Milford Board of Education

Transcription

1 Milford Board of Education Meeting Minutes May 11, 2015 Board members present: Claire Casey Michael DeGrego John DeRosa Suzanne DiBiase Jennifer Federico Susan Glennon, Chair Dr. Heidi Gold-Dworkin (7:30) C. Robert Satti, Jr. Earl Whiskeyman Administration present: Dr. Elizabeth Feser Mike Cummings Wendy Kopazna Jim Richetelli Susan Kelleher Board members absent: Anthony Piselli I. CALL TO ORDER Ms. Glennon called the business meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. in the Board of Education Room. She then asked that everyone join in the reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance. Ms. Glennon notified the Board that Dr. Gold-Dworkin would be late and Mr. Piselli was ill and would not be in attendance. In addition, Ms. LaSala, who was to present, would not be attending due to her being ill. Ms. Glennon turned the meeting over to Dr. Feser for the student and staff recognition. II. STUDENT/STAFF RECOGNITION Dr. Feser offered the first recognition of the evening to Mr. Jay Rowe. Jay, a lifelong resident and Foran graduate, wanted to thank the educators who helped him at the beginning of his journey and, as a result, he founded the Annual Smooth Jazz for Scholars Benefit concert in A concert in which proceeds are donated to Milford Public Schools to enhance its music program. Jay has donated tens of thousands of dollars for the benefit of the program. Jay thanked the Dr. Feser. He expressed his passion has always been music, and what better than to give back to the school system where he began to learn music. He then presented the Board of Education a check in the amount of $8,000 to be used in the music department. Dr. Feser then recognized two students from Jonathan Law for their participation in the 2015 Connecticut Science Olympiad competition. Alessandra Alling and Rasheeda

2 Samih won first place medals in the Mission Possible category. Mission Possible is an event that requires a team to design, build, test and document a Rube-Goldberg-like device. She noted that forty teams from across the state participated in the competition. Wrestlers from Foran High School were next to be recognized. Ryan Luth, a freshman at Foran, holds the school record for victories. He won State Championship for his weight division, Champion of the Southern Connecticut Conference and placed third in the State Open, and fourth in the New England Championships. Luke Edmondson, a junior, also won State Championship in his weight division, placed second at the Southern CT Conference and second in the State Open. As if that wasn t enough. Their coach, Dave Esposito won Coach of the Year by the Connecticut High School Coaches Association. The final recognition of the evening was given to the Law Key Club. Students, Haley Palmer, Richard Ung, Max Slusky, Annie Khamhoung and Alexis Maltes were honored for their individual awards at the New England District Key Club in April. The Club, however, was awarded the Distinguished Club Award, Diamond Level at the conference. Mr. Boynton, Club Advisor, was in attendance. Dr. Feser and the Board congratulated the recipients. III. STUDENT REPORTS Sofya Calvin and Kelsey Kopazna presented the report for Jonathan Law. Shaina Arsenault presented the report for Joseph A. Foran High School. IV. PUBLIC COMMENT None V. CHAIR S REPORT Ms. Glennon acknowledged Mr. Cummings leaving the district at the end of the school year. There will be discussion on the position at the Committee of the Whole meeting at the end of the month. Ms. Glennon reported she had presented the budget to the Board of Alderman on April 29 th. The budget vote by the aldermen will occur on Thursday, May 14 th. She noted she shared with the Alderman some of the colleges students will be attending in the fall. The list was quite impressive, including Columbia, UCONN, Boston College and more. Ms. Glennon reminded board members it s a busy time of year. It is understood every board member cannot attend every event. Mrs. Griffin has put together a May and June calendar with events noted. Ms. Glennon will forward this to the Board along with a reminder of the policy regarding board member participation at graduation. She asked board members to let Mrs. Griffin know which events they would be attending so there is some board representation at all of them.

