Board of Education Meeting Minutes

March 20, 2007

ATTENDANCE: Jody Bishop-Pullan, Chair; Rosa Murray, Gregory Burnett, Robert Polley, Richard Fuller

STAFF: Dr. Salvatore Corda, Superintendent of Schools

OTHERS: Bruce Mellion, Norwalk Federation of Teachers President. Jane Hylan, Community Health Center School Health Service Director

I. CALL TO ORDER

Ms. Bishop-Pullan called the meeting to order at 7:55 p.m.

II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

Ms. Bishop-Pullan led the Board and the audience in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. She then requested a moment of silence in memory of a former Board member, Vincent Macchiarrulo, who passed away recently.

III. SPOTLIGHT ON THE NORWALK PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Mr. Burnett presented the Spotlight on the Norwalk Public Schools report to the Board.

IV. SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT

Dr. Corda informed the Board that Ms. Jane Hylan from the Community Health Center (CHC) Mobile Dental Program was present and that she had driven some distance to attend the meeting. He said that Ms. Hyland would give her report on the CHC Mobile Dental Clinics first. VII. A - Mobile Dental Program

Ms. Hylan came forward and presented the Board with information packets. Ms. Hylan then reviewed the information about the dental care program with the Board.

Dr. Corda commented that there would be pilot programs at Brien McMahon and Norwalk High Schools. Later the program could be expanded to other schools. Mr. Burnett questioned whether the program should start with younger students. Dr. Corda replied that the program could be expanded to the lower grades. Ms. Hylan explained that the program focuses on children who have Husky insurance and the uninsured children.

In conclusion, Dr. Corda thanked both Ms. Hylan for her presentation and Ms. Bishop-Pullan for bringing this program to his attention.

Dr. Corda then reviewed his report with the Board, which included a budget update. Dr. Corda stated that he would like to publicly thank the Mayor for restoring the $200,000 to the Capital Budget for the Five Year Plan. Hopefully this will be approved so the District can move forward on it.

Dr. Corda also mentioned the reception earlier in the evening welcoming the students from Japan and the meeting at Norwalk High School for the Science Awards.

Dr. Cord announced that on Wednesday, March 28th, public is invited to attend the Board of Estimate and Taxation meeting to support the Board of Education budget.

V. PUBLIC COMMENT

Let it be noted that the following comments and remarks by all speakers have been summarized and are not necessarily verbatim.

Mr. Mellion, the President of the Norwalk Federation of Teachers, came forward to address the Board. Mr. Mellion informed the Board that last Friday was a professional day for the staff. Virtually every other district in the area and a large part of the state was closed because of the weather. Norwalk was not. The people who attended experienced serious difficulty returning home. Mr. Mellion stated that if students had been scheduled to attend classes that day, school would have been cancelled. He stated that they believed that a mistake was made and that in the future, it must be thought out more clearly and carefully with greater consideration for the staff.

Secondly, Mr. Mellion addressed the Operating Budget. Although the Union gives it full support to the statement that there will be no reductions, it is most likely unrealistic to believe that will occur. If that is to happen, when reconciliation takes place on general terms, it should be based on fairness and across the board with the least impact on students and on personnel that provide direct services to the students.

Thirdly, Mr. Mellion had several corrections to the minutes from March 6th on page 6.

At this point there was no one from the public who wished to make any further comments.

VI. ACTIONS

A. Consent

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

** MR. FULLER MOVED TO APPROVE THE CONSENT ITEMS. ** MS. MURRAY SECONDED.

B. Approval of minutes for February 13, 2007 and March 6, 2007.

February 13, 2007 ** MR. POLLEY MOVED TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF FEBRUARY 13, 2007. ** MR. FULLER SECONDED.

The following correction was noted:

Page 3, paragraph 4, line two: please change: “received, frustrating as it was.’ To “: “received, frustrating as it was for the parents.”

** THE MOTION TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF FEBRUARY 13, 2007 AS CORRECTED PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

March 6, 2007

** MR. POLLEY MOVED TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF MARCH 6, 2007. ** MR. FULLER SECONDED.

The following corrections were noted:

Page 1, under ATTENDANCE: please change “Bruce Dallion” to “Bruce Mellion”.

Page 5. paragraph 7, line 1 and throughout the document: please change “Mr. Dallion” to “Mr. Mellion”

Page 5, paragraph 7. line 1: please change the following: “ as a member of the” to “as the President of the”

Page 6, paragraph 1, line 1: please change the following: “budget was published,” to “budget reconciliation was published”

Page 6, paragraph 1, line 2: please change “opposed” to “composed”. Page 6, paragraph 1, line 2: please change the following: “that there had been” to “that there should have been”

Page 6, paragraph 1, line five: please change the following: “by a teacher.” To” by a teacher, not an administrator.”

** THE MOTION TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF MARCH 6, 2007 AS CORRECTED PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

C. Approval of field trip(s)

1. Norwalk High School Italian classes to Italy.

** MR. POLLEY MOVED TO APPROVE THE FIELD TRIPS. ** MR. BURNETT SECONDED.

Ms. Bishop-Pullan commented that it was good that the trips were coming in for approval by the Board early. Mr. Fuller said that when the trips are planned early, it allows the students who may not be able to afford the trip the opportunity to fund raise.

** THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

D. Approval of AfterSchool Achievement Program (ASAP) providers of before and afterschool services at elementary schools for 2007-2008

** MS. MURRAY MOVED TO APPROVE THE AFTERSCHOOL ACHIEVEMENT PROGRAM (ASAP) PROVIDERS OF BEFORE AND AFTERSCHOOL SERVICES AT ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS FOR 2007-2008. ** MR. BURNETT SECONDED. ** THE MOTION PASSED WITH THREE IN FAVOR (BISHOP-PULLAN, MURRAY AND BURNETT) AND TWO ABSTENTIONS (FULLER AND POLLEY).

E. Approve use of school facilities for summer program – YMCA at Silvermine

** MR. FULLER MOVED TO APPROVE USE OF SCHOOL FACILITIES FOR SUMMER PROGRAM – YMCA AT SILVERMINE. ** MS. MURRAY SECONDED. ** THE MOTION PASSED WITH THREE IN FAVOR (BISHOP-PULLAN, FULLER AND MURRAY) AND TWO ABSTENSIONS (BURNETT AND POLLEY).

VII. INFORMATION AND REPORTS

B. Board Member announcements

Ms. Bishop-Pullan stated that the second meeting scheduled for April 17th would have to be changed.

ADJOURNMENT ** MS. MURRAY MOVED TO ADJOURN. ** MR. POLLEY SECONDED. ** THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

The meeting adjourned at 8:22 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Sharon L. Soltes Telesco Secretarial Services

Category: Minutes