THESE MINUTES ARE SUBJECT TO BOARD APPROVAL AT THE NEXT BOARD OF EDUCATION MEETING
ESSEX ELEMENTARY SCHOOL BOARD OF EDUCATION
JANUARY 12, 2012
Regular meeting of the Essex Board of Education was held on Thursday, January 12, (arrival 7:05).
Also in attendance were Dr. Ruth Levy, Superintendent, Mr. Ian
Neviaser, Assistant Superintendent, Mr. Garth Sawyer, Business Manager,
Dr. Joanne Beekley, Principal and Kelley Frazier, Clerk.
Absent: Matt Cooper and Judie McCann
Mr. Seidman asked that the Student Presentation be moved to the beginning of the meeting.
PRINCIPAL’S UPDATE- J. Beekley
STUDENT PRESENTATION
Dr. Beekley introduced Max Klin and Ian Neviaser who discussed Mix-It
Up day held at Essex Elementary School. Mr. Seidman and the Board
thanked the students for their presentation.
CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order by Lon Seidman at 7:090p.m. Mr. Seidman led the Pledge of Allegiance.
CONSENT AGENDA
DG Fitton made a motion to approve the minutes from the November 30,
2011 meeting and the Accounts Payable report. Loretta McCluskey
seconded the motion. The motion carried by a unanimous vote.
PUBLIC COMMENT
Katherine Campbell raised her concerns regarding communication between
parents and teachers on the six grade team. She noted that there are no
newsletters, conferences or Power School to monitor how children are
doing. She offered two suggestions to help with this issue. First, she
would like a mid-term progress report from the teachers before
conferences to allow parents to request a conference after seeing the
grades. The other suggestion is to have all graded assignments sent
home to be signed by a parent. This would keep parents informed. Mrs.
Campbell hopes that through a newsletter, conferences, progress reports
or Power School, communication will improve at Essex Elementary School.
Kari Petrovic also spoke of the same problem she is experiencing with
her sixth grade child. She noted that there are noticeable changes in
communication from the time her older child was in sixth grade at Essex
Elementary. She said there is much less communication. She noted that
there have been no newsletters or refreshment of the Essex School
homepage. She would like to see Power School used in sixth grade.
OTHER ITEMS
Possible Vote to Accept Donation of $1000 to the Region 4 Food Services
Program from Dinners at the Farm – T. Peterlik & J. Rapp
On a motion made by Loretta McCluskey and seconded by DG Fitton, the
Board voted to accept the donation in the amount of $1000.00 for the
Region 4 Food Services Program. The motion carried by a unanimous vote.
Dr. Levy said that Mr. Peterlik and Mr. Rapp were not available to
come to the meeting. She mentioned that they have donated monies to all
five schools to help create nutritious meals for our children and to
promote local farming and purchases.
REPORTS:
Financial Status Report – Mr. Garth Sawyer
Mr. Sawyer gave a brief update of the financial status for Essex
Elementary School. The school is meeting their goals financially. The
fuel oil price has not been locked in for the year. Mr. Sawyer noted
that due to the mild weather, we are having fewer deliveries. This
account may end up over budget due to increased prices. There may be
increases in the Special Education account in the future due to a
student need. He noted that we will know more in March as to the total
expenditure. He also noted that the account for electric usage may be
budgeted a little high.
Cafeteria Report – Mr. Sawyer
Mr. Sawyer gave an update on the status of the Cafeteria Budget Updates.
We are still projecting the board subsidy, but no additional funds
are expected. The amount will be adjusted at the end of the year.
Finance – L. Seidman
The Finance Committee met November 29th. This committee discussed the medical insurance fund and how self insurance works.
Joint PK-12 Policy Committee – L. Seidman
Work is being done on the bullying policy.
Supervision District – L. Seidman
Mr. Seidman noted that Supervision District is working on the budget.
They are discussing a district wide phone system. This will have less
than a $1,000 budget impact for Essex Elementary. There will be another
meeting next week to create a base for the other budgets to work from.
Dr. Levy noted that we need help legally to affect the efficiencies in
our three towns. They hope to meet with the Commissioner of Education
to discuss this.
Curriculum
This committee has not met. January 25th is the next meeting.
Dr. Levy asked if any board members had any questions regarding the
anti-bullying policy. She noted the significant amount of time it takes
our school leaders to comply with the law. This will be voted on at
the next Joint Board of Education meeting.
ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT - I. Neviaser
Mr. Neviaser reported a number of things happening in January. Tuesday,
January 17th all staff members, certified and non-certified, will be
at VRHS reviewing the bullying law with school attorneys. Staff will
need yearly training. All school buildings will be closed for the
morning and will reopen in the afternoon. On the 18th the CMT and CAPT
workshops will be attended by representatives from our schools to see
the changes for this year. There will be more online testing.
