TOWN
OF ROCKY HILL
BOARD
OF EDUCATION
MEETING
OF
Members
Present: Nadine Bell (Chairman)
Peter Arico
Kirk Bostwick
Neil Geldof
Francis Palazzolo
Anne Schmidt
Catherine Vargas
Charles McMonigle
Jennifer Viggiano-Grosse
Members
Absent:
Dr.
J.A.
A meeting of the Board of Education was
held on
The pledge of allegiance was recited.
Mrs. Bell offered congratulations to
Mr. Watson and his wife, Amy, on the arrival of their baby girl.
APPROVAL
OF MINUTES
Moved by Mr. Arico, seconded by Mr. Bostwick, to accept the minutes
of the
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION CARRIED
Moved by Mr. Bostwick, seconded by Mr. Palazzolo, to accept
the minutes of the
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION
CARRIED
CORRESPONDENCE
Mrs. Boutilier reported on the
following items of correspondence:
(1) CIAC Tournament Director thanking
athletic directors for their cooperation, support, and help with the basketball
tournament.
(2)
Mr. Dick Reilly sent thanks for the sympathy extended
regarding the loss of his mom.
(3)
Mrs. Mary Aunce-Oberndorfer sent thanks for the concern
regarding her car accident. She is back
at the high school.
AUDIENCE
PARTICIPATION
RHTA
Liaison Committee – No Report.
Student
Representatives
Reporting about charity drives, sports,
and field trips at
Reporting activities for
There was no report from the elementary
schools.
Meeting
Open to the Public – The following persons spoke informing the Board of excessive
heat and the lack of air conditioning in some classrooms at the Stevens and
Griswold schools:
1) Mrs. Lucy
Hamann of
2) Mrs. Carey
Cavallo of
3) Mrs. Christine
Canfield of
4) Mrs. Kelly
Dannahey of 94 Farms Village Road said she attended the open house last week,
at night, and was sweating (and that wasn’t the heat of the day). Her kids are coming home flush and she can’t
see how they are being productive in that environment. She would be more than willing to purchase a
unit for her daughter’s classroom especially if there are other units being
used in the school; every student should have the same right.
5) Mrs. Jean
Merola of 163 Speno Ridge said the exact same thing is going on at
Chairman Bell thanked everyone for
coming forward and expressing their concerns.
She said the Board will be looking into it and speakers will be notified
through the mail of an upcoming facilities government operations meeting that
will take place on October 11th.
1.
Consent Calendar
The consent calendar included (a) field
trip to
Moved by Mrs. Vargas, seconded by Mr. Palazzolo, to accept
the consent calendar for September 15, 2005.
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION CARRIED
COMMITTEE
REPORTS
2. Personnel and Negotiations
No report.
3. Policy
No report.
4. Finance
No report.
5. Curriculum
No report.
6. Professional Development
Mrs. Viggiano-Grosse reported teachers
returned to school on August 24th for three days of professional
training. Staff learned from their
colleagues about new initiatives in curriculum work that was completed this
summer. The elementary staff also
received training on the newest reading and writing skills that are being
required of our students this year and our math program being implemented in grade
3.
7. Facilities
No report.
8. Technology
No report.
9. Transportation/Accommodations
No report.
OLD
BUSINESS
None.
NEW
BUSINESS
10.
Opening Day
Report/Introduction of New Staff
Mrs. Boutilier reported that on August
21st twenty-one new teachers began working for the town and that
2,575 students returned on August 29th, (last year’s number was
2,496).
Mr. Pitocco, introduced the following
new staff at the high school: Lisa
Goldstein, Magdalena Kruk,
Mr. Colonghi introduced the following
new staff at
Mr. Pear introduced the following new
staff at Moser and Stevens schools: Aliska
Ouellette, Kristyn Carter, Kendra Alling.
Mrs. Marino introduced the following
new staff at
Mrs. Boutilier introduced the following
district-wide staff: Nathaniel Maycock,
technology analyst and Mary Ann Beliveau, TLC Coordinator.
Moved by Mr. Bostwick, seconded by Mr. McMonigle, to recess
(
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION CARRIED
11. Visitors from
Introduced earlier in the meeting.
12. SAT Report
Mr. Pitocco stated that the following
corrections need to be made to his report:
The verbal and mathematics means have
dropped below that of the
Mr. Pitocco explained that these are
the most recent, not the highest scores of students. He believes the high school is on the right
track, but they are not satisfied with the scores, and will look at what they
are doing to determine if changes need to be made.
Mrs. Schmidt asked if when looking at
the 85% who took the SAT, how many took the prep course. Mr. Pitocco said he would get that
information.
Mrs. Schmidt asked about the percentage
of students not taking the test. Mr.
Pitocco said anyone planning to attend a junior college is not required to take
an SAT, and if they know that is where they are going, they don’t take it.
Mrs. Boutilier asked that the data is
being treated very seriously. She said
the guidance department has been asked to look at the data to see what they can
learn and classroom teachers will look at curriculum and methodology to see if
there is anything they can do.
Chairman Bell asked about the SAT prep
course provider and does the service acknowledge the difference in the second
generation SAT. Mr. Pitocco said yes, it
is a small, private company and the person running the course is very, very
aware of the new test.
Chairman Bell also asked about a trend
with regard to the SAT, CAP and Mastery tests, and how the numbers progressed
over the years, and was there any correlation in the trends in how students in
each class achieved on each test? Mr.
Pitocco stated that it was looked at a couple years ago and they saw nothing
firm. Mrs. Boutilier said she also
looked back and from a quick glance she could make no correlation, but she
would dig down deeper and will include the results in the final analysis.
