Board of Education Meeting Minutes

October 2, 2007

ATTENDANCE: Jody Bishop-Pullan, Chair; Rosa Murray, Vice Chair; Gregory Burnett, Shirley Mosby, Bruce Kimmel, Susan Hamilton, Migdalia Rivas, Robert Polley, Thomas Vetter.

STAFF: Dr. Salvatore Corda, Superintendent of Schools

OTHERS: Bruce Mellion, NFT Union President; Lynn Massey, Diane Lauricella, Paul Blumenthal, Mr. Appleby, Ms. Friedlander

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 members of the public who were present in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.

III. SPOTLIGHT ON THE NORWALK PUBLIC SCHOOLS

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

IV. SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT/ STAFFING UPDATE

Dr. Corda then addressed the Board and said that he was delighted to announce that the Science wing at Norwalk High School has been completed. The new labs are opened to the students.

Dr. Corda then said that he wished to give the Board an update on the student enrollment. He then distributed copies of a document about the enrollment to those present. Dr. Corda pointed out that at Brien McMahon the enrollment was higher than anticipated. There were Currently, the District is analyzing where the additional students originated. McMahon’s current enrollment is 1,660. In 2001/2002, Dr. Corda said that he recalled the enrollment being at about 1,400 students. While the Global Studies program is part of the equation, there are more students to be accounted for.

Mr. Kimmel asked what type of budget allocations would be made in this type of instance where there was a sudden increase of over 100 students into a school. Dr. Corda said that in terms of the per pupil allocation, there are a variety of codes that are associated with this. Other adjustments are made for this special type of occurrence. If a principal informs the Central Office that there are not enough funds to cover the sudden influx of students, then steps are taken to adjust this in the budget.

At Norwalk High School, the enrollment was about 76 fewer students than anticipated. There is always a drop in student numbers between ninth and tenth grades every year.

Mr. Kimmel then asked about Norwalk High’s drop in enrollment and how the allocations would adjust for this. Once again, Dr. Corda pointed out the role that the principal plays in administering the budget. Mr. Kimmel said that he felt if NHS’s projections were off by 100 students, that was not a healthy situation and that some of the budgeting dollars should go over to McMahon. Dr. Corda explained that it was not the school that calculates the student enrollment projections; it is done at the Central Office. It is based on the attrition ratio over a period of time. Dr. Corda then reviewed how the Central Office calculates the numbers with the Board. When it comes to the high schools, it is harder to calculate because parents make a pivotal decision at ninth grade as to whether their child will continue in the public school system.

Ms. Bishop-Pullan then asked about staffing. Dr. Corda said that when looking at something like the ninth grade, most likely the class sizes would be reduced rather than eliminating a class. Elective options are not offered until junior or senior year. Ms. Bishop-Pullan asked when a trend would become evident. Dr. Corda said that it would not become clear until more analysis was done as to why the influx occurred at McMahon.

At West Rocks there was a decrease to 695 students. The school population was at about 800 two years ago. This is due to a drop in the number of elementary school students. This decrease in enrollment will eventually be reflected in all the schools. He then reviewed the changes made in the staffing at West Rocks to accommodate this. Mr. Kimmel had some specific questions about the enrollment numbers for the elementary schools. Dr. Corda then reviewed all the figures with him. A lengthy discussion about these figures and the class sizes then followed.

Dr. Corda then reviewed the staffing requirements that were based on the enrollment numbers. There was one less kindergarten teacher at Wolfpit than anticipated. The final elementary staffing figures resulted in a net gain of one more teacher than what was budgeted. Dr. Corda reminded everyone that there were provisions for reserve teachers in the budget. There was a reduction at Wolfpit, an addition of two at Tracey and Silvermine, while Cranbury also had a reduction.

V. PUBLIC COMMENTS

Mr. Bruce Mellion came forward and greeted the Board. Mr. Mellion said he was distributing the survey results of the general membership regarding email. This issue is still a problem. He then reviewed the results of the survey with the Board. Mr. Mellion said that emails were still a problem and that some teachers had come back to the schools and discovered that they had more than 10,300 inappropriate emails in their mailboxes.

