A regular meeting of the Litchfield Board of Education was held on Tuesday, March 22, 2005, at 7:00 p.m. in the Center School gym.

 

            Present were: Mrs. Knox, Chairperson; Messrs. Costa, Doyle, Fairchild, Falcetti, Noone, Shuhi, and Simone; Superintendent Chittum; Mrs. Perusse; Dr. Breslin; Dr. Stuhlman; Mrs. Longobucco; Mrs. MacDonald; Mr. Zaremski, the public and the press.  Mrs. Reardon was excused.

 

                        MOTION made by Mr. Fairchild and seconded by Mr. Simone: to approve the minutes of the March 15, 2005 meeting as submitted.

 

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

 

                        MOTION made by Mr. Shuhi and seconded by Mr. Costa: to move Student Council Report before Public Comment.

 

            Board consensus was to make this change permanently on the agenda.

 

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

 

Student Council Report

 

            Katherine Blake reported on the student council activities at the high school.

 

Public Comment

 

            Gerald Gault commented on the following: contentious situation in Litchfield; suggest investigate joining together with Wamogo (Region 6); enormous benefits; has two gyms; a letter from Senator Roraback’s office re: reimbursement rates for regional schools; efficiency combining the two schools; only need one superintendent; and need to look into this publicly.

 

Building Committee Update and Discussion

 

            Mr. Waugh reported on the following: plans presented to State last Wednesday; all went well; some adjustments in co-compliance; 60 day review period; bid next in June; real money will be known when bids received; optimistic about getting back items on the alternative list; students have waited a long time for facilities that could enhance their program; and stay the course.

Board members discussed the following: different school design plans can meet the same ed specs; state won’t fund unless plan meets a minimum of 20 years life span; Center School is almost at the 20 year mark and is still very functional; reimbursement rate is still same rate as the concept plan from a year ago.

 

Communications

 

            Board members received the following:

• Notification that Litchfield High School has been selected as the 2^nd place winner of the Michaels Achievement Cup in Class S; a really prestigious award.
• A letter from LIS parents re: Bentley College Model UN trip commending the students and the teachers for their successful experience.
• Notification that the 11^th Annual CECA Tech Expo will take place on April 6^th. The Center School’s Kindergarten class will demonstrate how they use the computers.
• Official notification Verification Notice of Intervention status for Betsey Glassman re: bus parking lot process. 

 

Board members discussed the status of the parking lot and who grants someone status as

an Intervener; need to check on charge for documents; and why, if documents are already public, does someone need that status to receive copies.

 

Committee/Liaison Reports

Policy Committee

 

            Mr. Fairchild noted that the committee will meet April 12^th at 6:00 p.m.

 

Finance Committee

 

            Mr. Doyle noted that the committee met this evening and will discuss the topics later in the agenda tonight.

 

Superintendent’s Search Committee

 

            Mrs. Knox reported that the advisory committee and the Board of Ed will meet on Thursday.  The advisory committee will start at 4:30 p.m. and the Board of Ed will start at 5:00 p.m.  Copies of information from the consultant were distributed to Board members.

      

Old Business

Discussion of Board Role/CABE Workshop

 

            Superintendent Chittum noted that a discussion on Board roles would be more advantageous to schedule when a new superintendent is hired.  CABE could be used as a new facilitator in the process. 

            Board members discussed the following: need is vital now; Board’s rights and privileges; promote CABE as association to guide the Board; Board needs more education than superintendent; timing makes sense to wait; bring up concerns as needed; article in CABE journal hits this topic; good idea to be refreshed; and scheduling a date with CABE.

 

Expansion of Curriculum Committee to Include Technology

 

            Superintendent Chittum noted that since technology is a tool for learning it should be linked to the Curriculum Committee.  This committee has 3 members now but should have 4 if it expands.

 

            Board consensus was to add Mr. Shuhi to the committee.

 

New Business

Establish Graduation Date

 

            Board members reviewed the policy #5127 to establish a graduation day on or before the first regular meeting in April.

 

                        MOTION made by Mr. Shuhi and seconded by Mr. Costa: to approve Friday, June 17, 2005 as the date of graduation for the 2004-05 school year.

 

            Board members discussed the following: last day of school; need 180 school days; better on a weekend; impact on staff attendance; and convenience to families most important.