3 Ms. Glennon then read a Teacher Proclamation in honor of Teacher Appreciation day, which was May 5 th. She then called for the Liaison Reports. Ms. Glennon reported on the PTA Council. The Lifetime Achievement Award was given to Mr. Tom Finn. Mr. Finn serves as the Assistant Principal at West Shore Middle School and will retire at the end of the school year, after 46 years in Milford. She attended a mixer which was hosted by the Council to offer elementary parents who will be at a new elementary school in September the opportunity to meet one another. With the reconfiguration, the Council has worked hard to make the transition back to K-5 smooth for the families. She then turned the meeting over to Dr. Feser for the Superintendent s Report. VI. SUPERINTENDENT S REPORT Dr. Feser introduced Sgt. Neilsen from the Milford Police Department to the Board. He would be giving a short presentation of the Citizens Academy. Citizens Academy Sgt. Nielsen, a 20 year veteran with the Milford Police Department, gave a presentation on the Citizens Academy. The Academy is a 30 hour course that provides the public information and instruction of the police department s personnel, policies and practices. The goal is to create ambassadors throughout the community. Some of the topics covered in the program include, department organization, budget, K9 demo, computer crimes, crime scene investigation and CPR. The police department offered a pilot program opening the course up to one student and one teacher from the Milford high schools. The pilot proved to be a success, therefore, the department will hold a separate course for students at no cost to the schools. Reconfiguration/Redistricting Update Dr. Feser provided the Board with an update on the elementary reconfiguration. She told them that she formed a committee, after the Board took action on the elementary reconfiguration, that meets weekly to ensure a smooth transition readying the buildings for the move, preparing for the move and enabling the opening of school in August. To date, the committee has completed: Parent notification of K-5 school assignments Grandfathering of eligible 4 th grade students were identified, and sent a letter indicating that they had the option to attend one of their paired schools for grade 5 Before and after care programs have been adjusted to accommodate students affected by the transition. For example, students who attend Pumpkin Delight/JFK this year and are being redistricted to Meadowside/Mathewson will continue to be transported to the Boys and Girls Club. YMCA will offer a

4 discount to students who will participate in the child care program, and participated in the MPS program this year at Pumpkin Delight/JFK. Classroom moves have been addressed. Library books are being sorted. Floor plans are being developed. Moves will begin on June 20 th. Durham is in the process of developing bus routes. Location of the summer school programs have been determined. Teacher assignments will be completed before Memorial Day Dr. Feser concluded the report assuring the Board the district is on track. Dr. Gold-Dworkin shared her concerns about the before and aftercare programs not being equal. Mrs. Federico requested a cost comparison of the programs. Mr. Whiskeyman suggested that the programs be part of the budget conversation as the costs of evolve. Mr. Cummings explained the Milford Public Schools before and aftercare program started at Simon Lake, due to the demographics, using grant monies. The program was carried over to JFK and Pumpkin Delight when Simon Lake was closed, and those students were then moved to those two schools. The program is almost entirely self sustaining. Ms. Glennon reminded the Board the before and aftercare programs will be discussed in detail at a future Committee of the Whole meeting. She thanked Dr. Feser for the update. Human Resources Report Mrs. Kopazna shared the Human Resources Report with the Board. She noted that the district has only received four retirements to date. VII. CONSENT AGENDA ITEMS Ms. Glennon asked for a motion to approve the Consent Agenda items. Mr. Satti made a motion that the Milford Board of Education approves the consent agenda items: 1. Disbursement Report 2. Consideration of Minutes a. March 30, 2015 Special Meeting b. April 6, 2015 Board Meeting c. April 27, 2015 Special Meeting Mr. DeRosa seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

5 Ms. Glennon asked for a motion to recess. Mr. Satti made a motion to recess at 8:40 p.m. Mr. DeRosa seconded. The motion passed unanimously. Ms. Glennon called the meeting back to order at 9:02 p.m. VIII. NEW BUSINESS Mr. Satti made a motion that the Milford Board of Education approves the settlement agreement between the Milford Board of Education and the Milford School Custodians and Maintainers Union Local 2018, Council #4 for the period commencing July 1, 2014 and ending through to and including June 30, Mr. DeRosa seconded. The motion passed unanimously. IX. BOARD COMMENT Mrs. Federico told the Board she attended the Barnes and Noble event with Scarlett Lewis. Scarlett lost her son, Jessie, in the Newtown shooting. The event was centered around the city s One City, One Story kindness campaign. Mrs. Federico challenged the administration to add teaching kindness to the curriculum. Ms. Glennon shared that she attended the Pasta for Jazz concert Friday night at Foran. She applauded the staff and members of both Foran and East Shore s Jazz Club s for a great job. Being no further business to discuss, Ms. Glennon asked for a motion to adjourn. X. ADJOURNMENT Mr. Satti made a motion to adjourn. Mr. DeRosa seconded. The motion passed unanimously. Ms. Glennon adjourned the meeting at 9:07 p.m. Recording Secretary: Pam Griffin Corresponding Secretary: C. Robert Satti, Jr.