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Watertown Board of Education
Regular Meeting
Minutes
Meeting Date: January 8, 2007
Meeting Time: 7:30 p.m.
Meeting Place: Watertown High Technology Center
Members Present: Ms. Mary Dzioba, Board Chairperson
Mr. Richard Mazzamaro, Board Vice Chairperson
Mr. Todd Griffin, Board Secretary
Ms. Gina Calabrese, Board Member
Ms. Mary Colangelo, Board Member
Mr. Kevin Killeen, Board Member
Mr. Chris Lafferty, Board Member
Mr. Thomas Lambert, Board Member
Ms. Joanne Pannone, Board Member
Dr. Joseph Erardi Jr., Superintendent of Schools
Ms. Amelia Grover, Dir. of Budget and Financial Planning
Ms. Betsy Hackett, Director of Special Services
Mr. Todd LoFrese, Director of Operations
Dr. Philip Pelosi, Assistant Superintendent of Schools
Ms. Kace DuPlissie, PTO Representative
Mr. William Zeman, W.H.S. Student Representative
Press: Jim Taylor, Sophie Bieluczyk, Town Times
Guests: Thad Hasbrouck, Matthew Geary, Pat Corvello, Marylu Lerz, Fran Palmer, Sandra Greenwood, Whitey Greenwood, Diana O’Neal, Christine Creasy, Dave King, Fred Khericha and Charlie Beliveau
A. Convene Regular Meeting - 7:30 PM
Ms. Dzioba convened the Regular Board of Education meeting at 7:30 p.m.
B. Salute to the Flag
Ms. Dzioba led the Salute to the Flag
C. Public Participation
Fran Palmer, 220 Middlebury Road, Watertown
Everette Condit would have given this report but he could not come this evening and he asked me to give it to you.
As one of the Lego coaches I would like to take a minute and share the successes that the Swift Lego teams achieved. Although we did not take high honors, the team did realize high successes on many levels. First and foremost the students had fun. Team members learned teamwork skills, design and programming skills, research and programming skills and planning.
The Lego teams had the benefit of a large community involvement. We had students from Watertown High School’s Team 237, who taught design and programming lessons, and helped set up and store the play field and related mission components. These students included: Ted Boucher, Mike Lemay, Logen Duda, Mike Hoffman, and Joe Guerrera.
The group also had the help of a WHS graduate and Team 237 mentor, who is now enrolled at Naugatuck Valley Community College, Sara Milton. Sara was active in seeing that Team members stayed focused. Parents were also very supportive. Many of the moms and dads brought snacks to the after school meetings and came to the competitions. John Ciccio, Brian Ziff and Rob Gurry regularly came to the after school meetings and helped guide the teams. We were fortunate to have Brian Ziff build and deliver a competition play field that we will be able to use each year. After each team designed their tee shirts, Rob Gurry, through the company he works for, Iovino Brothers Sporting Goods in Danbury CT, donated individual team tee shirts for each team and the coaches.
Rose Sobokeski of the Water Oak Youth Group financially sponsored a large part of the cost for the teams to purchase Lego supplies and participate in the contests. Additionally Rose came to all of the contest events to support the teams. The Watertown Board of Education also generously supported the teams with both busses and Lego supplies.
We had the benefit of many Swift Middle School Volunteers: Staff included: Dawn Kelley, who took charge early on of the research methods and volunteered her time at meetings. Lynn Engle, who helped with a lot of the paperwork and busses and volunteered her time at meetings. Kathy Sklanka, volunteered her time at meetings. Kim Mastropietro, who helped with planning, busses, and volunteered a large amount of her time at meetings and competitions. Fran Palmer, who helped with planning, announcements and volunteered a large amount of her time at meetings and competitions. Everett Condit, who was both the glue that held things together and the oil that kept things going.
The team members are:
Team 5062 Team 5063 Team 5064
Nuclear Engineers of Nano The Wall Techno Spartans
Jesse Austin Zachary Clock Stephany Atwood
Andrew Carew Chad Da Rocha Dexter Chamberlin
Jonathon Ciccio Kyle Da Rocha Liam Dowling
Jennifer Donato Matt Distasio Kevin Jerkiewicz
John Guerra Hunter Guidas Anthony Martin
Zach Holmes William Gurry Ashley Rek
Krystal Demirili Nicholas Krantz Vincent Seneco
Joe O’Conner Andre LeClerc Jamey Velezis
Jose Ortiz Steve Nazario Matt Ziff
Amber White Tommy White
We are planning to invite all of the Swift Lego team members to visit the High School’s Team 237 once they receive this year’s challenge and are in action. Early in the planning stages we felt that the Swift First Lego teams would be a good feeder program for the high school’s First Robotics program. Our trip would be sometime after school with the parents.
I invite all Board Members to visit our team web page and see what it was like for the students. You can find the page at www.swiftmiddle.org - go to Clubs - go to Lego League
Sincerely,
Everett Condit
Report from Student Council Representative – Mr. William Zeman
Mr. Zeman: Two things for tonight. First of all I met with the Facilities Committee last Wednesday on behalf of the Student Council and I would like to thank them for their courtesy and respect to the Student Council on the Tower Road issue, and more information on that will be forthcoming when it gets on the Board’s Agenda.
My focus for this meeting and this report is something that kind of unifies that High School every year because this week is the week of auditions for the 2007 High School Musical, which if you are not aware, is Anything Goes by Cole Porter. If you are not aware of the high school musical, it is massive, so it seems like something that should be a focus of at least one student report. First of all it should be noted that students do pretty much everything in the musical. The Director is Mrs. Goldfarb, the Assistant Director is Ms. Chenkus but the programs are designed by the students, it is all acted out by students, the pit orchestra is all students, the stage crew is all students, the set are all designed and most of them are painted by students, it’s huge! It is truly a multi layered, tiered, it is an incredibly big endeavor that gets everybody involved. The arts kids, the performing arts kids, music kids, the technical kids, they all jump into it. It’s an incredible undertaking, generally we are here, if you were here and saw the Robot team, we sort of compete with them, the school musical, for who can stay the latest every night. When it comes to putting it together, though they come in on holidays, and the school musical doesn’t even do that. It really brings the whole high school together, it is something where as Mrs. Chenkus puts it, it brings the whole Watertown Community together because teachers, students, community people, they all have to work together to get this endeavor undertaken. Especially the last couple of years where a lot of it has been fundraising, done a lot by students as well which adds a whole other aspect to it. It is a huge undertaking, it is an incredible thing for the High School. It is going to be in early May this year, I invite everybody to come, you really should. Thank you.
Report from PTA/PTO Representative – Ms. Kace DuPlissie
Ms. DuPlissie: I have only got a couple of things this evening. At Polk the winter concert will be on January 18th and also at Polk the yearbook club will start on the 13th of February. At Hemingway the award night is on the 26th of this month. At the next Board meeting we are going to have a series of the PTA/PTO Presidents coming in and talking to the Board and telling them what they have done for the year and what they plan on doing for the rest of the year. This next meeting will start with the President of John Trumbull. Thank you.
D. Budget Summary – (Information Only – No Action Required)
Ms. Dzioba: Budget summary is in the packet for all Board Members.
The Board had no comments or questions regarding the budget summary
E. Committee Reports:
1. Advertising Committee, Todd Griffin, Chair
Mr. Griffin: There is no report this evening
2. Athletics Committee, Chris Lafferty, Chair
Mr. Lafferty: No Report this evening
3. Budget Committee, Todd Griffin, Chair
Mr. Griffin: There is no report this evening.
