Board of Education Meeting Minutes

April 4, 2007

ATTENDANCE: Jody Bishop-Pullan, Chair; Thomas Vetter, Susan Hamilton, Robert Polley, Bruce Kimmel, Mayor Richard Moccia, Richard Fuller, (7:50 p.m.), Migdalia Rivas (8:10 p.m.)

STAFF: Dr. Salvatore Corda, Superintendent of Schools

OTHERS: Bruce Mellion, Norwalk Federation of Teachers President, Adele Gordon, Dental Center of Stamford Director.

I. CALL TO ORDER

Ms. Bishop-Pullan called the meeting to order at 7:45 p.m.

II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

Ms. Bishop-Pullan led the Board and the audience in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.

III. SPOTLIGHT ON THE NORWALK PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Ms. Hamilton presented the Spotlight on the Norwalk Public Schools report to the Board.

Dr. Corda added that word had been received earlier in the day that Ponus Ridge Middle School has been designated by the State as one of four Connecticut vanguard schools. The school receives a $15,000 discretionary grant in order to enable them to continue their journey towards excellence. In addition, Ponus Ridge and another school yet to be announced as a partner school, will each receive an additional $5,000 for the purpose of mentoring the partner school in its journey towards improvement. The principal and other representatives from the school will be invited to the State Board of Education meeting in order that the State Board can formally acknowledge their designation as a vanguard school. They will also be invited to attend the second annual state wide conference and celebration of high performing and significantly improving schools to be held in November of 2007. Dr. Corda commented that this was a significant honor. Linda Sumpter, Richard Fox and the entire staff at Ponus Ridge deserves to be commented for being one of the four schools selected in the State. Dr. Corda said that he felt this should be tomorrow’s newspaper headlines.

IV. SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT

Budget Update

Dr. Corda said that the Board has a challenge in terms of working their way through the Budget process. There is a possible solution on the table, which if explored by those of good faith, with the main goal of maintaining the tax rate in its present form, and meeting the needs of the Board, a solution could be found.

Mayor Moccia then asked to speak and was recognized by Ms. Bishop-Pullan. He stated that the news about Ponus Ridge was wonderful. Mayor Moccia said that at the upcoming Tuesday Common Council meeting, the Council would be approving the contractors, so in addition to them receiving the educational awards, the City will now begin to improve the physical plant. The Mayor said the Facility Construction Committee voted this on tonight.

Regarding the other comments by Dr. Corda, the Mayor said that they would continue to keep the lines of communication open. The Finance Director is not in agreement with the proposed plan. Mayor Moccia said that he would like to address that issue and stated that the City had received a report from the Fitch Ratings, which are involved with the Triple A bond rating, and they are focused on post-retirement liabilities for cities. One of the case studies used in the report is Norwalk. One statement in the report reads, “Consistent with its high credit ratings, Norwalk is already developed what Fitch believes is a sound, two part approach to managing its post retirement liability. The City will phrase in funding, etc.” After seeing these revenue increases, the projected draws on the reserves of 3.0 million and 3.5 million in fiscal 2008 and fiscal 2009. The Mayor said that this was important to remember there are already plans for drawing down on the reserve to help maintain the City’s Triple A rating. This is consistent with the two part approach and the Mayor reminded those present that the City has already drawn down almost a million dollars to pay for the scheduled revaluation. The Mayor says that he is obligated to exercise a fiduciary responsibility to the Finance Director and that he realizes that the Board has a plan also, which encompasses their fiduciary responsibility to the Board of Education. The Mayor said that based on what he has heard from the Board of Estimate and Taxation, the BET is reluctant to use those funds. The Mayor reported that the Governor has proposed her cost of sharing increase and the Education Committee reduced the Governor’s request for the second year. The Education Committee agreed with the cost increase of 2.7 million. The Mayor said that he was hopeful that when the figures are released in June, that the City will receive that additional money. Mr. Hamilton and the Mayor have said that if the additional money is allocated, they were both committed to giving those funds to the Board of Education. If the Board is willing to accept the administration’s word regarding additional needed funds in October or November pending on whether the State funds are allocated, the Mayor said that he believes that this issue could wait until June, the additional State funds would be given to the Board of Education.

