September 18, 2007
Minutes
Filed subject to approval.
Present: Allan, Cohen, Katz, Maiorano, Treidel, Underberger
Administration: Fossbender, Mas, Sullivan, Fox-Santora, Doak, Dekle
Others: two members of the public
Mr. Allan called the meeting to order at 7:39 pm in the
Mr. Allan introduced Dan Doak, the new Assistant Principal
at
AGENDA CHANGE
Motion: move to change the agenda, to postpone item
#5, New Middle School Schedule” to the next meeting; add Dr. Fossbender’s name
to the discussion item in executive session: add “continuation of Executive
Session”, session began prior to the start of the board meeting. Underberger, Maiorano. Approved. Unanimous.
PUBLIC COMMENT
None
CONTINUATION OF
EXECUTIVE SESSION
Board members recessed to continue the executive session discussion on a grievance. The meeting recessed at 7:40 pm.
RECONVENE
The Chair reconvened the meeting in public session at 8:13 pm.
Motion: move that the
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Motion: move to approve the minutes of the June 27,
2007 meeting as corrected. Katz,
Cohen. Approved. 4-0-2. Maiorano and Underberger abstained.
Correction: Dr. Katz arrived late for the meeting, but was present for the votes taken.
Motion: move to approve the minutes of July 25, 2007
as corrected. Treidel, Underberger.
Approved. 4-0-2. Maiorano and
Katz abstained.
Corrections: page 1, under Yale University Study, line 2, parent’s written permission; page 2, Modification of Calendar, line 2, ..”changed to tentative January 22, 2008”.
DISCUSSION AND
POSSIBLE ACTION: SPRING 2008 PARENT-TEACHER CONFERENCES
Mrs. Fox-Santora reported that during the last year, parents
expressed a desire for spring parent-teacher conferences at
Since that meeting, and in discussions with the teaching staff and teacher’s union, several issues arose regarding the potential loss of professional time. At this time, Mrs. Fox-Santora recommended taking no action on adding parent-teacher conferences in the spring, until all issues were resolved and a plan could be fully thought out.
Board members expressed a desire to add the spring parent-teacher conferences and asked Mrs. Fox-Santora to discuss the Board of Education’s views with teachers, and schedule a meeting with board members as needed.
ESTABLISHMENT OF A
CALENDAR COMMITTEE
Region 9 Board of Education has requested that a Calendar Committee be established to review the school calendar for the next three years, including a review of start day in the fall, holidays, vacations, etc. Cathy Gombos will represent Region #9 and Lewis Goldberg will represent the Redding Board. Dr. Cohen will represent the Easton Board of Education, with Mr. Underberger as an alternate.
BOARD MEETING
CALENDAR 2008
The calendar of board meetings for 2008 was reviewed. Two changes were suggested: change April 8 to April 10, and add a meeting on July 28, 2008.
Motion: move that the
BUILDING COMMITTEE
2003
Mr. Allan reported the Building Committee 2003 has accepted
the Building Project at
Motion: move that the
2007 CMT RESULTS;
PRESENTATION OF DATA AND DISCUSSION OF PRELIMINARY ACTION PLANS
A presentation of the CMT results was made by Dr. Newson Stewart along with Mrs. Mas. The report contained information that compared performance of this year with the previous year, how students performed and how the results compared with other schools in the DRG. Discussion followed.
NCLB; TESTING OF
SPECIAL EDUCATION STUDENTS
Dr. Dekle provided written material regarding the testing of special education students. Some changes regarding exempting students have been made, but clarification of the new limits is needed. Dr. Dekle will have additional information at the next meeting.
FINANCE
Mrs. Sullivan reported the 2006-2007 school year has been closed out and the auditors have begun their work. She reported all budgeted funds have been expended, and the Insurance Reserve Fund has a balance of $63,000.
The new Business Manager, Eva Colligan, is on board and is handling transportation issues. There have been only a few minor issues with transportation and adjustments to the routes are being made. The newly revised bus manual was distributed.
Mrs. Sullivan also reported that Governor Rell has established
a new $10 million dollar grant for school security. This is a competitive grant that the
The Educational Cost Sharing for 2007-2008 school year will
be $169,000 more than the previous year.
This money goes directly to the Town of
Mrs. Fox-Santora reported that the CT Teacher of the Year,
Chris Poulos, has organized a group of state legislators to tour eight schools across
the state and
Mrs. Fox-Santora also reported work is ongoing on the air conditioning system at the school. The piping is being insulated. When completed, damaged ceiling tiles will be replaced.
BOARD MEMBER COMMENTS
Mr. Underberger suggested the board communicate to the public the relationship between the budget expenses and the results of the CMT testing and quality of education.
Mr. Treidel suggested stressing the importances of targeting resources to bring abut that kind of improvement.
Dr. Katz asked the administration for a clear focus on those areas in need of
improvement
EXECUTIVE SESSION
Motion: move to executive session for a discussion of municipal employees: Donna Dekle, Kim Fox and Allen Fossbender. Cohen, Underberger. Approved. Unanimous. Dr. Fossbender was invited to be present.
The meeting was recessed at 10:45 pm.
RECONENE
The Chair reconvened the meeting in public session at 11:13 pm.
ADJOURNMENT
Motion: move to adjourn. Cohen, Treidel. Approved. Unanimous.
The meeting adjourned at 11:37 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Alan Katz, Board of Education Secretary
Recorded by Mary Maday