A regular meeting of the Litchfield Board of Education was held on Tuesday, September 27, 2005, at 7:00 p.m. in the Center School library.

 

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

 

                        MOTION made by Mr. Fairchild and seconded by Mr. Falcetti: to approve the minutes of the September 14, 2005 special meeting as submitted. 

 

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

 

Public Comment

 

            Betsy Fabbri reported on the STPC activities at the high school including the technology night scheduled for October 19^th.

 

            High School student representatives, Samantha Regenbogen and Amy Benedict questioned the pay for participation policy as it related to the school play.  They expressed concern over the policy and did not feel that there should be a fee to participate in the play.

 

            Dr. Vita thanked the students for coming and for their appropriate, respectful and dignified comments.  Board members noted that the decision was not made lightly but to be fair and equitable and further work will be done to address all concerns.

 

            Angela Penny questioned whether a Litchfield team did not participate in a game due to not enough transportation.  This issue was clarified by a member of the board.  It was not a Litchfield team.

 

            Ken Tingley commented on the following: why the fee was levied; what amount was anticipated; what factors considered; reason for sports fees; where funds will go and how other schools handle this issue.

 

Special Presentation

Board of Education Insurance Policy

 

            Christopher Wardrop distributed copies of the Liability Insurance Coverage Summary 7/1/2005-06 and reviewed the following: full service insurance; members are volunteers; types of insurance coverage; lawsuits; accidents; coverage broader than you think; general liability; legal liability; fiduciary liability; automobile; umbrella liability; 3^rd party issues; errors and omissions; negligence; legal doctrine; circumstances dictate coverage; personal policy is primary; and retirement and pension plan issues. 

 

            Board members discussed the following: general liability and umbrella pay on behalf; negligence if intentional is excluded; certain exclusions included in all insurance; and definition of a claim and wrongful act.

 

School Building Committee

 

            Mr. Waugh and Mr. Healy reported on the following: 7 years in the making; lots of hard work; big positive step; bids out soon; November 8^th bids back; O&G put together bids; list of add/deletes and delete/deletes; need to balance budget; care about over reacting; percentages higher that estimated; increase in pricing of goods needed; attempting to be proactive; faculty space turn to student space; strategic plans and alternatives; gym seats up to 580; and potential resources investigated.

 

            Board members discussed the following: cost of compliance included; list of alternatives; bids including everything; positive news or tough choices; October 14 ground breaking ceremony; 1:45 p.m. at the high school followed by the Intermediate School; ceremonial shovels; participants included; phases of construction; planning well enough in advance; work in progress; completion of I.S August 2007 with the high school soon after; and well worth the wait.

 

New Business

 

                        MOTION made by Mr. Simone and seconded by Mr. Noone: to pay bills in the amount of $75,050.47.

 

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

 

            Dr. Vita presented a request that books and other items not being used and obsolete could be sent to the Gulf States where they will be used as needed. 

 

                        MOTION made by Mr. Costa and seconded by Mr. Reardon: to authorize the administration to dispose of obsolete/unused textbooks and other supplies and donate them to hurricane damaged schools in the Gulf States.

 

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

 

            Dr. Vita reviewed the list of Out of State Field Trips with the Board and noted that there is a need to look at the field trip policy, which will be referred to the Policy Committee. 

 

                        MOTION made by Mr. Costa and seconded by Mr. Shuhi: to approve the Out-of-State Field Trip Requests as presented.

 

 

2438

 

Litchfield Board of Education Regular Meeting, September 27, 2005                                           

 

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

 

            Dr. Vita and Mrs. Perusse discussed the need to further investigate the school bus van purchase since there seems to be many different bids involved.  All range from $35,694 - $37,992.  The budget was for $35,000.  There are lots of differences with questions that need to be clarified before a decision can be made.

 

                        MOTION made by Mr. Costa and seconded by Mr. Fairchild: to authorize the Superintendent to award the bid for the type II van when the lowest, most appropriate bid is determined. 

 

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

 

Old Business

 

            Dr. Vita presented the Board Policy #5137.1 Students-Activities for a second reading.  At the last meeting exploring options was discussed and to do this it has to be on the agenda. Potential revenue for 30 students would be $2,250, for 40 students $3,000.  All costs of the play are covered by ticket sales and ad sales. Stipends cover the producer and director along with expenses for electricity and custodians.  Possible alternatives to the fees have not been determined. 

 

                        MOTION made by Mrs. Costa but was not seconded.  To table the discussion about this policy until we can have a thorough review of the policy and the issues related to the fee structure.

 

            Board members discussed the following: reason for second reading; need for administrators to go back and look at all activities; administrators brought back the play to be included with the sports; list from Superintendent in March; listing of readings; June 14^th play was added; 3 months before school started; went through process; need to volunteer time to come up with a better list; policy states to review annually; policy amended and approved; acting Superintendent needed to communicate to families that theater production was added to fee list; fatal flaw; possibly go back to old policy until the total list is reviewed; responsibility of administrators to notify the students; should have been done a while ago; feeling uncomfortable about doing this; students not completely accurate; fairness issue; being misled; never cover cost of activity, just offset the expense; $300 family cap per year; future clubs might be targeted; was method to exclusions; same group should go to Board of Finance and ask for funds to eliminate this policy; hardships are waived; need to keep confidence of public; need to be as articulate as possible; less resistance when informed; possible abandon policy; if we have it, it must be enforced; policies take time to implement; can’t be changed tonight; students understood the process; possible interruption to play if students refuse to pay fee; accepting waivers orally; possible waiver in writing; need for paper trail; forms are included; coaches or athletic director notify students involved in sports; producer/director should notify students involved in play; fairness of policy; complexities in explaining policy to students; need to be straight with the students; Board acted on recommendation from administrators to add play only; 4 weeks into year; rules, policies and procedures are important; due diligence needs to be done; and need to follow policy.