TOWN
OF ROCKY HILL
BOARD
OF EDUCATION
MEETING
OF
Members
Present: Neil
Geldof (Chairman)
Nadine Bell
Peter Arico
Mark E. Carberry
Charles McMonigle
Rene R. Rivard
Anne Schmidt
Catherine Vargas
Members
Absent: Jennifer
Viggiano-Grosse
A meeting of the Board of Education was
held on
The pledge of allegiance was recited.
APPROVAL
OF MINUTES
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. Arico, to accept the
minutes of the
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION CARRIED
Moved by Mr. Arico, seconded by Mrs. Bell, to amend the
minutes of the February 16, 2006, Facilities Committee meeting as follows: “Present were: Committee Chair Peter Arico, Committee
Members Nadine Bell and Jennifer Viggiano-Grosse, Board Members Neil Geldof,
Rene Rivard, Catherine Vargas and Anne Schmidt…”.
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION CARRIED
Moved by Mr. Arico, seconded by Mrs. Schmidt, to accept the
minutes of the
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION CARRIED
Moved by Mr. Carberry, seconded by Mr. Arico, to accept the
minutes of the
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION CARRIED
CORRESPONDENCE
Dr. Vautour reported receipt of the
following correspondence:
(1)
Thank you notes from Claudia Bertz and Annette White for
flowers sent for illnesses.
(2)
A juried art exhibit at the
(3)
Thank you note from Heifer International, a humanitarian
group, for a donation of $813, raised by students the high school, Family and
Consumer Science program through a silent auction of the gingerbread houses
that students made. Heifer International
is an organization that obtains livestock for third world countries so that
they are able to raise their own livestock, and provide people of the country
with the opportunity to become self-sustaining.
Through the efforts of Karen Redanz and students, money raised purchased
a heifer, a llama, a goat, a number of chicks, and a number of tree seedlings.
(4)
The GMS Drama Club invited Board members to attend a
production on Saturday, March 25, at
AUDIENCE
PARTICIPATION
RHTA
Liaison Committee – No report.
Student
Representatives
Joe Crafa from Stevens School reported grades
3 through 5 just completed CMT testing; St. Patrick’s Day is being recognized
with stories and songs and leprechaun traps; grade 3 has begun reading with a
goal of 25,000 books before the end of the school year; and Alyssa Capucilli
visited and spoke with students about being an author and illustrator.
Kelly Clancy from Stevens School
reported on events at Moser and Stevens schools including, Old Fashioned Game
Day, Family Fun Dance, and the Grades 3 and 4 Invention Convention in which the
following eight students and their inventions have been chosen to represent
Stevens School at UCONN on April 29th:
Kristijan Maandi, the magnetic,
Zack Federici, the travel tray, Kristin Cancelliere, the life floater,
Morgaynn Gorski, the safer tree, Michelle Runge, diaper and wipes, Kraymer
Bond, the light up leash, Sarah Slowik, the scented trash basket, and Katie
Slavin, the watch light.
Bryanna Montalvo and James Randall from
Pooja Shah and Manuela Silvestre of
Cortney Thompson with assistance from
Katherine Bane from
Meeting
Open to the Public
Mrs. Marie Benedetto of
1. Consent Calendar
Moved by Mrs. Schmidt, seconded by Mr. Rivard, to approve
the
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION CARRIED
COMMITTEE REPORTS
2.
Personnel and Negotiations: No report.
3.
Policy. Dr. Vautour requested the first reading of
Policy 1330, dealing with Community Relations, Facilities Use, fee
structures. The policy has been reviewed
by the Policy Committee and the Board received copies of revisions which
addressed the use of kitchens and specifies that they can be used for
activities and organizations that are supportive of school activities.
Dr. Vautour said there will be one
change, on Page 2, the final line stating that, “A minimum advance notice of
one week is required for scheduling purposes in the obtaining of the temporary
food license. The tri-town health
district form calls for a minimum of two
weeks, so we will make that revision.
Changes in the remainder of the policy are in the rental fee schedules
which have gone from a simple unit to an hourly rate.
Dr. Vautour said no action is called
for this evening; he will bring the Policy forward at the next board meeting
which will constitute a second reading, and will make a request for formal
adoption.
4. Finance.
No report.
5. Curriculum. No report.
6. Professional Development. No report.
7.
