LITCHFIELD BOARD OF EDUCATION

REGULAR MEETING

December 14, 2004

A regular meeting of the Litchfield Board of Education was held on Tuesday, December 14, 2004, at 7:00 p.m. in the Center School gym.

 

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

 

                        MOTION made by Mr. Fairchild and seconded by Mr. Noone: to approve the minutes of the November 9, 2004 as submitted.

 

                                    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 VII b. a discussion of a resolution in support of the Building Committee.

 

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

 

                        MOTION made by Mr. Simone and seconded by Mr. Shuhi: to add to the agenda as XIII b. a discussion of personnel.

 

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

 

                        MOTION made by Mr. Falcetti and seconded by Mr. Simone: to move item IX b. up to item VI and strike item VI.

 

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

 

Public Comment

 

            Dr. Coello spoke about the building committee and a possible new plan that was presented and quoted to the Selectmen by Mr. Landau.  He discussed the following: the plan as a reasonable alternative to the present building committee’s plan; possible to build a new high school within the constraints of the budget; high school could be smaller; concerns for the future; issues and leaks in Center School, a renovated building; and present classroom issues with students coughing from the environment. 

 

            Dr. Coello also spoke about infighting among the Boards including the following: public discourse; letter to the editor from Mr. Costa; name calling and insults; presented in public forums; new building cheerleader; name calling is wrong; lack of use of title in letter;

 

embarrassment to the Board; possible misrepresentation of the Board; NEASC misinformation; insulting opposition is not appropriate; when debating in public, attack the issue not the individual; position is weak; and as a public servant, asking this to stop.

 

            Mr. Creed spoke of the importance in treating each other with respect and to be civil at all times.  He also responded to the building committee alternative including: budget 26 to 27 million dollars for project; amount of money from the state will change; 6 million or 16 million; 18-19% reimbursement or 40-41% reimbursement; town will be upset; support will melt away; problems in the budget process; possible teacher cuts; possibly losing millions of dollars in the budget plan; people still shell shocked over the rescinding vote of the last administration; people now grabbing at anything; shouldn’t be afraid to spend money on a good project; and taxpayers will realize that we could get more money from the state with the newer construction plan and possibly will support it.

 

            Mr. Murphy commented that Dr. Coello and Mr. Costa can resolve their differences and thanked the Board and Dr. Tindall-Gibson for their hard work.  He commented on Dr. Breslin taking a trip to China when the Board is operating at a bear minimum including: State department taking educators from suburban areas; paid sabbatical; granting stipends to Principals; doesn’t feel right; possible zero budget from the Selectmen; possible zero budget for the Board of Education; contractual issues could cut staff; internet access to Board minutes; no discussion on binding arbitration; and budget process will get more and more difficult especially with the new school project getting underway.

 

Student Council Report

 

            Katherine Blake reported on the Student Council activities at the high school.

 

Communications

 

            Board members received a copy of the Education Connection District Data Report for 2003-04.

 

High School Schedule Planning

 

            Mrs. MacDonald reported on the schedule update including the following: visits to trimester school; visit to 8 periods a day school; gravitating towards 60 minute periods; ideal situation; advantage for science classes with lab time; perfect amount of time to cover curriculum; no wasted time; teacher opinions; involve 7 periods per day with one drop out period; best timing for teaching and learning; input from consultant possible; Wamogo involvement; SASI configuration possible; staffing implications; and input from Guidance department.

 

            Board members discussed the following: possible 2005 use; Wamogo solid, Litchfield not; need to look at staffing; implemented for the following year; possible combination of trimester with 60 minute periods; possible 4 marking periods; national testing issues; trimester

 

possible for college application process; benefit of working closely with Wamogo; problems of block scheduling in smaller system; could try for next year; possible involvement of SASI professionals; space is problem; administration support; affordability; scenarios that staff could live with; need for input from the union; need for different scenario than block; graduation requirements; including grades 7 – 12 easier to keep middle and high school students separate; timing with Wamogo is critical; and Board in District 6 very interested in cooperating as much as possible with this Board.

 

Building Committee Update and Discussion

 

            Mr. Waugh displayed the updated site plan for the I.S. and the H.S. and discussed the following: keeping discussions civil; trying to promote best project possible; obligation to honor efforts everyone has made; these are the best projects possible for the money; reasonable working numbers for different plan presented by Mr. Landau; approximately 3.2 million has already been spent; costs presented by Mr. Creed; site work numbers will change; paving cut back; need to pave after heavy equipment is done; 41 additional parking spaces; parent drop off plan; detailed plan expected at Dec. 20th meeting; possible website inclusion; attractive classrooms; need to wait until plan is feasible; I.S. plan is a work in progress; thanks for work with Fernando; better functioning school; cannot get a plan through the state without a 20 year expectation plan; proud of Center School; need to remove significant amount of items from buildings before construction begins; appreciate Board support for Building Committee; need to meet the needs well in the future for the technology needs of students; and working closely with the technology staff.

