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MANCHESTER
BOARD OF EDUCATION
REGULAR MEETING MONDAY, MARCH 27, 2006 |
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M
I N U T E S
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7:30
p.m.
Lincoln Center |
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A. OPENING PRESENT:
Crockett, Rowe, Small-Miller, Huyler, Hackett, Golas, Rizzo ALSO A.1
Call to Order A.2.
Pledge of Allegiance A.3. Minutes of March 13, 2006 Ms. Hackett asked for a motion to accept the minutes of March 13, 2006 MOTION: Golas/Rizzo s.v. The Manchester Board of Education approves the minutes of March 13, 2006. The motion carried with 8 in favor with Mr. Golas abstaining. At this point Ms. Hackett turned the meeting over to Ms. Ouellette. Ms. Ouellette
announced that there were two housekeeping issues. She said it gave
her great pleasure to introduce a new Recording Secretary for the Board
of Education, B.1
Student Recognition Awards Ms. Huyler
presented the following awards from the 2006 Connecticut Illing
Middle School Ms. Small-Miller
presented the following awards from the 2006 Connecticut Bennett
Middle School Ms. Hackett congratulated all the recipients, the parents who had supported them and the teachers who had inspired them, and she wished them a successful remaining school year. MOTION: Rizzo/Edwards s.v. The Board of Education moves to take a five minute recess. B. SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT - Part 1 C. PUBLIC COMMENTS 1) Stephanie Knybel, 138 Bobby Lane, represented the Relay for Life taking place in Manchester on June 3 at North West Park. In previous years the Board of Education had a team but, unfortunately not in the past two years. They had simply sponsored either walkers or a relay team or attended the event personally. She has a team packet for the members if they wish to participate. Ms. Knyble will captain their team. It is a very simple process. Cancer affects a great many people and this is a very worthy cause. She would really like to see a Board of Education team at the Relay as it is a very good thing for the town. 2) Eileen Sweeney, 86 Hawthorne Street, addressed Item F3 on the agenda, namely the design status for Bennett Middle School - Design Partnership. She had a question concerning the Board of Director's decision to demolish the buildings on the north side of School Street. They have tried really hard over the last number of years to come to a conclusion for that school, or that set of buildings that would accommodate the student population and at that time it was a Sixth Grade school. To the best of Ms. Sweeney's knowledge, the 6th, 7th and 8th grade has had an enrollment of 700 or 700+ students. She understands the number now is 580. If they are to go to 6th Grade, as planned, her understanding is that there would be approximately 500 6th Graders town-wide, and if this would accommodate the 6th Graders at this level, and previously had accommodated 700+ students why, with a lesser population in the school, is there a need to remove buildings to accommodate additional parking? This does not add up, and others are asking the same question. Secondly, if parents will be parking across the street on the north side of School Street with the removal of buildings, ten and eleven-year olds will have to cross School Street, which can be quite a busy street. This could also pose safety issues. Additionally, part of the plan proposed a bus lane in front of the school. Currently there are cars parked in front of the building where exhaust fumes drift into the downstairs classrooms. If there is a bus lane in the front, a few feet away from those windows, the diesel exhaust will pose an even greater problem. She had discovered that a bus lane had existed at one time but was removed in the interests of safety. Ms. Sweeney would not like to see this included in the plan again. Ms. Sweeney is aware that the Cheney Historic Commission has voted publicly against the demolitions as they consider the buildings part of an historic district and should be preserved. As part of the referendum, which was never discussed, there was a possibility of acquiring eight houses behind Bennet School. That was an option mentioned in the referendum and she hopes that if it is going to take some years to implement this plan a decision will not be needed immediately. 2) Leslie
Frey, 30 Forbes Street, expressed her concern about the whole issue
of Bennet School and considers that money should not be wasted on tearing
down historic buildings. There has been talk about a Youth Center in
the neighborhood. She lives in the neighborhood, and has lived there
for twenty years. In her opinion Spruce Street Fire House is not the
right place for it. If the Cheney Building is saved it can be used for
multi-purposes. There are other options available which they could consider.
She hopes the people from the Historical Commission will play a role
in the process. The public is kept very much in the dark and just find
out about these proposals from the media. Mr. Stringfellow referenced public events and various newspaper and magazine articles which he thought worth noting. The National Geographic Magazine - article on the Celtic Culture of Ireland. Of particular note, the Connecticut section of the New York Times reported that one of the students in the high school could speak the Celtic language. St. Patrick's Day Parades had been held in Hartford and Massachusetts a couple of weeks ago. It has been four and a half years since 9/11 but the April issue Popular Mechanics Magazine carried the cover story titled "Defending America; Rating High Tech Weapons of the Future." urging people to be vigilant in their fight on terrorism also domestic violence which was seen in Florida where a while female and her son's male friend were slashed with knives from Neo Nazis in Florida. Governor East Hartford Gazette's - "Teenagers & Safe Car Driving." Hartford Courant March issue "Helping Autistic Adults," "Foster Care for adult students" and "Assistance and College Aid." The Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection has a program to promote a healthy lifestyle such as walking, hiking, bicycling and exercising for children and parents to include visits to state parks. D. STUDENT REPRESENTATIVE'S REPORT Student Representative Mark Moeremans stated that this is always a busy time of the year for Manchester High School, shifting into spring getting ready for all the events that are taking place towards the end of the year. The Junior Class is holding its Annual Murder Mystery Dinner on Friday, March 31st at 5:30 p.m. This takes the form of a Pasta Dinner and the teachers do a little production for the audience and the Murder Mystery taking place in front of you and the students, teachers and parents go and help the juniors figure out the mystery as it unwinds. It is a lot of fun and a good fundraiser for the juniors to help pay for the Prom which is coming up. The Amnesty International held its Annual Coffee House - an Open Mike event - where a variety of children could share their talents without being judged. This provided a good opportunity for the children to express themselves and show their talents. The Class of 2007 sponsored its Annual MARC Dance. MARC is the Manchester Association of Retarded Citizens and they come every year and dance with the juniors and it is a good way to get the different groups in the community involved with the High School. The Music Wing had its Town Light Strings Contest on March 21st and this presented a wonderful opportunity for the Music Wing to showcase its orchestral talent and it was an impressive show. He stated that over the past weekend a group of thirty-three MHS students attended an overnight State Conference in Southbury, Connecticut. The Conference attracted students from about twenty-two schools around Connecticut. Students learned leadership skills that they could bring back to their high school and put to use in order to improve their individual areas. During the same weekend a Regional History Day Competition took place. This is an annual event. This year the Manchester High School did very well. About five groups made it to the State level and they may have the chance to go on to reach the national level and win big scholarships. The Student Senate is holding its spring blood drive on Monday, April 3rd and he encouraged everyone present to donate if they are in the area. It is for a good cause and is very well organized. This year's goal is sixty-five units and they would like to meet that goal. As we are
now in late March all the spring sports have commenced. They have gone
scrimmaging and all the trials have taken place. It is an exciting time
and an opportunity for students to shine. On the preceding Thursday the U.S. Navy Band performed at Manchester High School which was a high honor for the school. On Thursday next the Round Table Singers who sang for the school in December are leaving for Washington, D.C. for their Superiors' Competition. This means they have had to have a superior rating within the past two years to be included. They are leaving on Thursday and returning Sunday. E. CONSENT CALENDAR Ms. Ouellette announced that there were seventeen items on tonight's Consent Calendar and the board members had all the specific background information in front of them. With the Board's permission she was going to highlight five of the items on tonight's Consent Calendar. 1. Personnel
Action Joseph Fallacaro, The K-12 Psychology Department Head for the District will be retiring at the end of the school year. Mr. Fallacaro started working for Manchester Public Schools as a Psychologist in September of 1971 and became Supervisor for the department in February, 1973. Mr. Fallacaro molded our Psychology Department and has mentored and encouraged many members of our staff. We will miss his support and direction for our schools. Ms. Ouellette also recognized several retirements of district teachers that are coming up. Leslie Letendre, Martin School, Thomas Procko, Illing Middle School, Mary Sullivan, Manchester High School, Michelle Vadenais, Robertson Elementary School, Joyce Yarnot, Illing Middle School. Ms. Ouellette thanked Ms.LeTendre, Mr. Procko, Mrs. Sullivan, Mr. Vadenais and Mrs. Yarnot for their years of dedicated service to the children of Manchester and extended her best personal wishes to them in their retirement and future endeavors. The following certified staff members have successfully completed the required length of service to receive tenure, as required by Connecticut General Statute Sec. 151: Martha DiGiovanni, Bowers Elementary School and Jill Mulholland, Manchester High School.
