REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 16 Special Board of Education Meeting August 19, 2015 BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: Weighted Vote Per Member Beacon Falls Priscilla Cretella.7 Christine Arnold.7 David Rybinski.7 Sheryl Feducia.7 Prospect Robert Hiscox 1.3 Donna Cullen 1.3 Roxann Vaillancourt 1.3 STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT: Michael Yamin, Superintendent of Schools Pamela Mangini, Dir. of Finance and Business Operations Michael Ceresa, Director of Facilities and Maintenance Barbara Peck, Curriculum Director I. CALL TO ORDER The Board of Education meeting was called to order by Donna Cullen at 7:06 p.m.in the Media Center at Long River Middle School, Prospect, CT. II. III. IV. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG MISSION STATEMENT RECORD OF MEMBERS PRESENT A roll was taken. A quorum was present. V. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Minutes of June 17, 2015, Special Board of Education Meeting (Ex. I) approve the minutes of June 17, 2015 Special Board of Education Meeting (Ex. I). ALL IN FAVOR (weighted vote totals 6.7) 15-190 Minutes of June 17, 2015, Special Board of Education Meeting (Ex. II) approve the minutes of June 17, 2015 Special Board of Education Meeting (Ex. II). ALL IN FAVOR (weighted vote totals 6.7) 15-191 Minutes of July 7, 2015, Special Board of Education Meeting (Ex. III)
A MOTION was made by Sheryl Feducia and SECONDED by David Rybinski to approve the minutes of July 7, 2015 Special Board of Education Meeting (Ex. III). MOTION PASSED (weighted vote totals 6.0) 15-192 Priscilla Cretella abstained VI. VII. TOWN OFFICIAL COMMENT PUBLIC COMMENT Doug Bousquet, lifelong resident of Beacon Falls and employee of Green Construction, wanted to know why the company that did the roof on WRHS was hired again to do the roof on Laurel Ledge. Mr. Bousquet stated that he explored the work at Laurel Ledge and found issues. Mr. Yamin said that he would reply by email. Ed Groth, resident of Beacon Falls wanted to know if the curriculum had been finalized and if it would be made available. Mr. Yamin responded that it would be available. VIII. CORRESPONDENCE Mr. Yamin shared a thank-you letter from Pat Geary in regards to her retirement acknowledgement. IX. TREASURER S REPORT Ms. Feducia read through the Treasurer s Report: Balance in General Fund as of 8/19/15: $5,802,901.45 Tonight s invoices total: $5,248,359.98 General Fund: $2,509,502.95 Federal and State Grants: $703,705.07 Adult Ed, Other Grants, Athletic Fund: $3,548.20 School Construction Payments: $2,031,603.76 Balance of School Construction Project: $3,951,436.86 X. EXEMPLARY PEOPLE AND PROGRAMS Mr. Yamin recognized Atty. Carla M. Perugini-Erickson and Mr. Lawrence Erickson with a certificate of appreciation although they were not present at the meeting. Mr. Hiscox added recognition of perfect attendance for Michaela Bozzuto for all her education years in Region 16. An official certificate of recognition will be sent out to this student. XI. REPORT OF SUPERINTENDENT A. Superintendent s Update 1. Draft of BOE Strategic Plan. A draft of this document was shared with the Board. This was started at last year s retreat and will help guide an action plan. 2. Update on dress and grooming survey. The questionnaire was put out to the public and the results were as follows: Students: Against instituting a uniform policy. Parents: Against instituting a uniform policy.
3. Ribbon Cutting: PES and LLES PES: will be held on August 22, 2015 at 10:00 a.m. LLES: will be held approximately 1-2 weeks after the start of school on a Saturday. 4. Administrative Retreat Update- August 18 & 19, 2015. This 2-day retreat was previously held. Mr. Yamin hopes that the final draft will be ready for mid-year in which administrators will speak before the Board. B. Action Items The Board decided to add two Action Items to the agenda. Action Item 12 will be to accept a resignation from Tamara Milius. Action Item 13 will be to discuss a possible extension of the contract with the current copier company for the Region. 