November 2011

THESE MINUTES ARE SUBJECT TO BOARD APPROVAL AT THE NEXT BOARD OF EDUCATION MEETING
ESSEX ELEMENTARY SCHOOL BOARD OF EDUCATION
NOVEMBER 30, 2011

Regular meeting of the Essex Board of Education was held on Wednesday, November 30, 2011. In attendance were Lon Seidman, DG Fitton, Loretta McCluskey, Adam Conrad, Judie McCann. Also in attendance were Dr. Ruth Levy, Superintendent, Mr. Ian Neviaser, Assistant Superintendent, Mr. Garth Sawyer, Business Manager, Dr. Joanne Beekley, Principal, Mrs. Deborah O’Donnell, Assistant Principal and Kelley Frazier, Clerk. Absent: Matt Cooper

CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order by Lon Seidman at 7:00p.m.

Mr. Seidman asked Ms. McCluskey, Mr. Conrad and Ms. McCann to introduce themselves.

Mr. Seidman led the Pledge of Allegiance.

Mr. Seidman asked for the student presentation to be moved up in the agenda.

PRINCIPAL’S UPDATE- J. Beekley
Student Presentation
Dr. Beekley introduced sixth grade students Claire Bauman and Devin Berlepsch who gave the school update by grade level. Mr. Seidman thanked the students for their presentation.

ELECTION OF OFFICERS
Dr. Levy opened the floor for the nominations for the office of chairman.

A motion was made by DG Fitton to nominate Lon Seidman Chairman of the Essex Elementary Board of Education. Loretta McCluskey seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

Chairman Seidman opened the floor for the following nominations:

Mr. Seidman moved to nominate DG Fitton as the Vice Chair of the Essex Elementary Board of Education. Loretta McCluskey seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

DG Fitton moved to nominated Loretta McCluskey as the Secretary of the Essex Elementary Board of Education. Judie McCann seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

Special Committees:
After a brief description of the Special Committee responsibilities, Mr. Seidman asked for volunteers for the following Special Committees:

Supervision District: Lon Seidman, Loretta McCluskey and DG Fitton
Policy: Loretta McCluskey, Lon Seidman
Curriculum: Judie McCann, Adam Conrad
Negotiations: DG Fitton and Judie McCann
Finance: Adam Conrad and Lon Seidman
Cable Television: DG Fitton
Essex Foundation: DG Fitton and Loretta McCluskey
School Improvement Team: Matt Cooper

CONSENT AGENDA
DG Fitton made a motion to approve the minutes from the September 8, 2011 meeting and the Accounts Payable report. Loretta McCluskey seconded the motion. The motion carried by a unanimous vote.

PUBLIC COMMENT
No Comment

REPORTS:
Financial Status Report – Mr. Garth Sawyer
Mr. Sawyer gave a brief update of the financial status for Essex Elementary School. Fuel oil has not been locked in so we are ordering at market value. This is more than what we have budgeted and may cause this account to be over budget. Mr. Sawyer has a meeting on December 9th and will have an update on the status.

Cafeteria Report – Mr. Sawyer
Mr. Sawyer gave an update on the status of the Cafeteria Budget Updates. We are still projecting the board subsidy, but no additional funds are expected.

Finance – L. Seidman
Finance met and had a presentation of the insurance plan for the district. This committee is starting to work on budget numbers.

Joint PK-12 Policy Committee – L. Seidman
Policy reviewed five policies which will be voted on at the Joint Board of Education meeting on December 1, 2011. Dr. Levy will give a presentation before the vote on the bullying policy. This group also discussed the acceptable student and employee use policy for internet technology. Dr. Levy noted that staff and student computers can be monitored at all times.

Supervision District – L. Seidman
FLES will be discussed at the December 1, 2011 meeting. The administration met with CABE to get advice regarding the governance issues of the Cooperative Agreement.
Curriculum
This committee approved a new Algebra II book. FLES, if funded, will come back next year. The new guidelines for math will require students do a quick review of math facts each night. This is similar to the reading guidelines which students currently do. These new guidelines were sent to parents in a letter.

ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT - I. Neviaser
Mr. Neviaser reported meeting with all curriculum groups. They are focusing on the new CT standards. The focus is on literacy across multiple curriculums. Non-fiction text is also being focused on. FLES will be evaluated internally. The Math consultants have been meeting with grade level teams before each unit to develop consistency across our schools. Our goal is to make sure every student going to John Winthrop has the same skills and abilities. He noted that internal assessment is K-6. The current guideline is to have students read for 20 minutes and parents sign off. Math will have a similar guideline. By the time students leave 4th grade, students should be fluent in all math facts. Fifth and Sixth grade will also do this, but will also apply the rules of math for advanced work. The feedback is good so far. The CBAS is wrapping up. The students third through sixth grade take an online test. The supplemental CMT testing is going to be online this year. The TEAM committee will meet next week. The fifth module will involve technology and connecting with students in the classroom as to what is appropriate and what is not appropriate. This will be a pilot program. On December 1 the administrators will be going to the Middlesex Consortium meeting. Mr. Larry Ainsworth will be speaking.

SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT - R. Levy
District Update
Dr. Levy said that budgets are already being worked on. We are looking at full day Kindergarten as the initiative for all of our elementary schools. Due to declining enrollment, this is the time to implement this program.

