January 10, 2006 at 7:00 PM - 1-10-06 Regular Board Meeting

Rationale:  Chair Boske explained the rules of Public Session.

Rationale:  PERSONNEL ACTION: Leave of Absence: Jane Adams, Science Teacher (Woodrow Wilson Middle School) employed in Middletown since August 1998, has requested a child-rearing leave of absence until August 2006. The effective date is June 28, 2006. Amy Barron, School Psychologist (Moody/Spencer Schools) employed in Middletown since July 1999, has requested a child-rearing leave of absence until August 2006. The effective date is March 22, 2006. Ellen Lewonka, Elementary Teacher (Wesley School) employed in Middletown since August 2001, has requested a child-rearing leave of absence until August 2006. The effective date is April 12, 2006. STATUS OF CERTIFIED EMPLOYMENT: Vacancy: There is a vacancy for an Assistant Superintendent of Schools, which is being filled by an Interim.

Rationale:  EXECUTIVE SUMMARY MIDDLESEX COUNTY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION GRANT The Middlesex County Community Foundation was established in 1997 to support community enhancement projects for towns within Middlesex County. Each year the Foundation determines focus areas for awards based on guidelines established by donors and the Foundation’s Board of Directors. The district is applying to the Foundation under the Education focus area to support the Parent Leadership Training Institute (PLTI). PLTI seeks to enable parents to become leading advocates for children. The cornerstones of the program are respect, validation, and a belief that when the tools of democracy are understood, the public will actively engage in civic life. PLTI goals support parents in strengthening their skills to: · Become the leaders they would like to be for children and families; · Expand the capacity of parents as change agents for children and families; · Develop communities of parents within regions of the state that will support one another in skills development and successful parent action for children; · Facilitate systems change for parental involvement with increased utilization of parents in policy and process decisions; and · Increase parent-child interactions and improve child outcomes through parent involvement. The PLTI program is a nationally recognized 20-week curriculum that enables parents to become better advocates and leaders for themselves, their children, and within their communities. In Phase 1 (first 10 weeks), parents examine themselves in relation to their family, community, and their own history. The practicum, or community project, is introduced in Phase 1 and completed by graduation. This practicum gives parents hands-on opportunities to focus on a specific problems or civic issues in which they can test and use the parent leadership skills they have learned in the classroom. Phase 2 (second 10 weeks), gives parents the tools of democracy that will allow them to participate in their community’s decision-making processes. Proposed Funding: $5,000

Rationale:  EXECUTIVE SUMMARY MINOR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS FOR SCHOOL READINESS PROGRAMS GRANT The district is applying to the State Department of Education for a competitive Minor Capital Improvements for School Readiness Programs Grant. The purpose of the grant program is to provide funding for School Readiness programs for minor capital improvements and wiring for technology. Funds are targeted for the types of repair and replacement work and other general improvements not covered by the existing public school construction grants program. Priority will be given to correct Department of Public Health violations, create an energy efficient environment, improve safety, and meet accreditation standards associated with the facility. Examples of the types of improvements that qualify include: · Replacement of windows and doors; · Replacement of internal communication systems; · Ceiling and floor covering upgrades/replacements; · Upgrading restrooms, including new fixtures and water fountains; · Upgrade or replacement of lighting fixtures; · Alterations to premises including playgrounds to ensure adherence to licensing requirements of the Department of Public Health; and · Modest improvements for space enhancement that lead to program quality: Grant funding will provide for capital improvements to the existing preschool sites at Bielefield and Snow Schools, and start-up improvements at the proposed new preschool site at Macdonough School. Many of the items included in the grant proposal will assist the district in the re-accreditation/accreditation process with the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). Items incorporated in the proposal include: · Fencing and enhanced accessibility for the preschool playground at Snow School; · Installation of child-size sinks and toilets at all three sites; · Student cubbies and teacher storage cabinets at Bielefield and Macdonough Schools; and · Space improvements for the new program at Macdonough School. Funding Requested: $75,000