MOTION: Golas/Rizzo s.v. The Manchester Board of Education approves the Consent Calendar as outlined by the Superintendent of Schools. 9/0/0
F.1 Community Safety Update - Chief Berry Ms. Hackett
turned the meeting over to Superintendent Ouellette at this time. Chief Berry stated that with the approach of spring the Manchester Police Department are pretty much concerned about lots of things that are going on in the community. A lot of what goes on Manchester is predicated at times by what is going on in Hartford. The two communities are connected in a lot of ways through families and also through the Buckland Mall. A number of young people hang out at the Mall, as well as those from surrounding communities. While this, in itself, is not a problem, there is a lot of negativity associated with some of the groups coming to the Mall and one of the reasons why the Police Department stepped up enforcement at the Mall to deal with some of the groups coming out of Hartford consisting mostly of organized gangs. This has resulted in a lot of young people being barred from the Mall. There have been several arrests in the past few weeks of organized gangs out of Hartford who were causing problems. One of the things initially noticed was the fact that large groups were coming in from out of town to size each other up and there was an intimidation factor. In his role as Chief of Police he emphasized that his department is not going to tolerate this kind of activity. If youths come to Manchester with that attitude they will be kicked out or arrested. So far, the tactics used by the Police Department have been very successful. There are undercover officers at the Mall, as well uniformed officers. The Mall has been very cooperative in this regard and is also paying for extra resources in the Mall to help his department out. One of the groups in town has begun to associate itself with an organized group out of Hartford, specifically from Albany Avenue, which is at the root of a lot of problems. The Department is greatly concerned about this. They have been looking at a statistical analysis on a weekly basis to see how they can strategically deal with the problems. He assured the Board, the Superintendent and Mr. John Bishop, that his department is committed to maintaining safety and order for children and staff without having the school looking like a prison. Over the past few weeks there have been assaults on the streets and the police have already increased its manpower there. They have also committed to having SRO's and extra officers parole the routes which the students use to and from schools to provide safe passages for them. The police are planning more basketball tournaments throughout the summer similar to the ones organized last year to keep youths off the streets. On the
positive side, the Chief views policing in Manchester as a three-pronged
approach - prevention, intervention and the reactionary aspects of it.
The number of arrests of people under 18 with weapons increased from
thirty-one in 2004 to fifty-six in 2005. There is a significant increase
of young people with weapons. It was encouraging, however, to note that
in 2003-2005 there has been a reduction of almost 200 arrests of youths
between 12 and 18 years of age so the police are doing something positive.
The police would rather do something to save the young people rather
than just arrest them. Ms. Hackett asked for any questions. Mr. Stafford said that while on a recent visit to Holyoke Mall, Massachusetts, he noticed they have an age policy that children who are under the age of 18 have to be accompanied by a parent and this policy has cleaned up the whole Mall. If they come unaccompanied by a parent they are escorted out of the Mall. This might be something for the Manchester police to consider. Chief Berry said that he had already looked at this policy and the problem is that it would put the police department in a babysitting position and tie up a lot of resources. He believes that what they are doing now is working without having to make arrests. It is an option however. Mr. Rowe reminded Chief Berry that at other meetings with members of previous boards he had stated repeatedly that there were no organized gangs in Manchester. Mr. Rowe comes from the criminal justice field himself and is of the opinion that when it comes down to kids using weapons, and bats to obtain drugs or money for the purpose of making a profit he considers that a 'gang'. He asked Chief Berry for his interpretation of 'gangs' as, according to his interpretation what is going on with youths in Manchester fitted the description. He asked Chief Berry to answer for the record "Do we have gangs here in Manchester?" Chief Berry responded, saying "unequivocally, we do not have organized gangs in Manchester." However, the situation is moving in that direction though and the police are trying to prevent actual gangs from establishing themselves in town by watching for intimidation and recruitment of Manchester youths by out-of-town gang members. Mr. Rowe said that he personally would consider this more than youthful restlessness when they start using bats, pipes and other sorts of weapons to rob people and sell drugs. He has heard from other sources in the town that we do indeed have gangs and that bothers him for the safety of our children in school. He asked for the Chief to comment on that. Chief Berry
answered with a question "Is it organized, or is it engaged in
illicit activity? Mr. Rizzo asked the Chief if he had read the article on the front page of the Journal Inquirer that discussed, in detail, the kinds of cooperation the Manchester Police Department and the East Hartford Police Department have engaged in with the Department of Corrections. He was very impressed with the exchange of information and the cooperation between all of those departments that appears to be helpful and it is also a good idea to go the source of information. Mr. Rizzo said that his main interest is in finding out how best the Board of Education can meet its responsibilities for almost 8,000 in the school system. "What is it we can do to assist the Police Department in Manchester? "If it is in the community then it will be coming into the schools." Chief Berry said that one of the ways in which the Board could help would be to consider allowing the occasional use of drug-sniffing dogs and metal-detecting wands in Manchester schools. It does bother him to see dogs being permitted into places such as Farmington but denied into Manchester Schools. It is obvious to the Chief that there has been an increase in assaults and, as Mr. Rowe mentioned, when someone is assaulted with one of those small bats or knives then you are looking at something serious. If the police do not take a note of this then it is going to escalate into possibly some one carrying a gun. In the last few weeks the department had gotten three guns off the streets of Manchester. They are out there. The Board of Education's job is to protect 8,000 children and his job is to protect about 60,000 people within the Town. He promised to do everything humanly and legally possible to protect the children and the staff in our schools. Mr. Rizzo stated he would be concerned as to the reaction from parents if they see dogs coming into the high school and see their children being wanded. What is the best way to approach that situation? Chief Berry thought that the department should just be totally up front with them. He would be happy to talk to parents if they want to contact him directly. Better have the parent angry now, rather than later, when something happens to their child. Mr. Rizzo said he had already spoken to some members of the public, also some students and was surprised the reaction was "If it is going to keep us safe, then it would be a good thing to do." He would be happy to get the views of more members of the community and students as the Board considers these proposals and comes to a decision. Chief Berry emphasized that the overwhelming majority of the young people in the Town are very good young people who go to school every day; doing what they should be doing and obeying their parents. He would like that message to get across to everyone. Mr. Edwards thanked Chief Berry for coming to the meeting and for his candor. It was a good thing to hear the report in a public forum so that everybody knows what is going on. He extended his thanks to the men and women on the police force who are doing a very good job in a very difficult situation. He wanted to discuss the gang activity a little more in general. He asked "Would you say that since the last time you were in front of the Board the gang activity has become worse in certain ways?" Chief Berry agreed that it had worsened. Mr. Edwards agreed with this and quoted some anecdotal stories he had heard from others and included some issues involving a family member. He was happy to note that there were police officers on the scene at the time. He is, however, bothered and saddened at the state of affairs in our town. Mr. Edwards asked the Chief to define what he meant by the statement "What we have is working." He queried how this could be the case when activities have actually increased? Chief Berry said we have to just stay the course. The police are dealing with a whole different culture today with different dynamics. Groups change names every week. The police have to adapt to the changes and stay on top of what is happening. The main thing is that crime has dropped! People tend to concentrate on the sensational crime and base their opinion on that. Mr. Edwards asked the Chief if he could be specific about which gang was operating in which street. The Chief named Spruce Street and Middle Turnpike as two specifics. Chief Berry believes the town needs a multi-service community center. There are a lot of small recreational centers which in themselves section off different groups. A multi-service community center that attracted everybody could help solve this problem. Last summer, for example, the town offered basketball at one location. Young people came from all over town every Friday - to play ball and no one was arrested. The Ground rules were laid down: no bad language, no fighting, or they go to jail! Mrs. Huyler
