East Hampton
Board of Education
East Hampton, CT 06424
MINUTES: October 9, 2007
1. The meeting was called to order by the Acting Chairperson, Mr. Vasquenza, at 7:00 p.m. in the East Hampton High School Library/Media Center.
Members present: Mr. Vasquenza, Mr. Pessoni, Ms. Robinson, Mr. Tuttle, Ms. Barmasse and Mr. Gemma
Members absent: Mr. Hurst, Ms. Jacobson and Ms. Pessoni
Administration Dr. Golden, Superintendent of Schools
present: Mr. Reich, Assistant Superintendent of Schools
Mr. Reas, Director of Support Services
Dr. Fitzsimmons, Principal of Memorial Elementary School
Ms. Turchi, Principal of Center Elementary School
Mr. Barber, Principal of East Hampton Middle School
Dr. Berry, Principal of East Hampton High School
East Hampton Middle School Student Council Representative: Colleen Owen
Center Elementary School Student Council Representative: Erin Provost
Memorial Elementary School Student Representatives: Madison Starr and Isabella D’Ottavio
Also present: Karen Hitchcock Asetta, Business Services Coordinator
Nancy Briere, Mathematics Coordinator
2. Pledge of Allegiance
3. Inter-Board Liaisons
3.1 Mr. Vasquenza noted that the Technology Steering Committee is now at a point to finalize fact finding and will present a recommendation.
4. Audience of Citizens - None
Motion by Ms. Robinson, seconded by Ms. Barmasse, to place agenda item 11.3, Adoption of the Senior, Level 1, Calculus Concept textbook entitled Calculus For Business, Economics, Life Sciences and Social Sciences, published by Barnett, Ziegler and Byleen, Pearson, Prentice Hall on tonight’s Board of Education Agenda. Voted unanimously.
5. Consent Agenda
5.1 Motion by Mr. Pessoni, seconded by Mr. Tuttle, to approve the following items:
- The minutes of the September 24, 2007 Board meeting.
- To appoint LuAnn Hardacker to the extracurricular position of Language Arts Chairperson, K-12 for the East Hampton Public Schools for the 2007-2008 school year. The administration recommends that she be appointed.
- To appoint Nancy Briere to the extracurricular position of Mathematics Department Chairperson, K-12 for the East Hampton Public Schools for the 2007-2008 school year. The administration recommends that she be appointed.
- To appoint Joanna Bauer to the extracurricular position of Language Arts Team Leader at Memorial Elementary School for the 2007-2008 school year. The administration recommends that she be appointed.
- To appoint Nicholas Badolato to the extracurricular position of Art Team Leader, K-12 for the East Hampton Public Schools for the 2007-2008 school year. The administration recommends that he be appointed.
- To hire Margaret Lettieri as a full-time Reading Teacher at Memorial Elementary School (replacing LuAnn Hardacker).
- To hire William Nelson as a full-time Tech Ed Teacher at East Hampton Middle School (replacing David Cody) effective October 15, 2007.
Voted unanimously.
6. Committee Reports
6.1 Student Council
6.1.1 Colleen Owen, Student Council Representative for East Hampton Middle School reported the following:
Getting started – we have 56 members this year, representing all of the homerooms. This year, to accommodate students who wanted to be part of student council but were not elected, we added At Large positions; ten students submitted their names for those positions, and all were selected.
Grade 6 Halloween Bash – will be held on October 26 from 7-9 PM. Activities are being finalized next week, but they will include dancing, a costume contest, and a variety of activities to celebrate the season.
Events coming later in the year:
We are planning officer elections for the 19th
Three dances later in the year
Spirit Week to get people excited for the CMTs
Open Rec night to celebrate a job well done on the CMTs
Pennies for Patients, collecting spare change to be donated to cancer research
Staff Appreciation Breakfast, on or around Teacher Appreciation Day
Other activities are possible, but not definite yet
6.1.2 Erin Provost, Student Council Representative for Center Elementary School reported the following:
My name is Erin Provost and I am a fifth grader at Center School. I was recently elected President of the Student Council. Delaney Savage was elected Vice President, and our Co-Secretaries are Jennie Catherine Eurbin and Daniel Klemonski. Many students attended the first few Student Council meetings and ran for office. With this much enthusiasm, it should be a terrific year.
Again this year our focus is on kindness, respect and responsibility. We will try to keep these things in mind as we plan our community service projects during the school year. Our first activity will be a drive for the East Hampton Food Bank. We are just beginning to plan for this activity.
Fifth grade band members began practicing the second week of school. The fifth grade band has 79 members. Fourth graders interested in learning an instrument have signed up, gotten their instruments, and are just beginning lessons. There are 105 in the fourth grade beginner band. Both fourth and fifth grade chorus rehearsals have also begun, and can be heard singing enthusiastically on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons.
If you see students running around the field at Center School, it is because this is the time of year we practice running the mile in gym. We do this as part of the fitness test we take each year. Some students really like to run, and also practice running during their recess. We have also been practicing curl ups and the sit and reach.
Fifth graders are currently studying Native Americans. We are learning about how they lived, types of housing, their clothing and foods, and their survival skills. Last week we went on a field trip to the Pequot Museum as part of our unit study.