Rationale:  EXECUTIVE SUMMARY FAMILY LEARNING PILOT PROJECT GRANT The district is applying to the State Department of Education, through the Capitol Region Education Council/Adult Training and Development Network, for a competitive Family Learning Pilot Project Grant. The purpose of the grant program is to strengthen school-family partnerships and build unique collaborations between adult education programs and elementary schools, specifically targeting families of children in kindergarten, first, and second grades. This project will offer multiple opportunities to introduce parents in the Wesley School community to the Middletown Adult Education Programs. Currently, the Middletown Adult Education (MAE) Family Literacy Programs collaborate with the school district’s School Readiness and Family Resource Center coordinators to provide information and services to MAE Family Literacy families to help them become full partners in their child’s education. These collaborations have also provided valuable staff development for MAE Early Childhood teachers. This project will extend the collaboration between Adult Education and the school system into the elementary schools in partnership with the district’s Parent Resource Coordinator. The connection that this project will provide will enhance community knowledge of activities and opportunities for parents to get involved in their child’s elementary school. As a resource for parents, the project will distribute take-home activities and summer literacy kits that the staff at Wesley School has developed for their targeted group of at-risk students in Grade 2. Funding Requested: $5,000

Rationale:  Each January, the Board establishes meeting dates for regular meetings during the school year, as required by Public Act No. 75-342. The Board of Education is requested to adopt a meeting schedule for the 2006 school year.

Rationale:  EXECUTIVE SUMMARY -2 BOE Meeting 01/10/06 Second Reading – Bylaws If the Board votes to approve the second reading of the following Policy, the Policy will be formally adopted and shall be regarded as official policy, in accordance with the Bylaws. #5141.27 Use of Automatic External Defibrillator (AED)—Michael Frechette spoke regarding this recommended policy. He explained the necessity for this policy, as we have 5 AEDs in place in the schools. A policy, response plans and registry forms were discussed by the committee. The committee recommended the policy be presented to the Board of Education for its first reading. The first reading was approved and now returns to the Board for its second reading.

Rationale:  To: All Curriculum and Professional Development Committee members From: John Hennelly C.: Michael Frechette Date: 1/5/2006 Re: Plans for January 24 professional development Happy New Year! With the Connecticut Supreme Court’s ruling that Middletown must hold municipal elections again on January 24, the Superintendent has decided that the district will move up its March professional development day to the same day, canceling school for students and allowing voters access to Middletown’s many polling sites. For those of you involved in planning our last PD of the year, this change of dates presents some challenges and opportunities. Please consider the following requests and proposals, and plan to meet with me on Tuesday, January 10th in Conference Room A, at 3 p.m. – both secondary and elementary members. - Since summary evaluation of school and program improvement plans may be premature, I would ask those of you who submitted these plans to prepare a brief narrative update to share with colleagues and me before or by January 24. This need not be the detailed mid-year review that we agreed to pass on this year; it is simply a step to note progress to date and to prepare colleagues for the summary evaluation which will now be completed by April 12 (not March 24) through department, building, and – if need be – curriculum-designated meetings as long as such meetings do not exceed the teacher contract’s “thirty-three (33) after school meetings per year” and are “conducted within a reasonable time frame, normally not to exceed one (1) hour.” (p. 8) - Much of the professional development originally planned for March 24 focuses on examining student work and progress to date. While the earlier-than-expected PD day may require some adjustment, I propose we stick with this theme. For instance: * High school teachers will have just completed --mid-year exams and should have both the exams and cover sheet data available for review. Reviewing students’ performance in CAPT-related writing (MHS’s big initiative for 2005-06) and reading could help them adjust instruction and identify ways to get better buy-in from students over the next five weeks. In this way – even though the exams are summative assessments – they could be used in a formative way to help students strengthen their literacy skills as well as their skills in all of their subjects. Possible objectives and extensions for such PD could be the creation of common performance tasks and assessment checklists, self-assessments and learning plans to be used by students, identification of benchmarks (in any subject) – in short, extensions of what the learning teams are already doing. I ask that those involved in planning PD be sure to identify specific and concrete outcomes. * Grades 5, 7, and 8 language arts and math teachers will have completed the second Blue Ribbon assessments and, like their high school colleagues, should have plenty of skill specific information to help them adjust instruction toward supporting students’ improved learning. Where possible, tying specific instructional techniques to learning needs (e.g., sentence unscrambling and sentence imitating to improve fluency and sentence variety) is preferable to such general interventions (e.g., students will write more essays). Also, please consider ways to involve students in attending to their own improvement plans. For instance, while the Blue Ribbon parent reports may enlist some home support, they could also help students write their own improvement plans for the next month or so. * Since Keigwin had originally identified differentiated instruction as its chief goal for the Nov. 8th and March 24th PDs, folks there may want to review the impact of this initiative on student learning to date. For instance, how do this year’s grade 6 grades compare to last year’s for the first two quarters? Specifically, what instructional adjustments have teachers made to differentiate instruction and how has this affected student learning? Concomitant with differentiated instruction, how have we enlisted student involvement in planning for and monitoring their own achievement in reading, writing, and math? Keigwin staff’s considerable experience with interdisciplinary learning might also make some reading and writing across the curriculum activities valuable (e.g., identifying specific reading and writing activities and practices that all teachers can and will support). * The March 24 elementary plans submitted last year reflect a greater range if PD activity, but with the possible exception of EBS and SF&CP follow-up, the activities all lend themselves to review of student work and achievement (e.g., writing benchmark review, reading comprehension review, development of performance tasks). Possibly, even the EBS and SF& CP reviews can be tied to student achievement since that is their goal too. * Kindergarten and pre-school staff have met and visited throughout the year. Having met with Melissa Gonzalez and Mariann Rossi-Ondusky to review the pre-school plans for the upcoming NAEYC review, it occurs to me that the January 24th PD could offer a good opportunity to review the new guidelines and curricular expectations. You may still want to set aside some time on January 24th for school and program improvement plan evaluation – perhaps an hour or less – but I strongly urge you to take advantage of this unexpected opportunity to take stock of what students have learned to date and what we can do to accelerate their learning over the next few months, not just in terms of the upcoming CMTs and CAPTs, but in the context of what we profess to be our hopes and goals for every student. I encourage you to discuss your program and school plans with colleagues over the next week and a half and to bring copies of your proposed PD plans to our January 10th meeting.