1. Act to award bid for snow plowing services for two years. A brief discussion took place regarding the bid results. It was recommended to award the bids separately. Highland Construction LLC was recommended for Beacon Falls and Hillview Property Maintenance LLC was recommended for Prospect. award the snow plow bid for Beacon Falls to Highland Construction for 2015-2016 and 2016-2017. ALL IN FAVOR (weighted vote totals 6.7) 15-193 A MOTION was made by Sheryl Feducia and SECONDED by Roxann Vaillancourt to award the snow plow bid for Prospect to Hillview Maintenance LLC for 2015-2016 and 2016-2017. ALL IN FAVOR (weighted vote totals 6.7) 15-194 2. Act to accept teacher s letter of resignation. (Anne Collin) A MOTION was made by Robert Hiscox and SECONDED by Sheryl Feducia to accept the resignation letter of Anne Collin, part-time Music teacher at LRMS. ALL IN FAVOR (weighted vote totals 6.7) 15-195 3. Act to accept teacher s letter of resignation. (Dawn LaChapelle) A MOTION was made by Roxann Vaillancourt and SECONDED by Robert Hiscox to accept the resignation letter of Dawn LaChapelle, Pre-School teacher at LLES. ALL IN FAVOR (weighted vote totals 6.7) 15-196 4. Act to accept teacher s letter of resignation. (Katherine Turner) A MOTION was made by Sheryl Feducia and SECONDED by Robert Hiscox to accept the resignation letter of Katherine Turner, 8 th Grade Math teacher at LRMS. ALL IN FAVOR (weighted vote totals 6.7) 15-197 5. Act to accept teacher s letter of resignation. (Amanda Nelson) A MOTION was made by Sheryl Feducia and SECONDED by Christine Arnold to accept the resignation letter of Amanda Nelson, Music teacher at LRMS. ALL IN FAVOR (weighted vote totals 6.7) 15-198
6. Act to accept teacher s letter of resignation. (Kerilyn Rostowsky) A MOTION was made by Sheryl Feducia and SECONDED by Christine Arnold to accept the resignation letter of Kerilyn Rostowsky, Business teacher at WRHS. ALL IN FAVOR (weighted vote totals 6.7) 15-199 7. Act to accept teacher s letter of resignation. (Jennifer Pia) A MOTION was made by Sheryl Feducia and SECONDED by David Rybinski to accept the resignation letter of Jennifer Pia, Spanish teacher at WRHS. ALL IN FAVOR (weighted vote totals 6.7) 15-200 8. Act to accept teacher s letter of resignation. (Daniel Balint) A MOTION was made by Sheryl Feducia and SECONDED by Christine Arnold to accept the resignation letter of Daniel Balint, Music teacher at LLES. ALL IN FAVOR (weighted vote totals 6.7) 15-201 9. Act to hire new certified staff for 2015-2016 school year. hire Jessica Prutting as a 1.0 FTE Library Media Specialist at Prospect Elementary School at MA +30, Step 3, $50,984. ALL IN FAVOR (weighted vote totals 6.7) 15-202 hire Cecelia Dias as a 1.0 FTE First Grade Teacher at Laurel Ledge Elementary School at MA, Step 2, $48,341. ALL IN FAVOR (weighted vote totals 6.7) 15-203 hire Stephanie Sans as a 1.0 FTE Pre-School Learning School Teacher at Laurel Ledge Elementary School at MA, Step 11, $65,387. ALL IN FAVOR (weighted vote totals 6.7) 15-204 hire Sara Wright as a 1.0 FTE Physical Education Teacher at Laurel Ledge Elementary School at BA, Step 1, $45,740. ALL IN FAVOR (weighted vote totals 6.7) 15-205 hire Molly Sullivan as a 1.0 FTE Numeracy Support Teacher at Long River Middle School at MA, Step 6, $52,488. ALL IN FAVOR (weighted vote totals 6.7) 15-206 hire Bradford King as a 1.0 FTE Mathematics Teacher at Long River Middle School at MA, Step 14, $80,221. ALL IN FAVOR (weighted vote totals 6.7) 15-207
hire Lillie Stuart as a 1.0 FTE Literacy Support Teacher at Long River Middle School at MA+30, Step 9, $61,930. ALL IN FAVOR (weighted vote totals 6.7) 15-208 hire Samantha Ross as a 1.0 FTE Music Teacher at Long River Middle School at BA, Step 1, $45,740. ALL IN FAVOR (weighted vote totals 6.7) 15-209 hire Kerri Morris as a.5 FTE Music Teacher at Long River Middle School at MA, Step 11, $32,693.50. ALL IN FAVOR (weighted vote totals 6.7) 15-210 hire James R. Staib as a.5 FTE Career/Guidance Counselor at Woodland Regional High School at MA+15, Step 9, $29,929. ALL IN FAVOR (weighted vote totals 6.7) 15-211 hire Tiffany Vitone as a 1.0 FTE Special Education Teacher at Woodland Regional High School at MA, Step 3, $49,303. ALL IN FAVOR (weighted vote totals 6.7) 15-212 hire Jayme Danielsen as a 1.0 FTE Mathematics Teacher at Long River Middle School at MA, Step 1, $47,616. ALL IN FAVOR (weighted vote totals 6.7) 15-213 hire Laura Marvin as 1.0 FTE Business Teacher at Woodland Regional High School at MA, Step 1, $47,616. ALL IN FAVOR (weighted vote totals 6.7) 15-214 hire Flerida Mimo as a 1.0 FTE Spanish Teacher at Woodland Regional High School at MA, Step 4, $50,275. ALL IN FAVOR (weighted vote totals 6.7) 15-215 Mr. Hiscox would like a discussion to review the amount of resignations to take place in the future. 10. Act on Request for non-resident student to attend a Region 16 school for a tuition fee. A MOTION was made by Robert Hiscox and SECONDED by Priscilla Cretella to approve the request for non-resident student to attend a Region 16 school for a tuition fee. ALL IN FAVOR (weighted vote totals 6.7) 15-216 11. Act to set school use fee for United Day School to use Laurel Ledge for Before/After School Program. A brief discussion took place regarding this action item. A decision was made to table making a motion on this and to discuss it again in the future.
