TOWN
OF ROCKY HILL
BOARD
OF EDUCATION
MEETING
OF SEPTEMBER 21, 2006
Members
Present: Neil Geldof (Chairman)
Jennifer Viggiano-Grosse
Nadine Bell
Peter Arico
Mark
Anne Schmidt
Catherine Vargas
Members
Absent: Rene (Skip) Rivard
A meeting of the Board of Education was
held on Thursday, September 21, 2006, in the Council Chambers of the
The pledge of allegiance was recited.
ELECTION
OF OFFICERS
Moved by Peter Arico, seconded by Nadine
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION CARRIED
Moved by Charles McMonigle, seconded by Mark Carberry, to
nominate and appoint Nadine Bell as Secretary of the Board of Education.
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION
CARRIED
APPROVAL
OF MINUTES
Moved by Jennifer Vigginao-Grosse, seconded by Mark
Carberry, to accept the minutes of the August 17, 2006, Policy Committee
meeting.
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION CARRIED
Moved by Peter Arico, seconded by Mark Carberry, to accept
the minutes of the August 17, 2006, Board of Education meeting.
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION
CARRIED
Moved by Peter Arico, seconded by Mark Carberry, to accept
the minutes of the August 29, 2006, Board of Education Open Forum.
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION
CARRIED
Moved by Mark Carberry, seconded by Jennifer
Viggiano-Grosse, to accept the minutes of the September 7, 2006, Finance Committee
meeting.
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION
CARRIED
CORRESPONDENCE
Dr. Vautour reported on the following correspondence:
(1) Thank you not from Mr. Dick Reilly
regarding his retirement.
(2) Field Trip request to
Moved by Neil Geldof, seconded by Jennifer Viggiano-Grosse,
to approve a field trip to
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION CARRIED
(3) September 21, 2006 memorandum to
the Board concerning School Safety and outlining enhancements that are being
put in place for all schools following his meeting with the Town Manager, Chief
of Police, Deputy Chief, Fire Chief, and the Director of Facilities. These
actions include having numbers painted on both sides of all doors, schematics
of each school will be updated, stricter sign-in and sign-out procedures,
employees will be issued photo IDs which they will be required to display
during the work day, stricter systems for deliveries, lockdown procedures, and
regular review and revision of the policies as needed.
Mrs. Schmidt asked if everyone in
attendance at the meeting was satisfied that all issues had been addressed. Dr. Vautour said, yes.
Mr. Arico asked if Dr. Vautour is
confident that our schools are safe. Dr.
Vautour said, absolutely.
AUDIENCE
PARTICIPATION
RHTA
Liaison Committee – No Report.
Student
Representatives
Dominique D’Costa and Thomas Almy
reported on the many activities for grades K-5 at Stevens and
Aasim Shaikh and Katie Cimini reported
on the many activities at
Samantha and Stefanie Whitaker of
Rose Calvo and Sarah Bodwin of
Meeting
Open to the Public
Mrs. Debbie Friday of
1.
Consent Calendar
Moved by Catherine Vargas, seconded by Nadine
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION CARRIED
COMMITTEE
REPORTS
2. Personnel and Negotiations
No report.
3. Policy
Mrs. Viggiano-Grosse requested a second
reading of the school wellness policy.
Dr. Vautour read Policy 5135 as follows:
“School Wellness through Nutrition and
Physical Activity
The Rocky Hill Public Schools
recognizes that student wellness and proper nutrition are related to students’
physical well-being, growth, development, and readiness to learn. The Rocky
Hill Board of Education is committed to providing a school environment that
promotes student wellness, proper nutrition, nutrition education, and regular
physical activity as part of the total learning experience. In a healthy school environment, students
will learn about and participate in positive dietary and lifestyle practices
that can promote student achievement.
To ensure the health and well-being of
all students, The Rocky Hill Board of Education establishes that the District
shall provide to students:
·
A comprehensive nutrition program consistent with federal
and state requirements.
·
Access at reasonable cost to foods and beverages that meet
established nutritional guidelines.
·
Physical education courses and opportunities for
developmentally appropriate physical activity.
·
Curriculum and programs for grades K-12 that are designed to
educate students about proper nutrition and lifelong physical activity, in
accordance with the Connecticut State Board of Education curriculum regulations
and academic standards.
The Superintendent or designee shall be
responsible to monitor district schools, programs, and curriculum to ensure
compliance with this policy, related policies and established guidelines or
administrative regulations.”
Moved by Peter Arico, seconded by Jennifer Viggiano-Grosse,
to approve the School Wellness Policy.
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION CARRIED
4. Finance
Mrs. Schmidt reported that Board of
Education returned $23,546.83 in unexpended funds to the Town’s General Fund.
5. Curriculum
No report.
6. Professional Development
7. Facilities
Mr. Arico reported the Facilities
Committee met on August 29, 2006 and September 20, 2006 in Public Forums where
they presented their Report & Recommendations concerning School Space
Needs. Questions were raised at the
August 29th meeting and responses were given in the September 20th
meeting. Additional questions and issues
raised at the September 20th meeting will be addressed by the
committee during their meeting next week.
He reported that the committee expects to move forward to the Board of
Education for approval in the next month so we can keep this moving.
Mr. Arico thanked Mrs. Friday for her
comments and stated that there is a possibility that we will have to obtain
portable classrooms until everything is approved.
8. Technology
No report.