Facilities. Mr. Arico reported the committee met six
times and discussed enrollment projections, the possible scenario of
construction or change at
8. Technology.
No report.
9.
Transportation/Accommodations.
No report.
OLD
BUSINESS
None.
NEW
BUSINESS
10. Non-Renewal of Non-tenured Personnel
Dr. Vautour explained this is the time
of the year when the Board takes a precautionary step to insure maximum budget
flexibility. The Board has received a
list of all non-tenured teachers and asked that the Board pass a motion to
non-renew these individual for budgetary purposes.
Moved by Mr. McMonigle, seconded by Mrs. Schmidt, for
non-renewal of contracts for all non-tenured Professional Staff as of March 30,
2006 as follows: Mary
Aunce-Oberndorfer, Teresa Aurigemma, Sandra Bonfiglio, Linda Ceruzzi, David
Fortier, Lisa Goldstein, Brian Graca, Robin Hornstein, Michael Iavarone,
Richard Incorvati, Jr., Stephanie Kelly, Magdalenda Kruk, Thomas Krupa, Jr.,
Kathleen Lessard, Jeffrey Mertens, Stacey Moed-Klein, Sherri Pereira, Sarah
Petrario, Eileen Schnyder, Brian Wilcox, Katarzyna Wojtak, Matthew Benson,
Linda Carneiro, Marie Cordone, Rosemary Fuggetta, Christine Hany, Karla
Harding, Rebekah Harding, Jason Maziarz, James McKinnon, IV, Laura Ribaudo,
Lynn Skrzypiec, Marissa Violette, Michael Vye, Kristyn Carter, Sandra Fravel,
Tina Maglieri, Cindy Poulin, Eileen Touger, Cara Viggiano, Eliska Bayley, Erin
Carignan, Sarah D’Arco, Ann Gombotz, Mary Iacobucci, Terri Ann Lambert, Debora
Levine, Lynn Marinelli, Kelly Mota, Jennifer Paragone, Kelly Yureckko, Ann Cox,
Joyce Waterbury, Matthew Bennett, Vanessa Donovan, Melvyna Drucker.
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION CARRIED
11. Community of Concern
Mrs. Boutilier introduced a program
that she, Lori Stanczyk, Youth Services Director, and Frank Dannahey, Youth
Officer from the Rocky Hill Police Department, have been researching The program is called Community of Concern
and a nation-wide program designed to help students stay free from tobacco,
alcohol, and drugs. The program is
presently in place in 20 states, including
After the presentation, a discussion
will take place as to whether or not this is something we should pursue for
Rocky Hill and will take place on Wednesday, March 22, from
12. Myspace.com
Dr. Vautour spoke about the website
known as myspace.com, and the growing concern that sexual predators are using
this site as a way of accessing information concerning young children, preteens,
and teenagers.
He expressed appreciation to Officer
Frank Dannahey of the Rocky Hill Police Department who is an expert in this
area. While other districts are
scrambling to put programs together, Officer Dannahey has been working with our
schools. Earlier this year, he informed all 7th and 8th
graders what this website is about. He
explained there are plans for Frank to do a presentation for RHHS students, and
on April 6th he is doing a parent presentation. Dr. Vautour encouraged Board members to
attend if possible. Officer Dannahey is
extremely effective and we are fortunate to have him and will continue to
monitor this topic so we can provide as much information to the public as
possible to insure the safety of our children.
Mrs. Bell stated Officer Dannahey is
currently in the process of taping a segment for Dateline which will be aired in April. Dr. Vautour said he was also highlighted in a
recent New York Times Sunday edition.
He is recognized as one of the leading authorities on myspace.com.
Mr. Geldof requested a motion to change
the Board meeting from April 6th to April 27th enabling
Board members to attend the myspace.com presentation.
Moved by Mr. Arico, seconded by Mrs. Schmidt, to change the
date of the
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION CARRIED
13. Wellness Initiatives
Dr. Levy introduced a team that has
begun to look at developing policy concerning wellness. Mary Roche, school nurse at Stevens, Jane
Gregg, Subject Area Supervisor for Heath and PE at Stevens, Diana Gavin, school
nurse at GMS, and Connie McCartney, District Food Services Director, and Karen
Redanz who is absent this evening.