The Center School Press has also begun meeting. Many kids have joined this year, so many that we needed to borrow chairs from another classroom. The school newspaper comes out three times per year, and has student articles, poems, illustrations and interviews. Watch for our first issue.
The school year is off to a good start at Center School. Thank you for inviting me to share about our activities.
6.1.3 Madison Starr and Isabella D’Ottavio, Student Representatives for Memorial Elementary School reported the following:
We are third grade students at Memorial Elementary School. Our teacher is Mrs. Halvorson.
I like being in 3rd grade because I am going to learn how to write in cursive and it looks very cool.
I like being in 3rd grade because as third graders we can show little children how to walk in the hallways.
We can also show them how to be respectful to others by not talking when someone is talking,
As a third grader we show others how to be responsible and respectful by admitting when we weren’t respectful – we recognize our mistakes.
Recess is a lot of fun. I like all the playgrounds! I like the big slide on the wooden playground. It is so much fun. We know how to use the equipment in each of the playgrounds.
I enjoy music. We learn different songs and how to play different instruments. We also get to play musical games. It is lots of fun.
Gym is fun, too, because I get to run a lot. I like to move around. We also get to climb the ropes. This is not one of Dr. Fitzsimmons favorite things to observe. We also get to play soccer indoors and out.
Every one gets to go to the library. We are able to pick any books we want and I like to pick books on cheetahs. You can read in the library and we get to listen to stories being read to us. I do enjoy that.
Science is my favorite subject. I enjoy making cool stuff and watching things explode in school. In second grade we had a scientist who showed us how to make things explode. We learned about pho-to-synthesis. We did our own experiments with soil, sand and water. We found out that if there is too much sand, or too much soil or too much water the plant will not grow as well. Each of us had a plant and we bent the plant and were able to see the juice inside of the plant.
I like math and so does Dr. Fitzsimmons! There are so many cool things you can do with math - like: You can add, and do repeated addition. I love doing division; because it is challenging and the more you do it the better you do in school. You can use many different ways to figure out the answer.
We would like to invite you to our school. We would give you a tour. Thank you for letting us share some of the things we do at Memorial School.
6.2 Personnel Committee
6.2.1 Mr. Vasquenza had no report at this time.
6.3 Policy Committee
6.3.1 Mr. Pessoni had no report at this time.
6.4 Curriculum Committee
6.4.1 Ms. Robinson noted that the Curriculum Committee met prior to tonight’s Board meeting and reviewed a new Calculus textbook as well as the classroom walk through process.
6.5 Transportation, Buildings and Grounds Committee
6.5.1 Mr. Tuttle noted that the Transportation, Buildings and Grounds Committee met and discussed the proposed extension of the transportation contract. The Town Council met and discussed this as well but no decision has been made yet. Mr. Tuttle also noted that the Board is hoping for a commitment from the Town Council that we can use some of the surplus funds for a grant for school security for school facilities.
6.6 East Hampton Education Association – None
6.7 Liaison Reports - None
7. Communications
7.1 Enrollment Report
7.1.1 Dr. Golden reviewed the student enrollment figures as of October 1, 2007.
7.2 Dr. Golden reviewed the following communications for the Board:
- The Center School Chronicle, October 5, 2007 and September 28, 2007.
- Memorial’s Bulletin Board, October 5, 2007.
- The Board & Administrator, October, 2007.
8. Program Presentation - None
9. Financial Reports
9.1 Mr. Vasquenza noted that the Board of Education expended approximately 22% of their budget so far.
10. Unfinished Business - None
11. New Business
11.1 Student/Staff Recognition
11.1.1 Dr. Golden noted that students and staff members often achieve significant accomplishments which the Board may not be aware of and for which they receive little recognition. This is an opportunity for the Board to meet with students and/or staff members and recognize these accomplishments. Examples might be such things as athletic accomplishments, winners of essay contests, staff who win awards or a grant, acts of kindness, volunteerism of note, etc.
11.2 2007-2008 Consolidated Education Grant
11.2.1 Mr. Reich noted that the East Hampton Public Schools will receive an entitlement grant totaling $182,271. The funds will be utilized to offer programs and services to meet the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation. The funding focuses on the themes of improving student achievement, closing the achievement gap, increasing parental involvement and using research based approaches to improve school quality and students performance.
11.3 Motion by Ms. Robinson, seconded by Ms. Barmasse to adopt the Senior, Level 1, Calculus Concept textbook entitled Calculus For Business, Economics, Life Sciences and Social Sciences, published by Barnett, Ziegler and Byleen, Pearson, Prentice Hall as recommended by the K-12 Mathematics Chairperson, the Administration and the Board of Education Curriculum Committee. Voted unanimously.
12. Future Business - None
13. Personnel Actions - None
14. Goal Report - None
15. Audience of Citizens
15.1 Dr. Berry noted that the new security monitor began on Monday, October 1st.
16. Adjournment
16.1 Motion by Ms. Barmasse, seconded by Mr. Gemma, to adjourn the meeting at 7:55 p.m. Voted unanimously.
Respectfully submitted,
Debra Robinson
Secretary
DR/JAG/rs
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