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MINUTES
WATERTOWN BOARD OF EDUCATION
REGULAR MEETING
WATERTOWN HIGH SCHOOL
TECHNOLOGY CENTER
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2008 - 7:30 PM
PRESENT: Joseph Apicella
Gina Calabrese, Chairman
Mary Colangelo, Secretary
Kevin Killeen
Thomas Lambert
Janice Pond
Mary Dzioba
Todd Griffin
Richard Mazzamaro, Vice Chairman
OTHERS PRESENT: Thad Hasbrouck, Director of Curriculum and Professional Services
Shirley Oliver, Interim Director of Budget & Financial Planning
Karen Baldwin, Superintendent of Schools
Richard Mastroianni, Student Council Representative
Michael Magas
A. Call Meeting to Order
Ms. Calabrese, Chairman, called the Regular Meeting to order at 7:30 p.m.
B. Salute to the Flag
Ms. Calabrese, Chairman, led the Pledge of Allegiance.
C. Recognition
Ms. Calabrese: This evening we’re going to begin our agenda with recognition. The Board of Education wishes to recognize the following Watertown High School students for receiving recognition from the Connecticut State Department of Education for performing at the Advanced level on the 2008 Connecticut Academic Performance Test (CAPT) Mathematics, Reading, Writing and Science tests.
Ms. Baldwin: Thank you, I will present from the podium. It gives me great pleasure this evening to recognize nine juniors from Watertown High School who excelled on the Connecticut Academic Performance Test this past spring. As board members are aware, the CAPT is a criterion reference test that measures 10th grade student’s skills against a goal
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standards set by the state. This state goal reflects the skills students are expected to have mastered to be successful at subsequent grade levels. There are five levels of performance: the advanced level or level 5 was added in 2004. These nine students scored in the advanced
level in all four categories of the test. The test, as Ms. Calabrese mentioned, is comprised of writing across the disciplines, reading across the disciplines, mathematics and science. At this time, I would ask that the following students just stand at their places as we begin to recognize you. Mary Horbachuk..
Ms. Horbachuck: I’m Mary’s mother. She is not here, she is playing a field hockey game away, so let’s hope she’s winning.
Ms. Baldwin: That’s great. You may sit down. Trisha Kowalski and remain standing please. Michael Palinkas, Ashley Petruzzello, Daniel Rinaldi, Anne Settle, Jeffrey Sparano, Mitchell Valente. As the Superintendent of Schools, few things will give me greater pleasure than acknowledging your accomplishments with the Board of Education and the larger community. On behalf of the Board of Education, I applaud your talent and most especially your hard work. You have met the state’s highest academic expectations, and we are very proud of you and your accomplishment. Parents and guardians, I want to thank you for supporting your children and reinforcing the importance of excellence and learning in your children’s lives. Students, your accomplishments deserve commendation, celebration and imitation. I know that your success will be an example that motivates other students at Watertown High School. I trust that I will continue to learn of your academic achievements at Watertown High School, and I encourage you to challenge yourself to achieve your fullest potential. Each student has received a certificate signed by the Board Chairperson and me as well as a personal letter of congratulations from the Commissioner of Education, Mark McQuillan. When I call your name, please come forward and I will hand you the certificate and the letter from the Commissioner.
Ms. Calabrese: You missed someone.
Ms. Baldwin: Tom White, I’m sorry. Mary Horbachuck, Trish Kowalski, Michael Palinkas, Ashley Petruzzello, Daniel Rinaldi, Anne Settle, Jeffrey Sparano, Mitchell Valente, Thomas White. Board of Education members, do you have any questions or remarks for these fine students from Watertown High School?
Ms. Calabrese: Well, I would just like to speak on behalf of the Board of Education and express our pride in your accomplishments. I know that my colleagues would agree with me. Would anyone else like to add to my comments?
Ms. Pond: You guys were great in sixth grade, you’re great in high school, and you’re going to have great careers. God Bless and Good Luck.
