LITCHFIELD BOARD OF EDUCATIONREGULAR MEETING FEBRUARY 22, 2005 |
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A regular meeting of the Litchfield Board of Education was held on Tuesday, February 22, 2005, at 7:00 p.m. in the Center School gym.
Present were: Mrs. Knox, Chairperson; Mrs. Reardon; Messrs. Costa, Fairchild, Noone Shuhi and Simone; Superintendent Chittum; Mrs. Perusse; Dr. Breslin; Mrs. Longobucco; Mrs. MacDonald; Mr. Zaremski; the public and the press. Mr. Falcetti was absent.
MOTION made by Mr. Fairchild and seconded by Mr. Simone: to approve the minutes of the February 8, 2005 meeting as submitted.
MOTION carried. All votes were in the affirmative. Mr. Noone abstained.
MOTION made by Mr. Simone and seconded by Mr. Fairchild: to approve the minutes of the February 9, 2005 special meeting as submitted.
MOTION carried. All votes were in the affirmative. There were no abstentions.
MOTION made by Mr. Simone and seconded by Mr. Noone: to move item X to VIIA on the agenda.
MOTION carried. All votes were in the affirmative. There were no abstentions.
Public Comment
Mrs. Newbury questioned the Board regarding placement of the fourth grade classes at Center School while construction takes place at the Intermediate School.
Superintendent Chittum noted that a letter will be going out soon explaining the details of this during the construction process.
Mrs. Reardon thanked Liz Clarkin-Breslin for singing the “Star Spangled Banner” at the basketball game the other night and noted that it was very beautiful and meaningful.
Mr. Murray commented on the following: good communication from the Board and Superintendent; concern about attendance at Board meetings; summer reading list mentioned 18 months ago and no response has been received; contacting the search consultant; consultant also working as interim superintendent; lives in a community and makes a good salary; seems to be possible triple dipping; concerns over binding arbitration; resolution to improve; debates occurring over the topic; participants in the debate; thanks for the response to collective bargaining; nondisclosure ground rule requested by which party; possible disclosure of negotiation items; and thanks for the Board’s ability to listen and serve the community.
Student Council Report
Liz Clarkin-Breslin reported on the student council activities at the high school.
Building Committee Update and Discussion
Superintendent Chittum distributed copies of the February 3rd and February 17th minutes for Board perusal. The next meeting will be held March 3rd when the architects will present the plans that will be submitted to the state. At this point, comments may be made but no changes will be made.
Communications
Board members received the following:
Mrs. Knox noted that a number of solicitations were received but after the action was taken to hire the person presently working on the recruiting.
Committee/Liaison ReportsCurriculum Committee
Mr. Costa noted that the committee will meet on March 1st at the high school.
Mrs. Reardon reported that the trip to Quebec was very successful, well planned, well executed and very educational. The students were all a credit to our town.
Superintendent’s Search Committee
Superintendent Chittum noted that the date has been changed from February 26th to March 5th.
2005-06 Budget
Superintendent Chittum reported that the technology class will record the presentation in order to share it with the community as early as possible on public access on TV. Thanks were given to the administrators for their long hours of work. This is the second step in a four-step process. The first step was the submission of the administrator’s requests to the Superintendent. This presentation to the Board of the Superintendent’s budget is the second step. The third step is when the Board makes a decision on the budget and votes on it. The fourth step is the town vote on the budget. This presentation includes the best estimate of the needs of the district at this time. Being a dynamic process, taking 18 months to complete, the budget still has things that are unclear. This budget is based on the present grade configuration and adjustments will be made if this changes for next year.
The following slides were presented: mission, the foundation to why we do what we do; Board goal, focus on reading and writing; enrollment needed for staffing needs; class size; best estimate of needs due to cost changes; climate of fiscal restraint; budget proposal 6.3% increase; maintain existing program needs 5.4% increase; area of program improvement @ 1% in technology; formula for excellence with 5 focus areas; regular instruction programs decrease 11%; special education increase 42%; pupil services 3.3% increase; library/media needs 39% increase; salary decrease 1 elementary teacher, increase 1 special education teacher, increase 1 custodian – 1.0 net increase in FTE program improvement; salaries and wages increase 4.3%; wages and salaries 44% total increase or 2.7% of the 6.3% increase; employee benefits 13% increase is a major impact; administrative services decrease of 8.3%; operation of plant increase 11.3%; transportation and tuition increase 9.6% which could change; Vo Ag tuition 13 applications 9.6% increase; decrease one bus savings; program improvement computer replacement and one custodian; and the challenge.
Board members discussed the following: where elementary teacher eliminated; problems due to decrease of bus; more efficient bus routes; service will not change a great deal; possibly start school 5 minutes later to adjust for the buses; fields on site will be helpful; self insurance groups are adequate; commend the level of detail; computer replacement $81,000 and $20,000 to get Center School upgraded; cost of adding employee should include benefits costs in the total; need for Board to discuss the 6.3% increase; preliminary presentation to Board of Finance on March 7th; Board officially votes on budget proposal before sending to the town; need to present to Board of Finance as worked up by the professionals; proposed as needed; public and Board of Finance needs to know these needs; after have the conversation about what we need and what we can afford; this is the Superintendent’s budget not the Board’s; and questions regarding the budget should go to the Superintendent’s office.
The budget calendar includes March 7th to the Board of Finance preliminary presentation, and March 8th the Board meeting for further discussion.
Old BusinessStatus Report on Software Package
Mr. Shuhi reported that the group met with the last vendor today and after a complete analysis of the products, the group will bring a recommendation back to the Board for further discussion.
New BusinessState Department of Public Health – Tobacco Survey
MOTION made by Mr. Simone and seconded by Mr. Doyle: to support the Superintendent’s recommendation to approve participation of Litchfield High School in the Connecticut School Health Survey, Tobacco Survey only, sponsored by the Department of Education and Public Health, for a total of 4-6 classes of 7th and 8th grade students following the procedures outlined in the Superintendent’s memo.
Board members discussed the following: purpose to decrease the number of students who begin smoking; value of information; input from Dr. Breslin; completed at school; parents notified beforehand; and is available on the website of the Dept. of Health.
MOTION carried. All votes were in the affirmative. There were no abstentions.
Teacher Nonrenewals
MOTION made by Mr. Shuhi and seconded by Mr. Costa: to approve the Superintendent’s recommendation that the one year contracts of employment of:
not be renewed for the following year upon their expiration at the end of the 2004-05 school year, and that the Superintendent of Schools be directed to advise such persons in writing of this action.
MOTION carried. All votes were in the affirmative. There were no abstentions.
MOTION made by Mr. Costa and seconded by Mr. Simone: to approve the Superintendent’s recommendation that the Long Term Substitute contracts of employment of:
not be renewed for the following year upon the expiration of the 2004-05 school year, and that the Superintendent of Schools be directed to advise such persons in writing of this action.
MOTION carried. All votes were in the affirmative. There were no abstentions.
Payment of Bills
MOTION made by Mr. Fairchild and seconded by Mr. Simone: to pay bills in the amount of $150,494.23 as presented.
MOTION carried. All votes were in the affirmative. There were no abstentions.
MOTION made by Mr. Simone and seconded by Mrs. Reardon: to adjourn the meeting at 8:45 p.m.
MOTION carried. All votes were in the affirmative. There were no abstentions.
Respectfully submitted, Donald Falcetti, Secretary Joanne Bertrand, Recording Secretary
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