REDDING BOARD OF EDUCATION

MEETING

February 5, 2008

Present: Barickman, Gaspar, Goldberg, Joyce-Kirk, Lewson, Miller(8:02 pm)

Administration: Fossbender, Sullivan, Pierson, Johnson, Martin, Farrell, Freeston

Media: Redding Pilot

Others: six members of the community

Mr. Lewson called the meeting to order at 7:40 pm.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Motion: move to approve the minutes of the January 3, 2008 meeting as submitted. Gaspar, Joyce-Kirk. Approved. Unanimous.

Motion: move to approve the minutes of the January 8, 2008 meeting as submitted. Joyce-Kirk, Gaspar. Approved. Unanimous.

Motion: move to approve the minutes of the January 29, 2008 meeting as corrected. Goldberg, Gaspar. Approved. 4-0-1. Mr. Barickman abstained.

Correction: the time of adjournment was 9:37 pm.

AGENDA CHANGE

Motion: move to change the agenda to discuss the proposed operating budget following the administrative and committee reports. Goldberg, Barickman. Approved. Unanimous.

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS

Dr. Fossbender presented the principals of John Read Middle School and Redding Elementary School with awards for Excellence in Communication from the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education. RES received first place awards for their calendar and for a special video project. JRMS receive a first place award for their web site.

Dr. Fossbender reported that on January 7, 2008, the 6^th District Court in Cincinnati ruled that the No Child Left Behind law violates the U.S. Constitution by requiring the states and local schools districts to expend public funds to meet the requirements of federal law. Copies of this information was provided.

Dr. Fossbender asked for board member input on the subject of including factual budget information on the Listserv. Board members suggested that the PTAs be consulted for parent input on what they would like to see on the Listserv. Ms. Pierson and Mrs. Martin will have discussions with the PTAs for input and report back to the board.

Director of Special Education: Mr. Farrell provided information on the pre-school enrollment process and staff participation in workshops.

John Read Middle School: Mrs. Martin reported that retiring teacher Bridget White received a wonderful sendoff. Mrs. Martin also announced the Beacon Award recipients: Clay D’Alessandro, Ryan Healey, Dylan Fontana, Katie Sullivan, Bennett Unfried, Brooklee Han, Sam Torchio and Christine Hushion. These students were recognized for their scholarship, leadership and citizenship in the JRMS community.

Redding Elementary School: Ms. Pierson reported the PTA winter carnival was a huge success and fun for all attendees. The Kindergarten staff is working on revisions to the visitation day in the spring and are planning a parent evening for incoming kindergarten parents.

Director of Finance: Mrs. Sullivan distributed the status of the Health Insurance reserve fund and monthly claims. Claims for December were less that the preceding month. Monthly expenses are tracking as anticipated.

CURRICULUM COMMITTEE

Mrs. Joyce-Kirk reported another committee meeting is scheduled for later in the week, with a focus on the ILA curriculum. The minutes of the meetings are posted on the ER9 website.

Mr. Miller arrived, 8:20 pm.

LONG RANGE PLANNING COMMITTEE

Mr. Barickman reported the Committee discussed and advocated the removal of capital items from the operating budget and bundling these items for long term funding. The concept was presented to the Board of Finance for consideration. The Board of Finance did not take action on the request, but asked the Long Range Planning Committee to re-define what items are capital in nature and report back to the Board of Finance with a recommendation.

METRICS COMMITTEE

Mr. Gaspar reported that the Committee flushed out a set of metrics for a handful of areas. That information was sent back to the administrators to determine what is feasible and meaningful. A report back from the administration is expected at the next board meeting.

HEALTH INSURANCE

Mr. Gaspar reported that the Redding schools have been doing better than expected on paid claims.

PTA LIAISON COMMITTEE

Mr. Gaspar reported the meetings have had good participation. The major items discussed included:

a. Budget: interest in providing what is needed for student improvement in the classroom and parking & capital improvements.

b. A shortage of space for the Park & Recreation Extended Day program at RES, including a need to expand the program and suggestion that the Board of Education find ways to expand the program.

c. Curriculum: support for the ILA and Early Intervention initiatives in the proposed budget.

DISCUSSION OF PROPOSED 2008-2009 OPERATING BUDGET

The proposed budget at the conclusion of the last meeting was at percentage increase of 6.80%.

Mrs. Sullivan reported that technical edits reduced the increase to 6.27% and reviewed those reductions. In addition, the administration recommended reductions that bring the budget to an increase of 6.16%. An additional reduction of the RES paving for $25,000 and JRMS flooring project of $20,000, would bring the budget increase to 5.92%. This assumes the paving and flooring project will be included in Capital Items for consideration by the Long Range Planning Committee and Board of Finance.

Discussion of the budget followed.

Motion: move that the Redding Board of Education accept the thoughtful and responsible budget submitted by the administration of $19,819,642 representing a 5.92% increase over the current budget. Barickman, Miller. Approved. Unanimous.

PUBLIC COMMENT

Nick Simeonidis, Board of Finance member: Mr. Simeonidis stated that the Board of Finance requested that the Long Range Planning Committee redefine/clarify the rules/guidelines for what items are constitute capital items and should be considered for long term financing, and make a recommendation to the Board of Finance.

Mike D’Agostino, Glen Hill Road: question regarding the price budgeted for oil and if that was higher or lower that the cost to the Town of Redding. Mrs. Sullivan responded that the schools participate in a purchasing consortium and the price per gallon has been lower that what the town is paying.

MEETING CANCELLATION

The meeting planned for Thursday, February 7, 2008 was cancelled. The meeting was scheduled to complete the budget deliberation and that work was concluded in this meeting.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting was adjourned at 9:03 pm

Respectfully submitted,

Lewis Brey, Secretary

Recorded by Mary Maday