4. Curriculum & Instruction Committee, Gina Calabrese, Chair
Ms. Calabrese: The Curriculum and Instruction Subcommittee met on Thursday January 5th at 3:30pm in the Watertown High School Library. Assistant Principal Matthew Geary along with Principal Thad Hasbrouck presented the revised Watertown High School Program of Study. Mr. Geary who chaired the revision committee thoroughly reviewed changes that are projected to effect in 2007-2008. Several new courses have been added in the areas of Music, English, the Sciences, United States History, Technology and World Languages. In response to NEASC recommendations a number of advanced placement and elective courses will be made available in an ongoing effect to meet their diverse academic needs. A full explanation of course leveling has been added to the program of studies, language and course descriptions have been updated and clarified and essential questions have been added to course descriptions in the art, music, mathematics, world languages, health, physical education and vocational education departments. Mr. Geary provided a clear rationale for each proposed change and was able to speak to any budgetary implications that might be associated with these proposed revisions. Mr. Geary also presented a detailed proposal for a grade nine college preparatory team pilot designed to provide additional support to 9th grade students who may be in need of assistance in making a successful transition to Watertown High School. It was the consensus of the subcommittee to endorse these excellent initiatives. Finally Mr. Colleen Spieler provided us with an updated report from the High School Curriculum Committee. On behalf of the Curriculum and Instruction committee I would like to commend Mr. Geary and all who worked with him for a job well done. Revisions to the High School Program of Studies and the proposed 9th grade teaming pilot are being considered for approval by the full Board on this evening’s agenda, along with revisions to the preschool curriculum which were reviewed and endorsed by the Curriculum and Instruction Committee in a meeting held on December 14th.
5. Facilities Committee, Rich Mazzamaro, Chair
Mr. Mazzamaro: The Facilities Committee met twice since our last meeting, we met on December 28th at Swift Middle School to tour the new addition. Joe Vitro from O & G Industries and Todd LoFrese updated our committee on the progress of the project. As of the 29th of December the auditorium was just about complete and ready to be turned over. Work continues on the addition with classrooms and labs making big progress. The entire addition was enclosed as of our tour and the heat ready to be turned on. At that point sheetrock and taping can start, as soon as the heat is on. The project remains on time and on budget, there will be more detailed information in the Public Building report, there is a very detailed monthly report there.
We also met again on Wednesday January 3rd, Mr. William Zeman addressed the committee about opening the Tower Road gate in the afternoon for only 15 minutes, from 2:05 to 2:25 pm, to alleviate traffic congestion at Watertown High School. The administration at the High School endorses this plan. Our committee recommended this be brought to the full board for discussion at our first meeting in February. Next item discussed was an update from Dave King at KBA and the three school study. KBA I believe tonight is prepared to update the full board on the recommendations and the approximate cost to renovate the three schools, the High School, Judson and Polk. The last item we discussed was the payphones in our schools. Todd LoFrese informed our committee that the hardware will be installed in place of the phones to allow for emergency calls and after that point the payphones would begin to be pulled out of all the schools.
6. Policy and Labor Committee, Mary Colangelo, Chair
Ms. Colangelo: No report this evening
7. Cablevision, Kevin Killeen, Chair
Mr. Killeen: No report this evening
8. PBC Representative, Rich Mazzamaro
Mr. Mazzamaro: I attended the Public Buildings Committee meeting on December 20th and as I stated early O & G gave their monthly project summary on Swift. The Public Building Committee was updated on the following project areas: As far as site work, the segmental retaining wall in the northwest corner was started, they have hauled off most of the excess fill, about 90% complete and the playing fields are now ready for topsoil. Area A, which is the addition portion, the exterior masonry back up is complete, the exterior veneer is 90% complete and the interior masonry is 85% complete as of the 20th, exterior framing and sheeting is also complete. The interior framing is 95% complete and the boilers have been set, the heating loop installation is 99% complete and the sprinkler installation is ongoing along with plumbing rough ins. Area B, which is the auxiliary gym, the exterior veneer is about 90% complete, steel for roof framing and deck installation is complete and the roof installation has begun, in the locker room, in the same area, the interior masonry is 99% complete, mechanical and electrical rough ins are all complete, as far as painting, primer and the first coat is all complete. Ceiling grid installation is all complete, the lockers are about 90% complete and the ceramic tile is complete. As I mentioned in the facilities report, the auditorium is complete except for some minor touch ups and new seats have been installed.
9. Education Connection Representative, Mary Dzioba
Ms. Dzioba: No report
F. Communications – Secretary
Mr. Griffin: The communication this evening was sent to Dr. Erardi and to the Board from Pat Collia, who visited us during our state training. (Attachment A)
“I want to express my appreciation to you and the Watertown Board of Education for allowing me to attend the CABE training this evening. I know that this valuable experience will provide me with knowledge and insight as I pursue my ultimate goal of obtaining a position as school superintendent in the future.” Respectfully Pat Collia
G. Minutes
1. Regular Board of Education Meeting – December 11, 2006
Motion Presented by Mr. Griffin seconded by Ms. Pannone to accept the Regular Board of Education Meeting Minutes of December 11, 2006.
Motion Passed
(9-In Favor, 0-Opposed, 0 Abstained)
H. Superintendent's Recommendations and Report
Dr. Erardi: Happy New Year to the Watertown Community and the Board of Education. A relatively brief report, Item H 1 - Appointments, many of the appointments being seasonal, just a point of information for the Board, at our last meeting you received and accepted the resignation, the retirement of Sharon Lanese, 5th grade teacher at Polk, if you look to item 1. h., Jennifer Wernery is replacing Sharon Lanese, I wanted to bring this to the Board’s attention.
Questions at all on appointments?
Mr. Lafferty: Yes, on item 1. f. Mr. Greg Valente and his position as assistant swim coach at Watertown High School for 06-07, is that a girls swim coach or is that a mistake? Because I don’t know of a Greg Valente as a swim coach.
Dr. Erardi: That is for the fall season.
Mr. Lafferty: So he was a girls’ swim coach.
Dr. Erardi: That is correct.
Ms. Dzioba: For the paras, the one on one, items 1b. and 1i., are there Steps?
Dr. Erardi: Yes there are, it is all contractual
Ms. Dzioba: Ok, Mr. Ciarleglio has been in our system longer.
Dr. Erardi: Yes Gabriel Ciarleglio was a Para at Watertown High School whose student graduated last year and was on a waiting list to return. That is the reason why he’s moved back at the dollar amount contractual, that is indicated to the Board.
1. Appointments – (Information Only – No Action Required)
a. Mr. Jason Calabrese to the position of Boys’ Varsity Basketball Coach at Watertown High School for the 2006 -2007 school year at a contractual stipend of $3,759.00 payable at the end of the season.
b. Mr. Gabriel Ciarleglio to the position of One to One Special Ed Program Paraprofessional (Category #1) at Watertown High School starting January 2, 2007 for 30.0 hours paid per week, at an hourly rate of $13.77.
c. Mr. Darryl Johnson to the position of Boys’ Basketball J.V. Coach at Watertown High School for the 2006-2007 school year at a contractual stipend of $2,255.00 payable at the end of the season.
d. Mr. Edward Lopes to the position of Girls’ Varsity Basketball Coach at Watertown High School for the 2006-2007 school year at a contractual stipend of $3,634.00 payable at the end of the season.
e. Mr. George Palomba to the position of Freshman Boys’ Basketball Coach at Watertown High School for the 2006-2007 school year at a contractual stipend of $2,631.00 payable at the end of the season.
f. Mr. Gregory Valente to the position of Assistant Swim Coach at Watertown High School for the 2006-2007 school year at a contractual stipend of $1,625.00 payable at the end of the season.
g. Ms. Amanda Valunas to the position of Cheerleading Coach at Watertown High School for the 2006-2007 school year at a contractual stipend of $2,506.00 payable at the end of the season.
h. Ms. Jennifer Wernery to the position of Grade 5 teacher at Polk School effective January 8, 2007, being hired at Step 2, 1 year of experience, Masters Degree, at an annual contractual salary of $39,930.00 prorated.
i. Ms. Carey Pavelo to the position of One to One Special Ed Program Paraprofessional (Category #1) at John Trumbull Primary School starting January 2, 2007 for 31.25 hours paid per week, at an hourly rate of $11.82.
