MINUTES
REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT #10
BOARD OF EDUCATION
February 12, 2007
Members Present: Joseph Arcuri, Catherine Bergstrom, Beth
Duffy, Paul Omichinski, Elaine Schiavone, Ray Sikora, Jayne Stocker,
Peter Turner
Members Absent: Barbara Gilbert, Karen Sullivan-Shepard
Also Present: Paula Schwartz - Superintendent
David Lenihan - Business Manager
Michael Landry – Assistant Superintendent
Jacqueline Evans, Everett Doninger – Student Representatives
I. Call to Order - The regularly scheduled Board of
Education meeting was held at Harwinton Consolidated School, and was
called to order at 7:32 pm by Chairperson Beth Duffy.
II. Pledge of Allegiance - The Pledge was recited.
III. Communications, Resignations – Sanita Gingras, LSM
guidance counselor, submitted letter of intent to retire at end of
’06-’07 school year. Superintendent read letter from Barbara Spiegel,
Director of the Susan B. Anthony Shelter, thanking Ms. Flanagan’s peer
facilitator group for donations, and letter from Kathy Kennedy,
President of the Dinosaur Park and Arboretum, awarding 3rd place to Mikaila Adams in the Grade 6-8 category of the Dinosaur Art Contest.
IV. Consent Agenda - A motion to accept the following meeting minutes:
Regular BOE meeting of January 8, 2007
Special BOE meetings of January 22 and February 7, 2007
Special BOE Community Relations Committee meeting of January 22, 2007 and
Financial report of January 31, 2007
was made by P. Omichinski and seconded by R. Sikora.
All in favor none opposed. Corrections include: Section V. Public
Participation, Dave Compton should have been Dave Crompton. Page 4,
Item D March 5, 2006 should be 2007. Jayne Stocker was identified as
both present and absent and should have been only absent. Karissa
Niehoff should have been identified as attending the two Special BOE
meeting of 2-7-07.
J. Stocker had some questions on the financial report which were answered by D. Lenihan.
V. Public Participation -
A. Student and Staff Recognition. The Peer
Facilitator Program, headed by Kathleen Flanagan, was one of two groups
recognized at the meeting. Three members – Phil Pasco, Rebecca
Lindquist, and Rachel Garcia, spoke of some of the program’s recent
projects such as hosting the senior fall luncheon and collecting hats,
scarves and gloves for the Susan B. Anthony Shelter, and how the program
has benefited them personally.
The second group receiving recognition were LSM students who
participated at an art exhibit at the University of Hartford. They
were: Phil Pasco, Brooke Pedra, Brent Higgins, Brian Slowikowski. and
Craig McCahill.
B. Phil Penn of Burlington asked if the
District had a policy on student cell phone use. Superintendent stated
students could have cell phones but were not allowed to use them in
classrooms or on school buses. Phones could be confiscated and returned
at the end of the day in cases of cell phone abuse.
Deb Kissh of Harwinton thought there would be an update at each BOE meeting on the 5th grade transition. Superintendent stated there would be more information forthcoming after the budget meetings.
Ed Gasser of Burlington questioned
whether the District had any numbers on students who may not be
attending school, be homeschooled, attending private school, etc.
Superintendent stated if a student had attended, they would know if the
student went to another institution. If a child never attended, there
would be no way of knowing who that child was.
Janet Burritt of Harwinton questioned
the timing of the Superintendent’s cost of living increase. B. Duffy
explained that due to the budget crisis of 2006, the superintendent’s
cost of living increase (with her approval) was postponed until there
was a budget in place.
Brenda Frasco of Burlington had a
complaint about the emergency notification system. It was used to send a
reminder to complete and return the recent survey that went out. There
was a glitch in the system and some people received more than one
notification. M. Landry will look into what caused the problem and how
it can be prevented in the future.
Lauren Doninger of Burlington commented
on expulsions and wanted to speak of alternatives. B. Duffy scheduled a
meeting with her and would report back to Board.
VII. Business -
A. Harwinton Consolidated School Wheelchair
Access. Linda Carabis, Director of Special Services, has obtained
Federal grant money to purchase and install chair lifts at Harwinton
Consolidated. These will allow easy and safe transport between floors
for wheelchairs and for students incapacitated by injury or illness.
B. Security – Access to Schools after
hours. There was much discussion on how to handle security after hours
at all the schools and still allow access by students and the
community. In addition to installing more security cameras particularly
at the high school, D. Fortin suggested having all doors locked and
someone in charge of letting people in. P. Omichinski suggested having a
designated time when groups would need to vacate the buildings. It was
decided to research the matter further and contact other schools to see
how they handled this issue.
C. Lights at Nassahegan Park and Soccer
for 2007-‘08. D. Tanner, Athletic Director stated night soccer games at
Nassahegan Park would cost about $400 a game to pay for lights and
security. Cost would have to be included in the budget. The plans are
for two boys games and two girls games to be played at Nassahegan.
Student representative Everett Doninger stated night games are exciting,
more people attend, and gives working parents the opportunity to attend
which is something they would not be able to do if games were held
earlier in the day.
D. Football Update. D. Tanner stated
the CIAC has added another year to the Tri-Op. This now allows
incoming Freshmen to try out next year. If the roster exceeds 74
participants next Fall, CIAC can discontinue the Tri-Op.
Dave Crompton of Burlington asked if
LSM was exploring forming a Co-Op with other schools. D. Tanner stated
most schools who are considering a football program have the necessary
number of students to do it on their own.
E. Updates to Website. M. Landry gave a
visual presentation of the new look designed for the district’s
website. The emphasis is on maintaining a consistent format so that
menus and tools are the same for all the school homepages, and making
sure information is current.
