Watertown Board of Education
Regular Meeting
(Postponed from 1/23/2006 - Inclement Weather)
Minutes
Meeting Date: January 25, 2006
Meeting Time: 7:30 p.m.
Meeting Place: Watertown High School Technology Center
Members Present: Ms. Mary Dzioba, Board Chairperson
Ms. Maureen Caine, Vice Chairperson
Mr. Todd Griffin, Board Secretary
Ms. Gina Calabrese, Board member
Ms. Mary Colangelo, Board member
Mr. Chris Lafferty, Board member
Mr. Thomas Lambert, Board member
Mr. Richard Mazzamaro, Board member
Dr. Joseph Erardi Jr., Superintendent
Dr. Philip Pelosi, Assistant Superintendent of Schools
Ms. Amelia Grover, Dir. of Budget and Financial Planning
Ms. Betsy Hackett, Director of Special Services
Mr. Todd LoFrese, Director of Operations
Absent: Mr. James Marks, Board member
Mr. Matthew Dzioba, W.H.S. Student Representative
Press: Mr. Tommy Valuckas, Waterbury Republican American
Mr. Jim Taylor, Town Times
Guests: Mr. Kristian Kuegler
Other interested citizens: Ms. Kace Duplissie, Mr. Thad Hasbrouck, Mr. Richard Sansoucy, Mrs. Fran Palmer and Ms. Marylu Lerz.
Ms. June Legge, Mrs. Judy White, Ms. Marcia Moriarty,
Ms. Pat Corvello and Mr. Charlie Beliveau.
A. Convene Regular Meeting - 7:30 PM
Ms. Dzioba convened the Regular Board of Education meeting at 7:30 p.m.
B. Salute to the Flag
Ms. Dzioba led the salute to the Flag.
C. Recognition
Ms. Dzioba: Tonight, we have a recognition and I’d like to turn it over to the Superintendent to present.
Dr. Erardi: Thank you, Ms. Dzioba. I think it is very rare for any coach to have an undefeated season. It’s one of the most difficult things obviously to do, especially a high school coach. I think it is very, very uncommon to have two undefeated seasons in one Fall Sport year. The Board is privileged and very proud to recognize Coach Kris Kuegler for his accomplishments with his outstanding athletes and, I believe, there is a number of outstanding athletes in the audience. They all look like runners to me so I think that I might be right on a few cases. Just for the sake of our viewing audience and our Board of Education, Coach Kuegler’s 2005-2006 Boys Cross Country team finished in first place as the undefeated Naugatuck Valley League champions. Coach Kuegler also coaches the Girls Cross Country team which finished in first place as the undefeated Naugatuck Valley League champions. Coach, I know as a token, as the Superintendent representing the Central Office and the Board of Education, Ms. Dzioba has a certificate that recognizes your accomplishment for the Boys and the Girls and the athletes who you worked with, so we thank you.
Ms. Dzioba presented Coach Kuegler with his certificates.
Mr. Kuegler: I’d like to thank the Board for this recognition. I feel kind of awkward accepting recognition for, kind of like being a director and taking recognition for Lawrence Olivier, or someone acting well. I have a great group of kids who, you know, we go out there. I say run, and if they need to go faster, I say run faster and they do. So, I’d just like to thank the Board for all their support, Ms. Legge and the kids who have been a great group of kids. I have about nine seniors graduating this year which is one of the big reasons that the guys won three championships and the girls won one this year, so congratulations to them as well.
1. The Board of Education would like to recognize Kristian Kuegler, English teacher at Watertown High School, and also the girls’ and boys’ cross country coach for 2005-2006. This year Mr. Kuegler coached the girls’ and boys’ cross country teams to becoming the Naugatuck Valley League Undefeated League Champions.
The Board of Education would like to present Kristian Kuegler with a certificate of Celebration of Excellence for the Commendation for 2005-2006 for Coaching the Girls’ and Boys’ Cross Country Teams, Naugatuck Valley League Undefeated League Champions.
D. Public Participation
Ms. Kace Duplissie: I am with the Polk PTO and I am here to tell you what is going on with all of the PTOs and PTAs in town.
I’ll start with John Trumbull. They received a $1,200 Grant from the CT Department of Culture and Tourism to help offset two of their programs. One of them is, “Tommy Lee, Storyteller”. He is performing February 8 through February 10. The other is, “Alice in Wonderland goes South of the Border”, which sounds interesting, performed by the American Theater for the Deaf on April 26. They had the Giving Tree last year which provided 60 families from Watertown and Oakville with gifts. It was very successful. They are doing “Celebrate the Arts” which will enable parents to buy postcards and clothing with their children’s artwork imprinted on it. The second graders had their Winter Concert. It went very well. The projects for the Spring include a Book Fair on March 10, Amazing Hero Art on March 7, Family Fun Fest, Field Day and Staff Appreciation.
At Judson, the PTA sponsored an event called “Living Abe”, which was a performance of a chronological first person narrative of his life. They are sponsoring a Grant for teachers to submit proposals for curriculum enhancement and materials. The Grant will be awarded in February. Upcoming events at Judson include a Family Pasta Night on February 24 and a Sock Hop on March 3.
