A regular meeting of the Litchfield Board of Education was held on Wednesday, July 18, 2007. 

 

            Board members present were: Mr. Shuhi, Chairperson; Mrs. Reardon; Messrs. Fairchild, Falcetti, Gorman, Katzin, Noone, Simone and Tourtellotte.

 

            Also present were: Dr. Vita; Mrs. Perusse; Mr. Zaremski; and members of the public.

 

                        MOTION made by Mr. Simone and seconded by Mr. Noone: to move to Executive Session at 6:05 p.m. for the purpose of interviewing finalist candidates for administrative positions. 

 

                                    MOTION carried.  All votes were in the affirmative.  There were no abstentions.

 

Executive Session

 

Present were: all the above Board members and Dr. Vita.

 

Open session resumed at 7:45 p.m. No action taken.  The board then took a brief recess (Finance and Facilities Sub-Committee meeting took place.)

 

Board meeting resumed at 8:00 p.m.

 

                        MOTION made by Mr. Simone and seconded by Mr. Falcetti: to approve the minutes of the June 13, 2007 regular meeting and the June 28, 2007 special meeting with the following corrections: correct the spelling of Mr. Tourtellotte’s name throughout the minutes, on page 2610 correct the name to “Berson,” on page 2611 the third motion should have the word “noon” changed to “non,” on page 2612 the third motion should omit the word “an” and change “student sin” to “students in,”  and on page 2613 under Superintendent’s report the “Mobil Connect” should be changed to “Global Connect.” 

 

                                    MOTION carried.  All votes were in the affirmative. Mr. Katzin abstained.

 

Public Comment and Correspondence

 

            Mr. Waugh updated the Board on the School Building Committee including the following: report on the planning and zoning meeting held last Monday; noise in classroom issues; need for panels in the rooms; readings to be taken; lighting issues; possible reflective paint to be used; additional support columns; air conditioning status; library status; gym work; removing decayed areas; paneling status; gym entrance way; technology bid packages; legal issues pending; contingency around $600,000 to $700,000; little behind on the schedule; and possible walk through by the Board in the near future. Mrs. Harrison commented on the parking lot issue including: use of the money; safety concerns; energy conservation; restrict juniors; crossing guard for route 202; and possibly enact a Board policy for student driving.

 

            Mr. Murray commented on the following: congratulations to Mr. Katzin on his election to the Board; Board never votes along party lines; support public comment at meetings including special meetings; public conversation was positive event; responses don’t become available to members of the community; and possible increase in attendance at Board meetings if time were allotted for public comment with responses.

 

            Mrs. Penney commented that people would show up more if there were more opportunities for public comment and participation.

 

Board members received the following correspondence:

• A letter from the Vice Chair of the Democratic Town Committee.
• A pamphlet from CABE.
• Several thank you notes.

 

New Business

 

            Dr. Vita reported that the budget status for 2006-07 is within the budget allocation.  Final numbers will be provided when all accounts are reconciled.

 

                        MOTION made by Mrs. Reardon and seconded by Mr. Gorman: to approve the final plans and project manual-Center School Annex Roof Replacement as dated August 25, 2006. 

 

            Board members discussed the following: cost of roof $209,906; approved by Facilities Committee and reviewed by the Board in the past.

 

                                    MOTION carried.  All votes were in the affirmative.  Mr. Katzin abstained.

 

                        MOTION made by Mr. Tourtellotte and seconded by Mrs. Reardon: to approve the payment of invoices and adjustments to line item expenditures as required.

 

                                    MOTION carried.  All votes were in the affirmative.  There were no abstentions.

 

            Dr. Vita reported on the negotiations process held with the administrators ending with a contract extension and adjustments. The salary increase for this year is 2% and for 2008/2009, 2009/2010, 2010/2011 the increase will be 2.95%.  There were significant reduction in several areas and the attorney was involved in developing this agreement. Board members reviewed the contract page by page at a previous meeting.

 

                        MOTION made by Mr. Gorman and seconded by Mr. Simone: to ratify the revised and extended Agreement between the Litchfield Board of Education and the Litchfield Administrators Association stipulating the conditions of employment for school administrators from July 1, 2007 through June 30, 2011. 