Rationale:  The Board of Education must vote to establish a proposed budget for the 2006-2007 fiscal year.

Rationale:  EXECUTIVE SUMMARY –1 BOE Meeting 01/10/06 Information Requested #9310 Development, Distribution & Maintenance of Manual of Policies, Regulations, Bylaws—At the 12/13/05 Policy Committee meeting, Bill Boyd and Barbara Weiss spoke regarding keeping the policies, regulations and bylaws electronically as opposed to the present policy and bylaw manuals. Bill Boyd proposed an alert be sent to all administrators to notify them of any changes to or adoption of policies by the Board of Education. Bill Boyd also questioned whether the manuals were still being updated. Michael responded he was directed by Sally Boske to make the policies, regulations and bylaws electronically available in place of the manuals. Bill wants this brought to the attention of the Board, for its direction.

Rationale:  EXECUTIVE SUMMARY-3 BOE Meeting 01/10/06 Policy Committee Meetings 12/13/05 If the Board votes to approve the proposed Bylaws, that vote will serve as the first reading, and the Bylaws will come back to the Board for consideration at a second meeting, in accordance with the Bylaws. The following bylaw is for the Board of Education’s consideration and will require two readings: #9321 Time, Place and Notification of Meetings—Barbara Weiss and Bill Boyd recommended in the Special Meetings section to delete the wording “or the clerk” after Superintendent and also substituting the wording “an email” in the place of “telegram”. The wording of the policy has been changed to reflect, “All notice of meetings shall be posted on the website (www.middletownschools.org).”

Rationale:  EXECUTIVE SUMMARY-3 BOE Meeting 01/10/06 Policy Committee Meetings 12/13/05 If the Board votes to approve the proposed Bylaws, that vote will serve as the first reading, and the Bylaws will come back to the Board for consideration at a second meeting, in accordance with the Bylaws. See attached document for proposed changes.

Rationale:  TRANSPORTATION REPORT DECEMBER 1, 2005 THROUGH DECEMBER 23, 2005 December transportation for the school year 2005-2006 was very smooth considering our first onset of winter type weather. This month we had our first school cancellation day and our first delayed opening. We witnessed a three-day cold snap with temperatures ranging from the mid teens down to single digits. All in all the buses performed very well with no reported non-starts. Requests for new bus stops are starting to increase as the cold weather sets in. Concerns from parents regarding the shoveling of sidewalks are forwarded to city officials for immediate remedy. The Transportation Department and Dattco representatives continue to meet weekly.

Rationale:  2005 Fall Athletics Narrative Report There were 31 athletes on Academic Probation during the fall season and 27 successfully completed their probation by improving their grades from last spring. Fifty-three student/athletes received Northwest Conference All Academic Honors. The paid attendance for the Xavier/Middletown Football game was 1,923. The financial split for each school is $4,234.48 New coaches this year are TJ Bialek, Wilson Middle Boys Soccer Coach, and Jacob Kravitz, Middletown High Girl’s Assistant Swim Coach. Senior Christina Tavana became the second Middletown High School soccer player to play in the CT Soccer Coaches All-Star Classic. Football players Michael Bradley and Korey Speller were selected as All-State performers.