LITCHFIELD BOARD OF EDUCATIONSPECIAL MEETING JULY 26, 2004 |
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A special meeting of the Litchfield Board of Education was held on Tuesday, July 26, 2005, at 7:00 p.m. in the Center School library.
Present were: Mr. Costa, Vice Chairperson; Mrs. Reardon; Messrs. Doyle, Fairchild, Falcetti, Noone, Shuhi; Superintendent Chittum; Mrs. Perusse; Dr. Breslin; Mrs. Longobucco; Mrs. MacDonald; Mr. Zaremski; the public and the press. Mrs. Knox was absent.
MOTION made by Mr. Fairchild and seconded by Mr. Doyle: to approve the minutes of the June 28, 2005 as submitted with the following corrections on page 2414 under public comment 21/2 should be 2 ½ and on page 2416 under purchasing electricity the 300,000,000 kw hrs should read.
MOTION carried. All votes were in the affirmative. There were no abstentions.
Public Comment
Mr. Murray commented on the following: email sent to the Superintendent; email issues; Board’s semantics; need to inform public what Superintendent will be paid; newspaper article; need to put issue on agenda; misinformation to the public; request to correct misinformation; need to discuss this during Board meeting; CABE quote: Strive to inform the community about the public schools; ill advised not to inform the public; possibly write a letter to the community; salary of Waterbury superintendent less than ours; salary and annuity payments included; and not a good idea to say you are open to the public if you don’t publish the salary and annuity payments of the new superintendent.
Building Committee Update and Discussion
Superintendent Chittum noted that the minutes are included in the Board’s packets and that the meeting was cancelled last Thursday because there was not a quorum. Motions were discussed and they will probably be ready for the P & Z meeting.
Communications
Board members received the following: · A letter of thanks from the American Heart Association re: Jump Rope for Heart held at Center School and Litchfield Intermediate School. · An email from Mr. Mike Murray re: several formal requests made. · Notice that the LHS Envirothon team came in 8th in North America out of 52 teams, which is a significant achievement.
Committee/Liaison ReportsFacilities Committee
Mr. Noone reported on the following: the soccer and field hockey fields will be ready for play in the fall; the building project is before the Inlands Wetlands Committee and we are confident that approval will be forthcoming; the Center School roof in still in progress; the asbestos abatement at LIS and LHS is moving along as expected; and the bus lot is in progress.
Mr. Simone arrived at 7:25 p.m.
No Child Left Behind
Superintendent Chittum reported on the status of the lawsuit against the Federal Government based on under-funding and inflexibility. Connecticut (state) has been named as the plaintiff and 20 schools in the state have committed support. Board members received a packet with all the background information. Board members can consider if they would like to support the lawsuit with a motion. This does not commit the Board to anything; it does put the Board on record that they are in support.
Board members discussed the following: State Board of Ed voted 4 to 4 and has no position; total of 169 districts in the state with 20 resolved to support; small number; government could withhold funds; Utah only state not participating and will not get Title I funding; people interested in seeing how CT does; movement to change legislation; likely changed or refined in 2007; unconstitutionality of the law; interest from VA and MN; not sure we want to join if only a few states are interested; commissioner’s letter to the federal government to ask for relief was turned down; we meet criteria so why jeopardize the funding; all will have problems meeting criteria down the road; principle of the idea; many critical decisions made for Litchfield by people who have no idea about Litchfield; when all towns fail federal government will have to change; the law states it can’t be un-funded mandate, but it is; lawsuit is not to stop the mandate but to fund it; if jump on lawsuit now possible no changes in 2007; need to say we don’t support; 20 towns are needy towns; wait until it costs us; time put into highly qualified teachers issue; 40 days of testing that are not needed; and only opportunity to express ourselves.
MOTION made by Mr. Fairchild and seconded by Mr. Noone: to approve that the Board of Education of Litchfield Public Schools support the proposed litigation against the Federal Department of Education regarding the under-funding and inflexibility in administration of the No Child Left Behind Act mandates.
MOTION denied. All votes were in the affirmative except Mr. Doyle, Mr. Falcetti, Mr. Shuhi and Mr. Simone voted in the negative. There were no abstentions. Budget Status
Superintendent Chittum distributed a copy of the 2005-2006 Budget Adjustment Worksheet. The total variance subtotal of -$28,335 is a very good estimate. Two areas of concern include the issue of energy and the substitute budget.
Consideration of Reinstatement of LHS Information Technology Assistant
MOTION made by Mr. Shuhi and seconded by Mr. Falcetti: to reinstate the LHS Information Technology Assistant at a cost of $43,000 for salary and benefits.
Board members discussed the following: have number of unexpected reductions in resignations and retirement; possibility of hiring back; one person in high school; look at whole picture; loss to system; high school has double the need than the other schools; input from administrators; concern about all cuts; plans for accommodations in place for reductions; not so negative an impact; will monitor accommodations carefully; $28,000 variance is small amount; administrators want to hold to plan voted on; trust administration; other items for consideration in reductions; need for new Superintendent to have input; helped staff a lot; if not at high school then why needed at the other schools; need to make due with cuts; need to help kids and teachers use the tools of technology; hang on for one more year; give administrators chance to do plan in place; need going to be filled with existing staff; will have service in all three buildings; need in Intermediate is only for 2 grades this year; cost issues; surplus needed for budget flexibility; need to support administration 100%; need for reassessment if plan is not working; and possible funding for position.
MOTION failed. All votes were in the affirmative except Mrs. Reardon, Mr. Costa, Mr. Doyle, Mr. Fairchild, and Mr. Noone who voted in the negative. There were no abstentions.
Payment of Bills
MOTION made by Mr. Simone and seconded by Mr. Fairchild: to pay bills in the amount of $96,533.57 and $11,117.01.
MOTION carried. All votes were in the affirmative. There were no abstentions.
Resignation
Superintendent Chittum reviewed a copy of Vanessa Kass’ (LIS elementary teacher) resignation letter and the acknowledgement letter sent to her on behalf of the Board. Approval/Announcement of New Hires
Superintendent Chittum informed the Board, based on the authorization to hire granted the superintendent at the June 28, 2005 meeting, of the hiring of the following teachers: Patrick Brintle: for the position of Guidance Counselor, LHS, MA+30/Step 1. Lindsay Tirrell: for the position of Mathematics teacher, LHS, BA/Step 1. Background information was made available.
MOTION made by Mr. Simone and seconded by Mr. Fairchild: to move to Executive Session at 8:15 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, Superintendent Chittum and Dr. Breslin.
Open session resumed at 8:29 p.m. No action taken.
MOTION made by Mr. Simone and seconded by Mr. Fairchild: 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
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