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MANCHESTER
BOARD OF EDUCATION
REGULAR MEETING MONDAY, MAY 22, 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:
Rowe, Small-Miller, Crockett, Rizzo, Hackett, Huyler, ALSO Superintendent
of Schools Ouellette, Director of Business A.2. Pledge
of Allegiance A.3 Roundtable
Singers Mr. Edward Tyler and the Roundtable Singers delighted their audience with three musical selections, "At the Round Earth's Imagined Corners; Trois Chansons 'Dieu! Qu'il la fait bon regardez`; 'Aint Got Time to Die'. Ms. Hackett
expressed appreciation to the students and Mr. Tyler for an inspiring
performance. Mr. Tyler pointed out that it was a "Superiors",
and "Invitation Only" Festival. To be allowed to even participate
had been, in itself, an honor, which made their trophies even more prestigious.
B. SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT - PART 1 B.1
CABE Awards MOVED: Pohl/Edwards s.v. The Manchester Board of Education approved the Paraprofessional Tutor Contract Ratification; July 1, 2005/June 3, 2009 could be added as Item E.6, to the Consent Calendar. 8/0/0. C. PUBLIC
COMMENTS Michelle
Dan Dendeau; Kim Leining; Annie Johnson; Nancy Martinez Fuentez; Ms. Watson distributed an informative Fact Sheet on the school. Mr. Stringfellow
listed upcoming events: May 21-28, '06 National Dog Bite Prevention
Week; Observation of a Moment of Silence - 3:00 p.m. on Memorial Day,
May 29. Kathleen Berry, a non-resident of Manchester, talked about her personal experience, as a former School Nurse at Waddell School. She shared all of the misgivings of those parents and teachers who had already spoken. She was opposed to compressing children into two classrooms. Ms. Berry thought highly of Mrs. Sheridan and thought to remove her would be a very big mistake. Ms. Hackett pointed out that this was a Budget deliberation and not actually on the Board agenda. The Board would be deliberating on the entire budget reductions on Wednesday, May 24th at 7:00 p.m. in the Robertson's School Cafeteria. It was moved that The Manchester Board of Education take a five-minute recess. D. STUDENT
REPRESENTATIVE'S REPORT E. CONSENT
CALENDAR 1) Personnel
Action; Dr. Ouellette
highlighted two of the items: The school
district placed tuition into this account and summer school bills were The Board
of Education budgeted additional money to support the middle school E.3 Appropriation
for Education Special Projects - $48,243 The Board of Education requested appropriation of the difference between the budgeted tuition revenue of $5,000 and the revenue received to date i.e., $53,243. E4. Appropriation
for Education Special Projects - $7,000 The LEA may use program funds to provide instructional opportunities for displaced students enrolled in their schools, and for expenses recipients incurred in serving displaced students.