said that she was grateful to have some one like Chief Berry who had
such wide experience. She questioned if the department had the necessary
resources. She applied the quotation "Strong and Steady Wins the
Race" to the current situation. It says that the people in Manchester
are not giving up: no one is going to move us. We get things done and
figure out a way to do them. People who are on our side realize that
we have to invest that time. Chief Berry responded that the men and
women in his department do an awesome job with the resources they have.
Last year the department was down to 104 police officers authorized
to rise to 122. They are looking at 126 and eventually to 130. Additional
officers are needed to run their GRET (Gang Resistance Education &
Training) Program. The department is waiting for the go ahead now from
Washington to run that program in the school system as it is sorely
needed. In the meantime they will do the best they can with the resources
they currently have. Ms.Huyler said the Chief had mentioned Farmington as one other town who has asked to use dogs within its school system so clearly there must have been a reason for this request. Ms. Huyler expressed her approval to dogs going through the Manchester schools. She feels that if there is nothing to hide then why object. Prevention is what is important here. Chief Berry
stated that both Windsor and East Hartford utilize dogs also. The dogs
are German Shepherds and are not intimidating to people. It is all about
being proactive! Ms. Small-Miller thanked Chief Berry for the job he is doing. After listening to what Mr. Edwards had to say about a certain incident on the streets she wondered if something had actually been said to the person in that instance or did the person involved simply become apprehensive when they saw a group of young people standing on the street. From her experience groups of children tend to be categorized. A group of children on the street may just be intent on having fun while further down the street another group are troublemakers. The young people may just be gathering together to enjoy some friendship and a lot of times what they may need is to know that somebody cares otherwise they may go away and get into trouble. What they really need is understanding. She doesn't want to see a child arrested; rather have them picked up and shown that somebody cares. Manchester is not the only town with this problem. Changes have come about and we need to deal with the changes. Chief Berry assured Ms. Small-Miller that is the reason why his department has SRO's out there because they know the good children from the bad. It is also why community policing is so important because the same police officer in the same neighborhood gets to differentiate. Adaptation is the key to survival! Mr. Golas thanked Chief Berry for his report and explained he was speaking as a citizen, a resident and a parent. He wanted to get the focus back as a board member. In light of all the information he feels it his duty, as a Board Member, to see that all the issues raised by Chief Berry are addressed. Listening to the Chief and the various discussions about the dogs has given him a pretty good idea of what the department wants to do. He asked the Chief to be specific about wands or about anything else he would like the Board to help with so they can begin to discuss these issues at Board level. Chief Berry replied that when he worked in the school system one of the things that was advantageous was randomly checking with wands or arming security guards with a wand at the front desk. It was not the intent to wand every student coming into the school. Mr. Golas suggested that the Board resolve to take some form of action, whether through policy or discussion, as to how they are going to deal with the issues raised by Chief Berry. The subject could be taken up at a later meeting or an executive session. Ms. Hackett welcomed Chief Berry for coming to the meeting and for his candor in telling the Board that since his last presentation to the Board crime has escalated. As a Board member she feels there is one minimal thing she owes and that is to provide a safe environment for every single student. If she cannot deliver that then she will have failed. She would not ever wish that she had done something different or second guessed what we did or did not know. She does not want to be in that position. She quoted from one or two of her predecessors who said that they have "Run Manchester High School for the 97% of students who do what they should be doing, do it well and don't cause any harm or ill-will to any students." It is the 3% of the students who continue to require most of our resources; continue to make us frustrated and continue to make people question what might be happening at the high school. She professed herself tired of it! Ms.Hackett needed to know a few things. If the Chief cannot answer her questions she hopes that our Administration can get back to the Board. Her question is "Specifically if one takes another town in Connecticut whose high school is bigger than ours, such as Danbury, Greenwich, New Britain and Norwich Free Academy who have high schools like ours, have we networked with them to find out what they have done, or are doing? They are more like us than other neighboring towns such as Windsor and East Hartford. Mr. Crockett told her that we had networked with them and would continue to do so and he could provide more information for her. Ms. Hackett stated that we are already looking at another meeting to address this specific issue. It is evident that we are looking at a multi-pronged approach - prevention, policing and intervention. Someone in the system knows of certain students who are being questioned and she wants to know if we have brought their parents or their guardians into the picture to make them aware that their child poses a threat to other students. Do the parents know and are they just turning their backs on the situation? She wants to be reassured that we are working with parents and guardians to ensure that this activity ceases. Chief Berry stated that he has met with the leaders of two groups in his office on more than one occasion. One leader has very loving parents who have been very supportive but are having a hard time dealing with their child. The other leader has family members who do not appear to be really trying to convince their child of wrongdoing. Sometimes the wrongdoers do not enjoy a stable home life if both parents are out working. Ms. Hackett mentioned the DARE Program which is being taught in the Elementary Schools in 5th Grade. She thinks this is a good program which has been going on for a number of years. She suggested that it was time to add a strong component on gang activity. Chief Berry agreed this was a good suggestion. He pointed out that when the students get to the middle schools there is nothing there to reinforce the learning they received in the DARE Program. However, the GREAT Program has helped somewhat. Ms. Hackett said if there is any supplement to DARE that the Board is unaware of that would bring that component into that program perhaps the Chief would share that with the Board and let them know how best to implement it into the DARE Program. The Chief believes that they have done that at Trumbull with a choice program titled "Making the Right Decisions." Ms. Hackett said that another component we needed to look at, as a Board, did not involve the Chief of Police per se but the Board needs to look at what they can do infrastructure-wise to make things more secure." She is aware that the Board has a Capital Improvement Plan, Policy 3510, that allocates funds towards various improvements in the physical plants around the district, and she thinks that perhaps our Building & Sites Committee need to look into possibly prioritizing some projects that would help service part of this multi-pronged approach. She knows that we have security cameras wired on the first floor of the high school and maybe it is time we looked at completing that project