The Watertown High School is running fundraisers to raise money for Project Hope, Aids Education and Awareness. The seniors, in conjunction with Project Graduation, are selling these discount cards for $10, there are eighteen merchants within town that are doing these discounts and Charlotte Morro is in charge of that. The cards are good until December 2006.
At Swift, the Expansion Project is in full swing. The PTSO will be sponsoring a Fun Night for the 7th and 8th graders on February 10 from 7-9.
At Polk, this month we are having our “Pay it Forward Program” which is doing a good deed for someone else and getting recognized for it. We had Bingo Night and we also had our Giving Tree last year that did 15 families in Watertown and in Oakville. Upcoming events are another Bingo Night and Book Fair and that is it, thank you.
Ms. Dzioba: Thank you Kace. Would anyone else like to address the Board?
No one wished to address the Board. Ms. Dzioba closed Public Participation at 7:48 p.m.
Report from Student Council Representative – Mr. Matthew Dzioba-
No Report tonight, Mr. Dzioba was absent due to the change in the schedule.
E. Budget Summary – (Information Only – No Action Required)
Ms. Dzioba: The Budget Summary is in our packet for information only.
F. Committee Reports:
1. Advertising Committee, Todd Griffin, Chair
Mr. Griffin stated there was no Report this evening.
2. Athletics Committee, Chris Lafferty, Chair
Mr. Lafferty: On January 18, the Athletics Sub-Committee held a very informative and productive first meeting. Sitting in with the Committee were Dr. Erardi, Ms. Dzioba, Ms. Legge and other members of the public. Ms. Legge answered some questions from the Committee regarding Pay-to-Participate. Also on the agenda was discussion and possible action on the inquiry from Mr. O’Brien who spoke at our last Board meeting. Dr. Erardi’s office proposed that free admission be offered to the immediate family members of athletes on the Boys Swimming and Diving and Girls and Boys Basketball so that they would receive free admission to the final two home games of the season. He felt that this would give us some data as far as Pay-to-Participate and how that affects ticket sales and also to assist the families of the athletes that have already paid for their children to participate. Our next meeting, which I do not have a date on yet, we will be inviting all coaches, athletic directors and parent group representatives as well, and as always, the public is more than welcome to participate in our discussions.
3. Budget Committee, Todd Griffin, Chair
Mr. Griffin: There is no Report this evening other than there have been three workshops scheduled with dates to be finalized.
4. Curriculum & Instruction Committee, Gina Calabrese, Chair
Ms. Calabrese: The Committee met on Wednesday, January 18 at 3:30 p.m. at the Watertown High School Library. We were presented with an excellent summary of NEASC’s commendations and recommendations to the High School, related to curriculum and instruction. A representative of the High School’s Curriculum Committee provided a compilation of Minutes from their monthly meetings from September through December of 2005. Also, the Committee was presented with, and we endorsed, several proposed changes to the High School’s Program of Studies book for the 2006-2007 school year. Board members have received a copy of these course changes as Attachment D in their packet for this evening’s meeting and these proposed changes are presented to the full Board for approval this evening under Action Item K-d.
5. Facilities Committee, Rich Mazzamaro, Chair
Mr. Mazzamaro: The Facilities Committee meeting was held on Wednesday, January 11, that coincided with the first of three public tours of Watertown High School. Two agenda items that were discussed were the NEASC update and Request for Proposal for Long-Range Plan. On the NEASC issue, Todd LoFrese updated the Committee on the progress of the immediate recommendations that need to be reported back to NEASC by July 1. They included the gym bleachers, the showers, potholes in the parking lot, tennis courts, floor repairs, fluctuating temperatures and the air quality in the school. Work is being done in all areas; spot-welding is on-going on the bleachers, broken tiles in the showers are being repaired, potholes is on-going and will continue, new driveway and parking lots are needed and recommended. The tennis courts; the trees are to be removed in the Spring and the long-term solution is complete court removal and additional storage space. As far as floor repairs go, small repairs are ongoing and there is a large asbestos abatement required. As far as fluctuating temperatures; the repairs and replacements of all of the controls are continuing to be made and all of the thermostats have been set back to 68 degrees. The long-term plans were also discussed and I think we talked about this at the last meeting. A Request for Proposal was sent out for building evaluations at Watertown High, Judson Elementary and Polk Elementary to aid in our long-term planning. The building evaluations would consist of meeting with the Facilities Committee to formulate project goals, conduct interviews with School Principals, Custodians, Town and Building Officials and the Fire Marshall. To do a field survey of the facilities and grounds to determine the existing conditions, do a field survey of the existing mechanical plumbing, fire, electrical, etc. Prepare existing conditions reports stating the findings of all these inspections and prepare a report stating the findings of the overall evaluations, and report detail and preliminary design alternatives to correct the deficiencies.
I also wanted to remind everyone that there is the third and final scheduled public tour of Watertown High School this Saturday, January 28 at 10:00. I invite everybody to please come. It’s eye-opening to see exactly what is going on here.
The next Facilities Committee meeting will be held sometime in mid-February, the date has not been set yet.
6. Policy and Labor Committee, Maureen Caine, Chair
Ms. Caine: We met tonight and our recommendations will be forthcoming on a future Agenda.
7. Cablevision, James Marks
Ms. Dzioba: Jim Marks is not here so there is no Report for Cablevision.