Ms. Baldwin: Congratulations to all of you. (applause)
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Ms. Calabrese: At this time, we will have a very brief recess. If some of you prefer not to stay for the entire meeting, this will give you an opportunity to discretely leave or if that’s what you wish to do, you’re more than welcome to stay.
D. Report from Student Council Representative – Richard Mastroianni
Mr. Mastroianni: Good evening everybody, Madam Chair and Superintendent Baldwin. I wanted to say congratulations to the students who are my friends who received the award for doing so well on the CAPT test. That is a hard test. I know from experience. Things so far in school are going smoothly as expected. Everything is back in full swing. Classes are meeting on a great schedule. Clubs are meeting regularly too. Student Council and other clubs helped out at the Fall Festival this weekend. I hope you guys got a chance to go. I didn’t because I was sick. The “welcome back to school cold” if you will. First off, I wanted to say I personally haven’t heard any of the construction that is going on at school which is a really good sign. It’s not conflicting with our education at all. Another thing I wanted to address was that a parent asked me to address the board (she wanted to remain anonymous) on a question. She was in the hallway when the classes were changing, probably about a week ago, 3rd to 4th period. She asked me to address you about the overcrowding issue in the hallway and she wanted to know what the board or school administration had in mind for solving that problem. I told her I really wasn’t sure.
Ms. Baldwin: Well, I can respond to that. Certainly at Watertown High School, due to the construction, we do have limited access in the building as you’re aware and certainly during passing time that can cause in certain hallways a little more congestion. I think to help this parent better understand our response, I would encourage her to contact Mr. Geary, the high school principal and be explicit about what hallway she was in during the change of 3rd to 4th period so that we can take a look at that to determine if in fact we need to hold some classes a little bit longer before dismissing them. We could stagger that. That’s a pretty standard building based response but I would leave that to Mr. Geary to determine if in fact we need to do that. To the extent that you can reach out to that person and let them know that Mr. Geary is the appropriate contact and he can probably help to resolve that, that would help us, Richard.
Mr. Mastroianni: Thank you very much, I’ll get back to her as soon as I see her. Thank you.
E. Report from PTA/PTO representative
No one present from the PTA/PTO.
F. Public Participation
Michael Magas: Good Evening, Michael Magas, 45 Mount Fair Dr., Watertown. I have
few issues I’d like to address. I’m not sure if this is the appropriate forum to do it, but I
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figured I’d start here and precede somewhere else. I’ll try to go through the list rather
quickly. Most of these primarily have to do with items at the high school and in no
particular order, I will go through the list. Number one, I’d like to see a parent/teacher
night or days instituted at the high school. We do have open house, but it doesn’t really
give parents the opportunity to talk one on one with particular teachers. I know it might
be difficult for teachers, but if we do institute some type of parent/teacher conference,
days or nights, possibly on those days we can give teachers half days and have them
dismiss at noon. Secondly, would it possible to have a parent/guidance department open
house evening, primarily for senior parents. I have a senior in high school and a
freshman now and one of the difficulties we’re facing is not knowing the appropriate
paths to take when our children are entering the college world for the first time. You all
know how it is when the kids come home and you don’t get the full stories on what
happened with guidance and so forth, so if that would be possible, great. Thirdly, if
teachers, and this has happened a few times, when phone calls and messages have been
left many times the teachers have not gotten back for a few days. If the principals or
vice principals could ask the teachers to please respond within 24 hours to a parent phone
call. Fourthly, I’d like to see, if possible, and I talked to Mr. Geary about this, that every
class gets factored into a student’s G.P.A. for the grading calculations. There are certain
classes within the high school I still believe, they might still be on the record here, that
do not actually count towards a student’s average which I find that hard to believe.