and wiring the second floor which would help staff and the SRO's do their job. Chief Berry said he would feel a lot happier if this were done. Ms.Hackett called upon Mr. Edwards for further comments. He stated he would be happy to talk to anyone offline about specifics. As a parent, this whole question of safety has been an eye-opener for him. He is in favor of cell phones where a student finds himself in a dangerous situation. He believes the Board should revisit the question of communication and cell phones and include these in the agenda for a future meeting together with the other issues and come to some decisions about them. The meeting should be in a public forum so that the public understands the issues and the reasons for Board decisions. On the question of dogs, he personally does not see any harm in bringing dogs into the buildings and the suggestion of such action may in itself serve as a deterrent. He made the point that although there has been no talk about alcohol in the schools that could also be a problem. Mr. Edwards feels that more research needs to be carried out regarding wands. Mr. Rizzo agreed with Mr. Edwards' comment that we ought to move forward and actually have a discussion. He appreciates Mr. Golas's viewpoint that the time for talking is over - it is time for action. He suggested that he would like to hear from the Superintendent, the Administration and the Police Department some type of a proposal for discussion with some specifics that the Board can act upon. A lot of things have been talked about. He is intrigued by the GREAT Program. DARE has been a proven success but why is that all there is? There are other ways in which to help our children. He professed his reluctance to have a discussion without some type of a framework from the Administration and agreed with Mr. Edwards that the discussion should be in public. Mr. Stafford agreed with Mr. Rizzo about the importance of hearing back from the Administration. He looks forward to changing some policies that are written and could even be included in the handbook the school sends out that will acknowledge change is imminent. Mr. Stafford also agreed to dogs going into the schools. Mr. Stafford questioned why DARE was only in 5th grade. He concurred that the expansion of that program would be a marvelous step. Ms. Hackett stated that at the very least we need to have further discussion. We need to get some recommendations from the Administration; perhaps a reminder of things that are already in place; an outline of what we are doing now. How can we expand things? What are our immediate concerns? What are things that can be phased in? There are a number of ways in which this can be reported back to the Board and she is leaving it to the Board to decide how that information will be delivered to the Board of Education at a future meeting. The discussion should be very soon and she asked the Administration to look at the next two agendas to determine how this topic could be brought back to the Board. She acknowledges that time will be needed to prepare recommendations for presentation to the Board. Ms. Hackett made an appeal to parents, staff and taxpayers. Please let us hear from you on these issues! Is there any contraband in the school, drugs, weapons that don't belong there? We owe it to one and all to get them out of there. As a reminder, the Town has a website. The Education link lists Board of Education email addresses and comments from the public may be shared with the Board. Ms. Hackett thanked Chief Berry for his update. F.2. Accelerated Project Facility Update - Keith Epstein Ms. Ouellette stated that at the March 13th Board of Education Meeting the Manchester Public Schools Administration had presented to the public and the Board five separate items regarding the accelerated schedule on specifically the transitioning of students, staff re-assignments, Middle School Task Force, Unified Arts Schedule and a 6th Grade Report Card. The second part of the presentation would be given this evening and she called upon Mr. Keith Epstein, Facilities Manager, who would be presenting to the Board and the public an update on construction projects, with emphasis on swing space in the accelerated project as a package. Mr. Epstein congratulated the Board on its progressiveness over the past couple of years. The Board has set a tremendous amount of work in motion and although $3m sounds like a lot of money, in construction terms it is not, so you will see how the impact was. (a) transformation of Waddell and Bowers shows the enormous amount of work that has taken place; (b) keying in on Bennet closing for September 1st - very active with the process; (c) we have the modular classrooms out to bid to contractors and they are due April 12th. i.e., one modular classroom for Buckley, Bowers and Washington Schools. (d) although not authorized by any of the committees an additional bid drawn for Martin School. We had talked about Martin School having three permanent classrooms; we are still designing that and running that as a base bid. (e) an additional bid has been run, an alternate bid for three modular classrooms - again at Martin School. Just, as a safety line, to make sure if we find out that things sometimes run awry - if we find out we are over budget just another option. That is something we can take a look at in the future if we need to. (f) the permanent swing space - the permanent build out for Bowers, Buckley, Washington - a little bit of work at Waddell and Martin are in the process of designing right now and we'll be putting that out to bid from mid next week and we will know what the costs are by the end of April. That runs again from three permanent classrooms at Martin into modifications of existing classrooms at Buckley and some other miscellaneous areas that are modified and that work will be left as a permanent fixture in schools after the swing space is done. Mr. Epstein asked if there were any questions regarding the swing space. Mr. Rizzo expressed some concern that we might not be able to "have all the ducks in a row or put back together by September" How does Mr. Epstein feel about the amount of work he has to do. Can we open up our schools in September and be able to function with all the work completed. Mr. Epstein responded that each project has to be treated on its own basis. The modulars are trucked in but there is a timeframe involved and a certain process to go through. He is aware that the school system does not like construction going on while school is in process and he is trying to open up the ability for the modulars to have a portion of the work started in May, which would involve setting the pillars in place and doing some site work. Once school is out the crane could be brought in and modulars brought to the site and hoisted in place and the rest of the summer spent in assembling them. That is doable. Buckley is the next expensive project which involves going into an old boys and girls' locker room, demolishing it and creating two classrooms. Within a two month period this is not an extensive amount of work. We are bidding early, we will be given the awarded contractors plenty of time to assemble their pieces and parts before they physically have to work into it. The other projects are relatively small. Mealtimes become more of an issue. We are putting partitions on the stage in Verplanck and in Bowers. They may have an eight week lead time. We planned early so there is time to allow for the projects. Martin is a little more complicated. We hope it comes in on budget estimates and I feel very good about the budget we set. Three classrooms. We have minimized the build out. We have worked closely with the State Building official's office to minimize what we need to do. We have talked about firewalls before and sprinkler systems and we have eliminated that need by other safety protectives to the building to ease the construction. That one is a little more complicated. We think within three or four months those buildings will be up and rolling. That one will go down to the wire. We will have to stay on the contractors tail right from when the project is awarded to make sure the submittals are given to us; everything ordered and delivered timely, and the crews on site do not slack off. So that one is a management issue. Mr. Rowe thanked Mr. Epstein and said that he was at Bowers and Waddell and was impressed by all the work that has been done. There appears to be an awful lot more to be done scheduled to be finished in December or January 1st. We are now almost in April and it is his understanding that Mr. Epstein's recourse has been to withhold payment to the contractors and to send letters placing them on notice. It looks like the project won't be done until probably close to the end of the school year. He asked if Mr. Epstein knows of any other kind of recourse that the Board can take against these contractors as far as getting the job done. Mr. Epstein confirmed that in connection with Bowers a letter was sent out mid month telling the contractors that they have until April 1st to complete the project and get off the site. If they do not then the town reserves