Dr. Erardi: Item #2 will be presented to the Board of Education in two parts, this evening Todd LoFrese will be prepared, along with our First Student Management who are waiting anxiously in our audience, I am sure, to present to the Board, the daily transportation of our students and our after school transportation. In February the Board will hear part 2 of transportation request which will come from Mrs. Betsy Hackett, our Director of Pupil Services that will be specific to our transportation for our special needs children. Mr. LoFrese.
Mr. LoFrese: Good Evening, thank you. I will be brief, at each Board Members’ station this evening there is a packet (Attachment B) that was put together by First Student that discusses the hiring procedures as well as some of the training procedures that First Student bus drivers all receive. With that I would like to turn this portion over to Mrs. Diana O’Neal and Ms. Christine Creasy with thanks. I think I am in daily communication with them, all for the well being of children, getting them to school safely. Diana.
Ms. O’Neal: Thank you, I have done a brief overview of what we do to train a CDL driver, which you should all have in your packet. I have everything in order with me to read down with us. The first thing we do is to give them, before you start, because there are certain things that we don’t as a bus company, we will not hire you if you have some of these things on here. No theft, fraud, moral turpitude, no convictions with child assault, endangering or abuse. I am not going to go over all of them because as you see it is a full packet, but I just want you to be aware of what we do. I have also made a copy of our application for employment so you know what we ask for questions and how we do the choosing. I go over the application myself, along with Christine, Michelle Pinella is our safety coordinator, she is certified by the State to do the training and she goes over them also, just in case one of us should miss something.
After that, if it seems like someone that we feel we would be interested in hiring, we do set up an appointment for a school bus driver interview, I do conduct that myself unless I am not in the office for vacation and then Christine would do that also. At that point, if they are a suitable applicant, we send them immediately for a drug screen. I put the time that I am sending them on the paper and I do expect them to be there within a 10-15 minute window and I am in communication with Concentra, and they do tell me what time they are there. Also at that time we do a pre-employment background request. We have the applicant fill in the information so that once we get their drug screen and it is negative, then we send the DAC report in, we do not do that until we get the negative results. As you can see on your form, DAC is a company that First Student has hired to do the background requests. There is an 800 number there and I could give you more information if you would like to be in contact with them. They send me back everything that is listed, we do a County criminal search, employment verification, a motor vehicle report, a drug and alcohol test result, a nation wide wants and warrants search, a track report, a State sex offenders registry search and a social security check. Those must all come back with a good report before they are considered to drive a school bus. If for some reason there is a negative on a motor vehicle report, it is sent to my boss, Jim Kastely, his secretary then calls me and says did you hire this person or not, and if you did I need to explain to them why we have done that. So we have a very, very thorough process that we go through before we would hire a person.
Also we have as I said, the random drug screen, I apologize, the pre-employment, and I have given you a copy of that, I have whited out all the name of the person since this is directly from a file of a driver who drives our students to school at this time. The first on in there is for pre-employment and then we random 50% of our workforce every month for drugs. I get them by computer, once I tell them, again they have to go immediately, if they do not it is an automatic termination. There is nothing done, if for some reason it comes back and I apologize, let me go back to the first one, on their pre-employment it tells you everything that they test for and it is a very thorough search. Then we go for the random, I get the results again on the computer within two days normally unless they are working with a weekend and if there is a question with that they call the person first and let them know there is a question as long as there is a legitimate, because sometimes they are taking a prescribed medication, it is ok, if not we have a zero tolerance for drugs and alcohol. We do random 10% of the work-force every month for alcohol and we do that at our location.
I have also enclosed a preliminary new hire information check sheet, some of the information I go through myself to make sure that it is done. We have these on our applicants so that everyone is treated in the same manner. We also do a physical dexterity test, we want to know that the people who are driving our children are able to do so, go up and down the steps, open the door, we ask them to drag 125lbs of weight, 30 feet which is the length of the school bus. It seems like a lot but if our children are hurt or for some reason need to be taken off that bus in a hurry, we need to know that that can be done. I have again put the physical dexterity test in here so you can see exactly what we do for it. At that point, once the training has begun, we do a physical for the State Motor Vehicle, that they must pass, and the doctor has to say that they do. They have their medical card and they have to carry that with them at all times. At that point the training really gets under way with Michelle Pinella, our certified trainer. She does about 45-50 hours of training for each employee. The first 8 hours are in the office, she prepares them to go down and get their permit. Once they take the test for the permit, then she takes them on the road and you have probably seen them in town going on the back roads. She teaches them to do everything that a bus driver needs to do. They also have to be finger printed and these finger prints go into the FBI. I have enclosed that also, the application for that.
Once a driver has that sent in, they get a letter from the State of Connecticut stating that their application has been received and upon initial investigation, everything is fine, it is ok for them to test. They cannot test without this letter when they go with Motor Vehicle. Once the training completes to the point that Michelle feels they are ready, she calls Motor Vehicle to get an appointment set up and Michelle takes them to New Haven. But that is just the beginning of training, I have enclosed also here, what she does every day with it, she has to document every day what she does, whether it be a pre-trip inspection, a reverse, a serpentine, a static course, everything that she does, she has to document. This particular driver had 50.3 hours of training before we put her on the road.
I also have put in that we do a motor vehicle check twice a year, we request them from motor vehicle, we get them and then we compare anything that might be new. If there is some reason that there is something on there that we are not aware of, the employees called in, whether it be in a bus or in their personal car, they must tell us if they have received a ticket of any kind. If we find it out after, company policy, there could be a termination involved. We are very, it is always safety conscientious, and you do have a motor vehicle report here also. We also do a certificate of violations, they have to sign a form whether they, in the last year, since they have filled out the prior one, have had any violations, criminal or traffic, and they sign it and attest that it is true. We get this done and then we compare it with what we have been given by the State of Connecticut so that everything coincides with one another.
In the beginning of each school year we do a skills refresher course, we do a pre-trip inspection, a mirror clinic, we do backing procedures, railroad crossings, on/off loading and over the road training. We have a five hour, with that included kick-off meeting, so that they are informed as to what we do. We have a safety meeting once a month, it is held at the First Congregational Church on the second Tuesday of every month at 9:30. If any one of you would like to attend, that would be great. We do have a make-up the following Tuesday at 5:300. We also do, there is a certificate in here of training and examination of the visibility, we need to know that they can see what they have to see out of their mirrors. We need to know that they can open their emergency door safely and set their hand brake. They are required to set their hand brake at every stop they make for a student, so that if their transmission should jump for any reason, everyone is going to be safe. Also included is a kick-off observation form that Michelle has signed, again I have taken the name of the driver off so that everyone can see exactly what we do. The last thing is a daily vehicle condition report, each driver has to check their bus every morning, we pay them to come in early before their route starts and they do this report. If there is a defect they hand it to Christine and she is responsible for getting those defects to the garage and getting them completed.
So we do have a very strenuous course that we do and again if you have any questions, I would be happy to answer them but I have tried to make sure that you have everything that we covered this evening.
