Board of Education Meeting Minutes

May 2, 2006

BOARD OF EDUCATION

MAY 2, 2006

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

STAFF: Dr. Salvatore Corda, Superintendent of Schools.

OTHERS: Linda Froshava (sp); Kenneth Martinelli; Lex Paulson.

I. CALL TO ORDER

Mr. Vetter called the meeting to order at 7:47 p.m.

II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

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

Before going on to the Spotlight, Dr. Corda introduced Ms. Linda Froshava (sp) from the Connecticut Science Supervisors Association.

Ms. Froshava remarked that she is a past president of the Connecticut Science Supervisors Association and that in less than a month she will be President of the National Science Teachers Association. She said their mission is to promote excellence and innovation in science teaching. She was here to acknowledge the Board for providing the budgetary concerns that will support a good science program and for hiring people in the school system who are fine people. Tonight she was here to recognize Dr. Kenneth Martinelli. Ms. Froshava presented Dr. Martinelli with the Fred Simone Award, named after the Connecticut Science Supervisor’s Association first president who was dedicated to science education.

Ms. Froshava also presented the same award to the Board of Education and said she believed they will be the only Board to have two of the plaques. She said the Connecticut Science Supervisors Association honors the long-term support of science education by the Norwalk Public Schools and the presentation was made in recognition of the reception of the Fred Simone Award for distinguished service and leadership in science education by Dr. Ken Martinelli, Science Supervisor.

III. SPOTLIGHT

Mr. Fuller read the Spotlight report into the record.

Mr. Vetter announced that Ms. Rivas has tendered her resignation as a Board of Education member due to family concerns. Mr. Vetter stated the Board will miss her and they thank her for her service.

IV. SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT

Dr. Corda stated that the agenda for tonight’s meeting acknowledges the contribution of our school nurses. He said there is a National School Nurses Recognition Day and he said it takes more than one day for that kind of acknowledgement because the school nurses do their job over the course of the school year. He was very much appreciative of the hard work and dedication it takes to excel in that position, and he wanted to take the opportunity to acknowledge the work of Norwalk’s nursing supervisor, Ms. Leah Turner, as well as all the other school nurses.

Dr. Corda said that April is also the month that the school secretaries are also acknowledged for the work they do. He said anyone who has been a building administrator knows that the glue that holds the school together is the secretarial staff that works in the office, and the same is true for those who work at the Central Office in that position. He said many times those in leadership positions get the recognition, but that they all know that without the support that they receive from these colleagues, they would not be successful in what they do. The way the secretaries handle the public; the information they provide to people; and the public face they present in representing the Norwalk School System is something the Board is most appreciative of, and he is delighted to recognize the work of all of their clerical support staff.

Dr. Corda said that the month of May has been set aside to recognize the contribution of teachers. For those of us who are in the administration, sometimes they forget the fact that they are first, teachers, and they should keep that mindset always in place. He said that, as teachers, they do the best they can for the students, and that needs to be the guiding question of their time, is this the best we can do for our kids? He said that the Norwalk Public Schools staff is an outstanding group of people who are dedicated to kids, and he wanted to acknowledge that as well.

Dr. Corda addressed a recent situation that has not only been all over the news, but has been all over the world. Dr. Corda stated that a student in a class using a pocket-sized video camera made a tape of comments that a teacher made in an interaction with a student. He said that the comments, from the dialog that was heard, were inappropriate and is not something they condone. He said that at times individuals make errors in judgment and say things they shouldn’t say.

What is most difficult about this situation is that the comments that are heard on the tape are inappropriate for a number of reasons. They are inappropriate because teachers should not interact with students in the way in which this teacher did. The comments are inappropriate also because of the enhanced sensitivity to the fact that we, as a society, are becoming much more cognizant that there are many differences that exist between people, and we have to be respectful of all of those differences. They will be dealing with the situation with the student who made the video because it was done without the knowledge of the people involved and it violates school policy and should not have been done; and they will also deal with the teacher to investigate whether or not what was visible was indeed accurate, and if it is they will deal with it in an appropriate way.

Dr. Corda said there have been comments on this situation on news stations; the newspapers have reported this story; and he has received many emails from different places around the world, literally, of people who have seen the video clip because it was put out over the Internet. He was saddened because this will give a false representation of Norwalk, and it is not Norwalk. His concern is that the positive contributions of a number of people who have been recognized tonight will be overshadowed by a story such as this. Dr. Corda said for the record that they are dealing with the situation and will do so until it comes to closure, and beyond that, that is all that he has to say.

V. PUBLIC COMMENT

No member of the public signed up to comment. Ms. Murray asked if there was anyone in attendance who wished to address the Board who did not sign up.

Mr. Lex Paulson spoke to the Board about the Keys program that he volunteers with. The Keys program is new to town and is an education program begun by a local jazz musician. The goal of the program is to provide professional music lessons and instruments to kids who would not otherwise have the opportunity to afford them. Currently the program is working with the Columbus School in Bridgeport. They provide services during the day, and are looking to expand into the Norwalk school system. Mr. Paulson was here tonight to invite the Board to the organization’s first event, a benefit concert at the Silvermine Tavern, which will be held Friday evening at 9:00 p.m.

