Town of Rocky Hill
Board of Education
Page 1
TOWN OF ROCKY HILL
BOARD OF
EDUCATION
MEETING OF
Members Present: Peter Arico
Nadine Bell (Chairman)
Kirk
Bostwick
Neil Geldof
Charles McMonigle
Anne Schmidt
Catherine
Vargas
Jennifer
Viggiano-Grosse
Members Absent: Francis Palazzolo
A
meeting of the Board of Education was held on
The pledge of allegiance was recited.
Moved by Mr. McMonigle, seconded by Mrs.
Viggiano-Grosse, to accept the minutes of the
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION CARRIED
Moved by Mrs. Schmidt, seconded by Mr.
Bostwick, to accept the minutes of the
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION CARRIED
Moved by Mr. Bostwick, seconded by Mrs.
Viggiano-Grosse, to accept the minutes of the
Town of Rocky Hill
Board of Education
Page 2
The meeting heading should be
changed to “Special Meeting” instead of “Finance Committee”, and those in
attendance changed to reflect that Mr. McMonigle was not present.
Moved by Mr. Bostwick, seconded by Mrs.
Viggiano-Grosse, to table the approval of minutes of the
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION CARRIED
Moved by Mrs. Schmidt, seconded by Mr.
McMonigle, to accept the minutes of the
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION CARRIED
On the third line, after
“Ruth”, add “Levy”.
Moved by Mrs. Schmidt, seconded by Mr.
Arico, to accept the minutes of the
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION CARRIED
Moved
by Mrs. Schmidt, seconded by Mr. Bostwick, to accept the minutes of the
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION
CARRIED
Moved by Mrs. Schmidt, seconded by Mr.
Geldof, to accept the minutes of the
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION
CARRIED
Moved by Mrs. Schmidt, seconded by Mr.
McMonigle, to accept the minutes of the
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION
CARRIED
Town of Rocky Hill
Board of Education
Page 3
Moved by Mrs. Vargas, seconded by Mr.
Arico, to accept the minutes of the
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION
CARRIED
Moved by Mr. Bostwick, seconded by Mrs.
Viggiano-Grosse, to accept the minutes of the
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION
CARRIED
On Page 3, second paragraph, second line, change “never” to “ever”.
Moved by Mrs. Schmidt, seconded by Mr.
Bostwick, to accept the minutes of the
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION
CARRIED
On Page 4, first paragraph, second line, change “four courses at the end of five years” to
“five courses at the end of four years”. In the third line, correct “Civil Engineering &
Architecture”. On Page 7, first paragraph, first line, insert “$15,000” between “the” and
“discretionary”; in the third line change “$326,406” to $463,769”. In the third paragraph,
first line, change “Mrs.
Vargas” to “Mr. Bostwick”. On Page 8,
correct the first paragraph to read:
“Mr. Arico noted that the $15,000 discretionary reduction across
Accounts 611, 642 and 690 amounts to about 3% of the $463,769 aggregate total
of those accounts. He asked if that could be increased to 4% to allow the
district to purchase the saxophone for the middle school. Mr. Geldof pointed out that the amount could
be reduced in one account, for example, $10,000 in the 690 account. Dr. Vautour agreed to increase the amount of
reduction in the discretionary accounts to $18,550, and delete the saxophone
from the potential reduction list. He
would also add Account 430 to the discretionary accounts.” In the second paragraph, seventh line, change
“recommending” to “recommended”.
Moved by Mrs. Schmidt, seconded by Mr.
Bostwick, to accept the minutes of the
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION
CARRIED
Town of Rocky Hill
Board of Education
Page 4
Moved by Mr. McMonigle, seconded by Mrs.
Schmidt, to accept the minutes of the
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION
CARRIED
In the first heading, correct
“Plan”.
Moved by Mrs. Vargas, seconded by Mrs.
Viggiano-Grosse, to accept the minutes of the
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION
CARRIED
On Page 1, second motion, change “Ann” to “Mrs.”
Moved by Mrs. Schmidt, seconded by Mr.
Bostwick, to accept the minutes of the
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION
CARRIED
Moved by Mrs. Schmidt, seconded by Mr.
Bostwick, to accept the minutes of the
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION
CARRIED
Moved by Mrs. Schmidt, seconded by Mr.