Ms. Pannone: Are the bus drivers allowed to bring their children on the bus while they are picking up other school children?
Ms. O’Neal: Once they are a year old. They have to be a year old and be able to walk to and from the bus before they can bring their children.
Ms. Pannone: And they are insured in case something, we’re insured for that?
Ms. O’Neal: Yes, we as a company provide a seat belt in the first two seats of the bus for that car seat to be held. It is not small enough for a child, it is one that we install so that a car seat can be held and the children are safe there.
Ms. Pannone: Do any of our buses at this point have a camera on them?
Ms. O’Neal: They do not.
Dr. Erardi: Just two additional comments before we move onto Item #3. To give you a sense of the dedication and the leadership and the follow-ship that Diana gives to First Student and back to the Board of Education, back in the winters when we had snow (laughter) as recently as last year, on a day off, on a terrible snow day off, Diana chose to rather to roll over, to get up and to run First Student for student safety. And the second item I would like to share with the Board of Education is that in today’s world and especially in Connecticut, it is very difficult to find qualified and competent bus drivers, much to do with the rigor that you just heard from First Student, we are fortunate to have not only an outstanding fleet of drivers but an outstanding fleet of substitute drivers and a lot of that has to do with the management of Diana and Christine, so I thank both of you.
2. Transportation Update
Administration is prepared to share with the Board of Education the practice and protocol for the hiring and training of bus drivers for the Watertown Public Schools.
Dr. Erardi: We will move on to the final item of the Superintendent’s report for which I will defer to Mr. LoFrese.
Mr. LoFrese: With us this evening are Kaestle Boos Representatives, Mr. David King and Mr. Fred Khericha. They are going to be presenting tonight a flyby computer animation of Watertown High School, what it would potentially look like after building renovation and addition. Also at Board Member stations this evening is a cost overview of the project which will also be presented by Kaestle Boos this evening and one last item, just a little bit of house keeping, at each station there is a piece of paper that looks like this, it is a map of Watertown High School, that is a replacement map for the big binder, it goes immediately behind tab 8. With that I will turn it over to Mr. David King.
Mr. King: Good evening, I talked to you before about how in our office we would be able to develop a computer generated image of what the High School looks like with the proposed additions and alterations done there. I will show that to you briefly, it takes about 1 ½ minutes to run, if it decides to run. Then we will go into the final episode.
(Referring to the computer demonstration) What you are seeing here is, that is the proposed main entrance to the school with the little blue line, just to the right of that is a sloped area, that is the media center and just to the right of that is the green house with some guidance down below. We are coming around to the two story wing, the second story of that would be renovated to be the science wing, this is the 1969 addition, the upper floor of that are also science, floors below are language and social studies. Coming around to the back, what you see in general here is the windows with an exposure to the west or to the east or the south have a sun shade on them so that we reduce the direct sun into the rooms. This is going to save us on energy bills because of heat build up that comes from direct sunlight. Where we are able in certain classrooms, we would have proposed to put in what we call a white shelf which is where the sunlight would hit the top of this sunscreen and bounce into the classroom so that sunlight penetrates much deeper into the classroom area and when you do that in conjunction with stepped light sensors, you may have the outer row of lighting that is against the outside windows may only come on intermittently during the day depending on how much sunlight there is. Then progressively the lighting in the room would only come on as necessary, this will help you quite a bit with your energy bill. We are concluding here around the side, what we have on the left now is new administrative area which is again right at the front entrance. That is kind of how that looks, this is a work in progress, we need to bring in the ground plane and some parking and other stuff to show you how that works. As we go forward that is what we will do.
Now we are going to talk about costs. What you have, the smaller book that you have with you is our cost estimates for the three schools, right behind the cover there should be a loose page, the loose page kind of summarizes everything and that is what we are going to talk about here briefly. Particularly the last three columns. To summarize what we have here is, we will start on the far right and work our way back. The proposed costs to the High School as shown with the additions and the alterations, code compliance work, correcting deficiencies in the building, in a renovate to new scenario, is $56,024,168.00. The cost for Judson, $15,821,720.00, the cost for Polk $12,486,976.00, that is a total of $84,332,864.00. In speaking with Todd and the finance people, there are issuance costs, that is the cost for bonding, which we assumed here would be done in four stages which at Swift it was only done in three but we are being conservative and assuming that it is four, and that is roughly $50,000.00 per issue so that is $200,000.00. So the overall cost in a full blown scenario is $84,532,864.00.
Now working our way back to the left, the column immediately to the left, is Watertown’s share which is based on a reimbursement rate, your current reimbursement rate of 56.07%, that reimbursement rate is good until June 30th of this year, at which time the State will recalculate, they may have recalculated it but they haven’t issued it or told anybody what it is, they will recalculate the rate and it will change. The rate for the Swift project was about 58.5% I believe, so you can see that there is a change in that annually. The Watertown share to subtotal that is $37,047,427.00 to that should be added the $200,000.00 because the issuance cost is not necessarily reimbursable cost. Of course the State is picking up the 56% so that is the $47,285,437.00 you see in the column at the left. In terms of our estimates of doing what we talked about, that is how that figures. Now to dig deeper at your leisure, within the estimate you will see that there is a tab for each of the three schools and that the work is broken down into areas of task. We have site work which is broken down into one set of numbers, renovation work, which we would consider lighter surgery if you will within the building is broken down into another column, refurbishment is what we call, refer to as the minor work and renovation is referred to as more significant work. It is broken down into areas, for example, science is broken down into one area, working in the basement is another, the pool, lower level, standard classrooms, media center, to give you an idea because those numbers do vary slightly within each component just because of the nature of what they are so we have broken those down separately for you, and I am sure there will want to be discussion and talk about that as we go forward. Any questions?
Ms. Dzioba: With the renovate and refurbish to new, this brings down the Town’s cost rather than just repairing what needs to be done in these buildings correct?
Mr. King: When you take advantage of the State’s renovate to new program what you are going to do is replace every component of the building that we can think of. We are going to replace the windows, we are going to replace all the finishes, we are going to replace all of the systems, the heating system, the air conditioning, the electrical system, the plumbing, not just the boilers or the termination units at the end but everything in between, that includes piping and wiring and so forth. The idea here is that when you are done, all these systems are brand new and they should all be good for another, it is like resetting their useful service life back to zero and in many cases, as you will see in the report we put together, many things are either at, close to or even beyond their useful service life now in the three schools. This will reset all those things to new condition so when you do that the State will reimburse you at your full rate for doing all that work because their feeling is that, ok after we have done that you won’t be coming back and looking for more money within the period of their useful service life. Should you decide that in a lesser scale or scope project, were we do not perform renovate to new work, anything that is regarded as a repair or a replacement, because something is worn out in nature, the state does not reimburse you for that cost. So while the overall bottom line number may be less, what you typically find is that the share to the Town becomes more. This is a way to take fuller advantage of the reimbursement that is offered to you.
Mr. Lambert: So we assume that the State does review these drawings and plans before they reimburse.
Mr. King: Always, the State always reviews them and they review the project costs as you go along, every couple of months or so. On Swift for example, we file a new, an amended forms with the State and we advise them of how things are going.
Mr. Lambert: So they do give you feedback pretty quickly?
Mr. King: Well they have a list of things that are reimbursable and things that are not reimbursable, and even a renovate to new project will have something that will not be reimbursed but the idea is that this is our target of the 56.07% and we want to come as close to the bull’s eye as we can and with the renovate to new project we are going to come pretty darn close.
Mr. Lambert: So we can be pretty confident by the time we go out to referendum on these issues that the numbers are going to be right?
