EXHIBIT I
TOWN OF SIMSBURY
BOARD OF EDUCATION
Record of Proceedings
Regular Meeting
Mr. Chris Kelly called the regular meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. in the Board of
Education Conference Room.
November 27, 2012
Roll Call:
Members present: Mrs. Tara Willerup. Messrs. Chris Kelly, Mike Goman, Mike
Wade, Todd Burrick and Tom Doran. Mrs. Lydia Tedone arrived at 7:20 p.m.
Members absent: Mrs. Susan Salina
Also present: Superintendent Matt Curtis, Assistant Superintendent Erin Murray,
Business Manager Burke LaClair and Recording Secretary Katie Wilde.
PUBLIC AUDIENCE
None.
Public Audience
BOARD AND ADMINISTRATIVE COMMUNICATIONS
Communications
Mr. Doran reported on the Technology Advisory Council meeting. He stated that the
virtualization project is off to a good start and a student came and spoke about how
he uses his iPad in class. Mr. Doran recommended that the board accelerate the use
of technology during the budget process.
Mr. Kelly reported on the Curriculum Subcommittee meeting. The subcommittee
covered 2 topics at their meeting, the Simsbury Reading Intervention Program and
the Math program transitions between schools. Mr. Kelly stated that the committee
will look at the math transitions and the program overall when they meet in January
and will report to the board in the spring.
Mr. Curtis reported on one of the workshops he attended during the CABE/CAPSS
conference. The workshop included superintendents, board members, the
Commissioner of Education and members of the State Board of Education for a
discussion on education reform and concerns relative to the timetable for
implementation.
RECOMMENDED ACTIONS
A. Approval of Minutes of November 13, 2012 Meeting
Ms. Willerup: MOVE approval of the minutes of the November 13, 2012 meeting.
Mr. Doran:
Approval of
Minutes of
November 13,
2012
Seconded. So moved. Mr. Goman abstained
B. Personnel
Mr. Goman: MOVE that the Board of Education accept the resignation of Sally Ames
effective June 30, 2012.
Mr. Burrick: Seconded. So moved.
Personnel
C. Unaffiliated Salaries
Page 2
Unaffiliated
Salaries
Mr. Goman: MOVE that the unaffiliated employee contribution to the Town of
Simsbury Board of Education Pension Plan be increased by 0.5% for
the 2012-13 fiscal year.
Mr. Wade:
Seconded. So moved.
Mr. Goman: MOVE that the salary range for unaffiliated Board of Education
employees for the 2012-13 fiscal year be increased by 2.5%.
Mr. Wade:
Seconded. So moved.
INFORMATION AND REPORTS
A. Simsbury Reading Intervention Program Review
Ms. Murray stated that work began on the Simsbury Reading Intervention Program
(SRIP) in the spring of 2010 and the program was implemented in the 2011-12
school year. The goal of SRIP is to have all students reading at grade level by the
end of Grade 3. The program is designed for both regular education and special
education students. Criteria was developed for entering and exiting the program. All
students in SRIP are serviced by highly qualified reading teachers, not tutors or
paraprofessionals.
Ms. Murray reviewed the foundation of the program and best practices. Ms.
Gunsalus explained the structures and systems that support SRIP: (1) universal
screening, (2) entrance and exit criteria, (3) data systems, (4) scientifically researchbased interventions, and (5) school-based schedules. She showed the criteria used
to evaluate students in November, February and May. Ms. Gunsalus reviewed the
tiered approach to reading intervention.
Ms. Murray stated that during the first year of implementation of SRIP defined roles
and responsibilities were provided to classroom teachers, SRIP teachers, special
education teachers, language arts consultants and principals. Grade K-3 SRIP data
teams were established and school-based data teams were formed along with a
process for analyzing data. Ongoing job-embedded coaching and professional
development have been provided to teachers.
Ms. Murray noted that the special education prevalence rate for grades K-3 has
decreased from 8.7% in 2011 to 8.0% in 2012. Ms. Gunsalus presented data on the
increase in percentage of SRIP students who are reading at grade level in the fall of
2012 compared to the spring of 2012. She pointed out that 52% of student serviced
in SRIP met the end of year grade level reading standard.
Ms. Gunsalus reviewed the data team timeline noting that parents are informed of the
process along the way and reading teachers attend the parent teacher conferences
with the classroom teacher. She discussed the 2012-13 SRIP action plan which
includes a K-6 SRIP survey. The survey themes include universal screening
assessments, communication and collaboration, roles and responsibilities, and
expertise in teaching struggling readers. Ms. Gunsalus reviewed the survey results.
She stated that ultimately the goal is to expand the program to at least 5 th grade.
SRIP
Page 3
Ms. Murray discussed next steps for the SRIP program which include reviewing
reading teacher staffing to expand interventions to grades 4-6, increasing
collaboration with special education teachers, increasing the reading intervention
group size, continuing to fine-tune communications with regular education teachers
and continuing to align intervention program goals with the Common Core State
Standards.
Mr. Doran commended the administration for modifying the program to improve it as
it moves forward. Mr. Kelly praised the execution of the program and the
collaboration of the entire team. Mr. Curtis noted that the formation of data teams is
important particularly with the principal involved. Ms. Tedone stated that the action
plan is important to the budget process as is the alignment of the program with the
Common Core State Standards. She noted that teachers are working hard to fit
everything in.