12. Act to accept teacher s letter of resignation. (Tamara Milius) Mr. Yamin recommended that this resignation be honored 30 days after its submission of 8/19/15, if no other teacher is hired to replace her at the start of the school year. A MOTION was made by Sheryl Feducia and SECONDED by David Rybinski to accept the resignation letter of Tamara Milius, 8 th Grade Mathematics teacher at Long River Middle School, 30 days after its submission of 8/19/15, if no other teacher is hired to replace Ms. Milius for the start of school. ALL IN FAVOR (weighted vote totals 6.7) 15-217 13. Act to extend the contract on the leased copiers within the Region 16 District. A MOTION was made by Sheryl Feducia and SECONDED by David Rybinski to extend the copier lease with A & A Office Systems for an additional 48 months beginning in September 2015. ALL IN FAVOR (weighted vote totals 6.7) 15-218 C. Director of Finance and Business Operations Report Mrs. Mangini shared an extensive report regarding the Finance and Business Operations within the district. Included in the discussion were the following: Payment was received for the copper and gutter projects at LRMS and LLES. The district received a distribution check for CIRMA. The Board was provided with a payment schedule for 2015-2016. The District has locked into a rate for electricity. A $5,000,000 note sale for the construction and security projects was completed. Ms. Mangini attended a meeting at the Cheshire Board of Education over the summer to brainstorm regarding food service. August is the ED001 month, and a new Accounting Supervisor has joined the team. The Region met with a representative from Blum Shapiro regarding the uniform chart of accounts. D. Old Business (with possible action) 1. Update on Construction Project A handout was distributed to the Board members which highlighted where all the projects, school by school, were detailed. Mr. Ceresa discussed this information briefly. This was also discussed at length at tonight s Facility Meeting. Mr. Hiscox asked for any final closure with the ongoing easement issue. Mr. Yamin stated that he has a meeting tomorrow with the final layout and that the signs have been ordered. Mr. Yamin will give a full report at the next meeting. Ms. Cretella questioned whether the discussion regarding the Before and After School Program go to Policy Committee. Mr. Yamin stated that he could get legal opinion to ` discuss the existing policy, and he will put this on the agenda in the future. E. New Business Kindergarten Enrollment. Mr. Yamin provided the Board with the current enrollment figures for LLES and PES full-day Kindergarten classes for 2015-2016. A discussion took place in which the Board instructed Mr. Yamin to hire an additional Kindergarten Teacher for PES.
A MOTION was made by Robert Hiscox and SECONDED by Sheryl Feducia to hire an additional Kindergarten Teacher at PES for 2015-2016. ALL IN FAVOR (weighted vote totals 6.7) 15-219 F. Information Items (with possible action) 1. Lisa Hylwa-Colandro was hired as the new Director of Special Education. 2. A breakfast will be held on September 19 th at 10:00 a.m. for the community to have a discussion with the new Director of Special Education. The PTO is also invited and the location is TBD. XII. REPORT OF COMMITTEES 1. Personnel and Negotiations Committee Executive Session: review legal letter & review reports for negotiations. 2. Facilities and Transportation Committee Meeting was held this evening to discuss the following: review capital improvement work performed this summer, school projects summary, review request for rental fee for United Day at LLES for Before/After School Program. Meeting, Wednesday, August 26, 2015, at 6:00 p.m. at LRMS to discuss the following: Beacon Falls request on voting at LLES and Beacon Falls discussion by engineers re: Highland Avenue (tentative). 3. Curriculum Committee A meeting was held this evening and action is being sought for the approval of Tools of the Mind contract. Mrs. Peck briefly explained this to the Board. approve the Tools of the Mind contract. ALL IN FAVOR (weighted vote totals 6.7) 15-220 Also discussed were the following: Summer 2015 work and curriculum, review Kindergarten curriculum, new Odysseyware courses and World Language curriculum was also discussed with talks about textbook approval. 4. Policy Committee 5. Public Communications 6. Technology Committee 7. Recognition Committee Ms. Feducia recognized the booklet made by Mr.Misuraca. 8. Liaisons A handout was provided to the Board to see if anyone can attend the meetings at ACES. At this time no one is consistently available on the dates of the meetings but it was suggested that the agenda be sought beforehand to see if it would be beneficial for someone to attend a certain session. 9. a. Schools b. Wellness Committee c. Professional Development Committee d. 2COM
A MOTION was made by Sheryl Feducia and SECONDED by Christine Arnold to move to Executive Session to discuss legal letter and to review negotiations at 8:40 p.m. to include Mr. Yamin, Mrs. Mangini, Ms. Peck, Mr. Galvin and Mr. Bielick ALL IN FAVOR (weighted vote totals 6.7) 15-221 The Board came out of Executive Session at 9:37 p.m. XIII. ADJOURNMENT adjourn the August 19, 2015, Board of Education meeting at 9:38 p.m. ALL IN FAVOR (weighted vote totals 6.7) 15-222 Robert Hiscox, Board Secretary These minutes are subject to Board approval, Kelly Blum, Board Clerk