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Board of Education Minutes 12-08-08
 East Hampton
Board of Education
East Hampton, CT  06424
MINUTES:  December 8, 2008
1.  The meeting was called to order by the Chairperson, Mr. Vasquenza, at 6:30 p.m. in the East Hampton High School Library/Media Center.  
        
        Members present:        Mr. Vasquenza, Ms. Robinson, Mr. Laraia, Mr. Coolican, Ms. Barmasse, Ms. Wall and Ms. Pessoni, Mr. Gemma and Mr. Hurst (arrived at 7:00 p.m.)

        Administration  Dr. Golden, Superintendent of Schools
        Present:        Mr. Reich, Assistant Superintendent of Schools
                Mr. Jylkka, Finance Director
               Mr. Reas, Director of Support Services
                Ms. Asetta, Business Services Coordinator
                Dr. Berry, Principal of East Hampton High School
                Mr. Brenton, Assistant Principal of East Hampton High School
                Mr. Fidler, Principal of East Hampton Middle School
                Ms. Turchi, Principal of Center Elementary School
                Dr. Fitzsimmons, Principal of Memorial Elementary School
                Dr. Ryan, Assistant Principal of Memorial Elementary School

East Hampton High School Student Council Representative:   Walid Ahmad

Also Present:  Mr. O’Keefe, Town Manager

2.  Pledge of Allegiance

3.  Inter-Board Liaisons - None

4.  Audience of Citizens
      4.1       Ms. Valerie Bozzi noted that she is part of the Podium Players theatre group and she enjoys the opportunity of working with children in the East Hampton School System.  The Podium Players are having difficulty booking the East Hampton High School stage in a timely fashion and actually lost money due to this problem.  Mr. Vasquenza requested that Ms. Bozzi contact the Superintendent for assistance.

5.  Consent Agenda
     5.1       October 27, 2008 Minutes        
5.1.1   Motion by Ms. Robinson, seconded by Ms. Pessoni, to approve the revised minutes of October 27, 2008.  Voted unanimously.

6.  Student/Staff Recognition - None

7.  Committee Reports
    7.1        Student Council
7.1.1   Walid Ahmad, Student Council Representative for East Hampton High School reported the following:
  • Interact News
  • This past Saturday, December 6, the Interact Club held its annual Breakfast with Santa. There was an overwhelming amount of student involvement, as close to every member of the club volunteered at the event. Raffle tickets were sold for two individual toy baskets for girls and boys, the children got to take a picture with Santa, and the whole family could enjoy a pancake breakfast afterwards. At the same time, many food items were collected for the food bank at the door. The event was a large success with staff, Interact, and Rotary organization.
  • Yesterday Interact volunteers helped with the event at the Goff House following the parade. The event both recognized military veterans and members and boasted holiday spirit. Volunteers were involved with ushering, serving, and cleaning up.
  • Video Club – EHHS recently organized a video club, which now has around 25 members. A teacher volunteer runs it purely out of their own desire to help the students. Students can share their ideas for gaming, technology, etc. and have fun while doing it.
  • The Flag Football tournament came to a close today as Team Blackout and The Ten Wonders faced off. The game was a tight one, ending with the Ten Wonders emerging victorious by two points. They are now the champions, and have the privilege of playing Glory Days, the teachers’ team.
  • The annual senior dinner will be held tomorrow night from 5:30 to 9:30 in Bolton at A Villa Louisa.
  • Basketball
  • The girls’ team has had four productive scrimmages against Lyman, E.O. Smith, Mercy, and Conard.  Their first game is Wednesday night, home, against Morgan.
  • The boys’ team has had only one scrimmage against Classical Magnet, from which they emerged successful. There is another scrimmage against Coventry on Wednesday. Their first official game is a week from Wednesday; December 17th away against Morgan.
  • The track team will have its first meet on Wednesday, which will be a developmental meet at Wesleyan. Normally these meets are only for new athletes but in this case all athletes are required to attend because of the slightly tryout format of the track team this year.
  • EHHS staff had a PTO forum about the class rank issue with about 25 parents in attendance. Important discussion took place and insight was gained.
  • PSAT scores for the juniors came in recently. Guidance counselors came in during individual English classes to distribute score sheets. We hope to see many students entered in the NMSQT.
                7.2     Personnel Committee
                        7.2.1   Mr. Coolican stated that the Personnel Committee will meet on December 15th if the nurses ratify their contract.
                                        
                7.3     Policy Committee
                        7.3.1   Ms. Robinson had no report at this time.
                7.4     Curriculum Committee
                        7.4.1   Ms. Barmasse noted that the Curriculum Committee met on December 1st and reviewed the Middle School Annual Yearly Progress Update, the Mathematics Pilot Update - Grades 6-8 and the Spelling Pilot Update – Grades 1-8.

                7.5     Transportation, Buildings and Grounds Committee
                        7.5.1   Mr. Gemma had no report at this time.

                7.6     Financial Reports
                        7.6.1    Ms. Pessoni noted that the Finance Committee met prior to tonight’s meeting and reviewed the Budget 2008-09 overview, the transfer of funds and discussed the 2009-10 Budget.  She also noted that there is a Tri-Board meeting after tonight’s Board meeting.

