LITCHFIELD BOARD OF EDUCATION

REGULAR MEETING

January 13, 2004

        

A regular meeting of the Litchfield Board of Education was held on Tuesday, January 13, 2004, at 7:00 p.m. in the Center School gym.

 

            Present were: Mrs. Knox, Chairperson; Mrs. Reardon; Messrs. Costa, Doyle, Fairchild, Falcetti, Noone, Shuhi, and Simone; Dr. Tindall-Gibson; Mrs. Perusse; Dr. Breslin; Dr. Stuhlman; Mrs. MacDonald; the public and the press.

 

                        MOTION made by Mr. Shuhi and seconded by Mrs. Reardon: to add to the agenda a discussion on email as item Va. and resignation as item XIV. 

 

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

 

                        MOTION made by Mr. Simone and seconded by Mr. Fairchild: to approve the minutes of December 9, 2003, as submitted.

 

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

 

                        MOTION made by Mr. Fairchild and seconded by Mr. Simone: to approve the minutes of December 16, 2003, special meeting, as submitted.

 

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

 

                        MOTION made by Mr. Falcetti and seconded by Mr. Shuhi: to approve the minutes of the January 6, 2004, special meeting as submitted.

 

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

 

Public Participation

 

            Mr. Pavlik requested information regarding the NCLB act and wondered if the Board should consider opting out of the requirements.

           

            It was recommended that he attend the public forum in March where further discussion on the issue would probably take place with questions from the public.

  

Building Committee Update and Discussion

 

            Dr. Tindall-Gibson distributed the minutes of the committee from December 18, 2003 and January 8, 2004 and the agenda for January 15, 2004 to Board members.

 

            Mrs. Perusse reported that at the last meeting a presentation regarding the athletic fields proposal was made and went well.  An agreement was made to work together to incorporate the athletic fields into the building process.

 

Email Discussion

 

            Dr. Tindall-Gibson noted that due to FOI guidelines, our mail service is coordinated to allow for keeping records as needed by law.  If a different email address is posted to the website then a record of that communication cannot be kept. 

 

            Board members discussed the following: email posted on the website; email in service for some time; possibly substitute another email address; possibly forward Board emails; legal precedent; lack of computer or knowledge of one; activity of accounts; consistent message; cleaner for district; discuss ahead to time for future Board members; direct correspondence to Board is public information; bounce back to personal email; problems with password; not a legal problem unless there is a legal problem; and challenge to FOI could need a response from your personal computer.

 

            Mr. Shuhi and Mr. Falcetti will have their email addresses removed from the Board web site.

 

2003 CAPT Review-District and Comparative Data

 

            Mr. O’Connell discussed a power point presentation for Board members to show the 2003 CAPT results including: percent certified at goal; percent at goal in math, science, reading and writing in tenth grade; percent at goal compared to the ERG and state totals; percent proficient or higher; participation rates for May 2003; NCLB expectations; cumulative results for class of 2004; and class summary.

 

            Board members discussed the following: possible numbers for next year’s needs for support to satisfy NCLB; focus kids bring to class when needed for graduation; include needs in next years report; possible students who quit school instead of pass test; attention given to students in need; 10% under 1066; other ways to satisfy graduation requirements; needs for students who don’t test well; and options available to students who don’t pass the CAPT.

 

NCLB Update

 

            Dr. Tindall-Gibson reported on the results from the 2003 administration of the CAPT and distributed the summary from Commissioner Betty J. Sternberg to Board members.  The CMT results are still missing from the State because they are not ready yet.  The last two pages of this

report include an overview of the requirements of NCLB, with the page before them showing the Connecticut High Schools that did not make adequate yearly progress.

 

            Board members discussed the following: road to failure; possible movement afoot to amend the program to make it more attainable; position statement from the Connecticut Superintendent’s Association saying it must be changed; and efforts will continue until changes occur.

 

Committee/Liaison Reports

Curriculum

 

            Mr. Costa reported that the committee met this evening to articulate the K-12 language arts curriculum.  At the next meeting the first Tuesday in February, the committee will discuss setting the March 24th forum. 

 

Facilities Committee

 

            The next meeting will be held on January 20, at 5:30 in the Superintendent’s Conference Room.

 

Negotiations Committee

 

            Mr. Costa reported that an exchange with the Board of Selectmen was very good.

 

Capital Improvements Committee

 

            Mr. Simone reported that the committee will meet next Wednesday evening at 7:00 p.m.

 

Old Business

 

            Dr. Tindall-Gibson distributed a letter from CABE for Board members.  A consensus is needed to determine whether to budget for the membership dues or not.

