A special meeting of the Litchfield Board of Education was held on Wednesday, September 26, 2007, at 7:00 p.m. in the Litchfield Intermediate School cafeteria.

 

            Board members present were: Mr. Shuhi, Chairperson; Mrs. Reardon; Messrs. Falcetti, Katzin, Simone, and Tourtellotte.  Mr. Noone arrived at 7:20 p.m. Mr. Fairchild and Mr. Gorman were excused.

 

            Also present were: Dr. Vita; Mr. Johnson; Mrs. Perusse; Dr. Breslin; Mrs. Longobucco; Ms. Marinelli; Mr. Zaremski and members of the public.

 

                        MOTION made by Mr. Falcetti and seconded by Mr. Simone: to approve the minutes of the September 5, 2007 as submitted.

 

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

 

                        MOTION made by Mr. Simone and seconded by Mr. Falcetti: to discuss item V(d) “ Senior year design project” under Public Comment and Correspondence. 

 

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

 

Public Comment and Correspondence

 

            Mr. Waugh presented an update on the school building project including the following: approval of parking lot with modifications; 30 additional parking spaces behind the building; Inland Wetlands approval; painting status; tiling status; teachers’ room and music room status; issues with the exterior of building; status of 5 classrooms with installed ceiling tiles; cafeteria  timing; foyer status; media center issues; technology equipment status; and FF&E finalized and sent to state.

 

            Board members discussed the following: priority list; money left to use; parking lot cost; and acoustical tiling is priority.

 

            Mrs. Fabbri reported on the STPC activities including: meeting held last Thursday; plans for parent academy sessions; and possible resource use of STPC in principal search.

 

            Mr. Stephen Simonin commented on educational opportunities through distance learning and a working video link with Cablevision including: lots of possibilities; input from Board on their needs; school news; distance learning; language classes; legal issues; possible lose of opportunity; and DPUC input.

  

 

            Board members discussed the following: definition of needs; examples from surrounding communities; public access; input from Ed Connection; complete letter; sharing teachers; opportunities for Litchfield; and complications with public education.

 

Mr. Noone arrived at 7:20 p.m.

 

Dr. Breslin distributed copies of, “Exploring Pathways to Lifelong Success,” for Board perusal and discussed the senior year design project including the following: meetings already held; senior input for this year; mentor involvement; presentations planned throughout the year; have pilot for this year; and in place for all seniors in the future.

 

Mrs. Carr asked the Board to consider including the 2 Jewish holidays in September as part of the school calendar. Students that participate in the Jewish holidays in September have conflicts with school responsibilities and homework concerns.  This is a concern about the impact on the child. 

 

Mrs. Harrison commented on the parking lot spaces and its priority over finishing the building projects.  Also, there is confusion over what money is really left in the contingency fund.

 

Mr. Falcetti thanked the athletic director and the Park and Recreation for a wonderful community event held last week. 

 

Mr. Murray commented on the following: proper punctuation on the signs posted in the buildings; and compliments to Dr. Breslin for his support of the students, correct emphasis on academics, protection of students, and best wishes.

 

Mrs. Reardon commented on Dr. Breslin leaving and praised him for his ability to elevate the level of academic discourse, to elevate students who struggle, his many hours spent at school, his letters of recommendations written for students; the way he tracks students; and his ethics. 

 

Mr. Noone echoed Mrs. Reardon’s remarks.

 

New Business

 

                        MOTION made by Mr. Tourtellotte and seconded by Mrs. Reardon: to approve the payment of invoices and adjustments to line item expenditures for 2007-2008 budget as required. 

 

                                    MOTION carried.  All votes were in the affirmative except Mr. Katzin who voted in the negative.  There were no abstentions. 

 

                        MOTION made by Mr. Simone and seconded by Mrs. Reardon: to approve out-of-state field trips for the first half of the year, one to NYC and two to Massachusetts.

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Litchfield Board of Education Special Meeting, September 26, 2007                                            

 

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

 

                        MOTION made by Mr. Simone and seconded by Mr. Falcetti: to accept the resignation of Dr. Tim Breslin as principal, of Litchfield High School effective sometime in November as mutually agreed with the superintendent.