 

                                    MOTION carried.  All votes were in the affirmative.  There were no abstentions. 

 

            Dr. Vita noted that the transportation contract expires at the end of the school year and the extension of this agreement should be deferred to the Finance and Facilities Committee to investigate the benefits or lack there of.

 

            Board members agreed to discuss this issue on the 25^th at 6:00 p.m. with the Finance and Facilities Committee meeting and then to hold a special meeting at 7:00 p.m. to vote on the candidate from the interviews this evening. 

 

            Board members discussed the procedure for public comment and/or participation at Board of Education meetings including the following: are a public meeting not a meeting of the public; regular meetings require public comment; forms are available for people to ask questions; can answer short, factual questions; possible put time aside to field questions and possible short answers; meetings are very didactic; possible second opportunity towards the end of the meeting for further public participation; possibly keep 3 minute limit; takes weeks before answers to some questions are made available; answers cannot be part of minutes; possible use of web site to publish answers to questions; minutes are historic documents and should record only Board actions; possible alternatives to disseminate information; need to always listen to the public; time concerns; need for special meeting to discuss big issues; contentious agenda items need public participation; use discretion and have some sense of when the public has something to say; need to give opportunity to speak; some responses need time to be answered; need  for two way conversation with time limit; possible deterioration of decorum; integrity of Board meeting needs to be maintained; special meetings can’t vary from the agenda so need to be careful not to respond; not making policy but are making practice; possible general email address for questions and answers; and need to address issues when necessary as done in the past with special meetings to discuss those issues.

 

            Dr. Vita outlined the procedure for appropriate access to and utilization of the Board’s attorney. The attorney is the attorney for the Board and not the individual Board member. Typically contact should go through the superintendent unless the contact is regarding the superintendent and then the chairperson would do the contacting.  Because of the cost of the attorney it would be best if some sort of order of procedure was followed. 

 

            Board members discussed the following: need for more information to be shared; benefit from wisdom; sensitive issues; prefer not to email leaving a paper trail; need to inform the Board members when possible; and need to be updated on policy issues from the attorney.

 

Old Business

 

            Board members continued the discussion regarding the option of appointing a Board Hearing officer (panel of one) for student disciplinary hearings including: don’t have many expulsions; person who understands the state statutes; mandatory and discretionary expulsions; similar to a court case; saving costs and time; benefits to having 9 judges assessing; possible hearing panel; and need for a quorum.  Board consensus was to continue conducting the hearings themselves.

 

Superintendent’s Report

 

Mr. Gorman left at 9:45 p.m.

 

            Dr. Vita reported on the following:

• Mr. Crowe reviewed the summer projects at the different facilities including new playgrounds; surfaces for playgrounds; painting; partitions in bathrooms; playscape; cleaning status; construction status; status of computers; status of asbestos abatement; and opening day issues.
• Updates on summer hiring and resignations including guidance counselors, music position, library media position, and P.E. position.  The business teacher hired will be leaving us and they are difficult to replace.  If one can’t be found, then some classes may be offered through other departments such as business and commerce, marketing, D.E. courses, banking, finance, business law, and pre MBA experiences. 

 

Board members discussed the following: need for writing samples from guidance candidates; and try to get someone with experience.

 

Committee Reports

Negotiations Liaison

 

Dr. Vita noted that the AFSCME contract negotiations will be starting soon.

 

Mr. Shuhi noted that there is a need to replace the BOE liaison to Litchfield Education Foundation and committee assignments.

 

                        MOTION made by Mr. Falcetti and seconded by Mr. Simone: to move to Executive session at 9:50 p.m. to discuss personnel performance evaluation (DV) and pending litigation.

 

                                    MOTION carried.  All votes were in the affirmative.  There were no abstentions.

 

Executive Session

 

Present were all the above Board members (except for F. Gorman) and Dr. Vita.

 

 

Open session resumed at 11:03 p.m.

 

No action was taken.

 

                        MOTION made by F. Simone and seconded by D. Falcetti: to adjourn the meeting ata11:05 p.m.

 

                                    MOTION carried.  All votes were in the affirmative.  There were no abstentions.

 

                                                            Respectfully submitted,

                                                            Donald Falcetti, Secretary

                                                            Joanne Bertrand, Recording Secretary