MINUTES
REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT #10
BOARD OF EDUCATION
December 11, 2006
Members Present: Joseph Arcuri, Catherine Bergstrom, Beth
Duffy, Barbara Gilbert, Paul Omichinski, Elaine Schiavone, Ray Sikora,
Jayne Stocker, Karen Sullivan-Shepard, Peter Turner
Also Present: Paula Schwartz - Superintendent
David Lenihan - Business Manager
Michael Landry – Assistant Superintendent
I. Call to Order - A call to order, at 7:30 pm for the
Board of Education organizational meeting, was made by Superintendent
Schwartz, and was held in the Har-Bur Middle School Media Center.
II. Pledge of Allegiance - The Pledge was recited.
III. Election of Officers for '06-'07 (one-year term). A motion
to nominate B. Duffy as Chairman was made by E. Schiavone and seconded
by P. Omichinski. No other nominations made. All in favor none
opposed. A motion to nominate P. Turner as Vice Chairman was
made by J. Arcuri and seconded by P. Omichinski. No other nominations
made. All in favor none opposed. A motion to nominate P.
Omichinski as treasurer was made by B. Gilbert and seconded by P.
Turner. No other nominations made. All in favor none opposed. A motion to
nominate K. Sullivan-Shepard as secretary was made by R. Silkora and
seconded by P. Omichinski. No other nominations made. All in favor
none opposed.
A motion to adjourn the organizational meeting and begin
the regular Board of Education meeting was made by P. Turner and
seconded by P. Omichinski. All in favor none opposed. The regular
Board of Education meeting began at 7:35 pm.
III. Communications, Resignations – P. Schwartz introduced Ken Smith, the new Har-Bur Assistant Principal.
Acknowledged 7th grade student, Lillian Corman for
her community service project of collecting unused recorders and
providing them to less fortunate students.
Margaret Tieman, LSM Physical Education instructor named physical ed. teacher of the year.
Read thank you letters from Lois Alterman and Eleanor Richards,
attendees of the October luncheon. Public thanks extended to Mr. &
Mrs. McCausland, HCS parents who donated approximately $2,200 worth of
digital cameras, memory sticks, and other computer items.
Read memo from Karissa Niehoff regarding St. Paul’s illegal
recruitment of 3 New Britain High School students to its football
program, of which Lewis Mills is a part of. The LSM coach, who
participates in the football program, had no knowledge of what St.
Paul’s coach was doing. After extensive investigation by the CIAC,
recommendation was to put the team on probation for one year and forfeit
any wins in which the 3 students participated in. K. Niehoff and
athletic director feel LSM holds itself to a higher standard and are
seeking guidance on how to handle this situation. P. Schwartz suggested
the District look into the matter further, and seek recommendation from
the Board at the January meeting.
IV. Consent Agenda - A motion to accept the meeting
minutes of the November 13, and special meeting of November 29, 2006,
and financial report dated November 28, 2006, was made by K.
Sullivan-Shepard and seconded by B. Gilbert. All in favor none
opposed. No correction or additions. Motion carries.
V. Public Participation – Janet Burritt of Harwinton was
disturbed by the football scandal and felt it could have been prevented
if LSM staff had been present. It was pointed out that a LSM coach
participates in the program, but had no knowledge of what was
transpiring.
Dave Crompton of Harwinton quoted a Hartford Courant
article on the handling of emails and electronic data storage and asked
if the Federal rules apply to schools. M. Landry to look into. D.
Crompton also asked if dust due to construction activity was responsible
for fire alarms going off, and if the dust was a health hazard. D.
Lenihan to look into.
Ed. Gasser of Burlington also heard about smoke
detectors being covered and then construction personnel forgetting to
uncover them, and questioned the necessity to keep bathrooms locked due
to some recent vandalism.
B. Duffy responded to a question from Janet Burritt
from a prior BOE meeting regarding Superintendent’s new contract. The
Board approved a 3-year contract with superintendent with no additional
increase except for a cost of living adjustment in January of 2007.
VI. Business -
A. Strategic School Profile on Special
Education – L. Carabis gave a PowerPoint presentation on the
information, as gathered by the State, in regard to special education
students. Some of the highlights include a slight increase in special
education students since 2001. Currently, there are 251 students or 9%
of the population. This is below the DRG and State numbers of 10.3% and
11.8% respectively. 236 students are in-district and 15 are out-of
district. The ratio of Special Ed teachers to students is 8.2 while it
is 8.1 and 8.7 for DRG and State respectively. Expenditures are 17.2%
while 18.8% and 20.0% for DRG and State. Goals include special ed
students spending 80% or more of their school day with peers, ongoing
professional development including bringing in outside consultants,
collaboration between regular and special ed instructors.