8. PBC Representative, Rich Mazzamaro
Mr. Mazzamaro: I attended a Public Buildings Committee meeting on January 18 and among the items discussed were the Swift Renovation Project and an update from the General Contractor with their progress to date. Basically, the chain of events is, a Project Kick-off meeting was held on December 21, 2005 and as of the 18th, O & G had received approval of their job-site trailers. They’ll be located on the front and side of the building. They stated that in these locations they will not need to be moved through the entire project. Visible work has begun at the site. There has been site clearing and tree removal and an access area to the addition. You can see where that has begun as well. The Fire Marshall has given approval to build partitions for various construction areas. O & G reported that all of the contracts have been awarded as well.
G. Communications - Secretary
Mr. Griffin stated that he did not have any correspondence this evening.
H. Minutes
1. Regular Board of Education Meeting – January 9, 2006
Motion presented by Ms. Caine, seconded by Mr. Griffin to accept the regular Board of Education Meeting Minutes of January 9, 2006.
Discussion:
Mr. Lafferty: I found when I was reading through them a correction that needs to be made on Page 2 of the Regular Meeting Minutes of January 9, 2006. It states that Mrs. Stewart swore in Mr. Tom Lambert. It does not have his response as yes or no. Obviously, he is here now, but it’s not listed in the minutes.
Mr. Lambert: I have one correction of the Regular Minutes on Page 15, Item L-c, Consideration of Approval of Family Leave Medical Leave. It has that the Motion Passed Unanimously, but it has 1 Abstained. I did not abstain, so I guess it was Unanimously but it has the 1 there as an Abstained, so that probably has to be removed. But I do want to say one thing about these Minutes; I want to commend Barbara Mordenti for these Minutes and all of the Minutes that I have seen so far. I am a new Member here but I have been on commissions for seven years and I have never seen Minutes as well as these Minutes are written, so I would like to commend Barbara for that.
Mrs. Mordenti: Thank you.
Ms. Dzioba: Are there any other comments? I think we have to withdraw the first Motion and ask for a Motion for the Minutes to be accepted as corrected.
Motion presented by Ms. Caine, seconded by Mr. Griffin to withdraw the Motion to accept the Minutes of the January 9, 2006 Board of Education Meeting.
Motion Passed Unanimously
(8-In Favor, 0 -Opposed, 0-Abstained)
Ms. Dzioba: Can I have a new Motion to accept the Minutes as corrected.
Motion presented by Ms Caine, seconded by Mr. Mazzamaro to accept the Minutes of January 9, 2006 Board of Education Meeting as amended by Mr. Lafferty and Mr. Lambert.
Motion Passed Unanimously
(8-In Favor, 0 -Opposed, 0-Abstained)
Board Clerk has made the following corrections to the Minutes of 1-09-06;
Page 2-adding: "I do" to Mr. Lambert's comments
Page 15-removing the number 1 and replacing with a zero for Abstained on Action Item L-c (Motion sheet for said Minutes has also been corrected with regards to this Action Item)
I. Superintendent's Recommendations and Report
Dr. Erardi: Thank you, Ms. Dzioba. I have in small print, Coach Kuegler needs to get home to children, athletes need to leave to study, so this might be a nice time for you folks to quietly head on out if you’d like to go and thank you for being here.
Ms. Dzioba: Thank you all for coming.
Dr. Erardi: I would like to suggest to the Board that they take action and add to the Superintendent’s Report which would be, I-8-Winter Fees, Watertown High School Athletics.
Ms. Dzioba: I need a Motion to add an Item.
Ms. Colangelo: Excuse me, is this an Action Item?
Ms. Caine: No, it’s just to formally add it for the Board.
Ms. Dzioba: Do we need it?
Dr. Erardi: I would do it.
Motion presented by Mr. Lafferty, seconded by Mr. Mazzamaro to Add Agenda Item I-8 to the January 25, 2006 Agenda.
Motion Passed Unanimously
(8-In Favor, 0 -Opposed, 0-Abstained)
1. Appointments – (Information Only – No Action Required)
a. Ms. Leslie McKeon to the position of Library Clerk at Watertown High School, effective on or before February 27, 2006 for 7.5 hours paid per day, 11 months per year, at an hourly rate of $13.24.
2. Resignations – (Information Only – No Action Required)
a. Mr. David Squillace, Mathematics Teacher at Watertown High School, effective January 20, 2006, for personal reasons.
3. Transfers – (Information Only – No Action Required)
a. Mr. Edward Stack transferred from floater custodian to custodian 2nd shift at Swift Middle School effective January 10, 2006 for 8.0 hours paid per day, at an hourly rate of $17.24.
Dr. Erardi: Thank you, Items 1, 2, and 3 in the Superintendent’s Report, as is standard practice, are shared with the Board of Education as information. I don’t know if Board members have any questions for Items 1, 2 or 3?
Mr. Lafferty: I have one question for Item 2. How are his classes being filled?
Dr. Erardi: What I can share with you, and Mr. Hasbrouck is here and will share details with you. What I can share with you is that the Administration has been very aggressive trying to find a replacement teacher in our Math Department at Watertown High School. It becomes even more problematic in the area of Mathematics and with the instructor who left us, teaching at least two sections of high-level Math. Mr. Hasbrouck, you may want to share with the Board the plan until we do hire, and what you have done.