Secondly, Mr. Mellion said that there was an item on the agenda regarding adding a teaching assistant for support for the Speech and Language Pathologist. Mr. Mellion said that the union fully supports this. He also wished to bring forth the need for additional one teach assistant for each of the high schools. The Speech and Language Pathologists at the high schools are overwhelmed with their work.

Thirdly, at the last Board meeting, a presentation was made about planning by Dr. Corda. He then referred to one of the PowerPoint diagrams. Mr. Mellion said that he wished to comment on that diagram. Mr. Mellion said that not all the teachers had received the Instructional Plan, the Improvement Plan, the Growth Plans, the Facility Plans and the Technology Plans. He also said that the size of the documents were so large that people were unlikely to read them.

Mr. Mellion also commented on the Teacher and Administrative Evaluation Plan. He said that there is a need for a Central Office Administration Plan as well. Lastly, Mr. Mellion said that the class size and enrollment increase at McMahon he would suggest that there was some serious work that needs to be done. Being off by 136 students at McMahon but on the low side at Norwalk High needs to be addressed.

Ms. Lynn Massey came forward to address the Board. She said that she was a Norwalk resident, taxpayer and former president of the PTO. She said that she felt that everyone was in a partnership regarding the schools and the priority of the student’s education was number one. She then encouraged everyone to remember that as decisions were being made.

She said that she questioned the merit of the existing lawsuit that the Norwalk Federation of Teachers has against the Board of Educations. She said that she did not have all the details and has only read the newspaper accounts. She said that it sounded like petty grievances to her about not being included in some important discussion, but she was not sure of the merit justifies taking the finances, the time and the intellectual integrity of the teachers and the teachers’ union to spend time on a lawsuit when there are schools in need of improvement, SAT score that are not meeting the state averages and other problems. She then requested that whatever is going on with the lawsuit be settled behind closed doors as soon as possible so that it does not take any taxpayer’s money to settle. Also, it will take time away from the educators, which they cannot afford.

Ms. Diane Lauricella addressed the Board next. She said that that she was present as the newly elected president of the League of Women Voters. She thanked Ms. Bishop-Pullan and Dr. Corda. Ms. Lauricella then said that she wished to address the item about Nature’s Classroom. She said that she wished to announce something that the League started back in 1976 that needed to be passed on the schools. The League began a Hazardous Household Waste Collection Day under Mayor Collins. The intent was to educate the citizens and students about hazardous wastes, the nature of toxic waste in the community and the way that it affects family health and welfare. Mayor Esposito then included it as a line item in the Public Works Department.

However, the education component is almost non-existent. Ms. Lauricella said that the newly hired engineer, Chris Okafore has said that he would like to revitalize the methods of getting the educational component to the students. There are two opportunities coming up. On October 6th, there will be a free Household Hazardous Waste Collection at the Westport/Weston Health District on Bayberry Lane in Westport. On October 13 in New Canaan, there will be another Household Hazardous Waste Collection, which will be open to Norwalk residents with identification.

Ms. Lauricella said that it would be important to pass this information on to the students and their families. She then said that she would be contacting Dr. Corda’s with the information about these events because these are community health issues. In the future, Ms. Lauricella said that she would like the Board to think of the League as a resource. One issue that the League has been looking at has been encouraging the school system with their recycling. This programs could be part of the Nature’s Classroom where the students are helping the City and saving the City and the Board of Education money because the amount of recycling is only about half as much as it could be. The League could help with this because they have done this over and over again. She then offered to work with the Board to make sure that the environmental program for recycling and for household waste collection day and green school management practices.

Ms. Lauricella said that on October 11th, the League would be having a forum for the public on the Freedom of Information Act in the Council Chambers. She said that there have been several issues about this in the City. On October 15th, there will be a debate in the Community Room at 6:30 p.m. Ms. Lauricella said that she would like to find a way to invite the children to watch this because it is democracy in action.

Ms. Murray asked if there was anyone else who would like to address the Board.

Mr. Paul Blumenthal, a resident of Norwalk came forward to address the Board. He said that he now understood how to play soduku better because of tonight’s presentation.