B. Fifth Grade Transition Planning – P.
Schwartz discussed the staffing needs (certified and special services)
for the incoming 5th grade in the Fall of ’07. The result is
an increase of 3.1 positions, but with a net loss of 1.9 due to
adjustments. There would be no additional secretarial positions and the
number of teaching assistants and other support personnel will have to
be determined later. The parent advisory group has met for the second
time and a special newsletter just for 4th grade parents will be distributed in January ’07.
C.
Emergency Planning – P. Schwartz, L. Carabis, K. Wasseluk, nurse, and
B. Garry, Asst. Principal participated in and completed a training
course sponsored by the Department of Emergency Management and Homeland
Security. This week training in the emergency notification system will
begin and will take approximately a month.
D. Community Budget Forums – Board
members were given a list of community groups and asked to choose a few
that they would be willing to speak and represent the Board at.
E. Review of Code of Ethics – Policy 9271
F. Leadership for the Future: Roles
& Responsibilities of Board of Education and Superintendent – Board
members agreed the Ethics Policy, as stated, was fine and to review the
policy every couple of years.
VII Action -
A. Spanish Exchange Trip – Students from
Spain came earlier this year and attended classes at LSM and stayed
with host families. The reciprocal part of that program, LSM students
going to Spain during Spring break of ‘07, was discussed. A motion to approve the program was made by P. Omichinski and seconded by R. Sikora. All in favor none opposed. Motion carries.
B. Second Reading of Revised
Administrative Policy for Reporting of Suspected Child Abuse/Neglect
Policy #4118.25A – The issue of whether the superintendent was
considered a mandated reporter of suspected child abuse or neglect was
brought up. Although not mandated, Region 10’s superintendent has
elected to be included as such. A decision was not made as to whether
police should be notified at the same time DCF is. A motion to accept the reading was made by R. Sikora and seconded by P. Turner. All in favor none opposed. Motion carries.
C. Summer Music and Arts Program – A
proposal to offer a summer arts program to students was presented by
John Deeb, Fine Arts Coordinator. Areas of interest would include
visual arts, music, ensemble performances, and Mandarin Chinese for
grades 6 through 9. The other programs would be offered for grades 4
through 9. Cost would be $75 per week, hours would be from 8 am to 12
pm and the program would run a 4 week course. Because renovation will
still be ongoing in the Summer of ’07, start date of the program would
be in July and there would be a limit of up to 125 students. In future,
more programs and student participation could be increased. If a
course is offered and not enough students sign up, then the course would
be withdrawn. Request was made to the Board to approve $1,500 for
printing and mailing. P. Omichinski expressed concern regarding
construction activity next summer, and suggested a backup plan be
developed. A motion to approve $1,500 for printing and mailing
costs was made by R. Sikora and seconded by P. Turner. All in favor
none opposed. Motion carries.
D. Five-Year Planning on District Goals - Community
Audit – The current five-year goals will expire in 2009 and new goals
will need to be set forth. Members of the Community Relations Committee
proposed including a survey with the January newsletter seeking
community feedback. They suggest using a survey gathering company from
Glastonbury, First Experience Communication, to report on the results.
Cost would be approximately $8-9K. There was discussion on prior
surveys and how data was compiled. J. Arcuri asked once the data was
gathered, who owned that information – Region 10 or First Experience.
J. Stocker to find out. A motion to hire First Experience
Communication to process the survey data was made by B. Gilbert and
seconded by E. Schiavone. All in favor; K. Sullivan-Shepard opposed.
Motion carries.
E. 2007-2008 School Calendar – Three drafts of the 2007-2008 school calendar were discussed, with the 3rd draft being the favorite. Final approval will occur at the January 8, 2007 meeting.
VIII. Board Committee Reports
A. Facilities and Grounds Committee – Met on November 28th.
The five-year plan for both elementary schools is on track. Money
needs to be put aside for additional roof repairs. Rules for public use
of the new and renovated space at Har-Bur and LSM needs to be
developed, as well as fees for use.
B. CREC Committee – Nothing new to report.
C. Curriculum Committee – Additional elective courses
to be offered will encompass areas of music, wellness, Tech Ed,
multi-cultural issues, etc.
D. Negotiations Committee – To be discussed in Executive Session.
E. Technology Committee – Nothing new to report.
F. Building Committee - Most of the new construction is complete. Next big push will be on renovations.
G. Community Relations Committee – In addition to survey, working on contents of next newsletter.
A motion to go into Executive Session was made by R. Sikora and seconded by K. Sullivan-Shepard. Regular meeting ended at 10:05 pm.
A motion to come out of executive session was made by P. Omichinski, seconded by P. Turner, at 10:20 pm.
A motion to adjourn at 10:21 pm was made by P. Omichinski, and seconded by P. Turner.
The next regularly scheduled Board of Education meeting will be held on January 8, 2008 at Lake Garda School.
Karen Sullivan-Shepard, Secretary