Mr. Hasbrouck: At this time, I have moved the Pre-Calculus classes to existing staff member’s schedules and taken one of their classes each and moved it into what is being covered by a substitute teacher. So that substitute is covering Algebra 1 and a Consumer Math class. One of the Pre-Calcs. is an Honors class, those kids are on a pace for AP Calculus next year and you can’t miss a beat there. A number of the College Prep Pre-Calc. class students we are also anticipating taking Pre-Calc. classes, for the same reasons, you can’t afford to be missing time. To say it’s difficult to find a Math teacher at mid-year, it’s difficult at the end of the year in anticipation of the full year, at mid-year, is very difficult. We have been interviewing, candidates will continue to interview so that we can find the right person for the position. It could end up that we complete the year with those Pre-Calc classes staying with the teacher that they currently have with the change in place. Again, trying to find somebody with those Math skills is difficult; it would be easier to find someone to be able to take the Algebra 1 position until the end of the year. So that is where we are at this point with that process. Do you have any other questions?
There were no other questions from Board members.
4. Update on 2005-2006 Budget Regarding Swift Spring Sports
The Superintendent will present the quarterly report for the 2005-2006 operational plan and, included with this report will be a recommendation for Spring sports at Swift.
Dr. Erardi: Thank you, Mr. Hasbrouck. I’d like to move on to Item 4 and before I talk about this, I’d like to publicly thank Amelia Grover for doing what I think is exceptional work, leading the Superintendent to a recommendation for the Board of Education in regards to Spring Sports.
I think as a Board we all know how tight things are this school year and how things change on a daily basis with a $30 million business. What did happen within the last two weeks, to give you a sense of how difficult this recommendation is; what did happen in the last two weeks at our Judson School, which is powered by three boilers, two of the three boilers we had problems with. We are expecting some of the work to fall under warranty and we are expecting a bill most likely between labor and parts, in excessive of $10,000. A refresher for those Board members who were here last Spring and for our new Board members, we were unfortunate not to hold onto any contingency funds for anything like this, so we had our fingers crossed, hoping that this would not happen; so we are looking at a projected $10,000 bill that we just didn’t plan for.
With the analysis that was done and the information that was brought to me, I do not support operational funds for Spring Sports at Swift. Knowing where we are within our plan and knowing where we need to be at the end of the school year, would guarantee us approximately $8,000.
What I do support and what I recommend to the Board, allowing the Superintendent to bring back a more complete plan, on or about April 1, would be as follows. I have information for every Board member, the Cost Analysis of Spring Sports and I’ll pause as you have a chance to look at that. The document that has just been distributed was developed by our Business Office and by our Middle School Administration. Marylu Lerz is here this evening and, through the lens of the athletic Director, Keith Borkowski at Swift, the breakdown of cost is close to an exactness of what we project for Spring Sports, $8,072. I will recommend to the Board that the plan for Spring Sports remains in place without the use of operational funds and allow the Administration to come back to you with how the net cost of $8,072 will be covered.
I’d like to talk a little bit further about that. In our recently executed contract with Coca-Cola, there is a one time gift-giving of $4,000. The language within the contract talks about athletics and talks about scoreboards. We have the latitude and the flexibility to use that $4,000 to defray the cost of Spring Sports at Swift. The remaining $4,072; just as recall for the Board, upon the recommendation and the removal of Spring Sports, there was a community member who met with me. The community member is Mr. Charles Brown. Charlie Brown was a long-time teacher and coach at Swift Middle School and that meeting took place the day after this cut was made. We reconvened a meeting with Mr. Brown, Mr. Borkowski, Ms. Lerz and myself and we talked about the opportunity of private funding for $4,072. I was absolutely assured that through fundraising and gift-giving that the $4,072 would be covered, either in full by the community and what is left, by Mr. Brown. The meeting ended again with an assurance that again, on or before April 1, the $4,072 would be in place along with the $4,000 from Coca-Cola, allowing athletes at Swift to participate in baseball and softball. As Board members know, this is problematic with the renovation to new that is taking place at Swift. We had terrific cooperation from our bus company for transportation and we have also had terrific cooperation from our High School Administration and the High School Athletic Director and there is a plan in place that allows our athletes to be off-site to practice, to play games and to participate.
So, to summarize, my recommendation is that I do not support the use of operational funds for Spring Sports. We do not have the money, and it’s that simple at this point. However, I do support the recommendation to allow the Superintendent to come back to the Board of Education again at our first meeting in April with the $4,000, which we already have and the assurance of the $4,072. That is a timeline that would be appropriate if we were not able to raise the money, we would be able to get back to our competitors to let them know that our competition would not take place. I don’t know if Board members have questions at this time.
Ms. Dzioba: Not at this time, thank you.
5. Proposed 2006-2007 Budget
The Superintendent will present to the Board an update on the proposed budget for school year 2006-2007.
Dr. Erardi: I have a number of handouts for the Board of Education and I would like to give you a sense of where our starting point was. The document that is being circulated and I’ll wait until everyone has a copy of it. The document represents the past five years of Certified and Non-Certified reductions. This is the starting point for 06-07, what you’ll see is that over the past three years, with an increase in enrollment since 2003-04 plus 21 students; that we have reduced our District Certified Staff by nearly 26 full-time positions. You’ll see that the reductions include Primary, Elementary, our World Language program, our Music program, our Art program, the P.E. program and it really has touched our K-12 lens of what we tried to do.