the right to complete the work themselves. April 1st is close - there will still be items - annoying to the school - everybody wants them out. We will send them another notice telling them that if they are not finished within two weeks we will reserve the right to do the work. If we do the work we back charge the contract - it's at their expense and it is substantially more expensive to have us do it than they themselves. In the case of Martin we can put a monetary stipulation on the contract that if the project is not completed within a certain period of time he is going to have to pay. Usually when we do that we have to look at the specific damage which is incurred, i.e. what is the town incurring; what is the cost, do we have to put up a temporary building on site or a trailer to house the students? That is usually how you handle that. Other than that, it is just a case of staying on top of the contract every step of the way. Mr. Rowe stated that he preferred Mr. Epstein's former suggestion that it might be best to stipulate that the work be done by a certain time. Contractors are not in the business to lose money. He assured Mr. Epstein that the Board would do everything in its power to help him get these major project completed. Ms. Hackett asked with regard to the swing space if the Board was limited to the length of time the crew can spend on the project. Mr. Epstein responded that most of the work is inside so the work should not be limited. It is really two weeks in open schools and whatever is necessary they will be opened. If we have to make up for any kind of setback we have the latitude. Mr. Rowe commented that on looking over the budget for the last school year he noted a lot of money was spent on electricity costs where we had installed automatic lighting. It appeared that we only lost money within school buildings whereas it was not lost on the town buildings. Is there an explanation? Mr. Epstein said he had received a breakdown from Ms. Brooks before the meeting and he was not sure what was lost. The CL&P is a standard package and they give projections to the municipalities. In the case of this project it was revamping some of the fixtures; putting occupancy sensors in so that when there is no motion within twenty minutes in office spaces the lights would go out. In all of the town buildings, with one exception, we are saving money. The Mary Cheney Library is one of the exceptions. Mr. Epstein will look into the matter. When he moves forward on a project there should be a level of accuracy. Mr. Epstein asked for another item to be added for the Project which really sends us forward in the future. On the subject of reimbursement of 62% or 63% for the projects that we should be receiving. They had a meeting with the State early on as the projects were instituted, and after the Board had approved the more aggressive schedule, there were discussions with the State as to how to format the projects. They were told by the State that as modular classrooms are not something they have to review we will get a full reimbursement. For all the other build-outs within existing schools, such as adding classrooms, modifying two classrooms in Buckley with all that involves in to make it completely handicapped accessible, represents major changes which are not funded within the swing space project and we do not have the funds. Currently we are moving forward on the swing space projects without a reimbursement from the State. Really there is a red signal coming from the State to the Community that 504 was instituted in 1972 and many communities have not upgraded to meet these new standards. The State is adopting a tough attitude by saying they are not going to give out any money unless there is compliance with their rules. This has to be borne in mind as we go forward with projects. Mr. Edwards took a cynical view of the State of Connecticut for their attitude in not helping the Town with these accelerated projects and making sure that we do not get reimbursed for these brick and mortar changes we are making. To him, it is backward thinking. He gives full credit to Mr. Epstein for what he has to go through with these projects. He is personally extremely frustrated that whenever we go to the State we get one answer and then when push comes to shove we get a different answer. He would love to find out what our State Legislators and Representatives would think about the amount of dollars we are being cheated out of. Mr. Epstein surmised probably about $300,000/$350,000. Mr. Edwards said, to his recollection, that we were trying to save $1m by accelerating the project. That is almost one-third of the project; savings that we are not going to realize when, in fact, what we are trying to do is take a facility, namely Bennet Middle School, which as it stands today is not accessible. Efforts had been made in the past to make the best out of a bad situation so it is frustrating that we are just trying to make sure that we can get the vast majority of our students in a facility by building out a couple of classrooms here and there and we get no help. He would welcome some feedback from Commissioner Steinberg. Mr. Epstein stated High School project is out to bid. He'll be receiving bids on Monday, April 3rd and will be looking for an authorization from the Building Committee next week to award a couple of contracts to get the site prepared. As soon as numbers are available they will be forwarded to Ms. Brooks and Ms. Ouellette and, hopefully, are within budget. Mr. Epstein announced that two Architects of the Architects from Design Partnership, Mr. Bob Bell and Mr. Schreider would be giving an update on Bennet Middle School Mr. Greg Schreider stated that a schematic design on the project was completed several months ago. During the schematic stage they looked at big picture issues like adding the cluster and it was determined that we could not afford this. They are currently at the end of the design development stage and he pointed to the relevant drawings placed in front of him. Mr. Bell will be elaborating on the highlights of these. The design work on the project is almost complete. They have interviewed faculty and school administrators: surveyed existing buildings and everyone understands the upgrades that are required for code. The current scheme represented by the drawings incorporates the Down's Report Program that was approved at the Referendum. They include refinements from the School Administrators and all of the technical building requirements that are needed for the project. They have worked out the design for almost everything to be built. The costimator has the drawings and is expected to give his feedback on April 12th. These will be presented on or about April 17th to the permanent Building Committee. He is aware that several members of the Board are expected to be at those meetings. The next step in the process is construction documents where they take the design and flush out the actual details of construction so that the bidders can place competitive bids and the builders build them. That is scheduled for around December in the current year. There are two areas of the design that are still being studied. One is the pool, the other the improvements north of School Street. With regard to the pool the current plan is for a community use school only. The School Administration has informed him that they do not intend to use the pool for 6th Grade Physical Education and he would like this confirmed. In that case he will be sitting down with the Recreation Department to work out details of the design for the pool and will let everyone concerned know what they propose to build there in the coming weeks. It is Mr. Epstein's understanding that the Board of Directors is going to address the issue of the pool on April 11th. He called upon Ms. Louise Guarnaccia to speak on the subject of north of School Street as she has been preparing presentations to a number of committees on the subject. Ms. Guarnaccia
stated that the plan for north of School Street is constantly evolving. They have also been doing, as part of this planning exercise looking at how to separate parking and traffic from children: create a safe way for children to get on and off buses on the site, and make the most efficient safe use of a very tight sight for 500 6th Grade children. That has been the emphasis and the direction they have tried to go - even with the property acquisition plan they have. She would welcome questions from the Board. Mr. Rowe asked if Design Partnership were aware that the buildings north of School Street are historical landmarks. She responded that they are not historical landmarks they are simply part of the National Historic District. Mr. Rowe wanted to know if they would not have to go through a certain process before buildings could be demolished. Ms. Guarnaccia stated not necessarily. She went on to say that not only had the Cheney Commission opposed this plan but they had also opposed the acquisition and demolition of the nine houses that we were slated to acquire in the first place. Mr. Rowe
asked why the Board of Education was never involved in these discussions.