 

Resolution of Support for the Building Committee

 

            Mr. Costa distributed copies of the Resolution of Support to Board members.  The Board discussed the following: being proactive in public; stating where we stand in the project; need to make a declarative statement; change in direction is not worth considering; and the need to publicly reinforce the Building Committee.

 

                        MOTION made by Mrs. Reardon and seconded by Mr. Noone: to support the Superintendent’s recommendation to accept the Resolution of Support document as submitted.

 

            Board members discussed the following: the project is no longer in the hands of the Board of Education; any turnover is up to the Building Committee and Selectmen; support the committee as is; what the town said to do; figures do not include money already spent; need to start all over with years of application process; delaying is a loss for students in place; possibly end up with more problems; building committee is doing what it should do; don’t even need resolution; doing what town said to do; possible swing vote at Selectmen’s meeting; Selectmen cannot vote to stop the project but they can schedule a vote to stop the process; need for Board of Education to make a statement loud and clear; any other project would be too expensive for this town; very clear statement wouldn’t hurt; careful to stay with charge; need for town to pull together; and recommend to Board of Selectmen to go forward.

 

                        AMENDMENT made by Mr. Costa and seconded by Mrs. Reardon: to approve striking the last sentence from the resolution.

 

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

 

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

 

Committee/Liaison Reports

Policy Committee

 

            Need for the committee to talk with CABE regarding policy assistance.

 

Facilities Committee

 

            Mr. Noone reported that the committee met earlier this evening and covered seven agenda items that will be presented in the committee’s minutes.

 

Liaison Reports including Technology

 

            Mr. Shuhi reported that the technology committee has prioritized items to the building project relating to technology and discussed the following: how to bring resources to the classrooms; analog material; digital system; material provided by a lot of companies; interim solutions; full digital is too expensive; decentralized system; downloading from companies is possible; plan for the future; and thanks to Joanne Moore for all the work she has done on this.

 

Finance Committee

 

            Mr. Shuhi reported that a request has been made to start the budget process earlier to help move the budget process forward.

 

            Dr. Tindall-Gibson distributed copies of a draft of the Proposed Calendar for 2005-06 Budget Preparation and the Board of Finance Draft of Budget Schedule Fiscal Year 2005-06 to Board members.

 

Old Business

Bus Drop-off and Pick-up LIS (Update)

 

            Dr. Tindall-Gibson reported that the safety situation has not changed much.  Traffic is a concern in the lot.  Another person has been assigned to monitor the situation to make a little safer, but it still is not the best situation.

 

            Mr. Simone reported that the pickups are working out and parents seem to work out any problems arising.

 

New Business

Gift Acknowledgement

 

            The Board received a gift donation of a Cannon Printer valued at $25.00 from Chris Ringquist and thanked him for the donation.

 

Out of State Field Trip Request

 

                        MOTION made by Mr. Shuhi and seconded by Mr. Falcetti: to support the Superintendent’s recommendation to approve the field trip to Yale University for the Model UN Team January 27 – 30, 2005. (Trip, although not out of state, was reviewed due to overnight stay and student costs associated with trip.)

 

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

 

2005-06 Capital Requests

 

            Dr. Tindall-Gibson distributed copies of the preliminary capital budget for Board perusal. 

 

            Board members discussed the following: deadline to submit is tomorrow; issues about computer items; overlap with Building Committee; servers and switches expanded technology; cuts made last year need to be included this year; no bonding for computers with the Building Committee; some equipment we need right now; matter of priorities; capital items to be presented in February; need for meeting before that; have been criticized for not asking for things; need to work with Building Committee; need to meet after the holidays and before the February meeting; input from the finance committee; list can change; possible need for funding for bus parking lot; modifications have been accepted in the past; possibly might hold the line this year; and possibly might not find a lot for parking.

 

Payment of Bills

 

                        MOTION made by Mr. Simone and seconded by Mr. Falcetti: to pay bills in the amount of $142,300.75 and $54,951.99.

 

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

 

Memorandum of Understanding with Litchfield Administrators’ Association

 

            Mr. Falcetti reported that the contracts distributed to Board members are equitable.  The administrators are aware of the problems in town and accepted the 3-year contract with a 2% salary increase each year; and an insurance premium share of 15% the first year, 15% the second year and 20% the third year.  All involved are pleased with the end results.

  

                        MOTION made by Mr. Costa and seconded by Mrs. Reardon: to support the Superintendent’s recommendation to accept the contract as submitted by the Negotiations Committee for 2005-2008 and authorize the Chairman to sign the agreement.

 

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

 

                        MOTION made by Mr. Simone and seconded by Mrs. Reardon: to move to Executive Session at 8:50 p.m. to discuss Personnel.

 

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

 

Executive Session

 

            Present were: all the above Board members and Dr. Tindall-Gibson.

 

            Open session resumed at 9:05 p.m.

 

            No action was taken.

 

                        MOTION made by F. Simone and seconded by  T. Reardon: to adjourn the meeting at 9:06 p.m.

 

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

 

                                                                                    Respectfully submitted,

                                                                                    Donald Falcetti, Secretary

                                                                                    Joanne Bertrand, Recording Secretary