E.6. Paraprofessional Tutor Contract Ratification for July 1, 2005-June 30, 2009 E.1. Personnel
Action Mr. Rockett was both pleased and proud to join the Team in Manchester. He had already had the opportunity to tour the school; meet staff and was impressed by the sense of professionalism, congeniality and single-minded focus on student achievement, which he found there. Dr. Ouellette introduced Mr. Mario Almeida, Vice Principal of Manchester High School. Mr. Almeida had eight year's educator/administrator experience. Holds degrees in Business Management, Education and Educational Leadership, Central Connecticut State University, University of New Hampshire and University of Connecticut. He taught Social Studies at Illing Middle School; most recently was an Assistant Principal at Windham High School. Recently received his 6th year certificate at University of Connecticut. Mr. Almeida resides in East Hampton. Mr. Almeida thanked everyone involved in the selection process. He was happy and delighted to return and was most appreciative of the opportunity given to him. He looks forward eagerly to July. Ms. Hackett moved the adoption of the Consent Calendar, as outlined by the Superintendent. Mr. Rizzo had a question on E.3 - "Appropriation for the Out of District Tuition Payments", and asked that the process be explained. He was informed by Ms. Brooks that the Board could only request what it had received, i.e., the revenue projected in the budget. The additional revenue would probably just go into the General Fund, as it would come in after July 1. It could not be used to reduce the budget. A similar situation arose last year. It was hoped to send out invoices earlier to obtain the revenue prior to the close of the budget. It could not go to pay expenses for the current year because it was FY '06 money. Mr. Rizzo asked if they had to wait until something happened, on a certain date, before the school could be invoiced. Mrs. Tait informed him that they had to wait until children, who needed special educational services, were placed. Mrs. Tait told Mr. Rizzo that the district was billed as soon as the child arrived and they paid the rest of the year. Sometimes a credit was involved if the child left; it could be a difficult timing process. Mr. Rizzo said he welcomed Mr. Almeida's return. Mr. Rizzo had known Mr. Almeida previously and described him as a wonderful teacher, with a great deal of energy. Mr. Edwards asked Mrs. Brooks if we were helping children from the Katrina disaster and was told that we were helping one or two. Mr. Edwards was interested in Item E.1, wanting to know if Dr. Rascher was retiring for personal or retirement reasons. Dr. Ouellette confirmed the reasons were personal, as Dr. Rascher would be taking up another position. MOTION: Rizzo/Edwards s.v. The Manchester Board of Education moved to adopt the Consent Calendar. 8/0/0. F. SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT - PART II F.1 Adult
Education Program Update Mr. Tarriff had not presented to the Board for over two and a half years and gave a quick overview for the benefit of any new Board members. Manchester and Vernon were the two major anchors of the region. Presently there were eighteen towns but as of July 1st, East Windsor would be joining. The Governing Board of the Vernon Region is comprised of a Superintendent (or designee) from each town. Mrs. Brooks was the Board's representative. A leaflet was distributed outlining the aims and objectives of the program. Mr. Tarriff had initiated the Adult High School twenty-two years ago; classes were basically in Vernon; seven years ago a satellite site was piloted in Manchester High School, where they ran a night school four nights a week. As many as 140 students had graduated in one year from that program. Graduation is June 21st. Students were required to be highly motivated adults having had some life experience; been away from a traditional classroom; uncomfortable with standardized tests; self-directed, mature, and able to prioritize. The diploma is issued by Vernon Regional Adult Basic Education and accepted on a national level. The External Diploma Program (EDP) was a high school diploma program for adults who had acquired their academic skill through life and work experiences and demonstrated what they had learned. EDP measures academic and life skills, such as: reading, critical thinking, oral communication, mathematics, writing, self- awareness, consumer awareness, occupational awareness, scientific awareness and social awareness. A job or home management experience was required to satisfy the program's requirements, e.g., an advanced academic skills portfolio, verification of occupational skills by a community assessor, verification of job skills by a current employer and assessment of home management experience. Students were asked to demonstrate skills in practical