Ms. Guarnaccia responded that it is the Board of Directors that acquires
land and makes the decisions about acquisitions. The agenda item for
January was a discussion of the plan but the Board of Directors approved
it. It was intended that after discussion the plan would go forward
to the Building & Sites Committee, which is the usual channel. The
Board of Directors acted quicker than was anticipated. Ms. Guarnaccia responded that, based on a report from a Traffic Consultant who has looked at the plan, there would be elevated plateaud crosswalks built between both sides of School Street and the traffic would not present an issue for children. She explained that an elevated plateaud crosswalk is different from a speed bump. Mr. Rowe stated that he does not see the sense of what he considers 'jewels' of Manchester being pulled down and he will await with interest what the Board of Directors has to say. Mr. Edwards thanked the Architects for coming. As a member of the Building & Sites Committee he has worked very closely with them and appreciates their problems, a lot of which could not have been predicted. It was news to him that the space across from Main Street is not likely to be useful. Louise said if one looks at the way the space across Main Street is configured, there are traffic signals at the intersection of School and Main Street, which is basically right adjacent to the Bennet Housing Project. One has to remember that Main Street is a State highway and in order to get curb cuts one has to get State approval. If it were possible to get a curb cut it would probably only be possible to make a right hand turn into the lot heading south on Main because they would not want people cutting across traffic in order to enter and exit. That limits the use of that lot. There was some discussion about using the property behind the Army-Navy Club and behind Bennet Housing in order to make another driveway through there, as there is already parking there now for both those facilities. This would require a major traffic reconfiguration that would then bring people in from Forest. That does not appear workable. Mr. Edwards expressed agreement with the point brought up by Mr. Rowe in terms of the Board of Education not having approved any of the original changes. He understood that the Board does not have the authority to acquire property as the Board of Education does not own property. He is mindful, however, of the public comments that were heard earlier in the evening asking the Board to do something when they had not been asked, except in an unofficial way. Ms. Guarnaccia agreed that the Board were informed after the fact but events had overtaken this. Mr. Edwards indicated that he has mixed feelings about demolishing the buildings and appreciates Mr. Lowe's comments on their historical value. Having said that, they are not in a very desirable state of repair at the present time. He admits that it is looking more and more that we are not going to get green space even though the issue is still up in the air. He is adamant, however, that we stop using Charter Oak Park for physical education classes. He proposes to add an item to a future agenda titled "A resolution concerning Charter Oak Park and the Bennet 6th Grade Academy", the gist of which will deal with the factor of reduced instructional time arising from safety factors in crossing a main thoroughfare. He believes that it is important that this Board make a commitment that we will cease to use Charter Oak Park. Mr. Edwards went on to say that he would be interested in what the Cheney Historical District's point of view is on what can be done about green space at Bennet. Ms. Guarnacci volunteered the information they were taking the position that none of the buildings, including 11 School Street, should come down. If additional parking is needed the front lawn is available for bus loops and that children could continue to walk to Charter Oak as it has served well for a goodly number of years. There was also a suggestion that the Quad be used. He affirmed that if we are not going to have a green space then, as an alternative to using Charter Oak, we should improve on indoor facilities for physical education even though his preference would be for outside activities. Mr. Crockett wanted to know if it would help if the Board of Education lends their support with the current situation. Ms. Guarnaccia responded that it would be very helpful if the Board takes a position in terms of the green space. She is currently writing the document that needs to go to Planning & Zoning, as well as the Historical Commission, and the green space issue needs to be clarified. She suspects that the Board of Education is the appropriate group to do that. There are two parts to the green space. One is the physical education piece; the other is that 6th Grade is considered an Elementary School under the State Regulations. It has two recesses after lunch which each child has every day. Green space is integral to this recess because the recess lasts about twenty minutes which does not allow sufficient time to walk to Charter Oak and still have time for play. It would also be helpful if the Board could clarify how the green space is going to be used. Mr. Rizzo reiterated that one of the major reasons why the Board and the town had to do something at Bennet was some of the children had to go down to Charter Oak Park and cross a busy street. He feels that the Board has done nothing but compromise. They had first of all wanted a new school; fields co-located to the building - apparently that is not going to happen. The original plan turned out to be too expensive. There is talk from others in the community about keeping 100 year-old buildings that have been allowed to deteriorate over time to the point where they are dangerous. He raised the fact that it is alright for children crossing a busy street to go to Charter Oak for Physical Education but not to cross School Street. Ms. Huyler suggested any buildings replacing any that are demolished be named in honor of the Cheney family. Ms. Guarnaccia would welcome any suggestions to mitigate the current situation. Secondly, Ms. Huyler asked what students do in New York City about green space as there is none there. Do all schools have recesses outside? She wondered if space on the roof could be utilized. Mr. Stafford talked about children having to cross over Charter Oak Field. Students have been doing this for many years and he was one of them. The students at that time were well organized and there were no problems. Today the dynamics are different. He is in favor of doing something on the north side of School Street but has a very low opinion of the Cheney Building as it now stands. Ms. Hackett feels that the Board has been a silent observer of debate on the disposition of the Cheney buildings and for practical reasons they should be. The town is charged with decisions of that nature. However, now it is time for the Board to take a position. She has no idea what that position will be but it comes down to a curriculum issue. We have a 6th Grade curriculum to implement and for some reason that fails to matter and she needs to know what a 6th Grade P.E. needs to look like at that 6th Grade Academy. As a district, not specifically Bennet, we are 20-30% below our educational reference group for Physical Education standards. As the project becomes more and more complicated and slightly more diluted she is concerned about what we are going to be left with. We have to start articulating a clear position on what is going to drive this decision and which group is going to be in the driving seat. She also thinks that status quo is never a reason to just keep on doing something. She thinks we have to evaluate where we are at with that and hopes we can make some important decisions. Maybe in a short time we will realize that we cannot have green space and a pool so we will have to make our decisions based on what our curriculum is. We may have to take some space that was dedicated for the pool area and beef that up to ensure our children have the proper Physical Education outlet and access to the right resources to demonstrate the competencies they need to have at 6th Grade. She hopes