Board of Education Meeting Minutes

June 6, 2006

ATTENDANCE: Thomas Vetter, Chairman; Rosa Murray; Rob Polley; Jody Bishop-Pullan; Richard Fuller; Bruce Kimmel; Gregory Burnett; Mayor Richard A. Moccia (9:35).

STAFF: Dr. Salvatore Corda, Superintendent of Schools.

OTHERS: Dr. Karen Lang; Ralph Valenzisi; Sharon Cadden; Shirley Mosby; Bob McKeon; Linda Sumpter; Joe Velucci; Lynne Moore; Mike Rafferty; Ken Martinelli; John Keogh; Mary Peniston.

I. CALL TO ORDER

Mr. Vetter called the meeting to order at 7:50 p.m.

II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

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

III. SPOTLIGHT

Mr. Fuller read the Spotlight report into the record.

IV. SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT

Dr. Corda stated in light of the fact that there were two presentations on the agenda, he did not have a report.

V. PUBLIC COMMENT

Ms. Sharon Cadden and Ms. Shirley Mosby of the Norwalk High School Building Advisory Committee gave a brief overview of the Building Advisory Committee they had just had, which was not a full committee meeting but more parents and some of the key players on the committee. At this point they are still waiting for the bid on the mechanical package and the bid for roofing & siding. Until they get the bids in, they won’t have a firm idea of where the project stands. Ms. Cadden said they are hoping the bids come in on cost, and are looking at needing an additional $1.2 million dollars to cover all of the items on their list. She said there are some options for finding funds to complete the NHS project. Some of this will come from the reallocation from other projects. Ms. Cadden said this is something they may have to come back before the BOE to discuss in July. Overall it was a good meeting.

Ms. Cadden said that the reason behind the need for further funds is because building materials costs are going up. The copper, steel and other building materials have come in at costs higher than anticipated. The project is moving forward and they are taking a part of the package to the NFCC and Building and Land Use, and then to the Common Council in order that the project not be held up.

VI. ACTIONS

A. Consent

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

** MS. MURRAY MOTIONED TO APPROVE THE CONSENT ITEMS. ** MR. POLLEY SECONDED. ** MOTION PASSED WITH ONE ABSTENTION (MR. KIMMEL).

B. Approval of Minutes (May 16, 2006)

** MR. BURNETT MOTIONED TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE MAY 16, 2006 MEETING AS PRESENTED. ** MR. FULLER SECONDED. ** MOTION PASSED WITH ONE ABSTENTION (MR. KIMMEL).

C. Approval of regulations 5141.3 Health Assignments and Immunizations

** MS. BISHOP-PULLAN MOTIONED TO APPROVE THE REGULATION 5141.3 HEALTH ASSIGNMENTS AND IMMUNIZATIONS. ** MS. MURRAY SECONDED. ** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

D. NEON/SNCC Use of BMHS kitchen and delivery vehicles

Mr. Vetter said this is a renewal of what had been done in prior years. Mr. Polley asked if this would go back to Columbus after the construction was completed. Dr. Corda said yes.

** MS. BISHOP-PULLAN MOTIONED TO APPROVE THE USE OF BMHS KITCHEN AND DELIVERY VEHICLES. ** MR. FULLER SECONDED. ** MOTION PASSED WITH ONE ABSTENTION (MR. KIMMEL)

E. Approve participation in the Brighter Futures Program

** MS. MURRAY MOTIONED TO APPROVE PARTICIPATION IN THE PROGRAM. ** MR. FULLER SECONDED. ** MOTION PASSED WITH ONE ABSTENTION (MR. KIMMEL)

F. Approval of authorization for Superintendent to hire instructional staff, other than administrators, during the summer.

Mr. Polley asked if it were true that there were more applicants than available jobs this year, as this is what he is hearing. Dr. Corda said he thought it was true, but was also subject-specific. He said that the positions for housemaster or assistant principal position would be a determination that the Superintendent makes and the position does not require the BOE interview.

** MS. BISHOP-PULLAN MOTIONED TO APPROVE THE AUTHORIZATION FOR THE SUPERINTENDENT TO HIRE INSTRUCTIONAL STAFF DURING THE SUMMER. ** MR. BURNETT SECONDED. ** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

G. NEON/SNCC Use of Roton Middle School for summer camp

** MS. MURRAY MOTIONED TO AUTHORIZE THE USE OF ROTON MIDDLE SCHOOL FOR SUMMER CAMP. ** MR. FULLER SECONDED. ** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

VII. INFORMATION & REPORTS

A. Middle school report

Dr. Corda introduced Dr. Lang, who gave a report on the middle schools. She said that she has worked with principals and instructional specialists who have identified issues and challenges they need to look at. A great deal has changed in Norwalk over the years and this is a good opportunity to revisit their programs. Dr. Lang said after they identified the issues and challenges they came up with a program to accommodate changes over the next few years. Dr. Lang showed a timeline and then said that she would have three instructional specialists briefly elaborate on three areas that will have changes. Then the principals of the middle schools will speak briefly on the plans at each school and the issues and challenges they face. All are quite different in many ways.

Dr. Lang said that the junior high schools were reviewed approximately 20 years ago, and at that time were thought of as mini high schools designed exclusively to prepare students for high school, with the same schedules, grading, curriculum and so on. Today the middle school philosophy is more focused on the needs of adolescents and more child-centered. The schools are organized into teams to provide a greater sense of community and enable teachers to work together on instructing and supporting groups of students and students are grouped heterogeneously to ensure equal access to a high level of instruction. Dr. Lang said now there is a recognition of the importance of connection, which resulted in greater evidence of interdisciplinary learning and a cooperative learning pedagogy, and the need to expose adolescents to a wide variety of experienced resulted in blocks of special subjects to broaden interests and motivate students for future study.