If you turn to Page 2, along with 25.9 full-time positions that we no longer have, I thought it was important for the Board to get a lens on programs that we no longer have. Mr. Hasbrouck reported to the Board of Education in his NEASC review just a few months ago about the at-risk child and the drop-out rate that we have concern about, and that NEASC had concern about and the High School Administration has concern about. Part of that concern is that the Alternative Program, which I have been told was effective and efficient and saved High School students from dropping out, is no longer here. I think one of the most telling things that has taken place is if you look at the Talented and Gifted program that we no longer have, the entire program is gone. In addition to the Certified reductions, I thought it was important for Board members to have a snapshot of other places that we have been to in reduction in force. Again, this has been done with an increase in enrollment over the past 3 years of 21 students and a decrease of the other 26 positions.
I gave Board members this evening an awful lot of information with the hope that between now and the Sub-Committee meeting that Mr. Griffin with be sharing with you, you have a chance to review and ask questions. I have prepared for the Board of Education a narrative that I think, summarizes your Budget booklet. The information, the book that you will be taking home with you this evening reflects an 8.91% increase. The increase is broken out with our Contractual Obligations, our NEASC concerns and with the need to once again, be proactive with Operations and Maintenance. The design of the work of the Administration was to incrementally move forward for the good of children in a way that this community can support, understand and embrace. Over the course of the past six weeks, we have taken well over thirty two requests for full-time staffing. I have this information for you to a point where we are moving forward with NEASC, we are maintaining in nearly every other place in regard to our K-8 and the 8.91% number that is brought in front of you. We are prepared to be able to share with the Board during Mr. Griffin’s Sub-Committee meetings of how we arrived and why we feel this is the place the Board should look at as the start of their review.
I’d also like to share with you two other documents to give you a sense of the work of the Administration, the site-level Administrators, who I think did exceptional work, along with Cabinet members. This is a document that shares with you our starting point and our ending point this evening. The Certified Staffing document that you have, if you turn to the second page you’ll see a number that reads 32.9. The original Staffing request from Administration was to recapture what they had lost and to add to, in regards to Programming and Staffing. The site-level review that presently exists within this Budget is 4.6 teachers. I remind Board members that we lost over 10 positions just last year, of the 4.6 positions, the focus is at Watertown High School and it needs to be with 3 new full-time positions.
When I tried to summarize the work of Administration, I did it in four bullets and I think that the four bullets that I’d like to share with the Board will be informational items that I’ll have the opportunity to share with the community in a number of different forums. That when we look to Budget 06-07, we started with 25+ full-time positions over three years that no longer exist, with more students than we had three years ago. Again, enrollment figure three years ago; 3,536 students, enrollment this year; 3,557 students, a +21 number.
The third bullet which I think is important is where we are with what we do with the children that we have. I know that at some point last year I shared with the Board of Education at the tail end of Budget season that the Watertown Schools’ Pupil Expenditure was 167 of 169. Of 169 school districts, Watertown’s Pupil Expenditure was at 167. The new data is out from the State Department of Education, the present ranking with the State of Connecticut has Watertown Public Schools at 168 of 169. What that means is; of the 169 school districts, 167 school districts spend more money than we do per Pupil Expenditure.
The last bullet that I think makes this Budget a little bit more difficult and a little bit more special, is the need that we have with our Facilities and the need that we have at Watertown High School. You’ll see numbers that recognize areas of focus that are very different than last year. For example, our Technology number, our Technology number needs to represent a capital expenditure that we are looking to have our oldest equipment no more than six years old. You’ll see a tremendous jump in that line. You’ll also see in your Budget booklet, which I’ll pass out to you in a moment, that there are a number of green tabs in the booklet. As you review the Budget information that has been prepared by Mrs. Grover’s office, the green tab is an indicator of a place that we feel is critical for our July 1, 2006 response to NEASC. We have identified over $300,000 of line items that just begin to tell the needs at Watertown High School. Between our Facilities Study that needs to take place, our NEASC needs and our recapturing of Staff here at the High School, the 8.91% number is the starting point for our Budget discussions.
I am prepared this evening, with Administration, we have a number of our Administrators here in the audience, if Board members have questions. I know that Mr. Griffin is prepared this evening to share three proposed dates for Budget Sub-Committee meetings to start. The last thing I think I need to mention is that it is our responsibility to present to the Town Council on or before March 1, a Board of Education Budget. There is a meeting scheduled for March 15 to present to the Town Council’s Finance Committee, but it is our responsibility. It’s my responsibility to present this information to you on or before February 1 and it’s our collective responsibility to present our finalized Budget to the Town Council on or before March 1.
Questions that Board members may have at this particular time?
There were no questions from Board members.
Dr. Erardi: Mr. Griffin, do you want to share those dates?
Mr. Griffin: There are three dates tentatively scheduled,
Monday, January 30, 7:00 p.m. at John Trumbull Primary School Library
Monday, February 6, 7:00 p.m. at John Trumbull Primary School Library
Tuesday, February 21, 7:00 p.m. at John Trumbull Primary School Library
6. Town Consultant’s Findings
The Superintendent will give a report of the recent Town Consultant’s Study and how it affects the Board of Education.