Bostwick, to accept the minutes of the
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION
CARRIED
A thank you note was received
from Kathy Kennedy for flowers. A letter
of appreciation was sent to
Town of Rocky Hill
Board of Education
Page 5
Technology program at the
high school in the amount of $1,145. He
noted that to repair the saw would cost $935.
Dr. Vautour noted the
district has been discussing the possibility of creating an alternative
program, but could not because of a space problem. He had a meeting at the
Connecticut Student Loan Foundation recently, and they made a multi-classroom,
two conference room offer to the school district for a cost of $1 a year. The classrooms would include utilities paid
for by the Connecticut Student Loan Foundation and would be internet
ready. There are furnishings in the
classrooms, including large computer tables, allowing for two computers per
table. They will donate those to the
Board of Education. Dr. Vautour has
asked Ms. Levy to provide information as to how many students might be
affected.
Mrs. Bell thanked Dr. Vautour,
Ms. Levy, Mr. Turansky and the Connecticut Student Loan Foundation.
AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION
RHTA Liaison Committee
There
was no report.
The annual science fair will
be held on Wednesday, April 7 at
Town of Rocky Hill
Board of Education
Page 6
was able to take home a copy of one of the author’s
books. The children at
From West Hill, Lynniya Smith
and Timothy Cooney reported that Kindergarten classes collected 148 cans of food
as part of the 100th day of school celebration, to be donated to the
Rocky Hill Food Pantry. During February,
first graders began the month by reading and writing about Groundhog Day and
Friendship as Valentine’s Day approached.
First graders read 100 books, and celebrated the 100th day of
school with fun, writing and math activities.
They are now learning about dental health and look forward to a visit
from the Smile Mobile in March.
Second graders enjoyed
Chinese folk dancers that were brought to them with funds from Explore and
Soar. Students are reading biographies,
and preparing for their biography dress-up.
The third graders are exploring different areas of science. Two classes enjoyed the Wonderful World of
Sound. The other three classes investigated
rocks and minerals. The fifth grade
learned from the Red Cross how important it is for adults to give blood. West Hill will be hosting the Red Cross on
March 8. Fifth graders are preparing for
the April 7 gym show. They were also
reading two hours a week independently for the school-wide initiative, Tied Up
in
From
A school wide spelling bee
was held on February 26. One student
from each team participated. There are
four new clubs: two sewing clubs, a
wrestling club and a cake decorating club.
The annual poetry slam is scheduled for March 16. The sixth grade burgundy team is having a field
trip to the recycling center at the end of March.
The school has held a variety
of spirit days this year, such as pajama day, hat day, and wacky hair day. Students pay $1 to participate. Last Friday, there was a student/faculty
basketball game. The Student Council is
prepared to donate a check for $1,500 for the gilding of a panel of the
carousal at
Meeting Open to the Public
There was no one from the
public wishing to address the Board on any item not on the agenda.
Town of Rocky
Hill
Board of Education
Page 7
1. Consent
Calendar
The consent calendar included
a request for a field trip to
Moved by Mrs.
Vargas, seconded by Mrs. Schmidt o to accept the consent calendar of March 4,
2004.
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION
CARRIED
2. Personnel and Negotiations
No
report.
3. Policy
Policy
6142 was presented to the Board earlier, and there were no comments
received. The Intra-net was included in
the policy, as well as Inter-net.
MOTION by Mrs.
Vargas, seconded by Mr. Geldof, to adopt the revisions to Policy 6142,
Technology and Instruction.
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION
CARRIED
Policy
5141.31 was revised, deleting reference to a specific school form, and deleting
the sentence: “All sport participation physicals must be done AFTER May 1st
of the upcoming school year.” The policy
also deleted reference to intra-mural sports.
MOTION by Mrs.
Vargas, seconded by Mrs. Viggiano-Grosse, to accept Policy 5141.31, Sports
Physicals, as amended.
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION
CARRIED
Town of Rocky
Hill
Board of Education
Page 8
Mrs. Schmidt reported that the
Finance Committee has been meeting to continue resolving issues with the budget
that it adopted and sent to the Town Manager.
The Committee has been attempting to win the best possible price for the
employee benefits package. They received
bids from two carriers. They have not
finalized the agreement, and that will be done next week at a Finance Committee
meeting. Mrs. Schmidt pointed out that
the insurance agent, Mr. Lindberg, and Mr. Turansky worked very hard, and that
resulted in significant savings to the school district.
Chairman Bell thanked Mrs.