 

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

 

LHS NEASC Evaluation Report

 

            Dr. Breslin reported that the evaluation report has been received and the high school will  begin to work on the recommendations.  This evaluation process has changed in substantive ways over the past 10 years.  It makes it a process over time.  It will be used as the backbone of development of a school improvement plan.  Over the next 10 years, period reports will have to be made to NEASC periodically.  In general, it is a positive report.  The chairman of the committee noted on the last day of the evaluation that the members of the team unanimously agreed that if they could send their children to a school like LHS, they would.

 

            Dr. Breslin reported on the following topics in a power-point presentation: mission statement; key questions asked about the mission; the high school’s task; mission and expectations for student learning commendations and recommendations; curriculum commendations and recommendations; instruction commendations and recommendations; assessment and student learning commendations and recommendations; leadership and organization commendations and recommendations; school resources for learning commendations and recommendations; community resources for learning commendations and recommendations; and a list of the school improvement plan and what it will require . 

 

            Board members discussed the following: some schools have had difficult evaluations; staff felt ours went well; accreditation notification; official notice in May; group forming to design a plan and involve staff and others; a response will be sent in 2 years; and scheduling fitting into the process in a positive way.

 

Pay for Participation Activity List 2005-06

 

            Superintendent Chittum presented a similar list to last year as recommended by Dr. Breslin and Mr. Crowe.  A fee of $75 per activity per year to a maximum of $300 will be charged with crew being monitored this year and possibly included for next year.

 

                        MOTION made by Mr. Costa and seconded by Mr. Fairchild: to approve the Pay-for-Participation Activity List for the 2005-06 school year as presented by the Superintendent.  Students shall be charged $75 per activity per year up to a maximum of $300 per family per year.

 

            Board members discussed the following: problem with only including sports; policy needs to be altered or fee has to follow policy; and needs to be addressed in Policy Committee.

 

                                    MOTION carried.  All votes were in the affirmative except for Mr. Falcetti and Mr. Shuhi who voted in the negative.  There were no abstentions.

 

Teacher Nonrenewals

 

                        MOTION made by Mr. Costa and seconded by Mr. Simone: that the contract of employment of long term substitute Elizabeth Brewster (LHS Art) not be renewed for the following year upon its expiration at the end of the 2004-05 school year, and that the Superintendent is directed to advise Elizabeth Brewster in writing of this action.

 

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

 

Request for Leave

           

            Superintendent Chittum noted that Lisa Crowley (LHS math) is requesting an extended unpaid leave of absence for the remainder of the 2004-05 school year, which he recommended the Board approve, and the full 2005-06 school year, which he recommended the Board deny. 

 

                        MOTION made by Mr. Costa and seconded by Mr. Shuhi: to support the Superintendent’s recommendation to approve Lisa Crowley’s request for unpaid child rearing leave for the remainder of the 2004-05 school year.

  

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

 

                        MOTION made by Mr. Costa and seconded by Mr. Shuhi: to approve Lisa Crowley’s request for an unpaid leave of absence for child rearing for the 2005-06 school year.

 

            Board members discussed the following: status of sub for this year; possible loss of teacher if not approved; teacher needs to do what is in their best interest; Superintendent must do what is in the school’s best interest; possible need to hire a new teacher for next year; any past precedent; every case needs to be dealt with on its own issues; and first leave request is routine.

 

                                    MOTION denied.  All votes were in the negative.  There were no abstentions.

 

Resignation

 

                        MOTION made by Mr. Costa and seconded by Mr. Falcetti: to accept the resignation of Geoffrey Fisher (Social Studies teacher at LHS) effective the end of the 2004-05 school year.

 

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

 

Approval of 2005-06 Budget

 

            Superintendent Chittum distributed a list of options for budget reductions that would bring the budget to a 4.6% increase from last year.  The original budget was $14,603,886, which was a 6% increase.  Reductions of $197,104 bring it to 4.6% increase with a total now of $14,406,782. 

 

                        MOTION made by Mr. Costa and seconded by Mr. Noone: to support the Superintendent’s recommendation to approve the 2005-06 operating budget as presented by the superintendent in the amount of $14,603,886 (6.0%) to be submitted to the Board of Finance.

 

                        MOTION amended by Mr. Doyle and seconded by Mr. Noone: to accept the decreases of $197,104 to bring the total down to $14,406,782 which reflects a 4.6% increase. 

 

            Board members discussed the following: AP students of need will not be included in paying the total cost; 4.6% increase reflects a 1.5 mill increase in taxes; hard to defend to parent and constituents; $236,468 previous adjustment made by the Superintendent; reductions of over ¼ million dollars from the original budget; uncomfortable with a 4.6 % increase; referendum will make it less; and need to provide for our students.