Mr. Kimmel said that with all due respect, after the draws on the fund balance the Mayor mentioned, the Board of Education would be left with a fund balance of 7% of total revenues for the 2009/2010 fiscal year. Mr. Kimmel said that this is well above the minimum standing for a city the size of Norwalk. Mayor Moccia pointed out that the percentage was 6.9%. Mr. Kimmel said that Mr. Hamilton has decided that Norwalk should match the median fund balance for Triple A towns in the State. There is no compelling reason that the rating agencies would require Norwalk to meet that median number. In fact, the median number itself suggest there is a range. Looking at cities the size of Norwalk, it becomes apparent that the cities are located on the left side of the range. Mr., Kimmel said that he believes that there are funds available and this would allow the City to be close to the median for the Triple A rating for the State of Connecticut. He also reminded everyone that during the latter part of the 1990’s when the City achieved the Triple A rating, the fund balance was just above 5%. Mr. Kimmel said that that the City had achieved and maintained a fund balance between 5% and 5.5%, but still became a Triple A city. The careful draw down of the fund balance leaves the City with some room to spare, and that is why it is called a “rainy day fund”, Mr. Kimmel explained. Mr. Kimmel said that he believes that these funds should be used for emergencies and that there is an emergency and there is a plan on the table which can solve the problem. The fund balance will still be strong in 2009/2010. The Mayor said that he was not going to debate the issue now, but reminded that one of the top financial people in the country disagrees with Mr. Kimmel’s plan. The Mayor also said that he had to leave to attend another meeting. The Mayor also pointed out that there were a number of people on the BET who are versed in finance who also agree with Mr. Hamilton. The Mayor then reviewed the various details regarding how the monthly bond rating analysis is done. Ms. Bishop-Pullan reminded the Mayor that he had said earlier that he was willing to keep the lines of communication open and that there may be additional opportunities to discuss this further. The Mayor replied that he had met with Dr. Corda on the issues involved and could not fault Dr. Corda or Mr. Kimmel for presenting their plan. Ms. Bishop-Pullan said that it would be important to continue this discussion in the future.

Mr. Fuller said that he respected Mr. Hamilton, who recommended a budget that was a bit higher and would have been better for the Board of Education, but the people that Mr. Fuller felt were least qualified were the ones who set the budget cap. Mr. Fuller said that this concerned him. The Mayor reported that he was surprised when the Council additionally reduced the cap. He wished the public to know that the Board and the Council could agree to disagree, but it does not mean that the lines of communication are not still open. That is why Mayor Moccia made the statement about the proposed State aid and he was hopeful about these funds since the State Education Committee agreed with the increase for the first year. He also said that he wanted to make sure that the $60,000 for the field study and the money for the technology budget are intact.

The Mayor left the meeting at 8:05 p.m.

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 came forward and greeted the Board. He said that there was a brochure available about the Norwalk Federation of Teachers Scholarship and Awards Program, which has been in place since the 1970’s. Mr. Mellion said that he believes that the program has given in excess of $100,000 and $200,000 to the Norwalk Public School high school students. During the last few years, this has been extended to the honor awards to outstanding students in the middle school level, to each team at each school. This is a substantial commitment. A former Norwalk teacher and NFT president John Alteri, has also made contributions to the union to subside the awards in the middle schools as well.

In addition, Mr. Mellion said that he had made a point to the Board and would like to reiterate and re-emphasize that there really is a need to form a blue ribbon commission to address the issue of illegal students in the Norwalk Public Schools. Since that meeting, Mr. Mellion has received emails, phone calls and faxes from people regarding this issue that express their frustration. At a meeting of the NFT general membership on Tuesday, a survey was done and within the room of approximately 40 to 50 teachers that there was at least 27 students in their classrooms that the teachers were aware of who were illegal and needed to be attended to. The teachers have been frustrated in the process as they have tried to bring that information forward to principals, who then shifted the information downtown. There does not seem to be an immediacy of response either for or against it. Clearly, the current system is not working and there is an on-going theft of services for students who should not present. The teachers know this, the support staff knows it, the building administration knows it, parents know it and this is far more than six or seven students.

Regarding the Operating Budget, Mr. Mellion said that unless he was mistaken, there have no public discussion of reconciliation of the budget for 2007/2008. Yet there are directives being sent to high school principals and others about doing things that will have an impact about what will happen in the classrooms next year. Mr. Mellion gave an example such as setting the classes for between 26 to 28 students. This is policy decision, which has never been discussed publicly and would be part of a reconciliation discussion. In Mr. Mellion’s opinion, this should not be taking place until it was discussed in public. If this decision was discussed publicly, that would be fine, but not as an administrative directive when no reconciliation has been discussed. In addition, if this takes place, the negotiated cap of 130 will be exceeded. This will present a problem as well.

The final two items would be categorized as total frustration. Mr. Mellion said that for the past several years, the Board of Education employees have received no current or correct attendance profiles. No employee of the seven bargaining units have received correct attendance profiles that are accurate. There is no projection for the foreseeable future for that to take place. Mr. Mellion said that this has been promised this on numerous occasions that this would take place. It is causing a problem, employees are frustrated and do not know where they stand. This needs to be done.

Regarding long terms contracts for teachers, none have been issued for 2005-2006 or 2006-2007, which has always been the case. The teachers can look up their salaries, but there is far more than salary involved. This includes all the other provisions as well.