Another item; do away with the requirement that a student must maintain an 80 average
in every class in order to be put on the honor roll. Obviously, we do have grade point
average requirements, and we also at Watertown High School say that every student
cannot get less than an 80. Hypothetically a student could be a valedictorian of a class
and never make the honor roll. Obviously, we’d like to see the student reach the
requirement for grade point average, but again there are honors classes, advanced
placement classes where a student might get a 79, overall average could be a 90 and still
not make the honor roll. Seeing these kids tonight, it’s fantastic. If we could get more
school spirit related activities for the school like a senior/teacher day. Let the seniors act
as a teacher for a day, and obviously, they would follow a lesson plan that the teacher lays
out for them, but give the seniors an opportunity for that. Also, I’m not sure if we do this
but can we have a faculty/senior basketball game which might be held the day before our
homecoming football game. Let the teachers and administrators play basketball against
the seniors both male and female. And one other item for school spirit; how about a fall
senior trip for all the seniors to go to the Big E. I know we do a lot of bonding primarily
towards the end of the year, but this might be a time for them to bond at the beginning of
their senior years. I’m almost done. Another item; Institute an advisory program. I
believe we do have an advisory program here, which meets sporadically, maybe one,
twice a month. Could we do an advisory program where the students meet everyday with
their advisor for 20 minutes. This gives students the opportunity to develop a
relationship with someone other than their teacher and in turn at the end of their school
career when they graduate, their advisor can hand them their diploma. My final
comment is regarding teacher comments on report cards. Many times our children have
come home with grades with no comments. Could we make the requirement that a
teacher should have at least one comment? It would be great if they could have two, but
if they at least could have one comment it would be great for parents. Thank you.
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Ms. Calabrese: Mr. Magas, before you sit down, do you have a hard copy of that list
that you could provide the Superintendent?
Mr. Magas: Sure.
Ms. Calabrese: Could you e-mail it?
Mr. Magas: I can e-mail it.
Ms. Calabrese: Great, thank you very much. Is there anyone else who would like to
address the board this evening?
Public participation closed.
G. Budget Summary
Ms. Calabrese: There is the budget summary in the board member’s packet for
information only. Are there any concerns or any questions that board members
may have regarding the budget summary at this time? OK, we’ll move on to
committee reports.
H. Committee Reports
1. Advertising Committee – Mary Colangelo
Ms. Colangelo: No report this evening Madam Chair, however I would like to
request a meeting be scheduled for possibly next week. Maybe we can back it up
the athletic committee. We haven’t met in quite a long time since we adjusted the
pricing for the field signs.
Ms. Calabrese: OK, maybe you can call Barbara at the Superintendent’s office and
set it up.
Discussion: Mr. Killeen: If I could make a comment on Mr. Magas’
presentation this evening. Mr. Hasbrouck and I are in the process of firming
up a date for our next C & I meeting and as a matter of at least an informal
discussion with the committee, we could discuss reviewing the GPA and
the honor roll requirements. Just as a matter of curriculum and instruction
conversation.
2. Athletics Committee – Joseph Apicella
Mr. Apicella: Madam Chair, no report, but we have a meeting a week from
today.
3. Budget Committee – Thomas Lambert
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Mr. Lambert: no report
4. Curriculum & Instruction Committee – Kevin Killeen
Ms. Calabrese: Do you have anything else you would like to add?
Mr. Killeen: No thanks, I went out of turn.
5. Facilities Committee – Richard Mazzamaro
Mr. Mazzamaro: no report
6. Policy and Labor Committee – Mary Colangelo
Ms. Colangelo: no report
7. Cablevision – Mary Dzioba
Ms. Dzioba – no report
8. PBC Representative – Richard Mazzamaro
Mr. Mazzamaro: Yes, I do have a report, Madam Chair. I attended a PBC
Meeting with Kevin Killeen on September 17th. Basically, we got reports on all the school construction projects. Mr. Joe Vitro, project manager at Swift Middle School gave a brief report on the mostly completed project. He reported that all that remains is a short punch list for Marylu Lerz. I suggested to Gary Miller that the facility subcommittee do a site visit to see if there is any questions and to see that they’re addressed and looked at the areas where the punch list items were applied. Also, the planning and zoning commission is set to meet on October 8th to review the fixes for the (inaudible) compressor noise and guardrail issue at Swift. It should be noted, though, that there have been no neighborhood complaints about noise from that compressor. Mr. Randy Swinford, project manager at Watertown High School, gave his first monthly project report on the Watertown High School project. He reported that the phasing plan for the site work is submitted to planning and zoning. He also noted that there is no power at the construction trailer yet.