Mr. Blumenthal said that he would like to comment about the seventh grade and the importance of the parent’s involvement. It is also important to discuss the role of parental involvement to the District as a whole. Mr. Blumenthal said that the District was moving in a good direction, it would be important to involve the parents whenever possible. He then pointed out that State Section 10-220 f, which is a Safety Committee and Section 10-231 f, which is an Indoor Air Quality Committee, both of which the Board had the authority to establish. It is important to help the District and Administration whenever possible. Mr. Blumenthal said that there was an untapped resource with parental assistance. He said that he believed that it would be important to think out of the box and then gave an example of a California school where the school turned around in three years from a failing school to a successful school. Door to door visits were conducted and this was so successful that the State of California now provides grants for other schools to do this. Using Channel 87 would also be helpful, along with telephone resources. There are alternatives that would not cost the District, but would involve the parents more and give them more of a stake.

Ms. Murray then asked if there was anyone else present who would like to address the Board. Seeing that there was no one else who wished to do so, Ms. Murray stated that the Public Comment portion of the meeting was now closed.

VI. ACTIONS

A. Consent

1. Approval of Personnel Actions

** MS. RIVAS MOVED TO APPROVE THE PERSONNEL ACTIONS. ** MR. VETTER SECONDED. ** THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

B. Approval of field trip(s)

1. Roton Middle School – Nature’s Classroom

** MS. HAMILTON MOVED TO APPROVE THE ROTON MIDDLE SCHOOL FIELD TRIP TO NATURE’S CLASSROOM. ** MS. RIVAS SECONDED. Mr. Burnett said that he had a quick question regarding the chaperones which lists someone as ”security”. He said that he said that he had never seen a chaperone listed as “security” before. Dr. Corda responded that he thought it was a position that the person holds. However, this will be checked into.

** THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

2. Ponus Ridge Middle School – Washington, D.C.

**MR. VETTER MOVED TO APPROVE THE PONUS RIDGE MIDDLE SCHOOL FIELD TRIP TO WASHINGTON, D.C. **MS. HAMILTON SECONDED. ** THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

3. Ponus Ridge Middle School – Nature’s Classroom

** MS. RIVAS MOVED TO APPROVE THE PONUS RIDGE MIDDLE SCHOOL FIELD TRIP TO NATURE’S CLASSROOM. ** MS. HAMILTON SECONDED. ** THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

C. Approval of Budget Transfers

** MS. RIVAS MOVED TO APPROVE THE BUDGET TRANSFERS. ** MS. MURRAY SECONDED.

Mr. Kimmel said that he thought that this was an excellent format and appreciated all the information. He said that it could not be more transparent and that he felt comfortable voting for the transfers.

** THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

D. Approval of minutes (September 4 & 18, 2007)

September 4, 2007

** MS. MURRAY MOVED THE MINUTES OF SEPTEMBER 4, 2007. ** MS. MOSBY SECONDED.

The following corrections were noted:

Page 3, paragraph 4, line 1: please change the following from “did not meet AYT status in mathematics” to “did not meet AYP status in mathematics”

Page 10, paragraph 5, line 1: from “schools that had 15,000 elementary students and can handle this stuff well.” To “schools that had 1,500 elementary students and can handle this stuff well.

Page 14, paragraph 1, line 3: please change the following from : “The trip will be taking place during CAP periods when there are abbreviated days.” To “The trip will be taking place during CAPT periods when there are abbreviated days.”

** THE MOTION TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF SEPTEMBER 4, 2007 AS CORRECTED PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

September 18, 2007

** MR. POLLEY MOVED THE MINUTES OF SEPTEMBER 18, 2007. ** MS. MOSBY SECONDED.

The following corrections were noted:

Page 10, paragraph 1: Please change the following from: “Ms. Bishop-Pullan announced that Ms. Mosby has been appointed to the to the Roton BAC and the Ponus BAC” to “Ms. Bishop-Pullan announced that Ms. Mosby has been appointed to the Curriculum Committee and to the Roton BAC and the Ponus BAC.” ** THE MOTION TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF SEPTEMBER 18, 2007 AS CORRECTED PASSED WITH EIGHT IN FAVOR (POLLEY, KIMMEL, HAMILTON, MURRAY, BISHOP-PULLAN, BURNETT, RIVAS AND MOSBY) AND OPPOSED (VETTER).

