BOARD OF EDUCATION
MEETING OF
Members Present: Nadine Bell (Chairperson)
Peter Arico
Kirk Bostwick
Neil Geldof
Francis Palazzolo
Anne Schmidt
Catherine Vargas
Members Absent: Charles McMonigle
Jennifer Viggiano-Grosse
A meeting of the Board of Education was held on
The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
Moved by Mrs. Schmidt, seconded
by Mr. Palazzolo, to accept the minutes of the
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION CARRIED
Moved by Mr. Bostwick, seconded
by Mrs. Schmidt, to accept the minutes of the
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION CARRIED
Dr. Vautour said he had four items of correspondence this evening.
The first piece of correspondence
was addressed to Ms. Marino, from Eleanor Vancisin,
thanking Ms. Marino, and Mrs. Simonton for creating an after school math
enrichment program. The second piece of
correspondence was from Tom and Chris Dillon, recognizing the valuable
contribution Coach Dave Coyne and his staff have made
for the students at
The fourth piece of
correspondence was a letter of resignation from Todd Petroff,
a physical education teacher at
Moved by Mr. Geldof, seconded by Mr.
Bostwick, to accept the resignation of Todd Petroff
(physical education teacher at
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION CARRIED
RHTA Liaison Committee
There was no one present from this Committee.
Shannon McNamara, and Alden Hellmuth, Stevens School/Moser School representatives, reported on K-5 and what is being learned.
Ryan Wesley, and Brian Kozak,
Steve D’Addeo,
Nick Vargas, Rocky Hill High
School Drama Club member, spoke about the high school drama club’s production
of Guys and Dolls which just had its opening weekend this past weekend. The final show would be held on
There was no one from the public wishing to address the Board on any item not on the agenda.
1. Consent Calendar
The consent calendar included a
legal retainer – Sullivan, Schoen, Campane & Connon,
LLC, and a trip to
Moved by Mrs.
Schmidt, seconded by Mr. Palazzolo, to accept the
consent calendar of May 19, 2005.
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION CARRIED
2. Personnel
and Negotiations
Mrs. Schmidt said Mr. McMonigle, Committee Chair, could not make this evening’s meeting so she was going to give an update. This Committee is currently in several negotiations of contracts with the various groups employed by the Board of Education. Recently negotiations with paraprofessionals were completed, and there is an agreement with the paraprofessional group.
Moved by Mr. Palazzolo, seconded by Mr. Arico,
to ratify the contract between the Rocky Hill Board of Education and the Rocky
Hill Education Paraprofessionals Local 1303-145 of Council #4, AFSCME AFL-CIO
for the period of July 1, 2004 – June
30, 2008.
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION CARRIED
3. Policy
No report.
4. Finance
Mrs. Schmidt said the Committee, meeting with Board as a whole, continued its work both on the 2004-05 and 2005-06 budgets. The final conclusion on the 2005-06 budget with the final announcement by the Town Council of the monies that will be coming to the Board of Education.
Moved by Mr. Arico, seconded by Mr. Geldof, to
make the following adjustments to the 2005-2006 budget due to the enrollment
changes at the Rocky Hill High School that have presented themselves to this
point in time. These changes include the reduction of 1.0 FTE business
education teacher, the reduction of .2 FTE science teacher,
and the addition of .5 FTE guidance counselor.
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION CARRIED
Chairperson Bell said although Board of Education Policy does not allow Board of Education members who are absent to cast a vote on a motion that is before the Board of Education tonight, Mrs. Viggiano-Grosse and Mr. McMonigle asked her to indicate their support for this budget and to thank everyone for the hard work they put in, especially the staff and the administrators.
Moved
by Mrs. Schmidt, seconded by Mr. Geldof, to adopt the
2005-2006 budget in the amount of $23,069,627.