VI. ACTIONS

A. Consent

1. Approval of personnel actions

2. Approval of budget transfers

** MS. RIVAS MOVED TO APPROVE THE CONSENT CALENDAR. ** MR. VETTER SECONDED. ** THE MOTION WAS UNANIMOUS.

B. Approval of minutes (March 20, 2007)

** MR. FULLER MOVED TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF MARCH 20, 2007 AS SUBMITTED. ** MR. POLLEY SECONDED. ** THE MOTION PASSED FOUR IN FAVOR (POLLEY, FULLER, RIVAS, BISHOP-PULLAN) AND WITH THREE ABSTENTIONS (KIMMEL, HAMILTON AND VETTER).

C. Approval of field trip

1. Roton Middle School Odyssey of the Mind

** MR. VETTER MOVED TO APPROVE THE FIELD TRIP FOR ROTON MIDDLE SCHOOL FOR THE ODYSSEY OF THE MIND WORLD FINAL COMPETITION. ** MR. FULLER SECONDED.

It was stated that the Board was very proud of the success of the Odyssey of the Mind program.

** THE MOTION PASSED WITH (POLLEY, KIMMEL, FULLER, HAMILTON, RIVAS AND MURRAY) AND ONE ABSTENTION (BISHOP-PULLAN). 2. Brien McMahon golf team

** MR. VETTER MOVED TO APPROVE THE BRIEN MCMAHON GOLF TEAM TRIP TO JEKYKK ISLAND, GEORGIA. ** MS. HAMILTON SECONDED.

It was pointed out that this field trip is scheduled for two weeks from the meeting. Dr. Corda agreed that it is important to submit these applications earlier.

** THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

D. Approval of In-School Dental Health Program Agreement

** MS. HAMILTON MOVED TO APPROVE THE IN-SCHOOL DENTAL HEALTH PROGRAM AGREEMENT. ** MR. FULLER SECONDED.

Mr. Kimmel asked if the District would be held harmless. This was confirmed.

Mr. Polley said that while this was an exciting program, he wondered how many of society’s problems should the public schools be responsible for solving. There is no cost to the system and it is an absolutely positive program. Mr. Polley said that there would probably be a limit of what the school system can and can not do.

Mr. Kimmel stated that where he works, there are similar programs tied in with Columbia Presbyterian Hospital. Mr. Kimmel said that he agrees with Mr. Polley, but also recognizes that the students have to get through school in a healthy manner. Mr. Kimmel said that the program he is familiar with goes beyond dental and also provides vision clinic services. He then asked if there was anything possible in this area for Norwalk students and said that perhaps this was something the Board could look into. Mr. Kimmel also asked if the DMI indexes are sent home. He felt that this was a good idea. Dr. Corda said he did not think so.

Mr. Fuller said that it would be important to take advantage of this program. He also pointed out that the class room has become the community and the community the class room. All the ills that are in the community are going to affect the class room.

Mr. Vetter said that Mr. Kimmel raised a good point about eye glasses. He said that there was always a box from the Lion’s Club in the vision center he uses. He said that he did not know what the Lion’s Club did with the glasses they collected, but that the Board may want to check with the local branch about this. Dr. Corda replied that he knew that the frames were used for people who were not in a position to be able to afford new frames.

Ms. Bishop-Pullan said that the issue was dental access and that the thinking was to go to where the people are, which in this case, is the school system. Mr. Kimmel said that in the long term, this cuts the cost of health care.

** THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

E. Approve rescheduling of April 17, 2007 Board meeting date

** MR. POLLEY MOVED TO APPROVE THE RESCHEDULING OF APRIL 17, 2007 BOARD MEETING DATE TO APRIL 24TH. ** MR. FULLER SECONDED. ** THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY

VII. INFORMATION AND REPORTS

A. Board Members announcements

There were no Board Member announcements. Mr. Fuller asked when the Common Council meeting was scheduled. Dr. Corda replied that it was scheduled for April 10th.

VIII. DISCUSSION OF LEGAL OPINION FROM DISTRICT COUNSEL AND STATUS AND STRATEGY FOR DEFENDING PENDING FEDERAL CLAIM BROUGHT BY A TEACHER. ** MR. POLLEY MOVED TO ENTER INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION TO DISCUSS THE LEGAL OPINION FROM DISTRICT COUNSEL AND STATUS AND STRATEGY FOR DEFENDING PENDING FEDERAL CLAIM BROUGHT BY A TEACHER. ** MR. VETTER SECONDED. ** THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

The Board and Dr. Corda entered into executive session in order to discuss the recent legal opinion from the District Counsel along with the status and strategy for defending pending federal claim brought by a teacher at 8:10 p.m. The Board reconvened into public session at 8:40 p.m.

ADJOURNMENT

** MR. FULLER MOVED TO ADJOURN. ** MR. VETTER SECONDED. ** THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

The meeting adjourned at 8:40 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Sharon L. Soltes Telesco Secretarial Services

Category: Minutes