Schmidt and the Finance Committee for their aggressive pursuit of the cost
reductions.
5. Curriculum
No
report.
6. Professional Development
Mrs.
Viggiano reported that the Professional Development Committee met on Tuesday
morning to review plans for the upcoming professional development days, March
19 and March 22. The activities include
training in school notes and inspiration software, developing strategies for
integrating math skills into special subject areas, training in the use of
assistive technology for all special education staff, workshops on strategies
for examining student performance, visitation by all elementary staff to other
schools who use Rocky Hill science areas in either of the new math programs
that the district is piloting. Time was
also spent with a demonstration of the new curriculum mapping software that is
being used as part of the curriculum review process. The remaining time was spent revising some of
the forms used for professional development activities. The final meeting of the year will be May 5.
7. Facilities
No report.
Town of Rocky
Hill
Board of Education
Page 9
8. Technology
No
report.
9. Transportation/Accommodations
No report.
12. Strategic
School Profile Follow-Up
Dr. Vautour reported that at
an earlier meeting, the Board received the Strategic School Profile, and some
questions were raised about information that was contained in it. Mrs. Boutilier researched the question, and
has found that the average class size at the fifth grade level is between 19.2
and 22.8, which is in keeping with the ERG D average for 2004.
Another question had been
raised at an earlier Board meeting concerning some of the financial data
displayed on Page 5 of the district summary.
It had been questioned why the per pupil expenditures for the elementary
and middle school levels exceeded the high school spending level in Rocky Hill. The information that was provided was from
pro rated data. Mr. Turansky explained
there were different methodologies that could be used for reporting the
information. He would be making
adjustments to the numbers, changing the distribution system for the future,
which would more accurately represent the district’s spending patterns and
which would more closely follow the ERG and State patterns.
NEW BUSINESS
11.
Mr.
Watson explained that for three years,
Town of Rocky
Hill
Board of Education
Page 10
visit other schools, or have other students visit them in Rocky Hill. The field trips are funded by the Historical
Society, including transportation and materials.
Students
fill out questionnaires with their likes and dislikes and are matched with
students from other schools. The
students make new friends and find out that people are all the same. Students were matched with
Other
students were matched with friends from the
12. Budget Review Schedule
Mr.
Turansky reviewed the Town Manager’s budget schedule, pointing out the dates of
March 31, when the budget is released to the public; April 5, the budget public
hearing, April 28, the Board of Education’s opportunity to address questions on
its budget, and the May 10th budget adoption.
He noted Monday, April 5, is the public’s opportunity to address the
Council on any aspect of the budget.
13. Written Communication Committee
Mrs.
Boutilier discussed the ongoing investigation in the area of interplay between
handwriting and keyboarding skills. She
has put together a committee which is forming a study group. Twenty one staff members have volunteered to
take part. They met last week and
reviewed their charge. The schools are
teaching keyboarding and handwriting.
Mrs.
Boutilier’s original plan was that the group would design the charge and separate
into two groups. The members do not want
to split up. They want to be informed
and will study both topics. The next
meeting is scheduled for next Tuesday from
Mrs.
Boutilier pointed out that students are relying more on computers and less on
handwriting.
Town of Rocky
Hill
Board of Education
Page 11
Mr.
Arico asked if students were still required to do a lot of essay writing, where
they used their handwriting skills; Mrs. Boutilier said they were. As students go up the grades, they rely more
on computers.
Chairman
Bell reviewed upcoming school events.
She noted that the
Chairman Bell reminded
parents to look at the newsletters and
mailings that go out.
14. Executive
Session
MOTION by Mrs. Schmidt, seconded by Mrs.
Vargas, to go into executive session for the purpose of discussing a student
matter at
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION
CARRIED
MOTION by Mrs. Schmidt, seconded by Mrs.
Vargas, to come out of executive session at
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION
CARRIED
MOTION by Mrs. Schmidt, seconded by Mrs.
Viggiano-Grosse, to deny the parent complaint and authorize the Chairperson to
execute a written decision to the parents discussed in executive session.
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION
CARRIED
Town of Rocky
Hill
Board of Education
Page 12
MOTION by
Mrs. Vargas, seconded by Mrs. Schmidt, to adjourn the meeting at
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION
CARRIED
Respectfully
submitted,
Rosalie
W. O’Neill
Recording
Secretary
Accepted
by: _________________
Date:
_________________