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
Francis Palazzolo
Catherine Vargas
Members Absent: Anne Schmidt
Jennifer Viggiano-Grosse
A
meeting of the Board of Education was held on
The pledge of allegiance was recited.
Moved by Mr. McMonigle, seconded by Mr.
Bostwick, to accept the minutes of the
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION CARRIED
Moved by Mrs. Vargas, seconded by Mrs.
Vargas, to accept the minutes of the
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION CARRIED
At the end of No. 13, add
“regarding the changes in the sports physical policy”.
Town of Rocky Hill
Board of Education
Page 2
Dr. Vautour noted an
invitation from the International Honor Societies at the high school,
representing the French, Latin and Spanish Clubs for an induction ceremony to
be held on March 24 at
A letter from Mr. Pear was
noted.
AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION
RHTA Liaison Committee
There was no report.
Meeting Open to the Public
There was no one from the
public wishing to address the Board on any item not on the agenda.
Committee Reports
1. Personnel
and Negotiations
No report.
2. Policy
No
report.
Town of Rocky Hill
Board of Education
Page 3
Mr. Geldof reported that the
budget, as proposed, contained a 15.5% increase in the Employee Benefits
budget. Mr. Lindberg has negotiated a settlement with Cigna, which would allow
for an 11% increase in benefits. The
settlement will reduce the 2004/05 budget by a total of $121,000, down from $3
million to $2,879,000. Mrs. Bell thanked
Mr. Turansky and the entire Finance Committee.
4. Curriculum
No
report.
5. Professional Development
No
report.
6. Facilities
No report.
7. Technology
No
report.
8. Transportation/Accommodations
No report.
NEW BUSINESS
9. Video
Presentation
Mr. Schnyder and members of
the high school video club presented two video clips advertising the Rocky Hill
High School Hockey Team and the upcoming concert on April 3. Mrs. Schnyder had been approached by students
who wanted to start a video club.
Town of Rocky Hill
Board of Education
Page 4
Several teachers are
involved, and Channel 14 has allowed the students to use its equipment. Mr. Haglund will play the commercials on
access TV until after the April 3 concert.
10. Non-Renewal
of Non-Tenured Teachers
Dr. Vautour requested that
the Board non-renew all non-tenured personnel, as reflected in his
Moved by Mr. McMonigle, seconded by Mr.
Bostwick, to approve the non-renewal of all non-tenured teachers as reflected
in the memo of March 12, 2004.
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION CARRIED
11. Professional Development
Grant
Mrs. Boutilier addressed the Board to tell them that Rocky Hill is part
of a consortium that was recently awarded a $76,000 grant by the Connecticut
Department of Higher Education. Rocky
Hill collaborated with representatives of
Mrs. Boutilier explained that the grant will allow seven or eight
elementary teachers to participate in this professional development during
August and with follow up programs. Mrs. Vargas asked if the program would
include K-5 students or the earlier years.
Dr. Vautour replied that the program would span K-5, even though the
district was focusing on the earlier years.
12. Special Education/Alternate Education Proposal
At the last meeting, Dr. Vautour had told the Board members of Mr.
Valenti’s donation of space at the Connecticut Student Loan Foundation for the
rental fee of $1 a year. Ms.
Town of Rocky Hill
Board of Education
Page 5
Levy put together some material and had two proposals to present to the
Board of Education.
Ms. Levy thanked Mark Valenti for allowing the school district to do
this, and she thanked Dr. Vautour for moving forward on it. The first alternative program was a clinical
education program for students who are at risk for failure. The proposal was an alternative to outplacing
special education students, most of whom have severe emotional problems, and
who need more structure.
The second program is an alternative program for students who are not
special education students, but who are have been suspended, have truancy or
tardy problems.
The clinical day program is being proposed in lieu of the regular
school day. It is a special education
program based on the child’s IEP. The
school day would be from
The alternative program would take place from
The programs that Ms. Levy was reviewing in terms of the clinical
program would be instead of outplacement.