ways, e.g., read a newspaper or a lease; write a resume, using local resources and comparing prices. The program differed from other programs in that it was self-paced, confidential, flexible, and conducted through one-on-one trained assessors. It offered flexible scheduling, required complete mastery of skills, allowed many skills to be completed at home and allowed adults to choose their instructional resources. Completion time of the program varied with the individual and averaged from six months to one year. The program attracted some grants, namely one from the Nellie May Foundation. Mr. Tariff emphasized this was a third way in which a diploma could be obtained; it was aimed at 35-60 year-olds. The State had given its approval, along with some financing, to start up the program. The success of the program could be attributed to its teachers. Ms. Joanne Hackey said the philosophy of the program was based on mutual respect, i.e., the teacher was not a superior learner but a facilitator of learning. The basis for the EDP was to instill the belief that they could succeed. The program was an alternative to GED. Ms. Betty Foley stated there were three phases to the program, i.e., 1) Diagnostic - where the applicant was assigned an adviser who assessed them; 2) Assessment Phase, i.e., the applicant becomes a candidate and assigned an assessor who guided them through a series of five weekly tasks (completed at home); 3) Individualized Phase, i.e., the candidate documented their employment, or was assessed in either an occupational or other specialized skill area. She reported that the success rates were very high. Ms. Mya Miller was introduced as one of their students who had just completed the program and would graduate on June 21st. She expressed her happiness, pride and good fortune at being admitted into the program, which she contributed to her success. Mr. Tariff had worked diligently with competitive grants, e.g., had applied for a $100,000 grant from the Bureau of Adult Education - $500,000 total would be given statewide. Mr. Rizzo said obviously the program was a great source of pride in that resources had been made available for some wonderful people. It was a boon to our community. Ms. Hackett said it was clear that the investment made in people, professionally, socially and personally was tremendous. Her own philosophy was "Children should never have a lifetime of punishment for decisions made early in their lives." Ms. Hackett, on the Board's behalf, thanked Ms. Miller for coming and extended their best wishes and good luck in her future endeavors. F.2 Positive
Behavior Support Initiative (PBS) Assisting
in Mr. Thorndike's presentation were Mr. Martin, Mr. Mazzotta, Ms. Kearney
and Ms. Reilly, who expanded on the sub-headings: Ms. Reilly
explained the breakdown of a pyramid sketch, which set out the percentages
of continuum of school-wide instructional and positive behavior; primary
prevention; tertiary prevention and secondary prevention. 80% of children
just moved along through their day, status quo; needed very little behavioral
intervention methods. Mr. Thorndike summarized that data would dictate the decisions taken by teachers and administrators. The data would be compiled: reviewed, and teachers, not just the Administration, would make decisions. Bowers and Bennet Schools had been pilot schools; they would be in their second year of training next year. It was about a three-year process for an individual school to get the program up and running, and several years before Manchester schools would be online. Mr. Pohl had spoken with the Assistant Superintendent at Meriden and a teacher at Washington Middle School about PBS, and was convinced that the program worked. When there were dramatic drops in referrals to the office, and in academic failures - that was real! When one looked at the problems facing our community today, children needed to be educated and helped with socialization. Mr. Rizzo asked how they would measure the success of the program, and was told that the system was all about measurement; moving away from anecdotal, to data base collection. Questioned about available resources, Mr. Thorndike said they would apply for grants. Mr. Rizzo pointed out some teachers may have objections to having a parental role forced upon them. Mr. Thorndike said teachers were already spending a lot of proactive time teaching skills, which resulted in less time needing to be spent on behavioral issues. Mr. Rizzo recognized the need for the program: a welcome approach to an age-old problem. He looked forward to results. Mr. Rowe was concerned that involvement in the program would become a burden on teachers' time by having to attend meetings. What was the plan to incorporate teachers? Ms. Reilly told him that the four-day training of the base committee was release time, covered by substitutes. Subsequently a larger committee met once a month. This was a paradigm shift and there was no additional cost. With the merger of Bennet and Illing schools, the program would go back to year one. Bowers would be entering year two. Ms. Hackett looked forward to receiving some meaningful data from Bowers School and Mr. Thorndike promised comparative information would be forthcoming. F.3 Accelerated