the Board can come up with some resolution and welcomes a discussion on the subject. Ms. Guarnaccia urged Ms. Hackett to get the Board to talk about what the curriculum need is. Design Partnership needs a clear definition of the curriculum as they try to move forward with the documentation to support the plan that is out there. Mr. Rowe said that Ms. Guarnaccia mentioned two recesses of approximately twenty minutes for 500 students. To clarify, Ms. Guarnaccia does not believe that two recesses occur. She does not know about the second one. The Board will be introduced to a Wellness Policy next month where it is highly recommended that there are daily activities for students so the Board needs to be concerned in the future about some type of daily physical wellness activity. As far as the stretch wellness break, she is only aware of 15 minutes that are joined next to the lunch break - which would be about a 43-45 minute total break per grade level. She anticipates no more than a fifteen minute once-a-day stretch break at a 6th Grade curriculum. Mr. Rowe wanted to know if this twenty minute recess is taken by the whole school at the same time. Ms. Guarnaccia said if she were looking at an Elementary School model it would reflect the grade level. There would be approximately 175-180 students lunch wave and that would be approximately 20-25 minutes and then approximately 20 minutes outside following that. This means the full forty-five minute break would be broken up between lunch and this outside period so you would have approximately 170 students out at once. Mr. Rowe thought it was incomprehensive to see how such a large number of students would be able to exercise on such a small green space. It was pointed out that there were actually two spaces proposed. One that is about 180 feet long by 100 feet wide - could be called a youth soccer field or junior field, plus an area of about 100 x 100 that would be hard surface that could also be used in the wintertime. This was recommended by the principal as being adequate for the recess periods in the wintertime. This would be next to the parking, separated by fences. Ms. Edwards wished to verify if the best answer to the solution would have been to get those houses proposed in the original plan. The Historical Society did not like the idea, even though half of the houses are in the historical area. Ms. Guarnaccia confirmed that half are and half are not and that half would also have had to go through this whole state process and the demolition of all were opposed. Mr. Edwards' preference would be to take those houses down, which is where we would have the field and leave the historical buildings alone. His next preference is to knock the buildings down. If he had to choose between the two he would choose the green space. He suspects, however, that it might not be in our power to do this, assuming one of the Commissions we are facing might refuse. Ms. Guarnaccia confirmed that any Commission has the ability to say no. In the case of the Planning & Zoning Commission on a Mandatory Referral the Board of Directors by a two-thirds vote can override. In the case of the Historic Commission they will reach a conclusion at the end of their Hearing. They will either affirm our plan in all, or part. What they do not confirm they will recommend to the Attorney General for action to seek an injunction to stop us from demolishing buildings. The sequence is that the Commission votes and they vote to decide what to do and their ultimate authority is to refer it to the Attorney General. Mr. Edwards said that when we came up with the plans to demolish the buildings there was a great sense of urgency, as it was holding up our plans. His sense is that we originally thought we would be done with the question in January. Now we are looking at the end of April. How far behind does this put us in the project. Ms. Guarnaccia does not agree that we are behind. We are proceeding, based on the Board of Directors, to demolish the buildings and the design has been proceeding because of that determination. The design shows that the parking lot essentially falls where 11 School Street Fire House and the Boiler Plant are. The Cheney Building and the adjoining parking lot are the green spaces - and it divides pretty close to those lines. The plan could really be looked at in two parts but Design Partnership has continued to do the design work and to price this as if it is going to stay that way. They are very much aware of the regulatory hurdles that are still ahead. Mr. Edwards asked what if April 1st comes along and the answer is no. Do we have to go back to the drawing board? Ms. Guarnaccia responded that we would have to look at other alternatives. The green space is definitely in jeopardy at that point. The other issue is parking. The attempt to get school buses and cars and parent drop-offs on that site would have to be looked at to see what alternatives there are. A real effort has been made to eliminate cars from in front of the Franklin Building because of the tough situation with children coming in the front door and cars being there. Mr. Crockett
suggested that we might meet our bid date if we could get resolution
on the concept by the end of April, or by the end of May, or early June,
providing engineering drawings are completed so that we could make a
submission to Planning & Zoning and the Department of Environment
Protection and everyone else who needs to sign off on the project. The
ability to get a permit might be at risk if there is any further delay. Ms. Guarnaccia pointed out that the other whole issue that remains open is the whole swimming pool issue. It was alluded to earlier. The cost of the swimming pool is substantially greater than was estimated in the Down's Report for a variety of reasons. At some point, it is not needed for the educational program or the curriculum and there is apparently no intent to use it educationally so at some point, there is going to need to be a decision as to whether or not that continues or whether in fact the pool is not done as part of this. On a point of clarification only Ms. Hackett said that the dimensions of the swimming pool had been reduced significantly which would not be suitable for a class size. There is currently no 6th Grade swimming curriculum nor is there a performance standard that requires middle school students to have that standard. To Ms. Hackett's knowledge there are only one or two middle schools that have a swimming program. Ms. Hackett is concerned about the instructional space. Bob and Greg said they had to reduce the cluster. Classrooms are now being reduced. It is an educational facility so the question is "What is best for students?" If we have to compromise and provide a better physical education facility maybe a larger pool where we can accommodate the children a little larger class, say 5-10 in the current pool as it is now proposed. Ms. Guarnaccia thought that people should be aware the pool does not meet code and that is what the discussion is all about and because it is not grandfathered by the State Health Department. This is a major issue. Mr. Stafford asked Ms. Guarnaccio if the Historical Commission says they cannot take down the Cheney Building would they also provide the funding to renovate it? If not, would the town be forced to go out to bond to renovate the building to bring it up to a usable function to make the Historical Commission happy, or can they just let the building sit. She responded that the building being saved is the objective. The building being renovated and usable is not part of the mission. There are currently no funds through the Historical Commission of the sizable amount. There are only small grants to fix windows, etc. She does not know what will happen to the building. She has heard estimates of between $5m and $10m but that would include bringing it up to code. Ms. Hackett said that this topic is on the April 11th Agenda for the Board of Directors. Mr. Guarnaccia confirmed that she would be presenting a report to the Board of Directors updating them on all the school projects, including the Bennet project. Specifically they will be also talking about the pool. She has the consensus of the group as to their