F. Follow up to BOE Retreat. Members
were asked for their feedback. C. Bergstrom, J. Stocker, P. Turner, R.
Sikora, J. Arcuri, E. Schiavone found it worthwhile and having an
outside moderator extremely helpful. Would invite him back and proceed
to the next level. P. Omichinski felt the time could have been better
spent.
VII Action -
A. Completion of Fiscal Year 2005-06
Audit and Refund of Operating Surplus to Towns. D. Lenihan stated that
traditionally whenever there is a surplus, after the auditors complete
their review, the monies are given back to the two towns. Occasionally
this doesn’t occur as it did two years ago when the surplus was used to
complete the water line to the schools.
D. Lenihan stated that the audit was
complete and the final surplus for FY 2005-06 was $265,122 (Burlington’s
share $176,783 and Harwinton’s share $88,339).
A motion to direct the
Superintendent of Schools to provide a refund of the fiscal year 2005-06
operating surplus of $176,783 and $88,339 to the towns of Burlington
and Harwinton, respectively was made by P. Turner and seconded by P.
Omichinski. Such refunds will be reflected as credits against the March
2007 payments due Region 10 from the towns. All in favor none
opposed. Motion carries.
E. Schiavone suggested that if and when
this is released to the press to emphasis the surplus is due to prudent
spending, energy conservation, etc.
B. Review and Adjust Proposed Budget
Timeline. Because teacher contract negotiations are currently in
arbitration, and the outcome will not be determined until February 23,
2007, there will not be sufficient time to incorporate the numbers into
the budget for the February 26, 2007 District Overview meeting.
Therefore, it was suggested to postpone the meeting to Monday, March 5,
move the K-12 presentation to Thursday, March 8, 2007. A motion
to approve the changes in meeting dates was made by J. Stocker and
seconded by P. Turner. All in favor none opposed. Motion carries.
C. 1st Reading of Facilities
Use Policy #3513A. Facilities and Grounds Committee has been working on
drafting policy, procedure and schedule of fees to govern use of the
various schools by different groups. A motion to approve the 1st draft was made by P. Turner and seconded by E. Schiavone. All in favor none opposed. Motion carries.
D. Discussion and Possible Action on
Fall Crew Proposal. D. Tanner, Athletic Director, described the strong
support of parents and intense commitment of members to fund and
maintain their sport. Membership continues to grow and attracts
non-traditional athletes. It is a fall sport, utilizes no fields,
requires no feeder programs or CIAC sanction, and is co-educational. A motion to approve Crew as a Fall sport was made by J. Stocker and seconded by R. Sikora. All in favor none opposed. Motion carries.
E. Discussion and Possible Action on
Girls’ Lacrosse Proposal. D. Tanner discussed the idea of a girls
Lacrosse team. This precipitated a lengthy discussion on the shortage
of playing fields due not only to the new construction, but also because
of increase in field sports and the need to let fields recoup by not
using them for a year or two. The Lacrosse proposal is to begin at the
JV level in order to be competitive with other schools. P. Omichinski
suggested they start out as a club. A motion to approve a girls Lacrosse team was made by P. Turner. There was no second motion. E. Schiavone made a motion
to review this further at a future date. R. Sikora seconded the
motion. It was decided to table this until the March meeting to
determine if there is field access that can support them as a club.
F. 1st Reading of Coordinator
of Athletics Job Description. Currently a middle school staff person
serves as athletic head and D. Tanner is high school athletic director.
The proposal is to have one individual (D. Tanner) in charge of
athletics at both schools. A motion to approve the first reading was made by P. Omichinski and seconded by R. Sikora. All in favor none opposed. Motion carries.
G. 1st Reading of BOE
Community Relations Policies #1112 & 1120. C. Bergstrom and J.
Stocker have been reviewing Board policies and adding technical terms
which didn’t exist when the policies were last reviewed, e.g. references
to emails, websites, etc. A motion to approve the first reading was made by P. Turner and seconded by P. Omichinski. All in favor none opposed. Motion carries.
H. Approval of Cost of Living Increase per Contract for Superintendent. A motion
to approve a 3% cost of living increase for Superintendent was made by
P. Omichinski and seconded by P. Turner. All in favor none opposed.
Motion carries.
VIII. Board Committee Reports
A. Facilities and Grounds Committee – Working on facility use
policy (discussed earlier) and how best to serve the needs of students
and the community.
B. CREC Committee – House Speaker James Amann spoke at last
CREC meeting and discussed the possibility of the State taking over
Special Ed. costs.
C. Curriculum Committee – Met last Wednesday and reviewed John Deeb’s proposal of offering credit for band.
D. Negotiations Committee – Arbitration meeting was on January 31. They have until February 23 to make a ruling.
E. Technology Committee – Website design, notification system; discussed earlier.
F. Building Committee – Met last Tuesday and did a
walkthrough of the high school renovations. Several weeks behind
schedule and working on plan to correct this.
G. Community Relations Committee – Met on January 29th.
Reminded members to call groups they have volunteered to speak at to
schedule visits. Working on pamphlet to take to community meetings. E.
Schiavone has met with a couple of groups already.
A motion to go into Executive Session was made by P.
Turner and seconded by R. Sikora. Board went into Executive Session at
approximately 10:40 pm. A motion to come out of Executive Session was made by P. Turner and seconded by R. Sikora. Regular BOE meeting resumed at 10:55 pm.
A motion to adjourn the meeting was made by P. Turner and seconded by R. Sikora to adjourn at 10:55 p.m.
The next regularly scheduled Board of Education meeting will be held on March 12, 2007 at Lake Garda School.
Karen Sullivan-Shepard, Secretary