Mr. King: We will be confident that we will have a set of estimates that will be revised, understand that for example on, I keep going back to Swift here, but the set of bid documents that went out to bid consists of 250 or so drawings, sheets of drawings and a specification book with probably close to 1,000 pages, we prepare a final estimate based on those documents. Now this estimate is only based on the documents that you have seen so far, so there is a big difference there, there is a lot more information upon which to come up with a more accurate estimate let’s say.
Mr. Killeen: The Swift example is probably a good one for us to focus on this renovate to new as well. You mentioned that some of the repairs that are necessary for the three facilities would have to be accomplished regardless. The boiler systems and so forth have lived past their practical use. In your opinion, your studies and so forth, did those amounts exceed the $37,000.00 that we would have put in for renovate to new? Are we getting a better advantage that if we just made our repairs? And that doesn’t even consider any future growth or improvements to the physical facility.
Mr. King: If I understand you correctly, I think the answer is yes. When you said the $37,000.00 did you mean 37 million?
Mr. Killeen: Yes.
Mr. King: So yes, normally if a project is not renovate to new and you are putting an addition on, like at Swift, let’s say it is not renovate to new, now we need to either replace or supplement the boilers that are there because we have more building area than we did before. Normally the State would say, we will reimburse you for the delta, the difference that you need. Even if we are putting in one new boiler that is bigger than the one before, we will only prorate the reimbursement base on what percentage of the square footage is new, what percentage of the square footage was existing? We will go in on the new but we won’t go in on the existing. In a renovate to new scenario it is all reimbursable.
Mr. Mazzamaro: You mentioned that the reimbursement for Swift was 58%, the reimbursement here is 56%, is it a risk, I guess the longer we wait the risk is that the percentage of State reimbursement goes down every year.
Mr. King: The trend has been for the rates to go down in general yes, the rate is calculated on a formula that has to do with wealth, per capita wealth. So over time I think Watertown becomes per capita a more wealthier community so the reimbursement rate generally goes down. Now does that mean you are going to loose another 2 ½ points after June 30th? I couldn’t say that.
Mr. Mazzamaro: It is a risk.
Mr. King: I would say it is a fair statement to say the rate is going to go down. And of course costs are going to go up.
Dr. Erardi: That concludes the Superintendent’s Report.
3. Three School Study Update
Administration and representatives from Kaestle Boos Associates, Inc. will present information on the progress of the study thus far.
I. Report from the Chairman
Ms. Dzioba: I don’t really have a chairman’s report other than again to wish everybody a Happy New Year and to remind people that with a new year is a new budget process and we will be actively working on the budget and ask everyone to stay involved and informed.
J. Action Items – Adoption of Items to be Approved by Consent
a. Consideration of the Approval of the Network Coordinator/s Restructure – Second Reading
At its meeting on December 6, 2006, the Policy and Labor Committed reviewed the restructuring of the position of Network Coordinator/s. It was presented to the full Board for the first reading at its meeting on December 11, 2006. It is presented this evening for the second reading and for full Board approval.
It is recommended that the Board approve of the restructuring of the position of Network Coordinator/s.
Motion presented by Mr. Mazzamaro, seconded by Mr. Griffin to approve of the restructuring of the position of Network Coordinator/s.
Discussion:
Dr. Erardi: Mrs. Dzioba, if I could just bring to the attention of the Board the handout that was provided by Mr. LoFrese (See Attachment C) the administration felt it was necessary to sharpen our pencils with this second read. It is a two page handout that indicates to the Board of Education that the allocated money and our operational plan for 06-07, if the Board supports this proposal, shows a savings about $1,700 and that if the Board supports this proposal going forward for 07-08, it would be at the level of funding with no increase, that was originally in place when we put together our operational plan.
Mr. Mazzamaro: My question would be that with these revised numbers, this money is in the budget currently, there is no increase in the budget for this restructuring?
Dr. Erardi: That is correct. Perhaps a better answer, when we were formulating this budget one of the reductions that we sent forward to the Town Council and ultimately to the Town, was we took the full time position which was originally in effect 7/1/06 and we delayed the hiring, cutting the line item from $35,000 to $17,500 the $17,500 is in our budget and we are prepared to go forward if the Board chooses to support this.
Mr. Griffin: I just want to clarify something, the network coordinator position half year was in the budget, the increase to make a lead network coordinator was not in the budget.
Dr. Erardi: That is correct. The delta or the difference on how we balance this was that when we looked to create a management structure within our organization that looks very similar to what we had in presentation from our bus company or from our cafeteria program, we chose to create a structure that supports what we have for operations, what we have for cafeteria, what we have for our transportation and we took the new position and reduced the dollar per hour with a look at that position as being our tool box maintenance and repair person, which is something we desperately need. I don’t have the exact dollar in front of me but I believe it is $18 per hour, Mr. LoFrese is that correct?
Mr. LoFrese: That’s correct
Dr. Erardi: They new position coming forward would be at $18, which allows us then to create the structure that we feel is optimal for our organization and the Board of Education, and again we did that by balancing the operational plan for this year with no additional cost for next year.
Ms. Dzioba: If I can clarify this with what we are voting on. The tech service person, the new position is going to be filled, what we are voting on now is restructuring, taking funds from that position and adding it to a lead person. So one way or the other, the new hire will be hired because it is budgeted, what we are basically voting on here is whether or not to increase the salary of an existing employee to make them the lead person.
Mr. LoFrese: Correct and also that job description of that lead person.
Ms. Colangelo: Just looking at this effective February 1 looks like the lead coordinator is going to be making less money than the network coordinator?
Mr. LoFrese: The proposed restructure is funding in place that would be paid from January 1 until June 30th, that employee will be at a higher monthly rate however that employee wouldn’t catch up until the next budget year.
Mr. Lafferty: So there is going to be an increase in salary for this new position, for the lead coordinator, for the person who will be the network coordinator, if we change the position to lead network coordinator, they would get a salary increase but we would have a savings of $1,777?
Dr. Erardi: I think Chris the easiest way to talk through this is to go to the second page, go to the middle of the page which talks about for 07-08, if we did not go forward to create a lead network coordinator, the new hire position, which you see at $24,920, at approximately $18.00 an hour, would be at $35,000 for 07-08 so we have reduced the position in dollars per hour to support the structure that we feel is most important going forward as our technology goes forward within our district. I think that is the best, clearest picture to take a look at. It is a snapshot of what we are hoping will go forward. The only thing that this does not take into account, contractual negotiations for next year.
Ms. Dzioba; But it still increases the network coordinator’s salary by almost $10,000?
Dr. Erardi: Correct, the lead network coordinator.
Ms. Dzioba; The lead network coordinator, for a department that will have three people in it.
Dr. Erardi: Correct, it will have three people in it, however the responsibility is enormous.
Mr. Killeen: So is it correct to say that this new hire will not take place until the restructure 07-08? Or would that person take a reduction on the new year?
Dr. Erardi: Mr. Killeen what we are looking to do is to, again I want to just go back for two seconds, this is a position that the Board of Education endorsed, supported, and sent forward to the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, that we would be doing this. The timeline for implementation was on or about January 1, 07, again the $17,500 administration is looking to hopefully have this Board support this recommendation and we would look to hire immediately this new position. The new tool box position, concurrently with that we would look to re-advertise internally and if we need to externally, the lead network coordinators position. It would be a parallel look at the new hire and the lead network with all dollars being appropriately budgeted for this year, with no additional dollars being expended for next year.
Mr. Killeen: This is no financial impact and it is being prompted by a NEASC requirement.