Middle School Update Dr. Ouellette read that the Middle School Taskforce met with the supervisors of the Fine Arts & Language Departments and three sub-committees reported their progress to the learning communities. There was a discussion regarding scheduling and programmatic concerns and a schedule was reviewed with the Curriculum & Instruction sub-committee of the Board. With the arrival of the new Illing Principal they were hoping to firm up the details with the schedule. At the May 31st barbeque, the PTA would have enrollment tables, as well as entries for the new Middle School slogan contest. The slogan would be printed on T-shirts, financed by Ms. Brooks; a Middle School Taskforce line item. All students and staff would receive that in September 2006. There had been emails and letter exchanges between Bennet and Illing students; tours for Bennet students and team-building activities. The President of the Illing PTA was working very closely with the Bennet PTA. The Middle School Task Force would continue in September 2006 to carry out the combination of the two staffs. Mrs. Brooks confirmed that they had met with both staffs on May 11 to answer questions. A meeting had also taken place with the architect on technology components of the new Bennet 6th Grade Academy. Ms. Hackett wanted to know if the Task Force would be meeting over the summer. Dr. Gejda reported they were meeting almost weekly. The desire now was to involve the new Middle School Principal in the decision-making. G. OLD BUSINESS G.1 Wellness
Policy Mr. Edwards discussed with Ms. Kearney instances of special circumstances, which would necessitate a class being cancelled. Mr. Rowe referred to Q.2 on the question sheet. "Do you have to be certified in Health to teach nutrition education? Arising from this, he suggested that materials on "Wellness" could be made available to a child in a time out period. Mr. Pohl moved the adoption of the "Wellness" Policy: it was seconded by Mr. Rizzo. Mr. Edwards made an amendment to the motion to remove from the Administrative Guidelines, Section 2, Item D, page 3 the words "Or withhold opportunities for physical activity (e.g., recess, physical education). Mr. Edwards repeated the amendment for Mrs. Hackett. The sentence would now read "Teachers and other school and community personnel should not use physical activity, i.e., running laps, pushups, as punishment." The amendment proposed by Mr. Edwards was seconded by Mr. Rizzo. Mr. Pohl stressed the District's particular concern about the lack of physical education that should be compulsory at all times. Removing it from the policy would not be a good idea. Mr. Edwards explained his rationale for the amendment. He believed that recess was routinely used by classroom teachers to enforce discipline. In this particular instance, the need to be able to give an effective consequence; maintain classroom management, for learning to take place the entire day, outweighed the risk of some students not getting enough time to run around the playground. Dr. Ouellette
suggested an alternative would be to use an isolated lunch period. Mr. Stafford was unhappy with the word "should" which, to his thinking, suggested a disclaimer. Attorney Libby thought that, taken in this context, the word could be interpreted as prescribing. It is a strong word. Mr. Rowe said the policy addressed recess and then physical education. Were there times during this period when students were not allowed to go to physical education? Ms. Fiedler said that if a child had missed a lot of school through illness the teacher would ask for them to be excused. Ms. Kearney pointed out that the Federal State had gone to great lengths to empower Districts to take whatever steps they deemed necessary to address the problem of obesity; the edict should not be taken lightly. The goal was to promote "Wellness", also physical activity, by every means possible. Fifteen to twenty minutes of physical activity was not a lot. This should be all about 'students': not the convenience of teachers. She urged the Board to consider the children's best interests. Mr. Crockett asked Mr. Edwards, through the Chair, to clarify his statement that he would like the teacher to reprimand a child and withhold recess. Mr. Edwards said his reason for striking that particular language was to ensure a teacher still had the option of using this particular sanction as a tool for classroom management. Mr. Rizzo
asked Dr. Ouellette to clarify her recommendation that on a non P.E.