 

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

 

            Dr. Vita commented that we are losing an outstanding administrator and the replacement will be in two steps.  The first step is to appoint an interim principal and the second step is to find a permanent replacement to begin sometime in January or early February.  The interim person could be found from recently retired principals or other sources. 

 

            Board members discussed the following: need to have someone familiar with Litchfield; possibly let the superintendent decide and review with Board for approval; start search for permanent replacement immediately to hopefully have person in place by January; difficulty in finding someone until the first of the year; candidates might consider change mid-year if considering change at end of year however, interim might end up finishing year depending on pool of applicants; discussion of Board input in selecting interim person; need to present candidate to the Board; interim doesn’t spearhead significant changes in school; desire to have someone permanent for the second half of the year; experience as high school principal; don’t want to lose momentum; possible interim candidate for October 10^th meeting; discussion of team setup for principal replacement; search committee vs. consultant for permanent position; rating procedure for applicants for permanent position; state-wide advertisement; possible use of consultant for applicant pool suggestions; need for standard confidential non-disclosure agreement; no need for consultant to facilitate interviews; concerns about finding someone in the middle of the school year; finding the best person is the priority.

 

Old Business

 

            Dr. Vita reported that the meeting scheduled for this week with area Superintendents to discuss the possibility of a regional school calendar has been rescheduled for October 10^th, and all the Board’s options will be presented for consideration.

 

Mr. Simone left at 8:15 p.m.

 

                        MOTION made by Mr. Tourtellotte and seconded by Mrs. Reardon: to change the date of the Wednesday November 14, 2007 Board of Education meeting to Tuesday November 13, 2007 due to a conflict with the Litchfield County student awards ceremony.

 

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

 

                                   

            Mrs. Longobucco distributed a copy of an actual application that was submitted online.  This is web based and people could apply online.  This stays active for 25 days and then gets deleted if not completed.  The application can be customized to fit the position seeking.  We have had good results and we are legally compliant.  The administrators like this process.

 

            Board members discussed the following: no missing pieces from the traditional application; large pool of applicants; save on piles of paper; and quick and easy for administrators. 

 

Superintendent’s Report

 

            Dr. Vita reported on the following:

• Start of the question and answer website for information and even if the Board has a question they could use this process too.
• The Center and Intermediate School start and dismissal time has been adjusted due to contractual issues and bus timing. 
• CMT and CAPT information for parents will be presented through the parent academy with STPC and PTO. Healthy foods and nutrition will also be presented through the parent academy along with bus safety.  There will be a total of 4 parent academies.

 

Administrative Reports

 

            Mr. Crowe reported on the facilities issues update including the following: use of part time custodians; rotation of custodians; schools are cleaner; floor tile upkeep; town projects working with town maintenance department is going well.

 

            Mr. Johnson reported that he has met with all the curriculum coordinators and will begin to probe and design plans to align the district.  Next Friday there will be a full day workshop for the coordinators.  Also, the district has already complied with the state’s effort to create a Constitution Day in the future.

 

Committee Reports

 

Policy and Personnel

 

            Dr. Vita noted the committee needs to set a date to discuss attendance and truancy policy, and food services policy.

 

Negotiations Liaisons

 

            Dr. Vita reported that we are in the discussion stage and all is going well.  The final document will be brought back to the Board as a whole.

  

 

                        MOTION made by Mrs. Reardon and seconded by Mr. Tourtellotte: to move to Executive Session at 8:50 p.m. to discuss the Superintendent’s Evaluation.

 

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

 

Executive Session

 

Present were Messrs. Shuhi, Falcetti, Tourtellotte, Katzin, Noone, Mrs. Reardon and Dr. Vita.

 

Open session resumed at 9:48 p.m. 

 

No action was taken

 

MOTION made by Mr. Falcetti and seconded by Mr. Tourtellotte: to adjourn the meeting at 9:51 p.m.

 

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

 

                                                            Respectfully submitted,

                                                            Donald Falcetti, Secretary

                                                            Joanne Bertrand, Recording Secretary