LITCHFIELD BOARD OF EDUCATION

REGULAR MEETING

August 24, 2004

 

           

A regular meeting of the Litchfield Board of Education was held on Tuesday, August 24, 2004 at 7:00 p.m. in the Center School gym.

 

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

 

                        MOTION made by Mr. Fairchild and seconded by Mr. Simone: to approve the minutes of the July 13, 2004 as submitted with the following correction on page 2516 the motion should read Mrs. Reardon and not Mr.

 

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

 

                        MOTION made by Mr. Costa and seconded by Mr. Simone: to add to the agenda as item VIII a, a discussion of Policy # 5137.1a. 

                                   

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

 

Public Comment

 

            Mr. Murray commented on the following:

  • Interacting with the Board is friendly
  • Some people intimidated
  • Building looks very nice
  • Public forum slides should include salary and benefit costs
  • Number of salaries over $75,000
  • Need to annualize teachers’ salaries
  • 40 week positions compared to 48 week positions
  • Good schools
  • Defeated budget and reasons
  • Need for high school web site
  • SAT scores are disgraceful for this town
  • Need to research why such poor scores.

 

Communications

 

            The Board received the following:

  • NSBA enrollment application.
  • A booklet from a private organization that does work in grants.
  • A CABE conference enrollment form.

 

Building Committee Update and Discussion

 

            Mr. Waugh reviewed the minutes of the July 15, 2004 meeting and the August 5, 2004 meeting and discussed the following: next meeting, Sept. 2 at 7:00 pm; will review very detailed information on both C5 and D5 for the high school; upgrade pipe for the playing fields ($350,000); consultants hired; 90 band students accommodated; D5 more compact and efficient; cleaning of the courtyard at the Intermediate School occurred; will have numbers after the next meeting; and will stay in budget.

 

Committee/Liaison Reports

Curriculum Committee

 

            Mr. Costa reported that the next meeting will be held on the 14th with long term goals discussed including NEASC and the agenda.

 

Facilities Committee

 

            Mr. Noone reported that the bus lot would stay where it is for now since the fields have been delayed and don’t need the area just yet.

 

Negotiations

 

            Mr. Falcetti reported that he met with a representative of the Litchfield Administrators Association and the first negotiations meeting will be held on Thursday, September 2, at 10:00 a.m. where ground rules and dates will be determined. 

 

Budget Update

 

            Dr. Tindall-Gibson distributed the Proposed Budget Action Summary with cuts listed after the adopted budget on 3/23/2004. 

 

                        MOTION made by Mr. Costa and seconded by Mr. Doyle: to support the Superintendent’s recommendation to approve the reductions as detailed by the Finance Committee.

 

            Board members discussed the following: adjusting the town budget when ECS money is received; need to be truthful to the public; if stated that positions will be cut then why are they not cut; stated may have to cut positions; adjustments came back affecting positions that needed to be cut; staff is less this year than last; community thinks we always had the money; caution in wording things; everything happening this year happens every year with adjustments always made; this year done before budget passed; timing of cuts determines what gets cut; three resigned recently; perception of people; cuts made with least negative impact on students; possible freezing of the budget; hiring done by Board so up to the Board; adjustments will be

made as needed; need to wait for the next vote before decide on further cuts; seven positions eliminated last year; tremendous cuts have been made; criticized no matter what we do; and need to educate community.

 

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

 

Old Business

 

            Mr. Fairchild presented Policy # 1110.1, 1120, 9325a for a third and final reading with a minor adjustment made on the last sentence of 1120.

 

                        MOTION made by Mr. Costa and seconded by Mr. Falcetti: to support the Superintendent’s recommendation to approve policy # 1110.1, 1120, 9325a as presented by the Policy Committee.

 

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

 

            Dr. Tindall-Gibson distributed copies of policy # 5137.1(a) regarding student fees for participation in extracurricular activities and discussed the following: possible activity fee; and administration wants to stay the present course as last year.

 

            Board members discussed the following: still policy even without a vote; timing in notifying parents since sports begin this week; athletic director wants to begin right away; will notify parents on Thursday evening at the sports meeting; letter sent during summer adds confusion for parents; and need for all students to participate who want to.

 

                        MOTION made by Mr. Costa and seconded by Mr. Falcetti: to support the Superintendent’s recommendation to approve the student participation fee as written last year.

 

            Board consensus was to discuss the possible extra curricular list for fees at the next meeting.

 

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

 

New Business

 

            Dr. Tindall-Gibson distributed the Board of Finance minutes of August 9, 2004, and noted item #3, a motion by Jeff Zullo requesting the Board of Education to consider salary concessions for the administration and teachers.  The education cost sharing money would go back to the Board of Education.

 

            Board members discussed the following: town budget less than 1 mill; need to consider this when the building project needs funding; never done by CEA; timing of teacher contract; negotiations were done in good faith; member of Board of Finance on the team and commended the results; union did make concessions; community needs to know about these; issues of arbitration and state mandates; and doesn’t hurt to talk about this.

 

                        MOTION made by Mr. Simone and seconded by Mr. Falcetti: to support the Superintendent’s recommendation to approve asking the LEA to sit and ask for concessions.

 

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

 

            Board members noted that negotiations are already taking place with the administrators and with the classified personnel so concessions cannot be discussed at this time.

 

Mrs. Reardon arrived at 8:10 p.m.

 

Superintendent’s Report

Library Media Services

 

            Dr. Tindall-Gibson introduced Joanne Moore the Director of Library Services who wrote a grant for book purchases.

 

            Mrs. Moore distributed samples of books purchased with the grant money.  In March the library staff composed a grant application after doing a collection analysis and finding that the collection was falling behind the times.  The grant was approved for $45,000 with each school receiving $15,000.  Half the money has been spent already and the rest will be spent during the course of the school year and tying in the purchases with the curriculum. 

 

            Mrs. Moore was thanked for her efforts to bring additional resources to the students.

 

Capital Projects

 

            Dr. Tindall-Gibson reported that the capital improvements have been completed at the entrance to Center School and the parking lot at Center School.  Both jobs look good and completed by public works.

 

Payment of Bills

 

                        MOTION made by Mr. Fairchild and seconded by Mr. Simone: to pay bills in the amount of $22,684.09.

 

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

 

 

Resignations

 

                        MOTION made by Mr. Costa and seconded by Mr. Fairchild: to support the Superintendent’s recommendation to accept the resignations of Judy Sakonchick, Valerie Moura, and Jill Sage as listed in the agenda.

 

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

 

New Hires

 

                        MOTION made by Mr. Costa and seconded by Mr. Fairchild: to support the Superintendent’s recommendation to approve the new hires recommended by the Personnel Committee and listed on the agenda.

 

            A concern was expressed about wanting to see the packets before the meeting so more time can be had in reviewing them.

 

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

 

                        MOTION made by Mr. Simone and seconded by Mr. Falcetti: to adjourn the meeting at 8:30 p.m.

 

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

 

                                                                                    Respectfully submitted,

                                                                                    Donald Falcetti, Secretary

                                                                                    Joanne Bertrand, Recording Secretary