Dr. Erardi: That’s correct.
Ms. Dzioba; But again, what we are voting on is the restructuring, so even if we vote no, we are still going to get the new hire, that is in the budget, we are going to advertise and get the new technology person. Voting no just says that we are not restructuring to where we have a lead network coordinator.
Ms. Calabrese: But is it the lead network coordinator that is in the NEASC recommendation?
Ms. Dzioba; No, it is the new hire that is in the NEASC recommendation, not the lead network coordinator.
Dr. Erardi: THE NEASC recommendation is actually, enhanced technology support for Watertown High School, it was left that general.
Mr. Killeen: So in fact the lead works there as well.
Ms. Pannone: The new hire will make number 3?
Ms. Dzioba; That would make a third employee correct
Ms. Pannone: That would make a third employee, not counting the lead which we don’t have at this point.
Ms. Dzioba: We already have two positions now and then it is my assumption that if we approve the lead coordinator then that will be one of the two present coordinators will have a salary increase.
Mr. LoFrese: Correct, we would look to hire from within.
Mr. Mazzamaro: My one comment is in looking at this in the past that my concern has been that the $10,000 increase in the budget were right now we are looking to hire teachers and we are looking to do a big school project and we are looking at a lot of other things. This again, I am just trying to understand this, is zero impact to this upcoming budget that we will be putting together in the next weeks.
Ms. Dzioba: Because when it was budgeted, it was budgeted at a hire rate and what we are doing is hiring someone at a lower rate than what was budgeted and giving the savings of the lower rate to an employee as the lead.
Mr. Griffin: We could just hire the coordinator at $24,000 and save $10,000.
Mr. Mazzamaro: I guess my next question would be maybe to explain a little bit, again Todd I think you have done this a few times, the lead, what is the reason for wanting to have a lead.
Mr. LoFrese: Not a problem, certainly. When we bring on the third employee in essence my position would have three direct reports all functioning in the same role. I do not interact daily with these individuals and I think it would be more stream lined, allow for better lines of communication, more daily supervision, more focus on what they are actually working on if they had a daily supervisor. The concept behind the lead network coordinator is to be just that, a daily supervisor. If we did hire someone at a lower rate I think it would be even more important to have a daily supervisor because this is going to be someone with less experience that we had initially planned to bring on.
Ms. Calabrese: Are you saying that being able to hire a lead person, to have this position, this person would have more authority over the other two people, that person would be able to go on site to where these people are working and observe them first hand and devote himself more to the supervision piece of it? To make sure that things are running more smoothly.
Mr. LoFrese: Correct, more smoothly, to make sure their day is full.
Ms. Calabrese: And that new position, when you say “tool box” it is really more of a technician.
Mr. LoFrese: Correct, however I want to make it clear that the lead network coordinator as presented is a working supervisory position so this is not strictly a management position, this person is expected to also perform technical support for the district.
Ms. Calabrese: Ok and it would allow for more supervision within the district.
Mr. LoFrese: Correct
Ms. Calabrese: Where would all these people be located?
Mr. LoFrese: At Watertown High School.
Ms. Calabrese: All of them?
Mr. LoFrese: Correct
Ms. Calabrese: So this lead person would be stationed at Watertown High School and would be right there providing supervision?
Mr. LoFrese: Correct, the other rational for the location being Watertown High School is the backbone and the entire district network is located here at Watertown High School.
Ms. Calabrese: And you would have someone on site to supervise it so it wouldn’t just be, it would prevent the kind of, it would eliminate some of the need for constant calling back and forth.
Mr. LoFrese: Correct
Ms. Dzioba: But basically it would be a supervisor supervising two other employees?
Mr. LoFrese: Yes
Ms. Dzioba: How many other departments do we have that have supervisors for just a department of three employees?
That I wouldn’t be able to answer, we do have for example, food service we have someone who heads the entire food service area however at each school there is a manager who is responsible for the daily tasks of the other people in the cafeteria, so there are some example where there is a cafeteria manager overseeing a couple other employees.
Mr. Killeen: Mr. LoFrese, shouldn’t it also be noted that, that supervisor will be principally for the entire network, not only two individuals who provide work to the network, is that correct?
Mr. LoFrese: That is correct.
Ms. Dzioba: But I thought only that was part of your job description was technology network.
Mr. LoFrese: That is correct, what I understood Mr. Killeen to ask was is that as far as the hardware functioning of the network, that is that person’s responsibility.
Mr. Griffin: It is yours right now though?
Mr. LoFrese: Not the hardware, not the actually functioning of hardware in the district no. I oversee the direction of the department.
Ms. Calabrese: I just would like to make the point that when we are looking at departments and we are asking the question do other departments have a structure that is similar to that, I think we need know, we can’t be comparing apples to oranges here. Technology has its own nature, I don’t think it necessarily, I mean the level of technical knowledge required and I am not putting down other departments, I am just saying that I think there is a level of expertise there that requires that things go smoothly. Its directly related to academics and I think that we need to take that into consideration, we know what technology can be like, when things do not run well and when there is not direct supervision. I think that being able to have someone on site, hands on, supervising, I think that is the difference. That person would be more hands on when things come up, they would still answer to Todd but I think there is a need for that.
Ms. Dzioba: Right, but I see that part of the solution is in the third person, not necessarily for a lead coordinator, that is my opinion.
Ms. Calabrese: I would say that my opinion, it is probably both. If we are looking at the overall efficient functioning of that department, I think if we are going to invest in technology in this school system, we shouldn’t be nickel and diming when it comes to things running efficiently, it is only my opinion also.
Ms. Pannone: Two people are already in place, so it would be an additional hire without upping this other person.
Ms. Calabrese: Right but what we are saying is we are adding another measure of on site supervision, that is what we would be doing and keep in mind that it would not be increasing, it would be at no cost to the district. I don’t see the point, I don’t see why, what any downside would be, if someone could explain to me the downside I would like to know what that is.
Ms. Dzioba: Well I think it has more of an upside if we can save on this position where we are already in a position that we are going to be very close with our budget and like I said before and a new budget season is coming up. I just think that at this point in time to change what we had already said we are going to do and to put a lead person in just makes us management heavy as we have been criticized in the public before as being management heavy.
Ms. Calabrese: Well respectfully I would say that I know that has been a criticism but I think we have to look at every situation separately and I think we have to look forward, we have to look toward moving the school system forward, technology is only going to be more challenging in terms of management as time goes on. I know we could debate this all evening and believe me I am very respectful of your opinion in this.
Ms. Dzioba: To add some money into the technology itself, maybe later on, maybe next year, if we take the savings and add to it in this years budget we may be able to get another technology coordinator, another tech person but before that Chris did you have something to say.
Mr. Lafferty: I think it fits in here, I am not sure that this is a dire need, to have a third, in a sense a third coordinator so I know it is a supervisory role but if we already have two coordinators do we, I am not sure we need another one there just to handle the communication.
Dr. Erardi: Chris let me answer question if I could and I think there is a bit of confusion that is around this table right now. We are a district of 3,500 students and 400 employees, the two existing employees that you are speaking about, the coordinators, that is all we have, that is it, that is all we have> We do have volunteers in many of our buildings who are willing to pick up a technology helping hand but in a school district that is as comprehensive as Watertown, with the money that we just recently put into our hardware and software and network, we have two employees. I can certainly share with you that we are not employee rich in regards to technology, we have staff members that go above and beyond and if you compared our employment staffing to districts that look like Watertown we are missing two or three layers. The immediate need for additional help is enormous, we have a help desk that is overwhelmed everyday and we have our two coordinators who do their absolute best work to keep us up on board, we are completely dependent on technology in Watertown Schools, when technology is down it is a very difficult day.