Dr. Levy said federal and state
governments have studied child wellness and nutrition as part of developing
healthy lifestyles and habits in children and their families. Results of studies conducted over the last 13
years have told us there is a definitive link between student health and nutrition
and school achievement.
Today’s world consists of fast food,
technology, pressure, and stress and what we are looking at tonight is the
early stages of team’s work looking at policies and determine what approaches
we need to take as a school district so that students, community members,
parents, and school personnel come together to build the kind of system that’s
going to support a healthy lifestyle through nutrition and physical activity for
our children in the future.
The Child Nutrition and WIC
Reauthorization Act of 2004 mandates by
Mrs. Mary Roche provided a historical
perspective regarding lifestyle changes.
10-15 years ago numbers of students suffering from obesity and being
overweight started to rise. At this
time, there are between 10 and 15 percent of students in Rocky Hill who are seriously
overweight or obese. Things that might
be contributing to this include a predominance of prepared and fast foods which
is very high in calories and fat, computers becoming playmates and information
sources for children with the click of a button, safety which prevents many
children from playing outside after school, riding their bikes to the park and
playing, or walking to the library, etc.
What has happened with these lifestyle changes is that this generation
of parents will pass on to their children the legacy that they will not enjoy
the same life expectancy as the parent because children are riddled with type 2
diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease.
Mrs. Jane Gregg spoke about physical
activity and health. One philosophy as
being, nutrition is the king, exercise is the queen and together they make a
kingdom. We need both and policy the
team is developing will address both areas.
Nutrition and physical activity promote achievement. Research shows good test scores correlate
with good health. Poor nutrition hampers
academic achievement while increased physical activity leads of higher academic
achievement. Schools offering intensive
physical activity programs see positive effects on academic achievement even
when time is taken away from the academic day.
It’s proven to increase concentration, improve mathematics, reading, and
writing scores and reduce disruptive behaviors.
Mrs. Gregg spoke about nine pilot
programs over the past two years that have worked on the wellness program and
the major areas being addressed are elementary recess, physical education time
in grades K through 12, opportunities for staff to exercise, and partnership
with parents and community to promote and increase physical activity. Under recess in all the pilot programs, it
says it is an essential component of education; it allows children to practice
life skills such as conflict resolution, cooperation, respect for rules, taking
turns, sharing, and communication. A
very important factor stated in all policies of the pilot programs is that
recess may not be withheld for disciplinary or academic reasons. If a child that is struggling or having
disruptive behavior one of the worst things you can do is not let them go
outside and release some of their energy.
Recess should not be viewed as a reward but as a necessary educational
support component. Recess should be held
before lunch.
In the area of physical education in
the pilot programs it is suggested to increase the inter-mural programs, increase
opportunities for students before and after school especially for students who
cannot go out and play when they get home, students should not be pulled out of
physical education, students in high school should develop a personal wellness
portfolio before graduation pulling all that they have learned concerning
wellness and use it to lead a productive, healthy, and happy life as an adult
after leaving school.
Mrs. Connie McCartney spoke about
nutritional guidelines and goals to promote student health and reduce childhood
obesity. The guidelines and goals
address issues such as nutritional values and portion size, regulating vending
machine and concession and school store offerings, eliminating the use of food
as a reward, eliminating the use of unhealthy food for fundraisers, and
nutrition education and communication with parents on wellness. An early survey of the current school lunch
offerings indicates they are ahead because food service has been working on
goals since last year. Some of the things
they’ve done is reduce the fat and saturated fat to be below state
requirements; bake or steam all main entree items like chicken patties and
nuggets, purchase low-fat hot dogs, offer fresh fruit daily (which has tripled
in consumption over the last year), added more whole wheat products like whole
wheat pizza, offer low-fat, baked chips and low-fat cookies and said the
elementary school children didn’t notice a difference in the taste, but middle
and high school students did. They offer
a healthy-snack-of-the-month (this month’s offering is baby carrot sticks in
entertaining packages which the kids are eating).
Mrs. Gavin stated for the last year
they have been sending out newsletters to parents presenting information concerning
a healthy lifestyle.
Dr. Levy said this all comes together
as a collaborative effort to develop a healthy lifestyle. Physical activity programs are linked to
stronger academic achievement. Students
participating in daily physical education exhibit better attendance, a well-nourished
student who skips breakfast performs worse on tests and has poor concentration,
kids who eat breakfast learn better, are able to concentrate, make fewer errors,
score higher on tests, are more creative, work faster, behave better, are more
cooperative and less likely to be sent to the principal’s office for discipline
problems, and get along better with classmates.