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION CARRIED
Mrs. Schmidt said as the Chair of Finance, she wanted to thank everyone for their involvement in the budget process. Mr. Turansky does a phenomenal job of keeping everyone abreast and working on numbers for everyone. Dr. Vautour is incredibly creative and keeps the Board on track of determining what the focus and accomplishments are that the Board is trying to obtain in the school system. She thanked all of the Board members for the time they invested. She thanked the administrators for the constant deliberations they go through, throughout the process, as well as their recommendations for keeping the school system on track. She thanked Mrs. Wadstrup for keeping all of the paperwork together. She also thanked Mr. Geldof and Mr. McMonigle who are part of the Finance Committee. Chairperson Bell said she echoed Mrs. Schmidt’s sentiments.
5. Curriculum
Mrs. Vargas said she attended the
Curriculum Advisory Committee meeting this afternoon, and said it was a very
good meeting. The mapping process was spoken
about. Teachers that were there were
very enthusiastic about this, but their biggest concern was finding the time to
get it all done. She said the next
meeting for this Committee will be held on
6. Professional
Development
Chairperson Bell asked Mrs. Boutilier if there was anything to report with regards to this Committee seeing that Mrs. Viggiano-Grosse was not present this evening. Mrs. Boutilier had nothing to report.
7. Facilities
Mr. Bostwick reported the
Committee and the Government Operations of the Town Council had a special joint
meeting last week to begin the feasibility study of the five schools. The architect and the architect’s staff will
probably begin walking through the schools next week and documenting
information. The report is scheduled to
be completed by
8. Technology
No report.
9. Transportation/Accommodations
No report.
None.
10. Recognitions
Dr. Vautour said student Kyle Federici recently won
Mr. Pitocco introduced three students who were involved in the A.C.E. Program (Architecture, Construction, and Engineering), a National Mentor Program, and the goals are to give students exposure to professionals who have gone to college, and pursued a career and then work on a specific project with professionals.
Dr. Vautour and Chairperson Bell
introduced Claire Burnett and said the New Haven Symphony declared her as the
Outstanding Teacher In Music for the State of
Dr. Vautour introduced Mrs.
Hinchey, and said she has achieved not only the status of Outstanding
Elementary teacher in the State of
Dr. Vautour had two additional recognitions: a group of West Hill teachers were recognized at the Connecticut Association of Schools Recognition Program on May 11, 2005, for their work on the 4th Grade State’s Fair (Lucy Canfield, Dick Reilly, Lorraine Elliot, Kirsten Hassett, Patricia Crawford, Lori Hutnick, Melissa Walden, and Judy Richey).
Dr. Vautour said recognitions continue to be accrued for students and staff, and this is a sign of dedication and the fine quality of students. He said he is very proud to be associated with this.
11.
Ms. Devine, Ms. Guerrera, and Mr. Fortier were present this evening with students
who had the pleasure of going to
12. Curriculum
Update
Mrs. Boutilier has come before the Board to up-to-date the progress concerning the implementation of the recommendations for curriculum reviews. This is the last time the Board will have this report from her, because everything is as complete as it can be with the 116 recommendations that came out of the reviews over the past number of years.
Mrs. Boutilier gave a presentation highlighting some ideas. She is proud of the progress staff members have made in implementation of their original ideas, and also some of these ideas will be coming back to the Board during the budget season for next year as a request from the departments.
Mrs. Boutilier went through the different areas: In science, the elementary science curriculum is becoming closely aligned with the new standards. In health, a new elementary health curriculum has been purchased. In music, Claire Burnett has been conducting a study by looking at other districts to see what is being done for small group ensembles, and string/orchestra programs, and the elementary staff has done a fine job with the H.O.T.S. program. In art, at the Rocky Hill High School there was a budget proposal two years ago for a digital lab which was scaled back considerably, and the art department has developed a very effective digital art class. In social studies, there is a new course for next year A More Perfect Union. In language arts there has been a major revision of standards, and major revision in Connecticut Mastery Test for next year. The language arts consultant at the middle school is working very closely with social studies teachers to develop reading and writing schools across the curriculum. Mr. Pitocco and Mrs. Hayward have worked with the staff to have a school-wide goal on reading and writing across the curriculum. In business education/library media, students only get formal keyboarding course when they enter 9th grade, and there is going to be a proposal in the fall to implement a keyboarding course at the 6th grade level. In technology education, there are changes in Project Lead the Way, and in the automotive course, there is an automotive certification program proposed which will be shared with the Board in the fall when there is more information regarding this.