9. Transportation/Accommodations
No report.
OLD
BUSINESS
None.
NEW
BUSINESS
10.
Dr. Vautour reported that school opened
without any glitches, class size guidelines have been exceeded in eight classes
– obtaining portable units requires significant lead time and will be
considered in the future – a strings program was reinstated this year with 101
students expressing interest to date.
Dr. Vautour said much of the summer was
spent interviewing and hiring staff who he wished to welcome.
Interim Principal Larry Mickel
introduced new staff at Stevens/Moser including Audrey Boutaugh, the new principal,
Elaine Malaspini, Sam Star, Andrea Rossi, Michelle Proto, Diane Rainha, Wendy
Piscatelli, Kelly O’Connell, Andy Basroon and Cathrynn King.
Mrs. Boutilier introduced the following
new staff at
Mrs. Boutilier introduced Patrice Grogan
as the district-wide strings instructor.
Mr. Watson introduced the following new
staff at GMS: John Patrei and Melissa
Whitaker.
Mr. Pitacco introduced the following
new staff at RHHS: Mathew Schwartz,
Georgianne DiCenso (long-term sub), Gregory Gomes, Shannon Turlis (guidance
intern), Leanne Donahue and David Shvetz.
Moved by Neil Geldof, seconded by Jennifer Viggiano-Grosse,
to recess until 8:00 p.m.
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION CARRIED
11. SAT Report
Mr. Pitocco reported in the critical
reading category, Rocky Hill scores increased by 13 points and the five-year
increase has been 21 points; in mathematics, Rocky Hill scores rose 16 points
and the five-year increase has been 24 points; and in writing (this year is the
first year) Rocky Hill High School’s mean was 512 while the national mean was
497. He reported the five-year trends
are positive as reading and writing across the curriculum continues to be a
focus of the instructional program.
12.
Summer School Report
Mrs. Boutilier spoke about the various
summer school programs offered during summer 2006. She introduced Bill Duffy
who spoke about the Celebration of Learning 2006 program. Mr. Duffy explained teachers recommend
students for the program; of the 290 students recommended 139 registered and
attended. There is a maximum class size
of 10 with a low student/teacher ratio. The
numbers do show a “bump” in students who choose to participate in the program
and those who were recommended and chose not to.
Mrs. Bell asked if we know why many of
the recommended students don’t attend.
Mr. Duffy said we have no specific information. Mrs. Boutilier stated
that transportation probably plays a part and that the city of
Mr. Colonghi spoke about the Summer
Learning 2006 program at GMS. He
reported that 102 students participated this year – 13 from surrounding
towns. He explained the program is
funded through a combination of tuition and funds from the
Mr. Strange spoke about the ESOL Summer
Fun 2006 program. He explained this is a
two-week program running from 9:00 – 11:30 a.m., funded through Title III
monies, designed to help children who are learning the English language to
become more proficient. Thirteen
children in grades K through 5 participated.
Mrs. Boutilier reported on the Explore
and Soar program for Kathy Hallett. She
explained enrollment in this program is lowering; a great deal of hard work
went into developing sixteen programs and only three ran. They are putting together a survey to see if
they can determine why the numbers are decreasing.
13. AYP Results
Dr. Vautour reported that Adequate
Yearly Progress results for the elementary and middle schools in the district,
based on the 2006 CMT, indicate that in every subject at every grade level we
have met the AYP targets. The results
for the high school are expected to be received soon. Dr. Vautour again cautioned the Board that it
is just a matter to time before we begin seeing failure in reaching the targets
due to the inherent problems with the assumption that one hundred percent of
all populations are incapable of performing at designated levels. A sample of districts in our ERG failing AYP
include:
14. Authorization to Sell Beverages Under PA
06-63
Mr. Turansky explained Section 1 of
Public Act 06-03, An Act Concerning Healthy Food and Beverages in Schools,
which bans the sale of soda, sports drinks, coffee, and tea in schools to
students. He requested the Board allow
the sale of excluded beverages from concession stands at school events.
Moved by Mark Carberry, seconded by Peter Arico, that the
Rocky Hill Board of Education will permit the sale of beverages not specified
in Section 1 of Public Act 06-63 to students at school provided that ALL of the
following conditions are met. (1) The
sale is in connection with an event occurring after the end of the regular
school day or on the weekend; (2) The sale is at the location of the
event; and (3) The beverages are not sold from a vending
machine or school store.
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION CARRIED
15. Change of Meeting Date
Dr. Vautour requested the date of the
next Board meeting be changed from October 19, 2006 to October 26, 2006 at 7:00
p.m., due to a conflict with the
Moved by Neil Geldof, seconded by Catherine Vargas, to
change the October Board of Education meeting date from October 19th
to Thursday, October 26, 2006, at 7:00 p.m.
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION CARRIED
16. Executive Session
Moved by Charles McMonigle, seconded by Catherine Vargas, to
move the meeting into Executive Session (8:40 p.m.).
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION
CARRIED
Moved
by Neil Geldof, seconded by Jennifer Viggiano-Grosse, to come out of executive
session. (9:14 p.m.)
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION
CARRIED
Moved
by Catherine Vargas, seconded by Anne Schmidt, to adjourn the meeting. (9:15
p.m.)
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION
CARRIED
Respectfully submitted,
Juanda J. Simons
Recording Secretary
Accepted by: _______________________ Date: _____________________