are now, in 2008-2009, they can see how many students are projected to enroll in the high schools. This gives them the opportunity to plan if more teachers are needed, if other staff needs to increase, and which schools would require more in the way of supplies and services. Dr. Corda hoped that everyone would leave the meeting understanding the way in which he uses this data to determine what needs to be done for the future.

V. PUBLIC COMMENTS

Ms. Bishop-Pullan stated that there were no members of the public signed up to speak. She asked if there were any members of the public who hadn’t signed up that would like to address the Board.

Mr. Frank Nash of Parkview Road addressed the Board. He has twin daughters who attend Rowayton Elementary School and he wanted to comment that the school has experienced a 43% increase in student enrollment. He stated he had emailed Mr. Opdahl with some questions and wanted the Board to know how pleased he was with Mr. Opdahl’s reaction. As someone who has contacted the Board previously, he wanted to congratulate the administration regarding their quick response.

Mr. Len Kenowitz of Cranbury said he also had twins who were currently seniors at Norwalk High School. He reported that when he attended a recent Parents Night at the school, he could not hear the teacher speak due to the volume of noise coming from the heating or air conditioning element in the room. He brought his concerns to the teacher who said she had been dealing with the situation for years, and directed him to speak with the school principal. He reported he also contacted the Superintendent’s office and received no response from them. He asked the Board to please address the issue and provided copies of email messages he had sent to the Superintendent’s office and NHS.

Ms. Bishop-Pullan welcomed members of Norwalk Community College who were in attendance this evening, sitting in on the meeting and hoped the meeting was informative for them.

VI. ACTIONS

A. Approval of field trip(s) ** MR. VETTER MOVED TO APPROVE THE FIELD TRIP(S). ** MR. FULLER SECONDED. ** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

B. Approval of Personnel Actions

** MS. BISHOP-PULLAN MOVED TO APPROVE THE PERSONNEL ACTIONS. ** MS. RIVERA SECONDED. ** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

C. Approval of Minutes (October 6, 2005)

** MS. RIVAS MOVED TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE OCTOBER 6, 2005 MEETING AS WRITTEN. ** MR. FULLER SECONDED. ** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

D. Approval of “I Have a Dream” use of school facilities

** MS. HAMILTON MOVED TO APPROVE THE USE OF SCHOOL FACILITIES BY THE “I HAVE A DREAM” ORGANIZATION. ** MR. FULLER SECONDED. ** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

VIL. INFORMATION & REPORTS

A. Board Members Announcements

There were no announcements.

VIII. DISCUSSION OF C.O. ADMINISTRATOR’S CONTRACT (EXECUTIVE SESSION ANTICIPATED)

** MR. POLLEY MOVED THAT THE BOARD GO INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION TO DISCUSS THE C.O. ADMINISTRATOR’S CONTRACT. ** MS. RIVERA SECONDED. ** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

The Board went into Executive Session at 8:27 p.m.

IX. ADJOURNMENT

The meeting was adjourned at

Respectfully submitted,

Linda J. Hayes

Telesco Secretarial Services

Category: Minutes