day staff would not be able to withhold recess but could on a P.E. day. Ms. Small-Miller stated there had been guidelines for wording the policy and she thought it should remain exactly as presented. Ms. Huyler was anxious for the Board to move forward on the Policy, as mandated by the State. Obviously, a lot of time and effort had gone into drafting the Policy" she mentioned some other alternatives - "Why not add an extra assignment? an extra assignment for a classroom; half-time recess, instead of full-time. The Board should recognize the possibility that a small minority of children might not want to go out for recess. Ms. Huyler said she would not support the amendment. Mr. Edwards pointed out the State had not mandated the policy be written in a particular way. Dr. Ouellette reminded the Board that the Physical Education Program was State-mandated, and in the curriculum. She said another possibility would be to remove recess and leave Physical Education, which was mandatory. Mr. Stafford sought reassurance that the policy stated that no matter what a child did they would have to be given recess. Ms. Kearney agreed this was so. The exact context, in which the words should and would be interpreted, was debated. Ms. Kearney pointed out these were administrative guidelines that needed to be promoted, as laid down by the State. Nowhere in the policy had it stated "will not". Mr. Stafford agreed with Dr. Ouellette's suggestion to scratch the word 'recess' as he thought this was a great alternative. Ms. Hackett announced the amendment was on the floor. Mr. Edwards offered to withdraw his amendment and to remove the word 'recess' from the text. Ms. Hackett
requested he propose a new amendment, for the record, reflecting the
language change. Mr. Rowe favored retaining 'recess' in the policy, and declined to support the motion. Mr. Stafford expressed his support to the amendment. Ms. Hackett announced that when the Board is presented with any new policy it had to be numbered and we this policy did not have a number. This meant that the Board needed an amendment to the amendment. Administration was asked to place the Policy in the proper location in the Policy Book. Amendment was made by Mr. Stafford and seconded by Mr. Edwards. Mr. Rowe thought having recess would enable students to release their pent up energy and result in less problems in the classroom. He preferred that recess be kept in the policy. Mr. Stafford expressed his support for the amendment proposed by Mr. Edwards. Mr. Edwards withdrew his amendment, on a point of order, as advised by Attorney Libby. Ms. Hackett reiterated the amendment on the table related to Section 2, Item D, as stated by Mr. Edwards, and requested that it be repeated one more time for the benefit of a Board member who had not been present earlier. Mr. Stafford read that the amendment was now to simply remove the word 'recess' and the new paragraph would read "Teachers and other school and community personnel should not use physical activity, i.e., running laps, push-ups, or withhold opportunities for physical activity, e.g., physical education as a punishment." Ms. Small-Miller wondered what the difference was between physical activity and physical education and was told that the physical education program had a curriculum, sequential, going K-12 and taught by a P.E. teacher. Physical activity was simply students going out to play. Ms. Hackett called the question and took a roll call vote to pass the amendment. The vote was 6/3/0. MOTION: Stafford/Edwards: s.v. The Manchester Board of Education unanimously approved requesting Administration to place the amendment in the Policy Book. 9/0/0. Ms. Hackett said a motion was on the table to adopt the amendment to the "Wellness" Policy proposed by Mr. Stafford, seconded by Mr. Edwards. MOTION: Stafford/Edwards s.v. The Manchester Board of Education unanimously approved the amendment to the "Wellness" Policy. 9/0/0. Ms. Hackett
moved the adoption of the "Wellness" Policy and called the
question. Ms. Hackett expressed her thanks and appreciation to everyone as the Board had processed through this issue. H. NEW BUSINESS H.1 Music
Curriculum Dr. Gejda stated that in April Ms. Walsh and Mr. Keith Berry, K-12 Coordinator had made a presentation to the Curriculum & Instruction Sub Committee of the Board of Education and presented the draft Music Curriculum. (Document tabled) Ms. Walsh briefly reviewed the document expressing the hope that the Board would consider adoption of the Curriculum at its meeting in June. Ms. Walsh represented the town-wide Music Department, who had worked on the Curriculum for a number of years. The draft illustrated where the Music Curriculum currently stood, and what was being offered to students. The Curriculum would continually be revised and updated. The Committee's objective was to teach, not only the talented few, but to see every child as a Music Artist. They hoped to offer financial help on instrument rentals to those parents who could not afford it. The Keeney Band was giving a concert the following evening at 7:00 p.m. and everyone was invited. H.2 Health