Mrs. Boutilier said many good efforts have gone on within the district, in each department. She said with regards to the curriculum mapping area, some departments have completed their maps, and now are in the second step of the process which is looking at the coordination within departments.
13. Rescission
of Non-Renewals
Dr. Vautour said with the adoption of the 2005-2006 budget, he is a position this evening to request that all of the non-tenured teachers who were notified that they had no jobs for next year, can be re-employed. He said he was looking for a motion to rescind all of the notices of non-renewals that were originally sent.
Moved
by Mr. Palazzolo, seconded by Mrs. Schmidt, to
rescind all of the notices of non-renewal for non-tenured teachers as follows: Mary
Aunce-Oberndorfer, Sandra Bonfiglio,
Linda Ceruzzi, David Fortier, Rosemary Fuggetta, Brian Graca, Teresa
Hernandez, Robin Hornstein, Daniel Hott, Michael Iavarone, Richard Incorvati Jr., Stephanie Kelly, Thomas Krupa
Jr., Kathleen Lessard, Pasquale Maggiora,
Jeffrey Mertens, Anna Norland,
Sherri Pereira, Amy Rosenberg, Eileen Schnyder, Brian
Wilcox, Walter Avery, Mary Barnett-Frawley, Lisa Brockel, Marie Cordone, Deborah
Cotton, Karla Harding, Rebekah Harding, Jason Maziarz, James McKinnon IV, Leah O’Leary, Todd Petroff, Lynn Skrzypiec, Marissa Violette, Laurie Antolini, Sandra
Fravel, Tina Maglieri,
Cindy Poulin, Eileen Touger,
Erin Carignan, David Dubos,
Kelly Germaine, Jennifer Holt, Mary Iacobucci, Terri
Ann Lambert, Debora Levine, Jennifer Paragone,
Margaret Szmolda, Maureen Willsey,
and Ann Cox.
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION CARRIED
14. Status of 2004-2005 Budget
Mr. Turansky said current indications are that the school year will end with at least some surplus funds. He is a little reluctant at this point to highlight a specific number because there still is a month of school left. Some of the substitute expenditures have been rising, and said there are some expenses that were a little unexpected. He said he is taking a conservative approach now, and is confident that some surplus funds will be seen by the end of this school year.
Moved
by Mr. Palazzolo, seconded by Mr. Geldof,
that the Board of Education request the Rocky Hill Town Council to adopt a
resolution that if any funds be returned to the Town general fund by the Board
of Education that said funds would be applied to completing as much of the West
Hill School flooring project, begun last summer, as is possible, and that the
Town Manager be directed to expedite this project during the summer of 2005.
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Chairperson Bell said conversations with regards to this would begin with the Mayor and the Town Council immediately.
Chairperson Bell highlighted some upcoming events: Memorial Day Parade (May 30, 2005); Spring Arts Festival (June 1, 2005); senior class has a number of activities including the prom, and Rocky Hill High School graduation will be held on the evening of June 21, 2005. Chairperson Bell urged the students to enjoy these activities but to act responsibly and to remain safe.
15. Executive Session
Moved by Mrs. Schmidt, seconded by Mr. Arico, to go into executive session to discuss two student
disciplinary matters and to vote on same; to discuss the resignation of a
teacher and process all paperwork related to same. (
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION CARRIED
Moved by Mr. Bostwick,
seconded by Mr. Arico, to come out of executive
session. (
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION CARRIED
Moved by Mr. Geldof, seconded by Mr. Arico, to
approve student disciplinary decisions of May 19, 2005.
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION CARRIED
Moved by Mr. Geldof, seconded by Mr. Bostwick, to authorize the
Chairperson of the Board and the Superintendent of Schools to process all
paperwork related to the resignation of Linda Sturm.
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION CARRIED
Moved by Mr. Geldof,
seconded by Mrs. Vargas, to adjourn the meeting. (
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION CARRIED
Respectfully,
Jo-Anne Booth
Recording Secretary
Accepted by: _____________________________ Date: _________________________