(See Attachment A.)
Dr. Erardi: I will continue with Item 6, information for the Board, the Town Council received a presentation from the consultants that were hired to do an Organizational Study of Town Government. I share this with you just to let you know that I am meeting with the Town Manager on Friday to talk further about this study. This study was a Town Government initiative; however, it did include interviews with at least two members of our Central Office. I don’t have a lot of information at this point, but I will bring it back to the Board with further information as I speak to the Town Manager.
Questions at all about the Town’s consultant’s findings?
Ms. Colangelo: I have a lot of concerns about it as they relate to the Board and joining positions, etc. I think it is a little bit too preliminary to start talking about it and I think we will wait until after your next report.
7. Student Artwork on Display
The wonderful artwork on display this evening has been done by the following young artists:
Kayla Szabo, Kindergarten, John Trumbull Primary School
Mary Collette, Grade 1, John Trumbull Primary School
Daniel Desaulniers, Grade 2, John Trumbull Primary School
Amanda Robinson, Grade 3, Polk School
Christian Bennett, Grade 4, Polk School
Victoria Engelhard, Grade 5, Polk School
Claudia Ghisa, Grade 6, Heminway Park School
Katherine Ward, Grade 7, Swift Middle School
Ashley Petruzzello, Grade 8, Swift Middle School
Christina Weaver, (Art 1) Grade 9, Watertown High School
Clare Rafferty, (Art 2) Grade 11, Watertown High School
Karla Fasano, (Drawing) Grade 12, Watertown High School
Melissa Traver, (Painting) Grade 12, Watertown High School
Carla Piel, (Photography) Grade 11, Watertown High School
Shannon Hardisty, (Photography) Grade 11, Watertown High School
Dr. Erardi: I would like to mention our resident artists who I think have done some outstanding work as we walk in and have a chance to view their masterpieces. Congratulations and thank you to all.
Dr. Erardi then read all of the students’ names listed above.
8. Winter Fees, Watertown High School Athletics.
Dr. Erardi: I’d like to start by sharing a public apology to the following Board members: Mr. Griffin, Ms. Caine, Ms. Calabrese and Ms. Colangelo, your Superintendent errored and I am the first one to admit that. What I am addressing is, at the constitution of this new Board, there was information that was shared publicly and certainly with my Office that when the public or the community came to speak to the Board, the expectation was to address that concern, to bring it back to the public forum to share with the community at large as it was addressed initially to us. I was remiss and I was wrong and I owe an apology to the four of you for taking action on an item or recommending action on an item in regards to our athletics at Watertown High School with regard to the request that was made by Mr. O’Brien, who was at our meeting two meetings ago. I do apologize to the four of you.
I did do some research on the pricing and admissions. What has taken place, because I know that this is an interest point for a number of Board members, the present and past practice of athletics at Watertown High School in regards to the setting of tickets price, in regards to what sports we charge and how that changes has been a partnership or relationship between the Athletic Director bringing information back from the Naugatuck Valley League Directors to the High School Administration. The High School Administration has taken responsibility for yeaing or naying or amending the recommendation in regard to ticket price. The meeting that Mr. Lafferty chaired, we were informed that the ticket price is a range of $3-$4-$5 depending on the sport and who you are, youth, senior or adult.
I am recommending, or suggesting, to the Board that because of the present complexity of Pay-to Participate and how that balances our Athletic Budget. Between the gate receipts and the revenue that we collect in the overall programs and how folks come through our doors for the sports that we charge, including senior citizens, parents, brothers and sisters and including community members, that we look at considering a draft policy that would begin to better define how all this happens. Presently, as I just stated, it’s a working partnership between Administration and the Athletic Director but I truly do believe, that because of the impact on funds and the pilot that will be taking place the last two home matches, that you ask me to bring back to you a draft policy on this.
I’d like to end this where I started and again, my apologies to the four Board members. It was not done by design and I take full responsibility for that.
I don’t know if there are questions about Item 8 at all, or comments or concerns.
Ms. Caine: I just want to thank you for addressing our concerns Dr. Erardi.
Dr. Erardi: Thank you.
J. Report from the Chairman
Ms. Dzioba: My report tonight is that I would just like to invite the public in to please encourage the public to take part in the tour of the High School this Saturday. I took the tour a week and a half ago and as a Board member and as a parent of a Watertown High school student. It was quite an eye-opening experience. When we come to these meetings, we come through the best part of the building and this school is in dire need of updating and repair. With Budget season starting tonight with the presentation of the Budget to the Board, it’s really the part of this job that I really hate the most, not that I hate this job, but I mean it’s just the season that I hate in that the Budget just pits people against one another. There are so many needs and so many demands of the funds that we are given and it just seems that schools have to fight for every nickel and dime that they get and it’s unfortunate and then with the NEASC report and the demands from the High School and from Judson School also needing attention; we hope that we can pass the Budget on the first Referendum, with money in the system to address a lot of these needs. That’s all I have to say. Please come to the tour on Saturday.