It was recommended that Gary Miller contact the Board of Education’s contact at CL&P. As far as the project goes, the renovation and site work is well underway and demolition to make way for the addition has begun and was reported to be about 4% completed as of the 17th meeting. Site work is well underway with preparations for a parking lot started. Asbestos abatement for phase 1 is also complete. It should be noted that (inaudible) Corp has installed erosion control material on site and will maintain and make improvements as necessary. This addresses some drainage issues that occurred about 2 weeks ago after unusually heavy rain fell and left some neighbors with dirt in their driveways. And last, Mr. Eric Haaga, project manager at
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Judson reported that the asbestos abatement area A is complete and cleared for demolition for the new addition which should have started this week. Also, Richards,
the site contractors completed the clearing and grubbing of the site and the job site
fence has been installed around the perimeter. Also sub-fence and hay bails have
been installed (inaudible) is also underway. CL&P is working on getting temporary
power to the site trailer and all contracts have been sent out to sub-contractors
requesting a return with their proper documentation. Last, Silktown Roofing was
awarded phase 2 roof repair at John Trumbull Primary School.
9. Education Connection Representative – Janice Pond
Ms. Pond: There has been no more meetings. We have one scheduled the first week of October. Information from the cable just came in.
10. Town Hall Joint Committee – Thomas Lambert
Mr. Lambert: No report
I. Communications – Secretary
Ms. Colangelo: Yes, I do, Madam Chair. Thank you sincerely for your thoughtful kindness at a time when it was deeply appreciated. Sincerely, The family of Mary Stopper. Thomas and Loretta Lambert.
J. Minutes
1. Regular Board of Education Meeting – September 8, 2008
MOTION: (Ms. Colangelo, sec. Ms. Pond) to approve the Minutes of the Regular Board of Education Meeting of September 8, 2008.
In Favor: Mr. Apicella, Ms. Calabrese, Mr. Killeen, Mr. Lambert,
Ms. Colangelo, Mr. Griffin, Ms. Pond
Opposed: None
Abstained: Mr. Mazzamaro, Ms. Dzioba, Mr. Griffin
Vote: Motion Carried (7-0-2)
K. Superintendent’s Recommendations and Report
Ms. Baldwin: Thank you very much. Item number one is the regular work of the
board appointments. I don’t know if any board members have questions relative
to those items a through t. You can review those and should you have a question,
I would be happy to answer that.
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1. Appointments – (Information Only – No Action Required)
a. Mr. Rick Casini to the position of College Prep Ninth Grade Team Leader at Watertown High School for the 2008-2009 school year at a contractual stipend of $1,779.00.
b. Ms. Carol A. Crean to the position of School Nurse at Polk School effective September 15, 2008, at a contractual annual salary of $30,763.00 prorated.
c. Ms. Albana Demiri to the position of Pre-School (Just Friends) Paraprofessional at John Trumbull Primary School starting August 29, 2008, for 28.5 hours paid per week, at an hourly rate of $12.23.
d. Ms. Joan DeRosa to the position of long-term substitute Reading Teacher at Swift Middle School, effective August 26, 2008, through approximately December 23, 2008, being paid the substitute teacher’s rate of $65.00 per day for the first ten days, and on the eleventh day, placed on the first step of the Watertown Education Association’s contract of $38,815.00.
e. Ms. B. Lynn Engle to the position of Co-Student Council Advisor at Swift Middle School for the 2008-2009 school year at a contractual stipend of $475.00.
f. Mr. Rick Genua to the position of Alternative Program Director in the Watertown High School Alternative Program for the 2008-2009 school year at a contractual stipend of $7,800.00.