The hours of instruction would be from
Town of Rocky Hill
Board of Education
March 18, 2004
Page 6
The district has now been offered the space. Student in the program will be transported to
and from the program. They would follow
the same graduation requirements as the high school. Staffing is expected to be one full time
teacher, who would be a special education teacher. That teacher would be overseeing the special
education portion of the program, as well as monitoring the program. One full time paraprofessional would be
employed as well. There would be a minimum of two people at all times in the
program.
The clinical portion of the program would be fulfilled with a licensed
clinical social worker. The session
would include individual and group therapy and interaction with outside
agencies, families and students. The
subject area teachers would teach for one hour a day for each of the four core
subjects. The program would meet high
school requirements. Students would be
counseled and referred to the program because of emotional issues. The program would focus on the importance of
vocational skills, careers, apprenticeships and job coaching.
Ms. Levy reviewed the budgetary implications of the program, which
totaled $143,400. The virtual academy
would be accessed. The room that would
be used has ports to plug into so that computers could be used, and distance
learning activities could be accessed. A
teacher who was certified in each of the subject areas would be hired.
Mr. Palazzolo asked if a teacher from the high school would teach in
the program; Ms. Levy said the plan was to hire an individual outside of the
high school. Dr. Vautour pointed out
that all options would be left open. If
a high school teacher’s schedule allowed him to teach in the program, that
would be a possibility.
Mr. Arico asked if many students had been out-placed; Ms. Levy said
there were currently nineteen students.
Not all students were out-placed because of emotional needs. The proposed classes would be smaller and
more structured. Dr. Vautour noted that
the plan was not to place physically violent students back into the
district. The plan was to show those
students appropriate social skills, with a more structured environment.
The second program, or alternative program, was for students who were
lacking success in the high school, and were at risk because of poor
attendance, habitual truancy, academic lags, teenage parenthood, multiple
suspensions and expulsions. The
alternative program would give those students the means to get their high
school diploma and to encourage them to be able to focus on the academic and
social skills that they need to be successful after high school. Many of the students are in the general
education course and are not identified as having special education needs. They still need counseling and independent
living skills. They are between fourteen
and eighteen years old. They are the
students who are identified by administrators, by early intervention
Town of Rocky Hill
Board of Education
March 18, 2004
Page 7
teams, and need to be recommended for the program.
The district would provide transportation for students. The students would need to meet the same
graduation requirements as students at the high school in order to get their
diploma. There is a work/career component
of the program as well. Students will
arrive between 2:15 and 3:00 p.m. A
therapeutic social worker would work with the students individually and in
small groups. Students would work on
developing social skills in order to become successful in work situations. A focus would be on independent living
skills, how to function in the work force, and to have an apartment.
One teacher, certified in math/science would work two days; another
teacher certified in English/social studies would work another two days, from
3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. A special
education teacher would be hired as the lead teacher, who would be responsible
for the day to day running of the program.
The program is planned to be a four day program, from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00
p.m., covering the core academics.
Based on five students, Ms. Levy estimated a cost savings of $13,804 to
the district. She pointed out that the
financial savings was one piece. Another
piece was to have the students graduate with a high school diploma and being
successful people afterwards.
13. Executive Session
Moved by Mrs. Vargas, seconded by Mr.
McMonigle, to table the executive session regarding a student matter.
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION CARRIED
Town of Rocky Hill
Board of Education
March 18, 2004
Page 8
Chairman Bell noted the upcoming poetry slam scheduled for March 23 at 7:00 p.m. Budget workshops begin on April1, with the public portion for the Town scheduled for April 5, and for the Board of Education on April 28.
Moved by Mrs. Vargas, seconded by Mr.
McMonigle, to adjourn the meeting at 8:20 p.m.
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION CARRIED
Respectfully
submitted,
Rosalie
W. O’Neill
Recording
Secretary
Accepted
by: ______________________