Board of Education Meeting Minutes

January 10, 2006

ATTENDANCE: Thomas Vetter, Chairman; Rosa Murray; Rob Polley; Bruce Kimmel; Jody Bishop-Pullan; Greg Burnett; Richard Fuller; Susan Hamilton; Judy Rivas.

STAFF: Dr. Salvatore Corda, Superintendent of Schools.

OTHERS: Tami Green, BSN, NCSN, President CHCA Chapter; Angela Vicenzi, EdD, NCSN, Vice-President CHCA Chapter; Bruce Mellion, NFT.

I. CALL TO ORDER

Mr. Vetter called the meeting to order at 7:49 p.m.

II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

Mr. Vetter led the Board in the Pledge of Allegiance.

III. SPOTLIGHT

Mr. Fuller reported BMHS Senior Shaleza Guytan won the first place award of $2,300 in the statewide Junior Ushers Association Oratorial contest. Ms. Guytan was informed about the contest through Mt. Zion Baptist Church. She won the Norwalk competition first, becoming the representative of the Fairfield unit at the state level, where she competed against winners from other areas of Connecticut. The competitors were requested to compose and memorize a six to eight minute speech on the topic of a turning point in your life. Judges’ considerations included grammar, pronunciation and overall presentation.

NHS Senior Ray Vetter has been offered admission to the United States Military Academy at West Point. Mr. Vetter, second in his class, has also applied to several other prominent schools including Duke University. Mr. Vetter is involved in a number of school activities including marching band and track.

IV. PUBLIC COMMENTS

Mr. Bruce Mellion of the NFT addressed the Board with comments regarding the 2006-07 Operating Budget.

Ms. Tami Green, President, CHCA and Dr. Angela Vicenzi, Vice President, CHCA distributed a letter to the Board, which they read into the record, reiterating requests to be made on behalf of School Nurses for the 2006-07 Operating Budget. These requests included a full time Substitute/Float Nurse position, medical supplies and equipment for all schools, as well as requests for technology, including updated computers with sound cards and color printers for each health office and server-based SNAP Individualized Heath Care Plan software. The letter also requested an allocation to be given to each school, which could be administered by each principal, to be used for teaching and health materials specific to that school.

V. ACTIONS

A. Consent

1. Approval of personnel actions 2. Approval of budget transfers

** MS. HAMILTON MOVED TO APPROVE THE CONSENT ACTIONS. ** MS. MURRAY SECONDED. ** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

B. Approval of Minutes (December 6, 2005)

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

C. Approve appointments to the District Ed. Spec. Committee

** MS. MURRAY MOVED TO APPROVE THE APPOINTMENT OF MR. BURNETT TO THE DISTRICT ED. SPEC. COMMITTEE. ** MS. HAMILTON SECONDED. ** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

D. Approval of Field Trip – Brien McMahon H.S. CGS to Japan

Mr. Vetter suggested approval of Agenda Items D through I as they were all for various field trips. Mr. Kimmel requested that Agenda Item F be approved separately from the rest of the field trip items.

** MR. KIMMEL MOVED TO APPROVE ALL FIELD TRIP ITEMS D, E, G, H AND I IN ONE MOTION, WITH ITEM F TO BE TAKEN SEPARATELY. ** MS. BISHOP-PULLAN SECONDED.

Mr. Vetter called for discussion. Mr. Polley inquired about the necessity of adding a statement to the field trips motion concerning possible future changes to the political climate, which could affect the ability to proceed with the field trips. Mr. Vetter said that he didn’t think the Board needed to include this information as the students and their families were advised of these concerns at the time information about the field trips was distributed to them.

** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

F. Approval of field trip – Brien McMahon H.S. ROTC to West Point, NY

** MS. BISHOP-PULLAN MOVED TO APPROVE THE FIELD TRIP. ** MR. FULLER SECONDED. ** MOTION PASSED WITH ONE ABSTENTION (MR. KIMMEL).

J. Approve changing 2006 elementary evening conference date

** MS. HAMILTON MOVED TO APPROVE THE CHANGE OF DATE. ** MR. BURNETT SECONDED. ** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

K. Approval of final plans and professional cost estimate for the Kendall project Phase III Project #103-0229EA

** MR. FULLER MOVED TO APPROVE THE FINAL PLANS AND COST ESTIMATE FOR PROJECT #103-0229EA. ** MS. HAMILTON SECONDED.

Mr. Vetter called for discussion on the item. Mr. Kimmel stated he wondered how the Board arrived at the numbers for the items in the estimate. Mr. Opdahl explained the process.

** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

L. Approval of Superintendent to execute and deliver HOT Schools contract for Columbus Magnet School

** MR. FULLER MOVED TO APPROVE THE EXECUTION AND DELIVERY OF THE HOT SCHOOLS CONTRACT. ** MS. RIVAS SECONDED.

Mr. Polley stated he thought there were other HOT Schools in Norwalk. Dr. Corda explained that at this time Columbus Magnet School was the only school with the HOT Schools contract.

** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

M. Approve Superintendent’s 2006-2007 Operating Budget

Dr. Corda gave a brief overview of the Proposed Operating Budget for 2006-2007, commenting that as the Board had spent quite a lot of time discussing the budget at the January 4 meeting, he was not going to belay the subject again tonight. He presented his figures and briefly explained what he felt were the highlights of the budget to the Board.

** MR. FULLER MOTIONED TO APPROVE THE 2006-2007 OPERATING BUDGET AS PRESENTED. ** MR. KIMMEL SECONDED. ** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

N. Approve Superintendent’s 2006-2007 Capital Budget

Mr. Ralph Valenzisi, Instructional Technology Specialist, gave a presentation on the Norwalk Public Schools Educational Technology Expenditures. He outlined the plans for expenditures, which included the elementary, secondary and high schools as well as district-wide programs. The reasons behind the budget requests were because of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act which requires all students be technologically proficient by the 8th grade, takes into consideration student access and engagement, and the fact that students need to be prepared to be able to use the tools they will live with in the “digital age.”

Mr. Valenzisi stated that data was gathered through holding meetings with school principals about their needs and by the use of pilot programs to help guide what is necessary to meet the technology integration needs in the school system. For elementary schools, the current status is that all 4th and 5th grade classrooms have six computers and tools to integrate the technology into the classroom, as well as the opportunity for professional development for all 4th and 5th grade teachers. Projected for the 2006-07 budget is the ability to refresh the older technology so that labs are more reliable.

In the middle schools, the current status states that there is not enough access for students as there are only 1-2 labs per building. In the budget for the 2006-07 school year, we are requesting to add wireless laptop labs to increase the student access in core curriculum areas so technology can be integrated into the classroom instruction, and give teachers tools to be able to use the technology as a tool in the classroom, such as projectors, for example.

Needs for the high schools include updating the labs that currently exist. Mr. Valenzisi said that computers were added for the teachers this year, and calls for an update for all high school labs in all academia areas for 2006-07.

Mr. Valenzisi said that District initiatives will include library automation at all schools for the 2006-07 school year, a pilot of the process of automation with Ponus and Wolfpit school for the 2005-06 school year, and that they are also looking to add other online research tools for all middle and high schools.

Mr. Valenzisi stated that the way to reach these goals will include replacing the mobile labs at all elementary schools, adding computers to the middle schools, replacing the high school labs, automate all school libraries and add teacher tools for the delivery of instruction through the use of technology. In order to do this, the leasing of equipment has been suggested. The District is also evaluating data from the 5th and 8th grade technology proficiencies to decide if we are meeting goals and how to better deliver the technology proficiency to the students. Also, continued teacher professional development is a necessity. Also under consideration are teacher web pages, use of the www.npsteachers.org website, and an online course portal for teachers and students.

** MS. MURRAY MOTIONED TO ACCEPT THE 2006-2007 CAPITAL BUDGET AS PRESENTED. ** MR. KIMMEL SECONDED. ** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

VI. INFORMATION & REPORTS

A. Board Members Announcements Ms. Murray announced that on Monday, January 16, 2006, in observance of Dr. Martin Luther King Day, several programs would be taking place and she invited the Board’s attendance. She stated there will be a breakfast at Calvary Baptist Church at 8:00 a.m.; a workshop at West Rocks School at 10:00 a.m.; and a commemorative event at the Norwalk Concert Hall at 7:00 p.m.

Ms. Murray also invited the Board to attend an Educational Forum on January 26, 2006 at the Bethel AME Church.

Mr. Vetter announced that there would be no Executive Session this evening as was shown on the agenda. He called for a motion to adjourn.

IX. ADJOURNMENT

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

The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Linda J. Hayes Telesco Secretarial Services

Category: Minutes