Dr. Lang stated there were many issues and challenges ahead of them, including the Language Arts curriculum; Exploratory Arts; Word Language and Health and Physical Education. There was a need for additional instruction time for some students in reading and math, and a need to ensure success for all students with grading, homework and retention. They gained additional time by block scheduling and building flexibility for teams. The importance of reading instruction was stated, as was having teachers in the system who have subject matter expertise. The final challenge was engaging teachers and parents in this change by including them in planning and professional development.

Dr. Lang stated that all schools would work towards a double block of Language Arts at each grade level, and curriculum development and PD will take place beginning immediately. Electives will become an exploratory program and administrators and guidance will ensure exposure to all exploratory arts over the course of three years, giving students the opportunity to make elective choices. Students who fail World Language in grades 6 and 7 will not take a language in Grade 8 but instead will take additional electives from the exploratory program. Health will continue to be offered in all three grades. Students will get health classes during one quarter of the year, and will not take PE while taking health. Curriculum options here will be explored.

Dr. Corda stated that with the addition of two more numeracy coaches, this will enable schools to plan for students who need additional time for math. The policies for grading, homework and retention will be reviewed. Schools will explore alternative scheduling. A more consistent program for students with reading difficulties will be developed. And individual schools have begun planning and developing processes for continued planning to engage parents and teachers in these changes. 2006-07 is a pilot and planning year to improve the master schedule and program delivery, and 2007-08 is the year for implementation. Also, professional development needs have been identified and will be used to guide district planning for the next two years.

Dr. Lang offered comments from Mike Rafferty, John Kehoe and Ken Martinelli. Mr. Polley questioned the changes in homework and grading. Mr. Kimmel asked about the size of an average classroom in middle school and was told that it consisted of approximately 24 students. Mr. Kimmel spoke at length about curriculum, genres and books.

Ms. Linda Sumpter, principal of Ponus Ridge Middle School, commented on the new proposals and how it will affect the middle schools. Mr. Joseph Velucci, principal of Roton Middle School, discussed math and reading literacy and related art classes. Ms. Lynn Moore, principal of West Rocks, talked about the challenges of working with a school population of approximately 800 students, and discussed the independent reading program. Mr. Bob McKeon, principal of Nathan Hale, was the last speaker. Mr. Fuller commended the principals for their comments and the job they do, but questioned if the emotional needs of the students are being met. He said all of this can’t be done solely in a single school day, and questioned what is being done to meet these issues after school and within the community. Ms. Moore said that all schools have programs within their buildings for after school to help students find their niche. Mr. Velucci said that, as far as social and emotional issues, all of them want students to succeed. He said this must be proactive in order to meet issues as the day begins. Mr. McKeon said it would require vision. Discussion followed.

Mayor Moccia left the meeting at 9:35 p.m.

B. Technology report

Mr. Ralph Valenzisi, Director of Technology, gave a presentation on the Educational Technology Plan for 2006-09. There will be more e Mr. Burnett asked if there has been any discussion about a virtual classroom and network management. He said there was accessibility, and suggested network management be centralized or localized. Mr. Valenzisi said there is a virtual classroom online on the website. Ms. Murray asked about scheduling. Mr. Fuller asked if the students had their own ID to access the website. Mr. Valenzisi said it was a generic system, all the students have to do is log in as “student.”

C. Jury duty policy Ms. Bishop-Pullan said this item was on the agenda in response to some questions that have been received. The policy states that an employee would ask to have the jury duty date postponed, and if it can’t be postponed, then the employee will show proof that the date cannot be changed, and then show proof that they attended jury duty.

D. Athletic coach policy

Ms. Bishop-Pullan said the athletic coach policy has to do with the evaluation of volunteer coaches by athletic directors.

E. Athletic Eligibility Pilot Program

Dr. Corda said this was an amendment to the previous policy that had been submitted before the Board earlier. The significant difference is that this proposal is supported by both schools and represents the thinking of the athletic directors, the principals, the superintendent, the director of secondary education and is about putting into place a plan that they think does not lower their standards, creates opportunities for youngsters, and is a threshold point that the students must pass, which is that upon notification at the end of the quarter, students must have a minimum of a 1.5 GPA in order to be able to continue. Dr. Corda said this represents a strengthening of the original proposal. Funding for both schools will be provided through the foundation. Dr. Corda said he would not go through the details but would be happy to answer any questions the Board might have. Discussion followed.

Dr. Corda said he was not asking the Board to vote on it this evening but if there was a sense of the Board that this proposal is something they feel comfortable with, as it was already June 6th, he asked the indulgence of the Board to allow him to proceed with posting the tutoring positions, because if they have to wait until June 20th, the school year is over. This way they would be able to get the positions out, and they would be ahead of the game. Mr. Kimmel asked if there was a feeling that the Norwalk Children’s Fund would finance the positions. Mr. Vetter and Mr. Corda said there was. Ms. Bishop-Pullan said that the program could not proceed without the tutors and she felt that Dr. Corda should move ahead.

F. Elementary AfterSchool Achievement Program providers for 2006-2007

Dr. Corda stated that this was on the agenda only because the Board asked him to send them a model contract. He said if there were any questions he would be happy to answer them but there was no need to elaborate on the subject.

There were no questions for Dr. Corda.

G. Board Members Announcements

Mr. Vetter announced that he had an invitation for Board members from Urban District to a presentation in Hartford on June 29 called “Closing the Gap.” He would not be able to attend but any other Board member was welcome to attend.

VIII. ADJOURNMENT

** MR. POLLEY MOTIONED TO ADJOURN. ** MS. BISHOP-PULLAN SECONDED. ** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

The meeting was adjourned at 10:37 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Linda J. Hayes Telesco Secretarial Services

Category: Minutes