Board of Education: Tuesday June 11, 2013 7:30 PM
Submitted and summarized by Amy Parent, BoE representative Riverfield Elementary School PTA
1. Glenn Mackno received the CT PTSA award for outstanding middle school administrator (RLMS); unfortunately
he is retiring after 34 years of service.
2. Student reports
a. FLHS: Girls tennis teams won championships, national honor society inducted 99 students, Chris Herren,
Basketball Junkie author, lost his position due to drug addiction this coming Monday, June 17th.
b. FWHS: Annual woodworking exhibition on June 15, X-country team has a fund raiser June 15; With
respect to teams requiring rental of non-school facilities (i.e. swimming) $200 per team member was a
concern, provisions are available for financial aid
3. Board Committee/Liaison Reports
a. Communications Committee Presentation. A number of recommendations to improve communication
between BoE and public have been recommended.
i. BoE reps will attend 2 PTA meetings outside of their children’s school to engage and meet
school PTA leadership
ii. A Town Hall meeting will be implemented and planned for in October or November. The format
will be similar to the BoF meeting and it should last no more than 2 hours
iii. Academic state recognition will be added to the start of BoE meetings; sports recognition
happens elsewhere. Initially, there will be no pro-active request for recipient information. Mrs.
Kennelly requested a more formalize to ensure that all students are recognized. Board members
will go reflect on how it was done in the past as it was eliminated some time since 2007, she was
unclear why it was stopped. Teacher recognition should also be added.
1. Action Point: Riverfield administration and PTA should submit any state recognized
teacher or student academic recognition to the BoE so that the teacher/student may
be recognized during BoE meetings.
iv. BoE climate survey will be discussed further for possible implementation at the end of next year;
therefore time remains for discussion/planning. Feedback from Mrs. Kennelly was to avoid end
of year surveys. Mrs. Brandt and Iocona recommended a formal process using an outside
consultant be employed to ensure we ask the right questions; this may not be possible as funds
would be limited. The survey should be focused on communications of BoE and not on the BoE
itself. This recommendation requires further thought and discussion.
v. PR intern on hold to determine logistics; Mrs. Iacona strongly supports hiring a college intern as
soon as possible as we live in a 2 University town and logistics can be sorted out once an
individual has been identified.
vi. It was noted that there is not a clear procedure for putting topics on the official BoE agenda. A
document clarifying the procedures and the chain of command needs to be clear.
vii. The board has recommend a public comment at the beginning of the meeting and closing; but
individuals will only allowed to speak once on one topic. Time and number would be limited.
viii. Minutes are too long and difficult to get through therefore a voting summary will be included as
an executive summary
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June 11th, 2013
b. State BoE is considering a standard calendar for all school districts
c. Policy #6200—Instruction Curriculum: Report on Committee Discussion and CSDE Response to 10-4b
complaint regarding the algebra 1 curriculum pilot. A long discussion with evident internal
disagreement among the board members occurred. Key points captured below.
i. Committee determined that curriculum pilots are a valuable and a necessary tool. Clear
definition of pilot including length of pilot, number of students involved and whether it is called
a study needs to be assessed. Further the outcome of a pilot, what is produced, what data is
collected and presented needs to be defined. The BoE does not believe this is a policy flaw and
at this point guidance is required on the policy.
ii. Some board members requested administrative regulations within the policy to address
situation and prevent its reoccurrence.
iii. BoE members feel there is a miscommunication by the chairman and superintendent.
Disagreement about which documents were shared or not shared ensued. Transmittal emails
may have not been communicated but official source documents between Fairfield and State
BoE were shared.
iv. Mrs. Iacona asked the BoE to stop the “witch hunt”, she states the BoE has recognized the issue;
they are making the changes, and move forward.
v. Mrs. Kennelly stated that a silver lining exists: “we know what we don’t want a pilot to look
like.”
vi. Dr. Title summarized that there are different ways to run a pilot all with pros and cons;
importance is to understand the policy and move forward
vii. Discussion will go to executive session for legal discussion
4. Superintendent report 2012/2013. Dr. Title provided a long list of accomplishments and on-going status of key
events and projects for the academic year 2012/2013
a. A number of “natural disasters” occurred this year demanding significant leadership and staff attention
including PCP issues at OHS, Hurricane Sandy, Sandy Hook and its security changes, roof of RLHS, and
the blizzard Nemo.
b. Safety issues have taken precedence including locked doors on all schools or visitor centers, upgrading
police communication, potential increase in police personnel
c. All maintenance and capital projects completed are at or under budget (restoration of roof project, TMS
cornerstones and facades, TMS floor replacing, traffic project at TMS, Jennings bathrooms, Dwight
boilers, 8 underground oil tanks replaced)
d. Infinite campus has been launched taking over legacy programs; this is a 2-3 year process with feature
improvement and standardization expected along the way
e. School climate teams evaluated survey trends, focusing on bullying. Action plans are being developed.
Referrals on bullying are at baseline levels so interpretation is limited. Anonymous reporting of bullying
is established within each school, electronic anonymous reporting needs to be assessed as it could
potentially be used as a weapon. Key leanings so far is that the “investigation” takes much longer than
expected and staffing issues might need to be addressed.
f. Language arts curriculum will be addressed next year
g. Racial balance plan has been approved by the State board and Fairfield is within racial balance
h. Teacher/administrator evaluation plan is in place but implementation next year will be challenging
i. Funding requests for Sherman was not pushed forward
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5.
6.
7.
8.
j. Riverfield and FLHS updates are being processed
k. All day kindergarten will be implemented with a continued focus of both social and academic emphasis
l. PLATO software is used for homebound students in conjunction to tutoring. The hope is that its use can
be expanded as a supplement and intervention in the high school vs only using it with homebound
students.
Attendance, absences, truancy language updates are being aligned with state policy
2014/2015 Budget Review Process. The BoE members proposed a special meeting in August for reconciliation of
prior years and aligning budget and priorities. Further discussion is required.
Public comments
a. Overtime and rental fees for PTA (co-president of Holland Hill PTA) regarding facility fees for PTA events.
Request for a written clarification as to which groups will be charged, what the charges will be, and
when they are applied. Please vet PTA. Mr. Dwyer noted a document clarifying the policy should be
available shortly
b. Several parents expressed concern about the Algebra 1 book and curriculum issue.
c. The issue was raised that central office grows while staff and programs are cut.
Board comments
a. Lunch scheduling in the high school needs to be addressed to ensure lunch and academic time is
adequate.
b. Mr. Liu addressed the concern that PTAs and scouts will be charged. Dr. Title stated that these groups
will remain exempt from rental fees and custodial fees when a custodian is in the buiding which includes
weekdays until 11 PM. An overtime but not a rental fee will still be incurred during any events that that
occur on the weekend. Mr. Liu noted that weekends were not voted upon. Discussion stopped due to
not being on agenda.
i. Action Point: Documentation will be forthcoming and PTAs will need to ensure their concerns
are heard. Mr. Liu may be a key advocate to reverse an undesirable outcome.
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