Board of Education Meeting Minutes

October 17, 2006

ATTENDANCE: Thomas Vetter, Chairman; Rob Polley; Jody Bishop-Pullan; Bruce Kimmel; Rosa Murray; Gregory Burnett; Midaglia Rivas; Susan Hamilton; Richard Fuller (8:00).

STAFF: Dr. Salvatore Corda, Superintendent of Schools.

OTHERS: Stuart Opdahl; Mary Budrawich; Andrew Krasnavage; Sandra Miklave; Jennifer Ginsberg.

I. CALL TO ORDER

Ms. Murray called the meeting to order at 7:45 p.m.

II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

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

III. SPOTLIGHT

Mr. Kimmel read the Spotlight report into the record.

IV. SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT Dr. Corda stated that before he asked Ms. Budrawich to give her report on the Brighter Futures Program, he had some information he wanted to share with the Board.

Dr. Corda remarked that there is significant interest in the NCLB legislation and the reporting that takes place as a result lf that legislation. He wished to respectfully share with the public that the assessments that are made on the basis of the NCLB legislation include not only an assessment of the performance of an entire school, but if a school has more than 40 students in any one of more than seven different sub-groups, then scores are reported about those individual sub-groups. They include free and reduced-price lunch students; English Language Learners; youngsters who have special needs or are categorized under 91-142 as Special Education students; youngsters who may belong to particular cultural or racial groups.

What is interesting about this legislation is that, in the eyes of many educators, there is much about NCLB, although the goal is certainly laudable, that does not make sense. There has been continuing dialogue back and forth between the states and the Federal government, which has the responsibility of the implementation of the legislation. Most recently, within the last month, and effective October 15th of this year, there has been a slight modification in the way in which youngsters for whom English is not their first language will be considered part of a sub-group. Dr. Corda wanted to share the changes that have taken place.

Under the regulations that were in effect prior to October 15, if a youngster whose primary language was not English and who was in the United States for a period of ten months or more, then they were required to not only participate in the testing, but in addition to that, their scores were included in the public reporting of the testing. As an illustration, Dr. Corda asked, how well would any of you perform on a test that was given to you in Chinese if you happened to go to China and stayed in that country for ten months and then were asked to participate in Chinese national testing in the Chinese language. The likelihood of your being able to perform that would be slim to none.

Nevertheless, those were the rules. Now the rules have been slightly changed, and this is what they would look like today: now, if you are in the country for twelve months or less, you are not required to participate in the test. However, there are some modifications associated with that. For example, you must take the test in mathematics the next time that test is given, even if you have been in the country for less than twelve months, although your scores will not be counted. Dr. Corda said that one of the questions in his mind was, if the scores are not going to be counted, why ask the student to participate in a testing situation which is going to be immediately frustrating, and the likelihood is, because of lack of facility of language and not mathematic ability, the students are not going to be able to perform well. Dr. Corda asked, what is the purpose of that?

Dr. Corda said, in reading, youngsters who have been in the country for less than twelve months are exempt from taking the test, although he next time the test is given after they have been in the country for twelve months, they must participate in the test. In other words, if you are in the country for thirteen months, then you take the test after thirteen months, even though your proficiency in the language is probably somewhat suspect, especially if you know from your search that an individual, adult or child, for the most part, is not competent to take a test that measures proficiency in language unless one has been speaking the language for between three and five years. But yet, youngsters, not only in Norwalk but also across the country, if they have been here for thirteen months at the time of the exam, are required to take it, even though English is not their primary language.

Finally, if a student has achieved proficiency if English is not their first language, the student will be included in the pool of English language learners for purposes of recording adequate yield progress standards. However, if you are proficient in the language, that is not going to count as having met the adequate yield progress reports.

Dr. Corda stated that this illustrates the difficulties that are associated with the NCLB legislation and its impact. And the impact is, with respect to our staff, it makes it very difficult many times for staff, who are working very hard, especially on the right things, whose youngsters have not met this standard which has been set, some times in a very arbitrary way, to feel as though they are having an impact in a positive way. The only positive motivation that comes from their efforts comes from their own assessment of whether they’re making a difference.

Dr. Corda said, there were three schools in Norwalk that were identified as schools in need of improvement because they have not made adequate yearly progress for two years in a row. Not as a whole school, but because of particular sub-groups. For example, Kendall School was a school identified as a school in need of improvement for two years in a row, which means if a family has a child going to Kendall School, they have the opportunity to reconsider whether or not they want their child to continue attending Kendall School. But interestingly enough, despite the fact that Kendall has received this designation, if one looks at the report that was prepared for an organization called “ConCan” which assesses schools throughout the State of Connecticut, the Kendall School was identified as among the Top Ten Schools among the State of Connecticut for its ability to have youngsters who are African-American perform within goal range. The reason why Kendall School was identified as a school in need of improvement based on its performance two years in a row, was not because of its ability to educate African-American students or Hispanic students, but rather, English Language Learners. Dr. Corda said it seemed to him there was a disconnect there. And if he were to share certain statistics about the Brookside School, which was also a school which was identified, or the Silvermine School, which was also identified, he could point to components at those schools where the performance of students seems to be such that we have to take a look and see what they’re doing because they’re doing it well. And yet, other schools, which have not been identified, perhaps could do a better job in the way in which they educate other subjects.

Dr. Corda said he was not trying to cause a comparison between Norwalk’s schools, and he was not trying to suggest that in Norwalk we need to do a better job in what we do. We do. He has said it before, and will continue to say, that as Superintendent of Schools he will never be satisfied until all of our students across the district are performing at proficiency or above. But on the other hand, he also thinks that we need to keep a certain perspective and a certain balance in the way we think about our schools and the job that they do.