g. Mr. Andrew Hennessey to the position of Co-Detention Monitor at Watertown High School for the 2008-2009 school year at a contractual stipend of $895.75.
h. Ms. Cheryl Kaiser to the position of Yearbook Advisor at Swift Middle School for the 2008-2009 school year at a contractual stipend of $1,243.00.
i. Ms. Dawn Kelly to the position of Co-Honor Society Advisor at Swift Middle School for the 2008-2009 school year at a contractual stipend of $475.00.
j. Ms. Monica Kreuzer to the position of Honors Cohort Co-Team Leader at Watertown High School for the 2008-2009 school year at a contractual stipend of $889.50.
k. Ms. Monica Kreuzer to the position of Science Teacher in the Watertown High School Alternative Program for the 2008-2009 school year at a contractual stipend of $50.00 per hour for three hours a week.
l. Ms. Mary Lou Kuegler to the position of Honors Cohort Co-Team Leader at Watertown High School for the 2008-2009 school year at a contractual stipend of $889.50.
m. Ms. Kim Mastropietro to the position of Co-Student Council Advisor at Swift Middle School for the 2008-2009 school year at a contractual stipend of $475.00.
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n. Mr. Scott Pietro to the position of Custodian, 3rd shift, at Swift Middle School, effective September 22, 2008, for 8.0 hours paid per day, at an hourly rate of $18.15.
o. Ms. Diane Rigby to the position of Co-Honor Society Advisor at Swift Middle School for the 2008-2009 school year at a contractual stipend of $475.00.
p. Mr. Roberto Rinaldi to the position of Math Teacher in the Watertown High School Alternative Program for the 2008-2009 school year at a contractual stipend of $50.00 per hour for three hours a week.
q. Mr. Roberto Rinaldi to the position of Co-Detention Monitor at Watertown High School for the 2008-2009 school year at a contractual stipend of $895.75.
r. Ms. Marie Vallee to the position of Co-Detention Monitor at Watertown High School for the 2008-2009 school year at a contractual stipend of $895.75.
s. Mr. Bryan Wosczyna to the position of History Teacher in the Watertown High School Alternative Program for the 2008-2009 school year at a contractual stipend of $50.00 per hour for three hours a week.
t. Mr. Bryan Wosczyna to the position of Co-Detention Monitor at Watertown High School for the 2008-2009 school year at a contractual stipend of $895.75.
2. Three School Project Update
Ms. Baldwin: Mr. Mazzamaro was rather complete when he provided the update relative to the building committee last week, but I would just add a couple of items in terms of the renovation project. Groundbreaking ceremonies for both Judson and Watertown High School will held on Saturday, October 4th. We will start at Judson Elementary School at 9:00 a.m. and then travel to the high school at approximately 10:00 a.m.. As Mr. Mazzamaro indicated, the work of both projects is progressing and is according to schedule. You can see all the site work out here in terms of prep for the drainage system and the old practice field and pit area is being prepped for the parking lot. Inside the high school, prep work is continuing to prepare for demolition at the front of the building. Contractors are relocating low voltage wires and are prepping for the footing for the addition to the building. Demolition will take place in the original office area, hallways and the associated roof line in the front of the building. Also, as you may be aware, last Thursday we evacuated the high school due to a fire alarm. This was caused by demolition dust tripping the alarm censors. The contractors are trying to do a better job sealing off areas to avoid this disruption in the future. And as our student council representative indicated, there has not been any significant disruption or little to any disruption to the learning environment here at Watertown High School and I want to assure the community that the project manager and the construction management firm as well as the building administrators are working hard to maintain the safety and security of children in this building as well as keeping a focus on learning. Certainly, if any member of the community ever has a concern about the project or the status or the phasing or the safety of the children during the project, I would encourage the community to contact either Mr. Geary or myself or the appropriate administrator relative to that so that we can get together and assure you of the steps that we’re taking to make sure this project is safe and on schedule In terms of Judson Elementary School, the contractors are finished with the final abatement and they are hopeful this Wednesday to begin moving forward with some new construction there, so we should see more activity at Judson. It
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should start to(inaudible) up in this next week. And as the board is aware, the moratorium on the Polk Elementary School expired August 22nd. That was the 60th day of the moratorium.and the Town Council chose not to take any further action on that moratorium; therefore, we are moving forward with the design and engineering work
at Polk in terms of the 500 year flood zone and we hope to have a July 1, 2009 construction start date at Polk. We have continued work to do ahead of us relative to the Polk Elementary School project but it is exciting, but that work with engineers has just begun this week.
