A regular meeting of the Litchfield Board of Education was held on Tuesday, September 28, 2004 at 7:00 pm. in the Center School gym.

 

            Present were: Mr. Costa, Vice Chair; Mrs. Reardon; Messrs Fairchild, Falcetti, Noone, Shuhi, and Simone.  Mrs. Knox and Mr. Doyle were excused.  Also present:  Dr. Tindall-Gibson; Mrs. Perusse; Dr. Breslin; Mrs. Longobucco; Dr. Stuhlman; Mrs. MacDonald; Mr. Zaremski; the public and the press.

 

                        MOTION made by Mr. Shuhi and seconded by Mr. Falcetti: to drop agenda item X b and add to the agenda 11c a discussion of the NEASC visit update.

 

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

 

                        MOTION made by Mr. Falcetti and seconded by Mr. Simone: to approve the minutes of the August 24, 2004 meeting with the following correction on page 2521 under Old Business, the second motion should read “as written” instead of “as implemented last year.”

 

                                    MOTION carried. All votes were in the affirmative.  Mrs. Reardon abstained.

 

Certificates of Recognition

Teachers of the Year

 

            Dr. Breslin introduced Kathleen Jones as the LHS’s teacher of the year and the Board presented her with a Certificate of Appreciation. 

 

            Dr. Stuhlman introduced Elizabeth Lynn as the LIS’s teacher of the year and the Board presented her with a Certificate of Appreciation.

 

            Mrs. Longobucco introduced Jennifer Johnson as Center School’s, and Litchfield’s teacher of the year and the Board presented her with a Certificate of Appreciation.

 

National Merit Scholar Semi-Finalists and Commended Students

 

            Dr. Breslin reviewed what it takes to be recognized and what it represents including the 98th and 99th percentile and to have three semi-finalists and two commended in such a small school system is also highly unusual.  The following students were recognized as commended students and received certificates of recognition: Dustin Landau and Charles McCoy.  The following students were recognized as semi-finalists and received certificates of recognition: Samuel Blazek, Elizabeth Clarkin-Breslin and Alexandra Regenbogen. 

 

Public Comment

 

            Susan Auchincloss requested that the Board put on the agenda of the next Board meeting a discussion of the current music curriculum at the Intermediate School and Center School.

 

                        MOTION made by Mr. Shuhi and seconded by Mr. Simone: to move agenda item IV to before item VIII.

 

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

 

Communications

 

            Board members received the following:

• A letter from the LEA President responding to the Board’s request regarding possible concessions.
• A letter from NEASC Director responding to a factual correction from a letter to the editor written by Mr. Costa last spring.
• A letter from Susan and Roger Newberry commending Tony Crowe as the Athletic Director.

 

Building Committee Update and Discussion

 

            Dr. Tindall-Gibson distributed copies of the September 2, 2004 committee minutes and discussed the following: a special meeting is taking place now to prepare for hearing Thursday at 7:00 p.m. in the high school cafeteria; alternate plans were identified to reduce costs; need to get down to $33 million cap; normal process of building committee; copies of the 11 different items to reduce costs was distributed; and the building committee is doing exactly what we want them to do.

 

Student Council Report

 

            Elizabeth Clarkin-Breslin was introduced as the new representative from the student council and reported on the activities at the high school. 

 

Committee/Liaison Reports

Facility Committee

 

            Mr. Noone reported that water seepage was a problem at Center School today and wanted to be sure that it was being addressed.

 

Negotiations Committee

 

            Mr. Falcetti reported that the committee met with the Board of Finance to report that the process has begun.  Ground rules were set and at a second meeting proposals will be set.  The next meeting is in October. 

 

Curriculum Committee

 

            Mr. Costa distributed copies of proposed topics for 2004-2005 for the committee.  Possible meetings will be held on the second Tuesday of the month and further discussion will be held regarding the type of Board meetings to be held each month.

 

Budget Update

 

            Dr. Tindall-Gibson distributed a copy of the final revisions of the budget with a 3.22% increase.

 

            Board members thanked the Superintendent, Business Manager and principals for adjusting to working without a budget until now.

 

New Business

Review of Tuition Rates 2004-05

 

            Dr. Tindall-Gibson distributed copies of the tuition calculation for 2003-2004 data used for calculating the 2004-2005 tuition, based on per pupil cost.

 

                        MOTION made by Mr. Fairchild and seconded by Mr. Falcetti: to support the Superintendent’s recommendation to approve the tuition calculations as presented.

 

            Board members discussed the following: same rate for faculty children; present policy and possible consideration.

 

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

 

Review of End-of-Year Closeout (2003-04)

 

            Mrs. Perusse reported that $10,035.29 would go back to the general fund.

 

Review and Approval of Consolidated Grant Application for 2004-05

 

            Mrs. Perusse reviewed the Grant application with the Board.

 

                        MOTION made by Mr. Simone and seconded by Mr. Fairchild: to support the Superintendent’s recommendation to approve the Consolidated Grant as presented. 

            Board members discussed the following: NCLB student learning; title one programs; under $100,000; responsible to distribute to non public schools; much in salaries to administer programs; less than last year; and copy of full grant available in central office.

 

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

 

Out-of –State Field Trip Requests

 

            Board members reviewed a list of eight requests.

 

                        MOTION made by Mr. Shuhi and seconded by Mrs. Reardon: to support the Superintendent’s recommendation to approve the list of out-of-state field trips as presented.

 

            Board members discussed the following: need for chaperones in place; possible cancellation fee for overseas trip; risks involved; administration decision; possible loss of money; have been cancelled before; issue of responsibility for seniors who have just graduated; and need to follow through with legal status of trip with seniors.

 

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

 

Gift Acknowledgements

 

            Board members acknowledged and thanked the following people for their gifts:

• Jonathan and Wendy Costa – Toshiba TLP-X20 LCD Projector
• Kevin and Lisa Crowley – HP DeskJet 3845 Printer
• Diane Orsini – Microwave Oven
• Susan Sawula – 3 Computer Processors

 

Tenure List and Dept. Chairs/Coordinators 2004-05

 

            Dr. Tindall-Gibson noted that the following people have attained tenure this year: Erin Bates, Stephen Brookes, Lisa Heuschkel, Anthony Hibbert, Vanessa Kass, Melissa Mikaitis, and Cynthia Zeller.

 

“Pay for Participation” Discussion

 

            Dr. Tindall-Gibson distributed the administrative regulations for policy 5137.1(a) for Board perusal and the list of extracurricular activities for participation fees.

 

            Board members discussed the following: timing of parent notification; need to balance the budget before we can notify parents; commitment to do away with the policy; conditional reasons; hockey and crew difference; need to make text clear; students already being charged; not fair to only charge athletes; gymnastics included in the fee; difficulties in charging extra curricular activities; no logical way; worried about loosing student volunteers; need for a complete list of extra curricular activities; possible modify policy to “pay for play;” slippery slope to include clubs, student government, etc.; and the policy seems to be working the way it is so don’t fix it if it isn’t broken.