VI. ACTIONS

A. Consent

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

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

B. Approval of minutes (April 4, 2006)

Corrections to the minutes of April 4, 2006 are as follows: Page 1, IV, Resume Public Meeting, first sentence, delete “and Gregory Burnett.” Page 2, VIII. Actions, after item B, change sentence to read, “Dr. Corda asked the Board members to submit the list of corrections to his office.” Delete the following sentence entirely.

** MR. FULLER MOTIONED TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE APRIL 4, 2006 MEETING AS CORRECTED. ** MS. HAMILTON SECONDED. ** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

C. Approval of curriculum – Physical Education

** MS. HAMILTON MOTIONED TO APPROVE THE PHYSICAL EDUCATION CURRICULUM. ** MR. FULLER SECONDED. ** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

D. Approval of curriculum – Health

** MR. FULLER MOTIONED TO APPROVE THE HEALTH CURRICULUM. ** MS. HAMILTON SECONDED. ** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

VII. INFORMATION & REPORTS

A. Second Semester Class Size Report

Dr. Corda stated that the Board receives this report twice a year, and what it does is to identify those particular classes where they may be exceeding the contractual requirements and the steps they have taken to address that.

B. Proposal for Norwalk High School Student Support

Dr. Corda said this was a proposal that has been made on behalf of Norwalk High School to run a pilot program that is designed to provide support to youngsters in order for them to maintain the academic average that is necessary to be academically available according to Norwalk standards, for participation in scholastic athletics.

Dr. Corda said the difference between this pilot and the administration of the Board’s policy as it presently stands is this: under the current policy, at the end of a semester, the youngster’s GPA is used to determine his eligibility during the entire sports season, whether or not that youngster improves his GPA during the sports season is irrelevant to his or her ability to participate. What the pilot program does is to provide the opportunity for the GPA to be monitored on a weekly basis, so if the youngster has been able to raise his GPA to the Norwalk standard for eligibility, that youngster will be eligible to participate in interscholastic athletics. It provides academic support and certain conditions the youngster must adhere to; but if the youngster adheres to the conditions, and his or her GPA exceeds the Norwalk standard, that youngster will be eligible to play. The motivation for that is, if a youngster is serious about playing and recognizes that he must maintain the GPA, this is a motivation for the student to apply him or herself because the GPA will be monitored over the course of the semester as opposed to the decision being made exclusively on what the GPA was at the end of the last marking period.

Mr. Kimmel said he had some questions about the implementation. He was concerned about how the grade average would be monitored, saying that at the beginning of a sports season a student could get into a program and then his grades would be monitored weekly. What happens when the grades fall below the standard and the student is already on a team? If the student drops below the GPA, he’s off the team. Dr. Corda said this was correct. Mr. Kimmel asked what the team would do at that point. Dr. Corda said this is something they need to get answers to, but it seemed to him that the youngster would remain ineligible until the next time the grades are accessed. Mr. Kimmel said that this is the problem, if they adopt this policy, then the team coach will turn around and say he can’t wait a week or two weeks or whatever the time period may be, and have to replace the student on the team.

Mr. Fuller said that as a coach himself, it was his point of view that this policy would affect very few students, and those who were marginal team members in the first place. He said this program was designed to keep kids in school. Mr. Fuller suggested that the program be initiated at both high schools. Ms. Murray said she thinks the program should be a preventative measure earlier in the school year. The Board briefly discussed the issues involved. Dr. Corda said this topic will come back at the next Board meeting. He recommended that the Board then endorse the program.

C. Textbook adoption for new courses – Science and Society and BioTechology

Dr. Kenneth Martinelli gave a brief presentation about the proposed new textbook BioTechnology and asked the Board to please consider adopting it. Dr. Martinelli also briefly discussed Science and Society, which is about how science gets translated into technology.

D. Board Members Announcements

Mr. Polley recommended that the Board members view the new movie, “Akeela and the Bee” and said he found it very inspiring.

Ms. Bishop-Pullan said that she sits on the committee for the Center for Global Studies and informed the Board that the enrollment for the next school year was impressive, with the amount of students numbering between 180 and 190. She said the addition of Arabic language to the curriculum has been a large attraction for students.

Mr. Vetter reminded the Board that the musical “Carousel” will be performed at Norwalk High School on Saturday and Sunday.

Ms. Bishop-Pullan stated that the Brien McMahon High School Drama Club will present Comedy Scattina on Thursday and Friday at 7:30 pm.

VIII. ADJOURNMENT

** MS. MURRAY MOTIONED TO ADJOURN THE MEETING. ** MS. HAMILTON SECONDED. ** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:46 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Linda J. Hayes Telesco Secretarial Services

Category: Minutes