Ms. Tedone asked about communication of the program to the public. Mr. Curtis
responded that parents with children involved in the SRIP program understand and
know the program. Ms. Gunsalus noted that an article on SRIP was included in The
Communicator.
B. Facilities & Enrollment Task Force Update
Mr. Curtis provided a quick review of the discussion that took place at the November
19th Facilities & Enrollment Task Force meeting. He stated that the goal of the
meeting was for NESDEC to provide 3 options for consideration by the board. The
first option was to take a detailed look at the modular classroom space in the district
and what it would look like if we started removing modular classroom from buildings.
Mr. Curtis briefly discussed historical enrollment for the past 15 years and noted that
the board will hear the annual NESDEC enrollment report at the next meeting.
Mr. Curtis stated that over the past 10 years grade K-6 enrollment has dropped by
500 students. The capacity of the modular classroom classrooms at the elementary
schools is 500 students. This temporary space is equivalent to the size of a school.
The declining enrollment trend is expected to be at its lowest point in 2017 based on
historic trends over the past 30 years. Mr. Wade noted that the board should not
plan for the lowest projected enrollment but instead for somewhere in the middle.
Mr. Curtis reviewed the number of classrooms available at the elementary schools
with and without modular classrooms. He stated that a room by room analysis has
been completed to determine the capacity at each elementary school without the use
of modular classrooms. Additionally the programmatic impact was reviewed. Mr.
Curtis pointed out that Squadron Line School has the most significant decrease in
enrollment and has the most room to move programs if modular classrooms were
removed. The task force asked to see a plan developed with regard to removing the
modular classrooms. Mr. Curtis noted that the modular classrooms at Tootin’ Hills
School are not in good condition and they currently house preschool, the Ready Set
Go program and physical and occupational therapy programs. There may be
consideration to move and centralize the preschool over time in order to utilize
resources more efficiently.
Mr. Goman noted that the NESDEC data has historically been pretty accurate. Mr.
Facilities &
Enrollment Task
Force Update
Page 4
Curtis stated that the administration is working on mining the data. Mr. Goman
pointed out that a number of the modular classroom classrooms are past their design
use which is 10 years; some of our modular classrooms are 28 years old. He noted
that the task force felt that closing a school is not a good option. Mr. Goman
suggested that possibly a committee needs to exist over the long term. He pointed
out the school district has many upward cost pressures as enrollment declines.
Mr. Wade asked if redistricting has been considered by the task force. Mr. Curtis
stated that reconfiguring the middle school to accommodate grades 6-8 was
considered but there would only be 1 year when all 3 grades would fit in the building.
Redistricting might mean making changes on an annual basis to accommodate class
size bubbles along the way which only provides short term solutions. The first option
that will be considered is the removal of modular classrooms.
Mr. Doran stated that after enrollment has decreased by a total of 1,000 students
people may challenge the district’s long term thinking. Mr. Goman pointed out that
the bulk of the budget is personnel costs, not building costs. Class sizes still need to
be maintained. Mr. Goman noted that as we see a gradual decrease in student
enrollment the FTE will gradually decrease as well.
Mr. Kelly questioned whether the decreasing and increasing enrollment pattern will
hold true which is critical as to whether closing a school or redistricting is a
reasonable solution. He pointed out that although declining enrollment is one of the
downward pressures on the budget it is not the only factor. He suggested that
defining the impact of a decrease of students at various levels such as 100 students,
50 students and 1 student would be useful to controlling the conversation about
education. Mr. Kelly urged the task force to look at all options while researching the
removal of the modular classrooms.
Ms. Willerup stated that the task force meeting was very informative and the
discussion regarding the maintenance of the modular classrooms demonstrated that
it is sensible to remove them. Mr. Goman noted that we don’t know if the cyclical
changes in enrollment over the past 30 years will continue given the state of
Connecticut’s economy. Mr. Wade stated that if we are unsure of the enrollment
forecast we need to plan for an enrollment number in the middle otherwise we would
be short-sighted. Mr. Curtis stated that the administration will run internal projections
as well so we are not relying on one source. Ms. Willerup pointed out that there
continues to be room in the town for growth. Ms. Tedone noted that full day
Kindergarten, Open Choice and magnet schools will all be budget factors going
forward.
Mr. LaClair reported on and provided pictures of the current condition of the modular
classroom classrooms. He stated that the cost to remove the modular classroom
classrooms will be between $154,000 and $430,000 although they would not all be
removed at one time. Central School has the newest modular classrooms such that
state funding of that project needs to be taken into consideration. The operating and
maintenance cost for the modular classroom district wide is $134,310 annually. Mr.
Goman noted that more will be spent annually on the modular classroom as time
goes by.
C. Naming Rights Policy – First Reading
Naming Rights
Policy
Page 5
Ms. Willerup reported that the Policy Committee met to address how, when, where
and why district assets should be named. Each decision will be taken on a case by
case basis by a committee that will include input from the public.
PUBLIC AUDIENCE
None.
Public Audience
ADJOURNMENT
Adjournment
Ms. Willerup: MOVE to adjourn at 8:55 p.m.
Mr. Goman: Seconded. So moved.
_________________________
Mr. Mike Goman
Secretary
_________________________
Katie Wilde
Recording Secretary