Mrs. Diane Gavin presented the
nutrition education and promotion component of the policy. Research shows that the health and well-being
of students is one of the most significant influences on student learning and
academic achievement. Schools alone
cannot solve the nutritional problems of children. It will take the combined efforts of
families, schools, communities, health care providers, the food industry, and
the media to make significant progress.
Schools have an especially critical role to play since more than 97% of
young people are enrolled in schools.
Schools are not only responsible for academic preparation, but also for
preparing students for life which includes teaching them the necessary skills
and behaviors for lifelong health. Research
also shows that well-designed educational programs can improve the eating
habits of students. Nutrition education
should be offered as a part of a planned, ongoing, systematic, sequential,
standards-based, K-12 comprehensive school health program designed to provide
students with the knowledge and skills necessary to promote their health. The program should be developmentally
appropriate and culturally relevant. It
should be based on theories and methods proven effective by published research
and consistent with state and district comprehensive school health education
standards, guidelines, and curriculum framework. Students should be able to demonstrate
competency through application of knowledge, skill development, and
practice. However, the interdisciplinary
approach should compliment, and not replace, sequential nutrition education
lessons within a comprehensive school health education curriculum.
Comprehensive health education should
be graded and the grade earned should have the same weight for those earned in
other subjects towards academic recognition.
The nutrition education program should have links to the school food
services program, classroom activities during and after school, as well as
other coordinated school health initiatives.
Staff members responsible for nutrition education should be adequately
prepared and have regular participation in professional development activities
to effectively deliver this education. Instructional
staff should collaborate and coordinate with agencies and groups conducting
nutrition education in the communities, so a consistent message is sent to
students and families. The school
district should conduct nutrition education activities and promotions that
involve parents, students, and community.
Adults have a significant impact on the
development of student’s health behaviors.
Health education and promotion should extend beyond the classroom by
educating and building awareness among staff, family, and community about the
importance of nutrition and physical activity to academic success and life-long
wellness. Encourage them to be positive
role models exhibiting healthy eating habits and physical activity
behaviors. The task is great and must be
a collaborative effort that evolves and grows to effectively enhance students’
overall health, behavior, and academic achievement.
Mr. Carberry stated he always stressed
nutrition and exercise as a personal top priority and recognized there has been
legislation introduced over the past two years pertaining to drinks used in
schools (like low fat milk, 100% fruit juice), and last year it didn’t go
anywhere but this year there is another proposal, and asked if there are any
movements in our school district to try and eliminate the vending machines,
soft drinks, Gatorade, etc.? Dr. Levy
said the policy committee has not gotten into that aspect yet, they are in the
process of developing policy and looking at what’s required. Dr. Vautour believes the high school has
restrictions on vending machines and sale of other foods during the period of
lunch so that there is no competition with the school lunch program and foods that
might be less nutritious.
14.
Dr. Vautour explained the State
Department of Connecticut has been engaged in a program with Shandong Province
in China wherein there is an encouragement to have schools partner and exchange
ideas as to how they might be able to engage students in learning about the
culture of our respective countries and at the same time share pedagogical
principles with Chinese counterparts, so we can study what they do effectively
and they can study what we do effectively.
There are currently 46 districts that
have paired up with schools in
During April vacation, Terry Wilson and
Dr. Vautour will visit Yantai to meet the principal of the elementary school
and begin formal discussions as to what sort of distance learning might occur
and what activities might be appropriate.
Notions of music and art activities are the primary targets to begin
with. Transportation to, from, and in
15. Executive Session
Moved by Mr. McMonigle, seconded by Mrs. Vargas, to move the
meeting into Executive Session (
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION
CARRIED
Moved by
Mr. Vargas, seconded by Mrs. Schmidt, to come out of Executive Session. (
FAVOR:
ALL
MOTION CARRIED
Moved by
Mrs. Vargas, seconded by Mr. Rivard, to adjourn the meeting. (
FAVOR:
ALL
MOTION CARRIED
Respectfully submitted,
Juanda Simons, Recording Secretary
Accepted by: ____________________
Date:
_____________________