Chairman Bell asked when the data is
analyzed that it show where in different bands the students fall and the
numbers in those areas (whether the middle of the pack is about the same, and
are there more high flyers this year than previous).
Mrs. Schmidt asked that the final
analysis include the number of times students have taken the test.
Moved by Anne Schmidt, seconded by Peter Arico, to take
Agenda Item #16 out of order.
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION
CARRIED
16. Summer School Report
Mrs. Boutilier announced 341 students
attended various courses during the month of July being taught by 59 staff
members.
Kathy Hallett, K-12 Enrichment Coordinator,
said this is the seventh year of the program.
87 children participated, which was down from last year (115-130) and
she could find no particular reason for the dip. They continued with the camp theme with a
concentration on volunteerism, (each program gave away some of the things they
made). She said this is a popular program
for middle school children – they work as teaching assistants. It was a very positive summer for the kids
who did take advantage of it.
Mr. Strange spoke about the ESOL Summer
Fun program. He explained this is a
2-week program that helps children who are learning the English language to
become more proficient with the language and it is a time to have fun with
language. Children who are going into grades
1 through 4 participate and last year there were 6 children in the
program. Week one, this year, had 14
children, and week two, had 16. He is
looking forward to next year’s program.
Mr. Colonghi spoke about the
Mrs. Boutilier spoke about Celebration
of Learning, an elementary level remedial program. She explained that in previous years two,
2-week sessions were offered which was changed this year to one 3-week
session. Reports she received from
teachers were that they felt they got to know the children better and the
additional week was much more effective.
Bill Duffy will be doing a data analysis to see if their participation
does, in fact, make a difference in terms of their classroom achievement. She said for next year, students will be
notified on their third quarter report card inviting them to participate in
summer school.
13. CAPT Report
Dr.
Mrs. Schmidt asked when the CAPT scores
would go home to students. Mrs. Boutilier
said in the next couple of weeks they would be mailed from the high school.
Mrs. Schmidt asked about the math
scores and whether the math specialist will have an eye towards the CAPT and
the SAT, and are we teaching things in the right place to progress to tests
like this. Mrs. Boutilier said,
absolutely, and that the state continually raises the bar and that next year, a
new more difficult CAPT will be given.
The state has also more closely aligned the Connecticut Mastery Test
with the skills measured by the CAPT test.
Mrs. Boutilier commended Bob and Donna
at the high school who two years ago made a school-wide focus of literacy
across the curriculum that requires every department in the high school to look
at how they can work with their students to build these skills. She thinks Rocky Hill is seeing the payoff.
14. NEASC Update
Mr. Pitocco spoke about the
accreditation process. He said it occurs
every ten years. Members of NEASC visit
the school and a self-evaluation is done.
The visiting committee provides the school with a report on
recommendations and commendations in the seven standard areas that NEASC
believe to be the foundations for good high schools. Since receiving the report, we have submitted
interim and status reports informing them on where we are concerning their
recommendations. The expectation is that
within the first five years, we will have completed and addressed all the
recommendations that were detailed in the initial report - which we have
done. The letter states that we continue
to be an accredited institution by the standards of the NEASC.
Mr. Pitocco informed the board that
they are missing Page 2, the recommendations page, of the report. He said they
are routine recommendations and that he will get that page to the board.
Mr. Pitocco said RHHS is in good shape,
and they are very happy about the fact that they are accredited. It has been a long and arduous task, but high
school reform is on the front burner. He
explained that NEASC standards are important because they are tied to standards
set by the federal government, the administration, and the State Board of
Education. He thanked the Board for
their support and he commended his staff for the hard work they’ve put into the
process.
15. Annual Yearly Progress Results under NCLB
Mrs. Boutilier spoke about the AYP
results. She explained we have until
2014 to have 100% of our students at the proficiency range, so each year the
state moves our target forward toward that goal. For now, we have met the goal; however, it is
only a matter to time before every school in the State of
17. Senior Tax Deferral Program
Mrs. Boutilier reported about the
Senior Tax Deferral Program. She
explained it is a very successful program developed about five years ago. At this time, about 20 senior citizens
provide a variety of services to our schools who, in return, receive a
deferment on their taxes. We have a
delightful group of women who love being in the schools and interacting with
children. She thanked Kathy for the
program and the seniors who participate.
18. Status Report on FICA Alternative Program
Mr. Turansky said this plan was
discovered when the 1998-1999 budget was adopted and the Board was seeking
money-saving opportunities. The plan involves non-certified, part-time
employees who, instead of participating in social security, make a contribution
to a personal savings account that’s maintained by an insurance company. Their out-of-pocket expenses are the same;
however, the Board saves because it does not have to make the matching
contribution to social security which Mr. Turansky estimated has saved the Board
$391,000. Mrs. Schmidt thanked Mr. Turansky for his creative thinking and fine
efforts.
19. Assistance to Hurricane Katrina Evacuees
Mrs. Boutilier reported the Town
Manager has charged her staff with renovating the Human Services building to
accommodate a family from the gulf tragedy.
The State Commissioner of Education has met with the superintendents and
asked that they expedite the process of enrolling students into the schools
(without paperwork, medical forms, etc.) and ease the process - which Rocky
Hill is prepared to do.
Mrs. Bell encouraged everyone watching
to look for open house notices and support athletic teams and the Royal Blues
Marching Band competition on October 1.
Moved by Mrs. Vargas, seconded by Mrs. Viggiano-Grosse, to
adjourn the meeting (
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION
CARRIED
Respectfully submitted,
Juanda J. Simons
Recording Secretary
Accepted by: _______________________ Date: _____________________