VII. INFORMATION AND REPORTS

A. District Literacy Program – Focus on Middle School

Mr. Rafferty came forward to address the Board. He then gave an overview of the Literacy Language Art Program is currently in order to contrast it to the proposed program. The program has moved from teaching books to teaching children. He then proceeded to give a PowerPoint presentation to the Board and those present. He explained that this was interactive read alouds. This includes taking the invisible thinking that happens in a reader’s head (like recognizing symbolism) and verbalizing it for the students. By having the student’s do the reading in school, the teacher can observe which student is having difficulty reading.

Mr. Kimmel has several detailed questions about the program for Mr. Rafferty , which Mr. Rafferty answered. Mr. Rafferty then explained that he felt that writing was a key to understanding and making someone a better writer. He then reviewed the Literacy Block plan.

Mr. Polley pointed out that an attentive audience helps a student. Mr. Rafferty then reviewed how the plan implements this for the students. Mr. Polley then asked about writing across the curriculum. Mr. Rafferty explained how this was handled. A discussion about the program then followed.

Ms. Bishop-Pullan asked that a copy of the report be emailed to the Board. Mr. Rafferty said that he would email to Dr. Corda. Dr. Corda said that he would then pass the report on to the Board members. He added that it was the Administrations intent to continue to have these types of reports for the Board.

B. Teacher Assistant – Pupil Personnel Services Ms. Friedlander came forward and presented her report to the Board. She said that when it was confirmed that there was funding for some additional staff, the staff was down two psychologist due to retirement, and it was decided to replace those positions with other staff positions. The area most in need was for a Speech and Language Assistant. There is a shortage of Speech and Language Pathologist nationwide. She then reviewed the tasks that a Speech and Language Pathologists may perform and stated that they cannot evaluate students or write IPs. Jefferson and Kendall were the two schools most in need of services. She said that her recommendation to have a placement at Jefferson has to do with the enrollment that was discussed earlier. Jefferson and Kendall share a speech pathologist.

Mr. Polley asked about how the need for a speech pathologist was determined. Ms. Friedlander reviewed this with her. Mr. Kimmel said that New York City was involved in a lawsuit with the Federal Government because speech problems have been over diagnosed. He said that he understood that there was a different situation here in Connecticut, but asked about bogus referrals. He then asked who makes the initial referral and how it is followed up. Ms. Friedlander reviewed the process with him, including the third party billing. He then asked for a ballpark figure of the percentage elementary students who are receiving the service in Norwalk. Ms. Friedlander said that Norwalk is below the State average. He has several questions about this issue and how the evaluations are made. Ms. Friedlander then reviewed all the pertinent information with him.

Mr. Burnett asked if there was an expectation that the other schools with pre-K program will also need additional speech pathologists. Ms. Friedlander said she did not believe that there were additional staff speech pathologists needed at this time. Ms. Bishop Pullan asked Ms. Friedlander to report the percentage of students involved with the program as Mr. Kimmel had requested. Ms. Friedlander said that she would do so.

C. Board members’ announcements

Mr. Burnett said that in order to follow up on the comment that Dr. Corda made earlier, the Norwalk Building Advisory Committee would hold a meeting next week on Wednesday, October 10 at 6 p.m. in the new Science wing. Any Board member that wishes to attend is more than welcomed.

Ms. Bishop-Pullan said that the Board had started the year by stating that they would get into the schools as frequently as possible. Some of the members have been able to attend open houses or building advisory committees. She said that she had two visits last week and had some scheduled for the upcoming weeks. Ms. Hamilton then reviewed her visits to the various schools.

VIII. DISCUSSION OF NFEP GRIEVANCE (EXECUTIVE SESSION ANTICIPATED)

** MS. HAMILTON MOVED TO ENTER INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION TO DISCUSS THE NFEP GRIEVANCE. ** MS. MOSBY SECONDED. ** THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

The Board entered into Executive Session to discuss the NFEP Grievance at

IX. ADJOURNMENT

** MOVED TO ADJOURN. ** SECONDED. ** THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

The meeting adjourned at

Respectfully submitted,

Sharon L. Soltes Telesco Secretarial Service

Category: Minutes