Mr. Lafferty: The second part of what I wanted to ask; so now if we do get this third coordinator, the person would be hired from in-house?
Dr. Erardi: No, it would be a new position that we would go out and advertise for.
Ms. Dzioba: At the end of this vote, no matter what, which way the vote goes, there will be a third employee in the technology department, the issue is whether or not we are going to increase and make a supervisory position or a lead person out of one of the existing two employees.
Mr. Killeen: I am glad you brought up the idea of observing whether or not does in fact need another level of supervision because prior to that statement it wasn’t something that I directly considered but from an observation of the NEASC needs number one and two a management and organizational stand point. I think having three employees basically report directly to Mr. LoFrese would be a missing level of supervision and the efficiency of operation that will gained both from the IT stand point as well as Mr. LoFrese’s efficiency of operation would only serve to improve our IT abilities throughout the district. But I think it is good that we consider those levels of management and so forth.
Ms. Colangelo: There is no additional cost, I think that is one point that you are failing to see. The easiest way to look at this is take the money from the current network coordinator, $22,900 and subtract the difference of the $27,000 on the lower one and you have difference of $4,200 and then do the same thing with the new hire which they reduced, there is a difference of $5,900. It is not costing you anything.
Mr. Griffin: But that’s $10,000.
Ms. Colangelo: No it is not $10,000.
Mr. Griffin: But why couldn’t we hire, Todd says we can hire a network coordinator at $18 hour.
Ms. Colangelo: But that is what he is doing down, the new hire is going at $18 an hour.
Mr. Griffin: But instead of giving at $10,000 increase to someone…
Ms. Colangelo: It is not a $10,000 increase, it is a $4,000 increase, it is like a stipend.
Ms. Dzioba: No, the next page, yearly it comes out to..
Ms. Colangelo: That is the next year.
Ms. Dzioba: It comes out to $10,000 extra in someone’s pay, so it is a savings.
Ms. Colangelo: You have three people doing technology work and repairs, you get something major that happens in one of the schools, so everybody says well I am working on this, I will get to this later. I think in that case you need a lead person to say stop what you are doing and go take care of that. You need somebody, it is not so much as a supervisory position, the way I look at it, it is somebody to make sure that the work is done as efficiently and as promptly as possible or on an as needed basis. You can’t keep running to Todd for that type of thing. I mean what if he is not available, what if he is doing other things.
Ms. Dzioba: If it is a problem in a particular building I would also imagine that the administrator in that building would be involved in getting the repairs made.
Ms. Colangelo: To get a technician, but you only have three and who is going to decide who goes where?
Mr. Griffin: Depending on what the priority is.
Ms. Colangelo: But with technology priorities change.
Mr. Griffin: If you can’t manage your work load during the day there is a problem.
Ms. Dzioba: Are there any other comments?
Ms. Calabrese: I just think that we are failing to look at the whole picture. We need to make sure with the increased amount of technology and the level of technology and how it is being expanded, we need someone, we need a person with this amount of authority to help with the others. I think what Mary was saying was to coordinate the activities and I think that it makes a whole lot of sense to have someone who is right there physically to make those decisions. And if it is not costing us any money why would we avoid doing that, if it can make things go smoothly, if it is at no cost to the district, unless philosophically we are arguing with it and I don’t really think that. I don’t think arguing philosophically is doing anything good for the students of Watertown right now, about whether we should have more management positions versus non-management positions. I think that is a topic for an off the record conversation, I think if that is the only reason I think that is kind of a lame reason, I don’t know how else to put it.
Ms. Dzioba: I think we are repeating ourselves so are we ready to vote.
Mr. Lambert: Todd just a quick one, I don’t know if I expect you to answer this evening but I am going to give it a stab, how many computers do we have in the system?
Mr. LoFrese: We are approaching 1500 computers.
Mr. Lambert: 1500, when you get new computers, for instance I think you just got 200 new ones.
Mr. LoFrese: Correct
Mr. Lambert: Is software loaded when you get them?
Mr. LoFrese: It is not.
Mr. Lambert: So you have to load the software?
Mr. LoFrese: Correct
Mr. Lambert: I rest my case.
Ms. Dzioba: Again we are getting the third person no matter what. So I think we are ready to vote.
Motion passed
(5-In Favor, 3-Opposed, 1-Abstained)
In Favor: Ms. Calabrese, Ms. Colangelo, Mr. Killeen, Mr. Lambert and Mr. Mazzamaro
Against: Ms. Dzioba, Mr. Griffin and Ms. Pannone
Abstained: Mr. Lafferty
Mr. Mazzamaro: Is there any discussion after a vote?
Ms. Dzioba: No we just move on.
b. Consideration of the Approval of the Pre-School Curriculum Revision
At the Curriculum and Instruction Committee meeting of December 14, 2006, the Curriculum and Instruction Committee members endorsed the Pre-School Curriculum revision. The Pre-School Curriculum Committee, under the direction of Mary Raiola, Supervisor of Special Education, and Betsy Hackett, Director of Special Services, consisted of Layne Allison, Irene Cruess, Annette Pietro, and Patricia Long-Smith. The committee is to be commended for its work in relation to the Pre-School Curriculum revision.
It is recommended that the Board of Education approve the Pre-School Curriculum as presented under separate cover, effective immediately.
Motion presented by Ms. Calabrese, seconded by Ms. Colangelo to approve of the Pre-School Curriculum as presented under separate cover, effective immediately.
Discussion:
Ms. Dzioba: It was a very nice presentation, do you have any comments or anything else.
Ms. Calabrese: That the subcommittee did fully endorse the preschool curriculum revision at the curriculum and instruction subcommittee meeting on December 14th and a very beautiful presentation was given at that time, very informative and I think it is very important that we move forward with this.
Ms. Colangelo: And this is at no cost to the Board?
Ms. Calabrese: No cost to the Board.
Motion Passed Unanimously
(9-In Favor, 0-Opposed, 0-Abstained)
c. Consideration of the Approval of Acceptance of Gifts
1. Mr. Alvin Reiff, on behalf of Taft School, would like to donate five TI-83 Calculators with a total approximate value of $500.00 to the Mathematics Department at Watertown High School.
2. Mr. Charles J. Ernst would like to donate a check in the amount of $125.00 to Watertown High School to be used for weight lifting equipment.
3. Mr. Anthony DiCrosta, a 2006 graduate of Watertown High School, would like to donate $100.00 to the Future Business Leaders Association at Watertown High School.
4. Mr. Mark Ney would like to donate $50.00 to the Robotics Team at Watertown High School.
5. The Community Crusade for Children, Inc. would like to donate $417.38 to the Watertown Public Schools. This money is generated from the donation containers at Rite Aid for the 3rd Qtr. 2006.
6. O&G Industries, Inc. would like to make a donation of concrete valued at $480.00 for the newly constructed track building.
It is recommended that the Board accept these generous donations and letters of thanks to be sent to the donors.
Motion presented by Mr. Mazzamaro, seconded by Mr. Griffin to accept these generous donations and letters of thanks to be sent to the donors.
Discussion:
Mr. Lafferty: Out of curiosity, I see we have three donations of a monetary value, a $125, $100 and a $50, how do we know, do we know how this money is going to be spent. For instance I look at #2 and it is to be used for weightlifting equipment, how can we assure these donors there money is being put toward weight lifting equipment?
Dr. Erardi: What typically happens is that upon receipt of the check it is place in the student activities account, ie. Future Business Leaders of America, or the weight lifting account at the High School, the expectation is that my office will follow up with a thank you from the Board of Education, and the expectation is that the advisor receiving or the teacher receiving will follow up with an exactness of where that money went.