 

            Board members discussed the following: membership for the first year is half price; good time to try it for the year; fees beyond membership dues; legal savings needs to be proven beneficial; very few systems are not members; cost concerns; budget needs for pay for participation policy; long run cost savings; immediate clarification sometimes not available from CABE; good relationship with council; good opportunity to study cost benefits with half price dues for this year; and need to budget the dues for a trial year.

 

            Dr. Tindall-Gibson asked Board members for a direction to take regarding AFLAC Insurance opportunities.

 

            Board members discussed the following: individual requests and decisions; no cost to the Board; business office willing and able; not a big imposition; only one proposal; need to get

alternate quote to test the marketplace; minimum number of three; open to any employee of LPS; does not terminate when leave; guaranteed rate and portability; possible email to our representative; no other agency came forth; obligation to see if competition; central office allowing this not recommending anything; something employees want with no cost to the Board; timing issues; start up coverage; do have time to send email; and worth a try to cover options.

 

New Business

 

            Dr. Tindall-Gibson distributed an outline of the 2004 meeting dates showing the first meeting date of the month dealing with committee work and the second meeting of the month dealing with a regular meeting work.  The first meeting date of the month will have committees scheduled according to the highest need for that time of the year and will meet during a block of time (7 p.m. – 10 p.m.).  Other committee members may attend alternate committee meetings.  This will help to limit the number of evenings Board members will have to be out in order to do committee and Board work.

 

            Board members discussed the following: too large an agenda for the second meeting of the month; need to repeat the committee process at the Board meeting for the public; possibility of calling a special meeting if agendas get too involved; positive thing to lessen the amount of evenings out; more community members might be willing to run for Board positions; long monster meetings; flexible committee meetings as needed; and trying it for a trial period.

 

                        MOTION made by Mr. Costa and seconded by Mr. Falcetti: to support the Superintendent’s recommendation to organize the Board’s business as presented on a trial basis to see how it works.

 

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

 

            Mrs. Reardon noted that the Board should do an even better job of communicating what goes on at the schools but doesn’t necessarily have to be a committee. 

 

            Board members discussed the following: could start with a committee and recommend to the Superintendent; could direct the Superintendent as to what to do; possible letters in the paper regularly; help educate the public over time; paper would appreciate the write-ups; could include the Board of Education meetings on one side and write something about the schools on the other; could all take turns writing something; and starting the discussion at the next committee meeting night, February 12th.

 

Payment of Bills

 

                        MOTION made by Mr. Doyle and seconded by Mr. Fairchild: to pay bills in the amount of $123,588.49.

 

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

 

Notice of Retirements

 

            Dr. Tindall-Gibson reviewed with Board members the list of nine staff members who will be retiring at the end of this school year.  All have long careers, some hold other positions of importance, and this is a great loss to the system.

 

                        MOTION made by Mr. Simone and seconded by Mr. Noone: to support the Superintendent’s recommendation to approve the retirement of Ruth Keefe, John Kissko, Edward O’Connell, Carol Kearns, Donald Dennis, Elizabeth Fontaine, Robert Skelly, Rudolph Sellei, and Dana Jewett, with regret and good wishes.

 

            Board members discussed the use of retired teachers in critical shortage subject areas and hope that some of these people could be used in those areas.

 

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

 

Request to Amend Unpaid Leave of Absence

 

            Dr. Tindall-Gibson presented Wayne Prescott’s request to alter his unpaid leave originally approved on August 26, 2003.  The original “People-to-People” humanitarian trip to Cuba has encountered difficulty, and Mr. Prescott now has the opportunity to participate in a similar cultural trip to Tunisia.

 

                        MOTION made by Mr. Costa and seconded by Mr. Simone: to support the Superintendent’s recommendation to approve Mr. Prescott’s request to alter his unpaid leave from 9 unpaid leave days to 4 unpaid leave days (April 13-16) and the use of his remaining personal day (Monday, April 12).

 

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

 

Retirement Request

 

                        MOTION made by Mr. Costa and seconded by Mr. Simone: to support the Superintendent’s recommendation to approve the resignation of Teresa Salvatore-Fuller effective Friday, January 16, 2004.

 

            Board members discussed possible exit interviews.  No policy is in place but it is practiced when possible.

 

 

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

 

                        MOTION made by Mr. Simone and seconded by Mr. Fairchild: to adjourn the meeting at 8:40 p.m.

 

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

 

                                                                        Respectfully submitted,

                                                                        Donald Falcetti, Secretary

                                                                        Joanne Bertrand, Recording Secretary