3. Federal Consolidated Grant
The Federal Consolidated Grant has been completed and submitted to the State Department
of Education for approval. The total amount of the Consolidated Grant is $210,409.00. We
anticipate receiving approval of funding by November 2008.
The grant monies will be applied toward district initiatives in the improvement of
instruction and student learning, with a specific emphasis on improving the performance of
our special needs and economically disadvantaged children. Grant narratives were
developed by Mr. Andy Lees, Mr. Thad Hasbrouck, and Ms. Karen Baldwin.
Included in the Consolidated Funding are the following authorities:
a.) Title I, Part A – Improving Basic Programs Operated by Local Educational Agencies - $89,704
b.) Title II, Part A – Teacher and Principal Training and Recruiting - $114,253
c.) Title II, Part D – Enhancing Education Through Technology - $463
d.) Title III, Part A, Subpart 1 – English Language Acquisition and Language Enhancement – Entitlements have not been released. (We anticipate applying through a consortium with EDUCATION CONNECTION.)
e.) Title IV, Part A – Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities - $5,989
Ms Baldwin: The Federal Consolidated Grant for $210,409.00 has been completed and submitted to the State Department of Education and you can see in your board agenda that there are really five different authorities. They’re called Title 1, Title II, Title III, and Title IV, and we responding with our grant applications to the State and explained to them how we planned to use these monies, but ultimately, this money will help improve our district initiatives in terms of improving outcomes and opportunities for all children with a specific focus on our economically disadvantaged population as well as our children with special needs and this is a real opportunity to leverage our curriculum instruction and assessment work and so we’re excited to have these additional dollars available to us. We hope the monies will be released to us in November.
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L. Report from the Chairman
Ms. Calabrese: Again, I’d like to reiterate how happy we are to have Mary Dzioba back to our meetings. We’ve missed her very much. The groundbreaking ceremonies for Judson and Watertown High School will both take place on Saturday, October 4th. We will begin at 9:00 a.m. at Judson and then travel to Watertown High School immediately afterward. Also, a dedication ceremony for Swift Middle School is scheduled for Saturday, October 18th at 9:00 a.m.. State Representative Sean Williams will be there. We look forward to seeing as many members of the public there as possible in attendance at all of these ceremonies. As a community we should be proud that we have taken steps to move our school system forward by improving the learning environments where we educate our students. These renovated new construction projects will benefit Watertown children for many years to come.
Discussion: Mr. Killeen: Just a question on the dedication. Some parents asked if there will be tours of the building that day because there was a little one at orientation; however, there is much interest in seeing it.
Ms. Calabrese: You’re speaking about Swift school?
Mr. Killeen: Yes, Swift.
Ms. Calabrese: There will be a tour.
Ms. Baldwin: Yes, we anticipate engaging our middle school students in our work of that day and the middle school children will be tour guides for the public and for any board members or officials who have interest in seeing the full renovated Swift Middle School, so yes, there will be tours.
Ms. Calabrese: And also, I understand it will take approximately 2 hours at Swift from beginning to end by the time they’re done with the tour and ceremonies.
Ms. Baldwin: Right, we are planning the ceremony to go from approximately 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., and certainly, there will be opportunities for tours and there will be refreshments provided as well. Certainly, people can stay as long as they wish and see the entire facility.
L. Action Items – Adoption of Items to be Approved by Consent
1. Consideration of the approval of the acceptance of Gifts
a. The Della Pietra Pharmacy would like to donate six 4-packs of rechargeable photo batteries with a total value of $92.59 to the Art Department at Watertown High School.
