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
Anne Schmidt
Catherine
Vargas
Jennifer
Viggiano-Grosse
Members Absent: None
A
meeting of the Board of Education was held on
The pledge of allegiance was recited.
Moved by Mrs. Schmidt, seconded by Mr.
Bostwick, to accept the minutes of the
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION CARRIED
There was no correspondence
noted.
AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION
RHTA Liaison Committee
Town of Rocky Hill
Board of Education
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There was no report.
There
were no student reports.
Meeting Open to the Public
There was no one from the
public wishing to address the Board on any item not on the agenda.
1. Consent
Calendar
Moved
by Mrs. Schmidt, seconded by Mr. McMonigle, to accept the consent calendar of
May 20, 2004.
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION
CARRIED
Committee Reports
1. Personnel
and Negotiations
Mr. McMonigle reported that
the Personnel and Negotiations Commission was interviewing firms to represent
the Board of Education. They received
five prospects from the RFP and would interview three of them starting
tomorrow. A decision would be made by
the next Board of Education meeting.
2. Policy
No
report.
Town of Rocky Hill
Board of Education
Page 3
Mrs.
Schmidt reported that the Finance Committee met yesterday to review the status
of the 2003/04 budget. The school
district will meet all of its obligations and has been working on the $125,000
cut to the budget. They reviewed the
status of the health benefits account.
The account is currently running a deficit due to unfavorable
experience.
Mrs.
Schmidt noted the early retirement incentive plan that has been offered and
accepted by seven teachers. A portion of
the savings towards the $125,000 will be used towards that.
Moved
by Mrs. Schmidt, seconded by Mr. Palazzo, to adopt the Voluntary Early
Retirement Incentive Plan for certified employees offered by the Board of
Education and reviewed by the Finance Committee on
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION
CARRIED
Mrs.
Schmidt discussed the potential for creating a capital improvements fund for
the Town. The Committee will be taking
those discussions forward. At this time,
there will be no excess available to fund a capital improvements fund.
4. Curriculum
Mrs.
Vargas reported that the Curriculum Committee has met to review the
textbooks. Mrs. Boutilier will review
that later in the meeting. Mrs. Vargas
thanked all the teachers who spent time doing extensive research and for being
thorough in their research.
5. Professional Development
No report.
Town of Rocky Hill
Board of Education
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6. Facilities
No
report.
7. Technology
No
report.
8. Transportation/Accommodations
No report.
NEW BUSINESS
10. CREC
Presentation
Dr. Bruce Douglas, Executive
Director of the Capitol Region Education Council, presented an overview of the
services provided by the organization.
He passed out a brochure containing information about CREC. He reviewed his experience and background. The information included the Rocky Hill –
CREC Partnership, the Strategic Plan for 2002-03, and information on the magnet
schools. CREC was established in 1960 by
state statute. It is a collaborative
effort of 35 school districts. CREC is
made up of a Board with ten members.
Frank Szeps, the former Rocky Hill Board Chairman, served as Chairman of
the Council for one year. All 35
districts pay dues of 20 cents per student, which gets services provided by CREC
at a certain rate.
CREC’s purpose was to provide
school districts with any educational services that it might need. Dr. Douglas noted the 35 districts which take
part in CREC. He reviewed the
Town of Rocky Hill
Board of Education
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Mrs. Schmidt asked if the services
of the grants writer were available to individual districts. Dr. Douglas explained that CREC provides grant
writing workshops and training. They
have a library of grants available for any district’s review.
Mrs. Schmidt asked if CREC
coordinated opportunities for districts to write grants. Dr. Douglas said it
did. He noted there was $7 million worth
of grants written through the Council.
He added that there were very few districts that had a grants
writer. Some districts contract with
CREC to writ their grants. Some
districts ask CREC to writ their grants.
One of the best ways to do that is through a consortium. CREC has written over 96 grants and was
successful with 56 of them.
Dr. Douglas noted that Dr. Vautour
and the Rocky Hill district participate in CREC. The whole culture of the organization was
developed by the Board members, superintendents and assistant superintendents.
Mr. Arico asked if CREC had a
purchasing catalog that it made available to school districts; Dr. Douglas said
it did. They had a cooperative purchasing
division, and the catalog is on the web site.
Mr. Turansky noted that Rocky Hill has participated in the CREC purchase
program for over ten years.
Mr. McMonigle reported that
he has been on the CREC council for a few months. It was an energetic and creative group.
11. Recision
of Non-Renewals
Mrs. Boutilier noted the
Board had been asked to non-renew the contracts of all non-tenured teachers. She asked them to rescind their earlier vote.
Moved by Mrs. Schmidt, seconded by Mrs.
Vargas, to rescind non-renewal notices for the personnel listed in the
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION
CARRIED
12. New
Textbook Selections
Mrs. Boutilier reported on textbooks recommended for adoption for the 2004-05 school year.
Town of Rocky Hill
Board of Education
Page 6
Moved by Mrs. Vargas, seconded by Mr.
McMonigle, to accept the purchase of new textbooks as recommended by Mrs.
Boutilier.
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION
CARRIED
13. Executive
Session
Moved by Mrs. Schmidt, seconded by Mr.
Bostwick to go into executive session at
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION CARRIED
Moved by Mrs. Schmidt, seconded by Mrs. Viggiano-Grosse, to come out of
executive session at
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION CARRIED
Moved
by Mr. Arico, seconded by Mr. Bostwick, to adjourn the meeting (
Respectfully
submitted,
Rosalie
W. O’Neill
Recording
Secretary
Accepted
by: ______________________