Board of Education Meeting Minutes

May 1, 2007

ATTENDANCE: Jody Bishop-Pullan, Chairwoman; Rosa Murray, Vice Chair; Greg Burnett; Thomas Vetter; Robert Polley; Richard Fuller; Bruce Kimmel; Susan Hamilton; Dr. Salvatore Corda. Superintendent of Schools.

OTHERS: Bruce Mellion, Norwalk Federation of Teachers President, Betty Nash. PTO Co-President.

CALL TO ORDER

The meeting was called to order at 7: 45 P.M.

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

All present rose and recited the Pledge of Allegiance.

SPOTLIGHT ON NORWALK PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Ms. Hamilton presented the spotlight on public schools.

SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT

Dr. Corda presented his report for the board.

PUBLIC COMMENTS

Mr. Mellion greeted the Board and said that he had a few items to address. One issue was about the topic of illegal students in the school system. Mr. Mellion said that a survey was conducted at a general membership meeting of the NFT on March 27th. Mr. Mellion said that if a survey like this was to be done again, he would go out to the entire district in order to get a broader view.

Another issue was a topic regarding the Dean of Students at Brien McMahan, Norwalk High and Ponus. He said that at the time, it was strongly believed that it would have a beneficial effect. In January 2006, there were many comments from teachers from McMahon, Norwalk High, and Ponus, which are the only three schools that have a Dean in place, regarding the various deans who had only been in place for six months. All of the information clearly indicates that the presence of a Dean of Students makes a profound difference in daily activates and allows the administration to focus on their tasks. Mr. Mellion said it was clear that the Deans should be retained and their removal would be a major step backwards.

Mr. Mellion said that there had been a lot of discussion about the numbers of administrators publicly. According to the strategic profile for 2005 and 2006 for Norwalk, on page 3, it speaks about students per teacher and teachers per administrator ratios. Regarding the students per teacher for the district, the ratio is 13.8. The DRG is 13.7 and the State is 13.6. Regarding the teachers per administrators, Norwalk is on the lower end. The State is 13.9 and the DRG is 14.6. Norwalk is at 13.6.

Another piece of information for the Board’s consideration as it goes through the budget process, was the following. Mr. Mellion then said that the development of an elementary school principals pairing model based on location needs should be done. The second concept was referred to as a “trigger model”. This would involved an elementary school with a lower number of students, a particular number would be selected, and when that student population was reached, an assistant principal would be added to the staff. If the student population remained below the threshold number, then a teacher could be appointed as a leader or coordinator who would be a classroom teacher with a teaching assistant or additional guidance services for the elementary level. Mr. Mellion said that the NFT believes that the model would save money, provide more direct services to students, and could be done in a phased in basis.

Ms. Nash stated that she was a PTO co-president. She said that in reference to the NFT statement regarding the reaction to Dr. Corda’s reference to possible reductions in administration. In the PTO Council, the focus has been on communications. The Council encourages discussion, disagreement and open dialog. Ms. Nash said that she hoped some of the discussions between the Superintendent and the NFT could be held in a public forum in order to allow parents to hear the dialog and the arguments on both sides. The Council would like both Mr. Mellion and Dr. Corda to avoid the use of adjectives such as “entrenched”, “horror” and “draconian”. These are emotional adjectives, which do not help in understanding the arguments. In terms of administrators, Ms. Nash said that everyone has their own point of view. She said that in her middle school, the teachers are trying to implement and understand the new curriculum. The teachers are looking for the guidance of subject administrators, especially in language arts and math. Ms. Nash said that she believes that the middle schools are having a great deal of difficulty with this and there is dissatisfaction among the parents. This could become a detriment to the middle schools.

Ms. Nash said that the Council encourages the dialog and hopes that it is kept in a positive decorum and possibly more public.

ACTIONS

Consent

A. Approve of personnel actions.

** MR. FULLER MOVED TO APPROVE ITEM A. APPROVE OF PERSONNEL ACTIONS.

** MS. HAMILTON SECONDED THE MOTION.

There was a brief, positive, discussion about one of the personnel actions.

** THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

B. Approve strategy for increasing diversity at Jefferson School.

** MS. HAMILTON MOVED TO APPROVE ITEM B. APPROVE STRATEGY FOR INCREASING DIVERSITY AT JEFFERSON SCHOOL.

** MR. FULLER SECONDED THE MOTION. ** THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

C. Action concerning NFT grievance heard by the Board of Education on April 24, 2007

** MR BURNETT MOVED TO UPHOLD THE DECISION OF THE SUPERINTENDENT REGUARDING THE GREIVANCE.

** MS HAMILTION SECONDED THE MOTION.

There was a discussion that followed about the details of the alleged grievance.

** THE MOTION PASSED WITH NINE IN FAVOR (BISHOP-PULLAN, MURRAY, BURNETT, VETTER, POLLEY, FULLER, HAMILTON, CORDA) AND ONE AGAINST (KIMMEL).

INFORMATION AND REPORTS: BOARD MEMBERS ANNOUNCEMENTS

There were no announcements at this time.

DISCUSSION OF PERSONNEL ACTION (EXECUTIVE SESSION ANTICIPATED)

** MS. RIVAS MOVED TO ENTER INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION.

** MS. MURRAY SECONDED THE MOTION.

** THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

The meeting entered into executive session at 8:30 P.M.

** MR. FULLER MOVED TO RETURN TO PUBLIC SESSION. ** MS. HAMILTON SECONDED THE MOTION.

** THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

The meeting resumed public session at 9:25 P.M.

DISCUSSION AND VOTE ON APPOINTMENT OF SECTION 10-151 BOARD COMMITTEE

** MR. POLLEY MOVED TO APPOINT MR. VETTER, MR. BURNETT, MR. POLLEY, MS. HAMILTON, AND MS. BISHOP-PULLAN TO OPERATE AS A SECTION 10-151 COMMITTEE.

** MR. MURRAY SECONDED THE MOTION.

** THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

ADJOURNMENT

** MR. VETTER MOVED TO ADJOURN.

** MRS. MURRAY SECONDED THE MOTION.

** THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

The meeting adjourned at 9:25 P.M.

Sincerely submitted, Ian Soltes.

Telesco Secretarial Services.

Category: Minutes