feelings about the pool and she will include that in her report. Ms. Hackett reminded the board, as former Chair of the Curriculum Committee for the board, and former member of that committee she has to admit that they never discussed, in preparation for the 6th Grade Academy Referendum, a 6th Grade Curriculum for swimming. She is surprised that there is an expectation that with this Referendum we would automatically implement that. She understands that while some people think that we did not put the pool in for recreational use she is afraid that that is what we are looking at if we even have a pool. Can Ms. Giarnaccia shed some light on the reimbursement issue of the pool if it is used educationally versus non educational use? Mr. Edwards stated that if it is not used by the school there is zero reimbursement. Ms. Hackett referred to the upcoming Hearing at the Department of Culture and asked what if somebody who lives in the Cheney National Historic District up the street from Bennet decided they want to raze their house and put up a contemporary building on the property. What would happen in that case? Ms. Guarnaccia said the same thing could happen to them. Ms. Hackett asked if there was some effort under way that the Board was not aware of that the street/area was being revitalized by that Commission? Ms. Giarnaccia said the Cheney Brothers Historic Commission does not have a rehabilitation plan for that area or any other. They simply review plans. Mr. Bell presented a plan for the Bennet Middle School. He pointed out one or two very important safety features. He referred to it as a snapshot of where we are with scale drawings of the proposed buildings and plans, which were discussed at the meeting. It showed Main Street and School Street: as an area for parking; hard surface play and the additional lawn playing field north of School Street. It showed raised hump walkways to facilitate pedestrians. It illustrated a bus drop in front of the building which would effectively restoration on the historical side and bring back what used to exist at the site. The plan featured enclosed walkways of the bridges to allow the students to circulate through the buildings from an interior setting. New bridges were also included in the plans. Changes had been made to the plans since the Referendum Program. A Health & Fitness Space had been added which would address the needs for the future program. The zone of the school was pretty clear - there is a middle zone that is more of the activity and recreational use and then there are the academic wings on either side. It has stayed true to some of the earlier plans drawn up. Included is full handicapped accessibility access to all levels and connections from building to building. Ms. Hackett thanked Mr. Bell for his presentation. Mr. Rizzo asked about the proximity of the bus loop to the building. Mr. Bell told him that this was just a concept sketch and the exact width away from the building is still under study. Mr. Edwards had a follow-up to Mr. Rizzo's question wanting to know if all of the buses needed at Bennet could be accommodated in the one bus loop? He was told by Mr. Bell that approximately five buses could be placed in the bus loop but this is also under study right now and he doesn't have all the answers. Mr. Edwards had a question about the possibility of acquiring property behind 11 School Street, namely Eldridge Street. Would it be possible to go that route? Ms. Guarnaccia said that this was not in play per se because the area hasn't been identified. It is outside the Cheney Historic District and is a possibility. Mr. Edwards said he was thinking compromise. She pointed out that behind the current Boiler Plant there is a right of way to Eldridge Street and this would be utilized in the plan to ease traffic congestion on School Street. Ms. Hackett asked Ms. Guarnaccia if copies of the plan could be displayed in the Library or Town Hall where the public could see them. She was assured that the display cases in the Town Hall are currently empty at present and the public could look at them there. She would check with the Library also. Ms. Hackett suggested the High School plans might also be displayed. G. COMMUNICATIONS There were no communications H. COMMITTEE REPORTS Personnel & Finance Committee Mr. Rowe reported on the March 15, 2006 meeting of the Personnel & Finance Committee. At the request of Ms. Brooks the Committee had discussed her request to define the amount of resources to be expended on textbook purchases to include the Parochial Schools. Parochial Schools would like to take advantage of the volume discounts awarded to public schools. The consensus of the Committee was to obtain a legal opinion and an ethics ruling before making a decision. The Committee had a lengthy discussion on committee make-up and the different processes for filling Building Level and Central Office Administration positions. Ms. Libby explained how Interview Committees are formed. The Committee requested that Attorney Libby provide them with committee make-up recommendations at the next Personnel & Finance Committee meeting. Ms. Brooks reviewed the February 28, 2006 year-to-date budget projection with the Committee. Ms. Brooks reported that she will be meeting with Gerald DuPont, Town Director of General Services and Louise Guarnaccia, Town Director of Operations to discuss the appropriate process of disposal of Bennet furniture, fixtures and equipment. The next meeting of the Personnel & Finance Committee is scheduled for April 5, 2006 at 6:30 p.m. at the Central Office. Building & Sites Committee Mr. Edwards stated that the Building & Sites Committee met on March 23, 2006. Keith Epstein discussed the purchase of furniture for Bowers and Waddell Schools. New furniture for these schools was funded in the Bennet/Illing Bond Referendum. The furniture will be ordered as soon as it has received State approval. The allocation of the $425,000 between the schools was discussed. A meeting is to be scheduled with Mr. Epstein, Ms. Ruggiero, Ms. Ouellette and Ms. Brooks to work out the details of the furniture to be purchased and the allocation of funds. Mr. Epstein gave the Committee an up date on all current projects. Bowers and Waddell Schools have substantial punch lists and a letter was sent to the Project Contractors placing them on notice that they are currently in default of their contracts with the Town of Manchester. Contract work and punch list work that remains uncompleted by March 30, 2006 will be reassessed with the Town retaining the right to complete unfinished base contract and punch list work at the contractors' expense. A recommendation has also been made to the Building Committee to withhold any project funds to contractors until their trade work has been completed. The Committee had a lengthy discussion of the swing space construction projects at Bowers, Martin and Buckley Elementary Schools. Superintendent Ouellette recommended that a meeting in the near future be scheduled with School Administration and Mr. Epstein to discuss concerns. The next meeting of the Building & Sites Committee is scheduled for April 27, 2006 at the Central Office. Mr. Stringfellow expressed his support for the following: the seventeen items on the Consent Calendar: Chief Berry's Report on Community Safety: the new Bennet Middle School design: on the subject of Women's History Month he commended the Manchester Board for having a good number of female principals, administrators and dedicated teachers who are role models. He mentioned some other magazine features of interest: Time Magazine - cover story "Are Kids Too Tired For their own good?" "Vandalism and Cyber crime: J. ITEMS FOR FUTURE AGENDAS Mr. Edwards indicated that he would like to place an agenda item titled "Concerning Charter Oak Park and the Bennet 6th Grade Academy." He will be drafting language and sending it to the Administration for circulation. He requested that it be in the very near future so that the issue can be put to rest. Ms. Hackett reiterated the need for discussion of school safety and avoiding gang violence as described by Chief Berry. MOTION: Rizzo/Huyler s.v. To adjourn: 11:30 p.m. 9/0/0 Respectfully submitted, David Golas,
Secretary |