                7.7     East Hampton Education Association – None

                7.8     Liaison Reports - None  

8.  Communications
                8.1             Dr. Golden reviewed the student enrollment figures as of December 1, 2008.
  •         Dr. Golden reviewed the following communications for the Board:
  • The Center School Chronicle, November 21, 2008.
  • The Middle Ground, December 2008.
  • Dr. Golden noted that approximately 60 Interact students and Ms. Chambers volunteered at the Rotary Breakfast with Santa and they did a wonderful job.
  • Ms. Robinson noted that the Public Relations Sub Committee will meet on December 16th at 5:30 p.m. in the Superintendent’s Office.
9.       Program Presentation - None

10.     Unfinished Business
        10.1    Review of Recommended Board of Education Policy 3541.44, Student Transportation in Private Vehicle (Second Reading)
                10.1.1   Motion by Mr. Coolican, seconded by Mr. Laraia, to adopt the revised Policy 3541.44, Student Transportation in Private Vehicle as recommended by the Policy Committee and the Administration.  Voted unanimously.

        10.2    Review of Recommended Board of Education Policy 4133.1/4233.1, Use of Board of Education Vehicles or Privately Owned Vehicles (Second Reading)
                10.2.1   Motion by Mr. Coolican, seconded by Mr. Laraia, to adopt the revised Policy 4133.1/4233.1, Use of Board of Education Vehicles or Privately Owned Vehicles as recommended by the Policy Committee and the Administration.  Voted unanimously.

        10.3    Review of Recommended Board of Education Policy 5145.5, Sexual and Other Unlawful Harassment of Students (Second Reading)
                10.3.1   Motion by Mr. Coolican, seconded by Mr. Laraia, to adopt the revised Policy 5145.5, Sexual and Other Unlawful Harassment of Students as recommended by the Policy Committee and the Administration.  Voted unanimously.

        10.4    Review of Recommended Board of Education Policy 4118.11/4218.11, Equal Employment Opportunity – Personnel (Second Reading)
                10.4.1   Motion by Mr. Coolican, seconded by Mr. Laraia, to adopt the revised Policy 4118.11/4218.11, Equal Employment Opportunity – Personnel as recommended by the Policy Committee and the Administration.  Voted unanimously.

        10.5    Review of Recommended Board of Education Policy 5131.911, Bullying (Second Reading)
                10.5.1   Motion by Mr. Coolican, seconded by Mr. Laraia, to adopt the revised Policy 5131.911, Bullying as recommended by the Policy Committee and the Administration.  Voted unanimously.

        10.6    Review of Recommended Board of Education Bylaw 9325.2, Order of Business Agenda Format (Second Reading)
                10.6.1   Motion by Mr. Laraia, seconded by Ms. Barmasse, to adopt the revised Bylaw 9325.2, Order of Business Agenda Format as recommended by the Policy Committee and the Administration.  A discussion followed.

                10.6.2   Motion by Mr. Coolican, seconded by Ms. Barmasse, to amend the motion to adopt the revised Policy 5131.911, Bullying as recommended by the Policy Committee and the Administration.  The Agenda Format will now list Superintendent’s Report and #9 as renumber the latter items.  Voted unanimously.

11.  New Business
        11.1    Budget Transfer Request
                11.1.1   Dr. Golden noted that the Administration is requesting that funds allocated to the Special Education Tuition Account, (95-2150-5330) be transferred to the Maintenance Account, 352880-5430).  The transfer is being requested to offset expenses to the districtwide Maintenance Account to renovate the American Legion Building which became the site for the Learning Center.

                11.1.2   Motion by Mr. Coolican, seconded by Mr. Hurst, to transfer $19,946.99 from Special Education Tuition Account, (95-2150-5330) to Repair and Maintenance Account, (96-2610-5430), to offset expenses to renovate the American Legion Building which became the site of the Learning Center.  Voted unanimously.

12.     Future Business
                12.1    Dr. Golden noted that the School Improvement Presentation will be brought to the Board in January.

                        Mr. Vasquenza questioned whether the Board would be interested in a budget workshop sometime in January or February.

                        Mr. Coolican noted that the Town is going to go to referendum on a sizeable bond issue in the Spring.  The Board should discuss how we can keep a quality school system with building no buildings.  Mr. Vasquenza stated that this topic can be placed on a future Board agenda.

13.     Personnel Actions - None
                        
14.     Goal Report
                14.1      Dr. Golden gave the Board an update on the goals.  She noted that she and Mr. Vasquenza have begun discussing the goals for developing a long range plan to implement the East Hampton Public Schools Vision Statement.  She stated that we are also reviewing the facilities and infrastructure needs and it is part of the Technology Plan.  The bandwidth is not large enough and the technicians are looking at some cable to mitigate this.  The school based web sites are being redesigned and Mr. Pont and Mr. McMahon will have prototypes for her to look at after the holidays.  With goal number 3 the curriculum mapping and assessments are close to being complete.  The committee met today regarding goal number 4 and Mr. Reich did a wonderful job with the old and new plan.
        
15.     Audience of Citizens
                15.1    Mr. Hurst noted that he called the Superintendent’s Office and spoke with Ms. Hayes to arrange transportation for 2nd and 3rd grade students one day a month to attend an after school program and the East Hampton Public Library.  Mr. Hurst stated that Ms. Hayes was very helpful.

16. Adjournment
     16.1  Motion by Mr. Coolican, seconded by Ms. Barmasse, to adjourn the meeting at 7:15 p.m.  Voted unanimously.

Respectfully submitted,


Joanne Barmasse
Secretary

JB/JAG/rs