Supplemental testing will follow a different procedure this year and may
not have to be given to all of the students. On the 25th of January
there is a Student Success Forum. This is an academic and career plan
for students from sixth grade through high school. This is an outline
of academic expectations and provides students with a path to whatever
career they choose. The TEAM program for new teachers is still being
focused on. Region 4 will have a site visit from state officials in
January. They will talk with various teachers, mentors and
administrators. Math groups continue their work and will meet in
February and April to discuss the final units of the year.
SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT - R. Levy
District Update
LEARN notified Mr. Neviaser they would like to discuss our successful model for the TEAM program.
Dr. Levy noted that the school will videotape the session on
anti-bullying for training purposes. It was asked how this will impact
school volunteers? Dr. Levy said that there has been little guidance as
to how to implement the legislation. They are focusing on school
employees at this time. Volunteers may need to be trained at a later
date.
On January 18th from 6pm until 9pm there will a Community Share
Dinner to receive input from the community to solidifying goals for our
schools for the next Five Years. Dr. Levy hopes to glean any thoughts
or comments to provide a direction for these goals. She is hopeful that
staff members and community members from all three towns will give
input. There will be a complimentary dinner served from 6pm until 8pm
and then a community share. There will be a packet given to attendees
to help give feedback to the school. Posters have been placed in all
three towns to get the word out.
All five schools have been engaged in our sister city project for
Haiti. We would like to provide in-service workshops for the Haitian
teachers. We would like to purchase blocks and puzzles for their
schools. There will be jars to donate as well as a bake sale during the
Community Share Dinner for these items.
The full day Kindergarten Committee has been hard at work. Dr. Levy
noted that full day kindergarten is important to give our children the
right start.
Information and Communication
Dr. Levy discussed the proposed school climate plans for Essex
Elementary School. Part of the school bullying plan is the school
climate plan. The plan will go up on the website after the vote by all
schools. We would like to be able to have all Boards pass before the
next Joint Board of Education meeting.
On a motion duly made and seconded the Board unanimously VOTED to
approve the School Climate Plans as presented by Dr. Levy for Essex
Elementary School. The motion passed.
On a motion duly made and seconded the Board unanimously VOTED to
approve the Superintendent’s recommendation to accept the cash donation
of $5,000 to the Essex Elementary School from the Bauman Family
Foundation.
Dr. Beekley noted that we will be using the donation for a mini IPAD
lab of 8 units that will be easily moved between the classrooms.
Superintendent’s Presentation of EES Draft Budget 2012-13
Dr. Levy discussed the major budget drivers for the next year. This is a
draft presentation because things are still changing. Out of district
placements is a concern because we do not currently outlook more than
the known students. This is the most volatile part of our budget.
Another budget driver is maintaining a safe learning environment for our
children. Another area of unknown expense is when students decide to
attend a magnet school. The district pays approximately $5000.00 per
student. This expense is unfunded and mandated and needs to be
considered. Staffing will increase with an increase to an existing TLC
position as well as 1.0 for a Kindergarten paraprofessional. Dr. Levy
noted that funding full day Kindergarten will not increase staff. The
increase in Technology is to continue the computer replacement cycle.
They are looking at one additional out of district placement for Essex
Elementary School. A budget workshop is February 1, 2010 to continue to
finalize the budget number.
PUBLIC COMMENT
Gerry Macmillan suggested having the proposed budgets and information
available before the meetings for people to review. She enjoyed having
the student presentation and suggested having the cubes used for social
development available on the tables at the Community Dinner. She is
opposed to all day kindergarten. The rationale being used is the time
is right because the population is going down. She questioned what will
happen when the population increases? She feels that this is a weak
reason to have all day kindergarten.
ADJOURNMENT
On motion duly made and seconded, the Board unanimously VOTED to adjourn at 8:13pm.
Respectfully Submitted,
Kelley Frazier, Board Clerk
FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS
8.1 Next regular Chester BOE Meeting (January 12, 2012 @ 7:00pm)
8.2 Presentation of Draft EES Budget for 2012-13 (Jan) R. Levy
8.3 Review Strategic School Profile (if available from State) (Jan)-I. Neviaser
8.4 EES BOE 2012 Budget Workshops (Feb 1st, Feb 15th, March 5th)
8.5 Vote to adopt EES Budget for 2012-13(Mar)
8.6 Vote on Staff non-renewals (Mar)
8.7 Present EES 2012-13 Budget Town Meeting (TBD)