Curriculum Ms. Uerz gave a brief overview of the document. This was a planned curriculum designed to address the physical, mental and social dimensions of health; teach knowledge and skills within a variety of health topics, emphasize making decisions leading to good health throughout life. Ms. Hackett reminded the Board that Items H.1 and H.2 would come back to the Board as Old Business at the next Board Meeting. I. COMMUNICATIONS J. COMMITTEE REPORTS Buildings
& Sites Committee April 27th
meeting Dr. Ouellette requested Mr. Epstein share the proposed changes with K-8 District Supervisors before they are approved. Dr. Ouellette shared her concern with the reduction of square footage in general storage; it appeared there was a shortage of storage space in other areas. Preliminary Design Development cost was $5m over budget. On April 19, '06 Town Building Committee reduced the project shortfall by eliminating pool and locker renovations; reduced the swing space budget; approved using PVC below grade for sanitary system; reduced Owner's contingency also new construction by 900 sq. feet. This reduced potential project shortfall to $2.1m. Mr. Schroeder and Mr. Bell identified additional reductions. Casework in classrooms could be moved from long wall to short wall; lockers could be changed to double tier. In addition, reduced scope of brick repairs; selecting less costly windows; not replacing exterior skin of Cone Building Connector at 1st floor; reducing amount of ¾" plywood sub flooring; reducing interior partition demo, and reducing demo of load bearing walls. Mr. Epstein stated that the project was still $2m over budget and additional reduction options needed to be considered. The Committee discussed at length changes to the Cone Bridge; fencing and gates around the quadrangle. Superintendent Ouellette wanted the Cone Bridge alteration plan to remain. She did not want to have fencing used instead of enclosing the bridge. In addition to having students outdoors when they changed classes, a fence would not eliminate the litter problem. The Committee agreed, with all the building construction occurring, that the Building & Sites Committee would need to meet more often. Another meeting would be scheduled within the following two weeks to discuss further reductions to the Bennet project to bring it into line with the budget. Ms. Louise Guarnaccia updated the Committee on the Hearing held before the State Historic Preservation Council. The Hearing would be continued on May 3, 2006, in Hartford. Ms. Guarnaccia would report the outcome of the hearings to the Committee on May 11, 2006. Ms. Guarnaccia was working on an alternative proposal for green space to bring to the Hearing on May 3. The proposal was to keep the Cheney Building and eliminate only the apartment complex, firehouse and boiler plant. It was hoped the Historic Preservation Council would work with the Town on the alternative plan. Mr. Epstein updated the Committee on the Manchester High School renovation project. Groundbreaking would be the second week in May. Demolition of houses and the building at Perrot Place was done during April 17-21st. Ms. Brooks informed the Committee that Jack McCoy wanted to provide an update on the IP Telephony project to the Committee. The Committee requested Mr. McCoy deliver the update to the entire Board. Ms. Brooks and Ms. Guarnaccia updated the Committee on their collaborative efforts to identify new quarters for the Board's Building and Grounds Personnel who would be displaced by the Bennet closing in July. They would bring the package before the Board for acceptance. Mr. Epstein updated the Committee on swing space renovations. Bids for hard construction at Martin would open on April 28, 2006. Mr. Epstein stated that the furniture for Bowers and Waddell would be going to the State in May for approval. As soon as approval is received the items would be ordered through School Specialty for delivery this summer. The meeting adjourned at 8:00 p.m. The next meeting would be May 11, 2006 in the Central Office at 5:30 p.m. Mr. Pohl said it was important to point out that when the above meeting was held the situation was very fluid, and this would be reflected in the next set of minutes he would read that would show the progress. May 11,
Meeting The good news was that the groundbreaking for Manchester High School, 9th Grade Wing, would take place the following day. He looked forward to that event. Work on the Waddell and Bowers Schools was almost completed; Head Start Early Learning Center was approved through the Legislature and things were moving along on that. The next meeting of Building & Sites was planned for May 25th in the Central Office at 5:30 p.m. K.
PUBLIC COMMENTS L. ITEMS
FOR FUTURE AGENDAS
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