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MOTION: (Mr. Mazzamaro, sec. Ms. Colangelo) I move that the board accept a give from the Della Pietra Pharmacy of six 4-packs of rechargeable photo batteries with a total value of $92.59 to the Art Department at Watertown High School.
Discussion: None
MOTION PASSED UNANIM0USLY
b. Mr. Joseph Hourihan would like to donate a Vivitar 7340 Digital Camera with an approximate value of $100.00 to the Art Department at Watertown High School.
MOTION: (Mr. Mazzamaro, sec. Ms. Pond) I make a motion the
Board accept a gift from Mr. Joseph Hourihan of a Vivitar 7340 Digital
Camera with an approximate value of $100.00 to the Art Department at
Watertown High School.
Discussion: None
MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
c. The Watertown Foundation would like to donate a $500.00 grant to the Watertown Family
Resource Center to support Literacy Nights.
MOTION: (Mr. Mazzamaro, sec. Ms. Colangelo) The Watertown Foundation would like to donate a $500.00 grant to the Watertown Family Resource Center to support Literacy Nights.
Discussion: None
MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
Ms. Calabrese: It is recommended that a letter of thanks be sent to these
generous donors.
2. Consideration of the Approval of Childrearing Leave of Absence
Ms. Sarah Pannone, Special Education Teacher at John Trumbull Primary
School, requests an unpaid childrearing leave of absence, commencing October
13, 2008, through November 3, 2008.
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ARTICLE XI – CHILDREARING LEAVE – Any teacher who is expecting a
child, or whose spouse is expecting a child, or who has firm plans to adopt a
child in the immediate future may, at the Board’s option, be granted a long-term
leave without pay for the purposes of childrearing.
It is recommended that the Board approve of an unpaid leave of absence for
childrearing for Ms. Sarah Pannone, Special Education Teacher at John Trumbull
Primary School, commencing October13, 2008, through November 3, 2008.
MOTION: (Ms. Colangelo, sec. Mr. Mazzamaro) I move the Board to approve an unpaid leave of absence for childrearing for Ms. Sarah Pannone, Special
Education Teacher at John Trumbull Primary School, commencing October 13,
2008 through November 3, 2008.
Discussion: None
MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
M. Future Agenda Items and Board Members’ Comments
Ms. Calabrese: At this time, we will ask for any ideas for future agenda items from board members or board members’ comments.
Ms. Dzioba: I’d just like to say that it’s good to be back and to thank everyone for their patience and support during my absence.
Ms. Pond: I would just like to say that people have approached me and asked about the pay for play.
Mr. Apicella: I think we’re going to discuss that at the athletics meeting, which all board members are welcome to attend as well as any community member who has an interest.
N. Public Participation
None
Ms. Calabrese closed public participation at 8:04.
P. Executive Session
Discussion of exempt documents pertaining to bargaining unit negotiations.
Ms. Calabrese: Before we asked for a motion, we need to have board members here and
the Superintendent. We need a motion to go into executive session.
MOTION: (Ms. Colangelo, sec. Mr. Mazzamaro) To go into executive session at 8:05 p.m. after a brief recess.
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Discussion: Mr. Killeen: With these discussions and negotiations, is Mr. Hasbrouck
going to be invited?
Ms. Calabrese: No
MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
Present during executive session:
Joseph Apicella
Kevin Killeen
Thomas Lambert
Richard Mazzamaro, Vice Chairman
Gina Calabrese, Chairman
Mary Colangelo
Janice Pond
Todd Griffin
Mary Dzioba
Karen Baldwin, Superintendent of Schools
O. Adjournment
MOTION: (Mr. Mazzamaro, sec. Mr. Lambert) to adjourn the regular meeting at 8:50 p.m.
MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
Respectfully submitted,
Mary Colangelo, Secretary
Board of Education
______________________________________
Patricia A. Barber, Minutes Secretary
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