K. Action Items – Adoption of Items to be Approved by Consent
a. Consideration of Approval of School Calendar 2006-2007 – Second Reading
The proposed school calendar for 2006-2007 was presented for the first reading at the Board of Education meeting on January 9, 2006. The calendar is presented tonight for the second reading and for full Board approval. (See Attachment B.)
Motion presented by Ms. Caine, seconded by Mr. Mazzamaro that the Board approve of the proposed school calendar for 2006-2007 presented tonight for the second reading.
Motion Passed Unanimously
(8-In Favor, 0-Opposed, 0-Abstained)
b. Consideration of Approval of Letter Regarding State Mandates – Second Reading
Board Member James Marks has requested that the board send a letter to our State Representatives and Senators and ask them to do what they can to reduce our burden of state mandates. A draft of this letter was presented for the first reading at the Board of Education’s meeting on January 9, 2006. The letter is presented this evening for the second reading and for full Board approval. (See Attachment C.)
Motion presented by Ms. Caine, seconded by Mr. Griffin for purposes of discussion of the Consideration of the Letter to the State regarding State Mandates as proposed by Board member Jim Marks.
Discussion:
Ms. Caine: I would like perhaps to have another chance at this to maybe flush the letter out a little bit more with some specifics to the particular State Mandates that are involved and maybe adjust the language a little bit. Mr. Marks isn’t here tonight. If he were, maybe he could provide us with some input with regard to that so that it might go over to the next Agenda? Can it be Tabled tonight?
Ms. Dzioba: I think it be could be Tabled tonight in that Mr. Marks isn’t here and he is the one who could define what is needed in this letter better than anyone, so we will Table this until the next meeting when Mr. Marks is here.
Motion presented by Ms. Colangelo, seconded by Ms. Caine to Table this Item.
Motion Passed Unanimously
(8-In Favor, 0-Opposed, 0-Abstained)
c. Consideration of Approval of Acceptance of Gifts
1. The International Business Machines Corporation wishes to donate a grant in the amount of $1,000.00 to Watertown High School to be used for equipment. Ms. Susan Hourihan, Art Teacher at Watertown High School, is the writer of this grant.
Motion presented by Mr. Lafferty, seconded by Mr. Griffin that the Board accept the gift from The International Business Machines Corporation who wishes to donate a grant in the amount of $1,000.00 to Watertown High School to be used for equipment. Ms. Susan Hourihan, Art Teacher at Watertown High School, is the writer of this grant.
Motion Passed Unanimously
(8-In Favor, 0-Opposed, 0-Abstained)
2. Ms. Debbie Ciochetti wishes to donate a computer with an approximate value of $500.00 to Ms. Hotchkiss’ class at Polk School.
Motion presented by Mr. Lafferty, seconded by Mr. Mazzamaro that the Board accept the gift from Ms. Debbie Ciochetti who wishes to donate a computer with an approximate value of $500.00 to Ms. Hotchkiss’ class at Polk School.
Motion Passed Unanimously
(8-In Favor, 0-Opposed, 0-Abstained)
Ms. Dzioba: Letters of thanks will to be sent to the donors.
d. Consideration of Approval of Family Medical Leave of Absence
1. Ms. Molly Stepka, Remedial Reading Teacher at Judson School, requests a Child-bearing Leave of Absence, commencing April 24, 2006 until the end of the 2005-2006 school year, with use of accumulated sick time and then leave without pay.
It is recommended that the Board approve of a Child-bearing Leave of Absence, commencing April 24, 2006, for Ms. Molly Stepka, Remedial Reading Teacher at Judson School, until the end of the 2005-2006 school year, with use of accumulated sick time and then leave without pay and a medical doctor’s note to return.
Motion presented by Ms. Calabrese, seconded by Mr. Mazzamaro that the Board approve of a Child-bearing Leave of Absence, commencing April 24, 2006, for Ms. Molly Stepka, Remedial Reading Teacher at Judson School, until the end of the 2005-2006 school year, with use of accumulated sick time and then leave without pay and a medical doctor’s note to return.
Motion Passed Unanimously
(8-In Favor, 0-Opposed, 0-Abstained)
e. Consideration of Approval of Watertown High School’s Proposed Changes to the Program of Studies Book for 2006-07 (See Attachment D.)
Motion Presented by Ms. Calabrese, seconded that Ms. Caine at the Curriculum and Instruction Committee meeting of January 18, 2006, the Curriculum and Instruction Committee members endorsed the following proposed changes to Watertown High School’s Program of Studies Book for 2006-2007.
Marketing #878 – College Preparatory
Reduce the credit for work study from 1 ½ to 1.
Use a separate description for the work-study component.
Chemistry – College Preparatory #431
Change prerequisites. New prerequisites: Biology, Algebra I and Geometry, Concurrently taking Algebra II, Recommended course averages of no less than 80 in Biology and Geometry.
General Chemistry #432 – Fundamental Studies
Change prerequisite. New prerequisite: Biology.
Human Biology #421 – College Preparatory
Change prerequisites. New prerequisite: College Preparatory Biology with a recommended average of 80 or Honors Biology.
Sculpture #851 – College Preparatory
Change title to “Art 2: Sculpture” and change the prerequisite to “Art I: Foundations in Art.” New prerequisite: Art 1: Foundations in Art.