Dr. Corda said he spoke with the Kendall staff yesterday, and he left the meeting considerably more sober than when he arrived, because what he heard from the staff was a frustration level and an unhappiness, because of the way in which their school had been characterized. This flew in the face of the work that the Kendall staff has done, and indeed, in the kind of designation that he has described. Dr. Corda said this frustration is evident in many places across the district because of what this legislation is doing to us.

So one of the things he wanted to say, apart from acknowledging the fact that not only at Kendall but also in other places across the district you see the evidence of hard work that people are doing, is that when one thinks about what makes an effective school, certainly the performance on CMTs or on CAPTs are a measure, but there are other measures that are just as significant and just as important. And unfortunately, this legislation has captured the public in its determination to place some kind of value on whether or not a school is a failing school.

Although they don’t use that particular language, there is an affect that is associated when a school is characterized as being in need of improvement. And we need, as a community, to be very, very careful to understand what the implications are when one relies exclusively on test scores to make those determinations. It does not take into account the progress that is made from year to year. It does not take into account the fact that, in terms of looking at things purely from a statistical point of view, it makes no sense to compare the performance of one group to the performance of another group. Unless you can account for those variables that impact whether or not the groups are considered statistically the same, it does not take into account the influences that impact the ability of particular years in order to assess whether or not progress is being made.

It is, in Dr. Corda’s judgment, much more critical to assess the effectiveness of schools through the lens of saying, over time, are we seeing improvement, and is that improvement consistent? And this is the message you will hear from him time after time.

Brighter Futures Report

Ms. Budrawich distributed a black-and-white photographic brochure to the Board and briefly outlined the history of the Brighter Futures program at Rowayton and Marvin Elementary School and NCC, and described the areas of focus.

The program was begun in the summer of 2006 as a partnership between Jennifer Wood, Director of NCC’s Child Development Lab School (CDLS) and Norwalk Children’s Foundation. Together they designed and implemented a pilot enrichment program for children entering kindergarten. Twenty-two families were involved in the eight week program that focused on language, literacy and socialization. The program was expanded in Summer 2006.

V. PUBLIC COMMENT

Mr. Andrew Krasnavage, a student at NHS, read his letter to the Board regarding the state of the athletic fields at the school. He noted that the goal posts were down at Andrews Field and there are holes in the field, which caused two students to injure themselves during practices. He stated the teams now use Naramake School field and pointed out that this field is inadequate. Mr. Krasnavage asked the Board to repair the fields, not just for the freshmen at NHS but for all students.

Ms. Sandra Miklave addressed the Board with comments about the Elementary Strings Program. She expressed her disappointment with the Board’s cuts to the program and the subsequent 20% reduction in teaching time. Ms. Miklave noted that she has three sons in the Norwalk School System, two of whom had taken this program in its previous incarnation, and she felt that her third child, and the other children in the program as well, were losing out on the amount of teaching time and musical development that was available before the program cuts.

Ms. Jennifer Ginsberg addressed the Board with comments about the Elementary Strings Program. She echoed Ms. Miklave’s comments.

Dr. Corda remarked that this was not a budget issue as the budget has actually increased and an additional staff member has been added to the program.

VI. ACTIONS

A. Consent

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

** MS. HAMILTON MOTIONED TO APPROVE THE CONSENT ITEMS. ** MS. BISHOP-PULLAN SECONDED. ** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

B. Approval of Field Trip (March 26-30, 2007)

** MS. HAMILTON MOTIONED TO APPROVE NATHAN HALE MIDDLE SCHOOL GRADE 7 TO NATURE’S CLASSROOM, IVORYTON, CT – MARCH 26-30, 2007. ** MS. MURRAY SECONDED. ** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

C. Approval of policy #4115.3 Athletic Coaches ** MS. BISHOP-PULLAN MOTIONED TO APPROVE POLICY #4115.3 ATHLETIC COACHES. ** MS. HAMILTON SECONDED. ** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

VII. INFORMATION & REPORTS

A. Update on Jefferson portables

Dr. Corda stated that Dr. Jennifer Masone has been appointed as Assistant Principal at Brookside School and illustrated Dr. Masone’s requirements for the Board.

Dr. Corda explained that the protocol will change, and said the change concerns using a consultant. He outlined what the Building Committee and Central Office will do. He said he has asked Mr. Morris, who served as chair of that committee, to re-convene the committee to discuss the changes.

B. Change in November 7, 2006 Board Meeting

Mr. Opdahl discussed an assessment of the 2005-06 year to use as a baseline comparison. He distributed documents to the Board for their review and explained that they were addressing the goal of long-term planning.

Mr. Opdahl stated that the District is now locked in with prices for gas through Yankee Gas, and with diesel fuel. He also noted that the District’s accreditation is coming up. He reported that as far as medical benefits this year, July was a very good month and they were under specific claims by $400,000. He said the budget looked good on transportation also. Further discussion followed.

C. Board Members’ announcements Mr. Vetter reminded the Board they have received two emails from Dr. Corda requiring their response.

Dr. Corda announced an upcoming series of three seminars to be held beginning October 30th.

Mr. Vetter announced Norwalk High School’s annual Cavalcade of Bands to be held on November 4th.

Ms. Bishop-Pullan questioned how long the lights remain on at the athletic fields now that the days are shortening. Dr. Corda said he believed the lights were on as late as 10pm. He asked his staff to research the answer and get back to the Board.

VIII. ADJOURNMENT

** MS. BISHOP-PULLAN MOTIONED TO ADJOURN THE MEETING. ** MS. RIVAS SECONDED. ** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:10 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Linda J. Hayes Telesco Secretarial Services

Category: Minutes