Dr. Levy discussed a meeting with the lead attorney regarding the Cooperative Agreement and the details to unite our three towns. They also discussed the pitfalls and wording from a statutory standpoint. Dr. Levy noted that regional efficiency will be looked at positively by the Commissioner. We hope to make headway this year.

Dr. Levy said that all schools will be on the website and that each school will have individual links. Ms. Murphy has been working very hard to make navigation through the web page much easier. Ms. Murphy would like continued feedback and suggestions. Streaming will also be part of this update.

We are supporting Sisters City and our sister city of Deschapelles, Haiti from an education standpoint. Teachers from all five schools will be involved in training teachers from this city.

Administrators are looking at instructional strategies to keep everyone on the same page as to what good teaching and good learning looks like. They are looking to begin teacher training which will include instructional rounds of coaching in one another’s classrooms.

Recess before lunch is being piloted in Chester and will be brought to the other elementary schools next year. We are eliminating recess in sixth grade next year. There is a preliminary committee to have the middle school accommodate sixth, seventh and eighth. This is a few years down the road.

Review of Roof Repair:
Dr. Beekley discussed the report given to the school on the status of the roof. She noted that after the inspection, the largest repairs have been made, and the smaller repairs are being done by Tom. In the gym the skylights leaked horribly during Hurricane Irene. These have been re-caulked and at this time, the leaks have been taken care of. There is concern about some of the older seams. Based on this report we have a life span of approximately two years.

Mr. Conrad asked if the structure integrity of the roof was evaluated? We do know that under the membrane there will be places that need to be repaired. Mr. Marzi, town Selectmen, discussed at the time that the Renovation Plan was approved in 1999, the roof was not done due to budgetary reasons. What has to be done must be done in the summer. This will be a very expensive endeavor. Mr. Marzi would strongly recommend going to the Board of Finance to get approval to make sure the roof is secured for the next two years. Estimates will need to be done for work being done during the summer of 2013. Mr. Sawyer noted that the state has guidelines regarding reimbursement. He will review the guidelines. Because we have the preschool under a cooperative agreement, we may be eligible for additional funding. Mr. Needleman noted that he feels a full roof evaluation is not needed at this time because the roof seems stable. Mr. Marzi noted that the Building Committee has not been disbanded, but a meeting has not been called in a few years. Mr. Needleman commented that the Town Hall may also require work so a capital need may be justified in the next two years. Mr. Seidman thanked Mr. Marzi and Mr. Needleman for attending the meeting.

Superintendent’s Presentation of Major EES Budget Drivers 2012-12
Dr. Levy presented a high level helicopter view of the Essex Elementary School budget for next year. Essex ’s total enrollment for 2011-12 has increased slightly from 552 to 555. After this year there is a considerable decline. All three schools are in the same pattern of decline.

There is a contractual step movement with the teacher and other increases in other union positions. Health insurance may increase 12% which is an industry estimate this will change as the budget process moves forward. Heating costs will increase, but we are unsure at this time because prices have not been set. Supervision District will need to fund a .2 position for a social work. The elementary budgets are looking at full day Kindergarten. A K-12 math coordinator may be needed. Special education is the most volatile portion of the budget and weighs heavily. Many districts outlook this sort of expense and we do not do this, but it would be beneficial. A possible FLES teacher may be required depending on the recommendations that are finalized later this year. There will be normal maintenance of the building and classrooms. Staffing increases include 1.0 FTE Kindergarten paraprofessional and .2 FTE for a TLC coordinator to make 1.0 FTE. Technology will be reviewed so that classrooms are 21st century ready. A unified phone system through out our district is in the plan. There will be one additional special education out of district placement. The Capital improvements budget was reviewed by Dr. Beekley. Dr. Levy reviewed the budget meeting workshop schedule.

Board and Community Input on 2012-13 EES Budget
Mr. Seidman asked to have Board members reach out to citizens for feedback.

PUBLIC COMMENT

On a motion made by DG Fitton and seconded by Loretta McCluskey, the Board unanimously voted to add an Executive Session to the agenda. The motion passed.

On motion duly made and seconded, the Board unanimously VOTED to move into Executive Session at 8:51pm to discuss a student matter. Dr. Levy, Mr. Neviaser, Dr. Beekley and Mrs. O’Donnell were invited to attend the Executive Session.

The Board Moved out of Executive Session at 9:03pm.

ADJOURNMENT
On motion duly made and seconded, the Board unanimously VOTED to adjourn at 9:04pm.

Respectfully Submitted,

Kelley Frazier, Board Clerk

FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS
8.1 Next regular Essex BOE Meeting (January 12, 2012 @ 7:00pm)
8.2 Presentation of Draft EES Budget for 2012-13 (Jan) R. Levy
8.3 Review Strategic School Profile (if available from State) (Jan)-I. Neviaser
8.4 EES BOE 2012 Budget Workshops (Feb 1st, Feb 15th, March 5th)
8.5 Vote to adopt EES Budget for 2012-13(Mar)
8.6 Vote on Staff non-renewals (Mar)
8.7 Present EES 2012-13 Budget Town Meeting (TBD)

Website by SchoolMessenger Presence. © 2024 SchoolMessenger Corporation. All rights reserved.