I would like to play off your question for just a second, item #5 a gift from the Crusade for Children, this is a quarterly donation as explained through the Rite Aid collection box for used clothing, that money is shared with our building principals for students in need and many times the in need could be a field trip registration, it could be a winter coat or a winter hat.
Motion Passed Unanimously
(9-In Favor, 0-Opposed, 0-Abstained)
d. Consideration of the Approval of the Disposal of Obsolete Equipment
Mr. Thad Hasbrouck, Principal of Watertown High School, requests permission to dispose of an electric typewriter according to Board of Education policy, Serial No. AG2024059, Model No. Canon AP200X, located in the Writing Lab, Room 123 at Watertown High School, because it is broken, very old and in poor condition.
It is recommended that the Board approve of the disposal of an electric typewriter according to Board of Education policy, Serial No. AG2024059, Model No. Canon AP200X, located in the Writing Lab, Room 123 at Watertown High School, because it is broken, very old and in poor condition.
Motion presented by Mr. Lafferty, seconded by Mr. Griffin to approve of the disposal of an electric typewriter according to Board of Education policy, Serial No. AG2024059, Model No. Canon AP200X, located in the Writing Lab, Room 123 at Watertown High School, because it is broken, very old and in poor condition.
Discussion
Motion Passed Unanimously
(9-In Favor, 0-Opposed, 0-Abstained)
e. Consideration of the Approval of Leaves of Absence
1. Ms. Jessica A. Cagno, grade 6 teacher at Heminway Park School, requests a maternity leave of absence under the Family Medical Leave Act, commencing on or about March 19, 2007 through the end of the 2006-2007 school year, with use of accumulated sick time.
It is recommended that the Board approve of a maternity leave of absence under the Family Medical Leave Act, commencing on or about March 19, 2007 through the end of the 2006-2007 school year, with use of accumulated sick time and a medical doctor’s note to return.
2. Ms. Mora Garza, foreign language teacher at Watertown High School, requests a maternity leave of absence under the Family Medical Leave Act, commencing on or about March 9, 2007 through the end of the 2006-2007 school year, with use of accumulated sick time and then leave without pay.
It is recommended that the Board approve of a maternity leave of absence under the Family Medical Leave Act, commencing on or about March 9, 2007 through the end of the 2006-2007 school year, with use of accumulated sick time and then leave without pay and a medical doctor’s note to return.
Motion presented by Mr. Mazzamaro, seconded by Ms. Pannone to approve of a maternity leave of absence for
Ms. Jessica Cagno under the Family Medical Leave Act, commencing on or about March 19, 2007 through the
end of the 2006-2007 school year, with use of accumulated sick time and a medical doctor’s note to return.
Also that the Board approve of a maternity leave of absence for Ms. Mora Garza under the Family Medical
Leave Act, commencing on or about March 9, 2007 through the end of the 2006-2007 school year, with use of
accumulated sick time and then leave without pay and a medical doctor’s note to return.
Discussion
Motion Passed Unanimously
(9-In Favor, 0-Opposed, 0-Abstained)
f. Consideration of the Approval of Extended Medical Leave of Absence
At its meeting on May 22, 2006, the Board approved of a childbearing and childrearing leave of absence, under the Family Medical Leave Act, commencing August 28, 2006 until January 2, 2007 with use of accumulated sick time, then leave without pay and a medical doctor’s note to return for Ms. Jody Field, Art Teacher at Judson School, Polk School and Heminway Park School.
Ms. Field requests an extended family medical leave of absence for childrearing commencing January 2, 2007 until March 1, 2007 without pay.
It is recommended that the Board approve of an extended family medical leave of absence for childrearing commencing January 2, 2007 until March 1, 2007 without pay for Ms. Jody Field, Art Teacher at Judson School, Polk School, and Heminway Park School.
Motion presented by Mr. Mazzamaro, seconded by Ms. Colangelo to approve of an extended family medical leave of absence for childrearing commencing January 2, 2007 until March 1, 2007 without pay for Ms. Jody Field, Art Teacher at Judson School, Polk School, and Heminway Park School.
Discussion
Motion Passed Unanimously
(9-In Favor, 0-Opposed, 0-Abstained)
g. Consideration of the Approval of the Revised Watertown High School Program of Studies for 2007-2008
At the Curriculum and Instruction Committee meeting of January 4, 2007, the Curriculum and Instruction Committee members endorsed the revised Watertown High School Program of Studies for 2007-2008. Matthew Geary, Assistant Principal of Watertown High School, chaired the Program of Studies revision.
It is recommended that the Board of Education approve the Watertown High School Program of Studies for 2007-2008 as presented under separate cover.
Motion presented by Ms. Calabrese, seconded by Ms. Colangelo to approve of the Watertown High School Program of Studies for 2007-2008 as presented under separate cover.
Discussion
Mr. Killeen: After participating in that meeting and observing the presentation by members of the staff at the High School, I thought they did an extraordinary job in kept with the insights of NEASC and I would like to congratulate them on a presentation that was very well done and helped make the future of Watertown High School a positive one.
Motion Passed Unanimously
(9-In Favor, 0-Opposed, 0-Abstained)
h. Consideration of the Approval of the Grade 9 Teaming Pilot
At the Curriculum and Instruction Committee meeting of January 4, 2007, the Curriculum and Instruction Committee members endorsed the proposed Grade 9 Teaming Pilot.
It is recommended that the Board of Education approve the Grade 9 Teaming Pilot as presented under separate cover, effective Fall 2007.
Motion presented by Ms. Calabrese, seconded by Ms. Pannone to approve the Grade 9 Teaming Pilot as presented under separate cover, effective Fall 2007.
Discussion:
Ms. Dzioba: I too was at that meeting and this is a really exciting program helping with the transition from 8th grade into the High School. It was explained that at the High School with the Block scheduling some students have problems with the transition from going from one type of structure to the other and this was quite an impressive program to help.
Motion Passed Unanimously
(9-In Favor, 0-Opposed, 0-Abstained)
K. Future Agenda Items and Board Members’ Comments
Mr. Lafferty: I would like thank George Hawley for inviting all the Board Members to the winter concert on
December 18th, I attended as well as a few other Board Members, the concert was extraordinary. The music
department once again they put on an amazing show and I know they have been at a disadvantage because of
the level of staffing as opposed to the doubling in size of the enrollment in music programs at the High School.
I am a huge supporter of the arts and I must say at Watertown High School they are working very hard to make
sure that they provide excellent programs.
Ms. Dzioba: Along with that I just wanted to make a comment on Will’s report in that the Watertown High
School musicals every year, I have been attending them for probably the last seven or eight years and they are
absolutely incredible. I look forward to hearing more about Anything Goes and the progress.
L. Public Participation
None
M. Executive Session
Board of Education Evaluation Goals
Motion presented by Mr. Mazzamaro, seconded by Mr. Griffin to enter into Executive Session with Non-affiliated employees and all Board Members listed as present.
Motion Passed Unanimously
(9-In Favor, 0-Opposed, 0-Abstained)
Executive Session convened at 9:00 p.m.
Executive Session ended at 9:29 p.m.
N. Adjournment
Motion presented by Mr. Mazzamaro, seconded by Mr. Griffin to adjourn the Regular Board of Education Meeting of January 8, 2007.
Motion Passed Unanimously
(9-In Favor, 0-Opposed, 0-Abstained)
Meeting adjourned at 9:29 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted by
Todd Griffin, Board Secretary
Bonnie Goulet, Board Clerk
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