Photography #861 – College Preparatory
Change title to “Introduction to Photography.”
Behavioral Studies #280 – Advanced Placement
Change prerequisite.
New prerequisite:
1. U.S. History I and U.S. History 2 or American Studies.
2. Recommended overall grade of at least 90 for American Studies or an overall grade of at least 85 in U.S. History II, Level 3.
3. Junior history teacher recommendation.
4. Completion of a summer assignment due one month after the last day of school.
Also, in the Program of Studies Books, #9 on page 47 will state: Work study credit is contingent upon passing the related course where appropriate.
It is recommended that the Board of Education approve the aforementioned changes to the 2006-2007 Watertown High School Program of Studies Book as outlined in Attachment D.
Discussion:
Ms. Dzioba: Thank you for all of your hard work on that.
Motion Passed Unanimously
(8-In Favor, 0-Opposed, 0-Abstained)
f. Consideration of Approval of the Disposal of Non-working, Obsolete or Unneeded Equipment and Supplies at Swift During the Construction Project
It is recommended that the Board approve and authorize the Superintendent or designee to dispose of or properly recycle non-working, obsolete or unneeded equipment and supplies at Swift Middle School during the construction project.
Motion presented by Mr. Lafferty, seconded by Mr. Griffin that the Board approve and authorize the Superintendent or designee to dispose of or properly recycle non-working, obsolete or unneeded equipment and supplies at Swift Middle School during the construction project.
Discussion:
Mr. Lafferty: I have one question, what items are we talking about removing?
Dr. Erardi: Mr. Lafferty, I can comment on the policy and then I am going to defer to Mr. LoFrese on the items and I can assure you that they are items that we need to remove. Our present policy states that annually, on or before January 31, through Administrative Council, anything that in a particular building that is no longer needed is brought to the attention of Administration and shared throughout our facilities. That makes some sense except with the building project, with the building project that is ongoing, the January 31 date becomes problematic, and Mr. LoFrese brought this to my attention and will share with you the types of things that we are looking to dispose.
Mr. LoFrese: Just to give you a couple of examples, we opened up a storage garage when we were doing the clean out process to make room for the construction to begin and in the back, underneath some athletic equipment was a very old mat that hadn’t been used in ten plus years. I had tears down the side of it, that would be one example. Another example would be a desk that was broken and those types of items are going to be replaced with the project. Also during the clean up, we came across some supplies; something like a Home Economics workbook from 1971, things of that nature.
Mr. Lafferty: O.K., I wasn’t looking to make us look like packrats or anything. I was just wondering if these were items that we were going to have to replace anytime soon, thank you.
Motion Passed Unanimously
(8-In Favor, 0-Opposed, 0-Abstained)
L. Future Agenda Items and Board Members’ Comments
Ms. Colangelo: I don’t know if it’s a comment or a question, during one of the Committee Reports I heard something about an RSP being sent out. I think it was you Rich?
Mr. Mazzamaro: Yes, I think it was about a year ago Todd?
Ms. Colangelo: A year ago?
Mr. LoFrese: I believe it was a year ago. In March of 2005, we sent out a Request for Proposals for a Long-Range Plan.
Ms. Colangelo: Right, and then we couldn’t go forward with that because it was cut from the Budget. Is that the same one we are talking about?
Mr. LoFrese: Correct, that is the same one we are referring to, yes.
Ms. Colangelo: O.K., are we going to re-send it?
Mr. LoFrese: That’s something that we have to look into.
Ms. Colangelo: All right, I thought it was something more recent than that. I’m sorry.
Mr. Mazzamaro: That’s something we discussed. The items that are on that list are things that need to be addressed.
Ms. Colangelo: All right, I guess I misunderstood when you read it.
Mr. LoFrese: Right, before that can go out, I think we still need to secure the funding for it.
Ms. Colangelo: Right. Another comment I would have, or a request is, could we get copies of the Committee Minutes as they are published?
Ms. Dzioba: Yes.
Mr. Lafferty: I would just like to thank whoever cleaned up the mess left by the recycle bin near the entrance to the High School. For those of you who don’t know what I am talking about, it’s the large multi-colored wooden structure towards the entrance of the High School here. It was blown over in the wind storm that we had last week and it scattered trash all along the grass. A few parents raised their concerns to me that it would be a bad first impression for the two schools that were visiting for sporting events coming in the next day. Before I could even make a phone call to the High School, the mess was already cleaned up and the parents were very appreciative to me. Todd LoFrese informed me earlier that it was the Maintenance Staff who took care of that so I would just like to thank them for that. Also, I think it goes a long way in showing that the entire Staff is really committed to making the facilities as presentable as possible, despite the current conditions that they are working in. I hope that their dedication is rewarded by the progressive items that we have in the Budget and that the Budget gets passed the first time around on Referendum day because the Staff truly deserves it.
M. Public Participation
There was no one who wished to address the Board at this time.
N. Adjournment
Motion presented by Mr. Lafferty, seconded by Mr. Mazzamaro that the Regular Board of Education meeting of January 25, 2006 be adjourned.
Motion Passed Unanimously
(8-In Favor, 0 -Opposed, 0-Abstained)
Meeting adjourned at 8:28 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted by
Todd Griffin, Board Secretary
Barbara Mordenti, Board Clerk |