NORWICH BOARD OF SCHOOL DIRECTORS
REGULAR MEETING
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2004
7:04 P.M., MARION CROSS SCHOOL LIBRARY
Minutes
Present: Board members Cheney, Gray, Kaplan, Sachsse; Administrators Gersen, Aubin, Edson; and four members of the public.
1. Call to order
Chair Sachsse called the meeting to order at 7:04 p.m.
2. Approval of minutes
Linda Gray moved and Margaret Cheney seconded a motion to approve the minutes of the regular meeting and executive session of November 3, 2004, as submitted. Corrections to the minutes were offered: item 3B - add the word assessments to the end of the first sentence in the Principal’s report. The 11/03 minutes were unanimously approved as submitted.
3. Communications and Reports
a) Report of Chair:
(1) Calendar - Chair Sachsse announced that the next regular Board meeting will be Thursday, January 6, 7:00 p.m., at the Marion Cross School Library.
(2) Legislation – Linda Gray will update the Board with regard to possible legislation related to budgeting for special education expenses as it becomes relevant.
(3) Early Childhood Programs – Deb Kaplan gave a presentation about the state’s pending SB166 view of funding and curriculum for pre-kindergarten kids. She believed that instituting a pre-K program at MCS would address local competition for kindergarten students and result in lower per pupil costs because the enrolled part time students would be incorporated in enrollment statistics. The law allows programs such as pre-school and daycare to be either school-based or outsourced and would require endorsed and licensed early educators. Classes would have a ratio of not more than 1:20 and funding would be at .46 FTE in a child’s third year. The Board agreed to explore this issue further. Kaplan will forward model agreements to the Principal and Assistant Superintendent, who’ll review the documents and get back to the Board with more details.
(4) After School Programs - Chair Sachsse announced that a group was recently organized to explore after school programs in Norwich and the meetings are scheduled to continue. She will keep the Board abreast of the group’s progress on the topic.
b) Reports of Administrators:
Superintendent’s Report - Superintendent Gersen introduced Jay Davis, who led the Board and the public in attendance in a strategic vision development session looking four years into the future and considering objectives that would be necessary to reach that vision. The superintendent will have the notes from the session recorded and circulated to the Board.
Assistant Superintendent’s Report – John Aubin reported that he was working on the budget and he offered to update any Board member who wanted more details from the Budget Committee’s deliberations to call him. He forecasted a 5 percent increase in the budget and a 15-20 percent increase in the tax rate for 2005-06 and that the CLA would be dropping.
Principal - Principal Edson reported that he has received 18 surveys regarding family use of outside tutors. He learned that the tutors were used mostly for Math. On another matter, Mr. Edson reported that there will be multi-age grouping for next year. Finally, the Principal reported that Ms. Volpano has visited Ms. Cook’s class to facilitate a smooth transition process during Mrs. Cook’s maternity leave. The Principal’s written report included the math computation assessment and the in-service results.
4. PTO Report- PTO Chair, Cinny Benson announced that the gift making workshop was a huge success with good profits. She expressed her gratitude to the parents that participated. The PTO is making plans to formulate school grant requests and allocations by creating and circulating a form. The first deadline for the grant process is in mid-January. The next PTO meeting is scheduled for the January 6 at 3:30 p.m. in the Art Room.
5. Business requiring discussion
a) A document regarding the impact of reducing the music program was distributed to the Board by Principal Edson. Reducing the music program from 1.2 FTE to 1.0 FTE would save approximately $12,382 in present budgetary terms and the Principal supports the proposal. There was concern that staff levels would not be able to be maintained if there were additional classes in the existing program.
6. Business requiring action
a) Margaret Cheney moved and Deb Kaplan seconded a motion to approve the appointment of Norwich Police Chief Douglas A. Robinson as Truant Office for the Norwich School District for the 2004-05 school year. The motion passed unanimously.
b) Margaret Cheney moved and Deb Kaplan seconded a motion to approve the Friends Grants as proposed and attached to the original minutes of the meeting agenda. The motion passed unanimously.
c) Deb Kaplan moved and Linda Gray seconded a motion to approve with gratitude a $699 grant from the Norwich Women’s Club to purchase a microphone. The motion passed unanimously.
7. No future agenda item suggestions were offered.
8. Margaret Cheney moved and Deb Kaplan seconded a motion to enter executive session in accordance with Title 1, Section 313 for discussion of special education issues at 9:05 p.m. The motion passed unanimously.
9. Adjournment
Margaret Cheney moved and Deb Kaplan seconded a motion to adjourn at 9:23 p.m. The motion passed unanimously.
The meeting adjourned at 9:23 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Roger Lohr
Recording Secretary |
