August 25, 2016 at 7:00 PM - Bethel Board of Education Regular Meeting

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Gift to the School System:  Bethel High School - 60” television to the High School Media Center, Courtney Martin, Bethel.

Congratulations to BHS Sophomore, Audrey Garcia, on her appointment to the 2016-2017 State Student Advisory Council on Education (SSACE). The Council gives Connecticut students a voice in education planning and enables the State Board of Education, the commissioner of education, State Department of Education personnel, the governor, and state legislators to become familiar with high school students' perspectives on key issues. It is truly an honor to be selected to represent your peers with these various constituencies.

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• Email from Jane Gangi, resident, regarding SBAC and Common Core
• Letter from BOE Chair to Jane Gangi, regarding SBAC and Common Core
• Letter from Elliott Landon, Mediator, regarding services
• Email from Jane Gangi, resident, regarding SBAC and Common Core #2
• Email from Jane Gangi, resident, regarding SBAC and Common Core #3
• Email from Jane Gangi, resident, regarding SBAC and Common Core #4
• Email from Patrick Bower, regarding New Fairfield Schools (video link:New Fairfield Schools )

Rationale:  To take advantage of the early bird discount for registration, we need to know if any additional Board Members would like to attend the 2016 CAPSS/CABE Convention.  Mr. Craybas and Mr. Foster have indicated that they will attend Friday through Saturday.  We would need to know by August 31st to take advantage of the discount.  

Rationale:  CABE annually publishes a legislative summary.   Attached is a summary of the 2016 Session.  There are several new pieces of legislation which have policy implications.  I would encourage you to review it.   

Rationale:  For the first time, in March of 2015, all 11th graders took the revised Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) as a state assessment.  This is the first administration of the new assessment, which is aligned to the Core State Standards.  Therefore, the assessment results can not be compared to previous administrations of the exam. In addition, this is the first time that all students have been required to take the test, with the exception of students with significant cognitive disabilities.  We are extremely proud of the results.  78.9% of our 11th graders met or exceeded proficiency in ELA and 57.2% in mathematics.  BHS student results far exceeded the state and were at the top of their District Reference Group.  Attached are summaries of the scores and comparisons to the DRG's.  

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As I indicated in an email over the summer, Mark Caron, Chris Troetti, Eileen Earl, Teri Yonsky, Bob Germinaro and I met regarding the Snack Shed. As you are aware, there has always been an ongoing debate about the oversight of the building.  Mr. Troetti and I would eventually like to expand and use the space for our culinary program to enhance it for curricular use.  Currently, the snack shed  is not equipped to meet the needs of any type of curricular expansion.  Like most area high schools, we would like to use the facility to provide the opportunity for students to have experiences (on a smaller scale) with restaurant management and maintenance, commercial cooking, and food service.  To accomplish this goal, over time, we will need to install equipment in the shed.  We will be partnering with All Sports Booster Club to financially support some of the renovations.  

In reality, most activities in the shed are under the purview of the district.  At our meeting we determined collaboratively that it would make more sense for  the district to have the oversight of the space.  

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We know that regular attendance at school on a daily basis is critical for optimal academic performance. Over the past year, the District Safe School Climate Team, which serves as our District Attendance Review Team, reviewed our attendance regulations and made the attached revisions. These revised attendance regulation aligns with current Connecticut State Statute and guidelines for best practice. For you convenience, I have attached the new regulation and highlighted all of the changes. I would like to provide an overview of a few of those changes:

• In the past, we only accepted a written note from a parent or guardian to excuse absences 1 through 9. In addition to a note, the new regulation accepts for email (from parent email account you have put in the Parent Portal) and/or a phone call to excuse the absence. At the beginning of the school year, schools will identify for you who you should email to excuse absence 1 to 9. A reminder, per state statute, absences 10 and higher require a note from a medical professional. Additionally, students(Bethel High School only) will lose credit after ten (10) absences in a particular class. In order to restore credit, students will have to appeal to the Attendance Review Committee.

• For active military members deployed and home on leave, the policy provides flexibility in the number of excused absences.

• The regulation has provisions for students who travel for more than 15 consecutive school days during the school year.

• The new state regulation provides regulations concerning "chronic absenteeism" or students who are absent (excused or unexcused) more than 10% of total days in school.

 

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This job description has not been revised since 2011. We have included the old “Secretary to Curriculum Supervisors” job description for your review.

The revisions made to the job description include:

• Change of wording from “Secretary to the Curriculum Supervisors” to “Administrative Assistant to the Director of Teaching and Learning and Director of Instructional Technology”

• Update job responsibilities and include district registrar responsibilities

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New job description titled “Literacy/Mathematics Interventionist Tutor”

In the past we operated under the “tutor” job description for the interventionist position.

Rationale/Summary of the Briefing:

To ensure continuity and clarity of our intervention programing, we felt it was important to develop this job description.

This job description includes:

• Job responsibilities aligned to the  “Literacy/Mathematics Interventionist Tutor”

• Inclusion of language to indicate that this person is working under the guidance of the Literacy/Mathematics Specialist
  

Rationale:  A committee, made up of representatives from the district, community, parents and youth sports organizations met with the Milone and MacBroom to provide input for the feasibility study.   The feasibility study was conducted and representatives from the firm cam back and presented to the same committee.  The representatives reviewed all of the fields which were considered and fields that were ruled out for a variety of reasons.  They then presented architectural drawings and cost proposals for Rockwell Field and the stadium field.  After that meeting, Mrs. Craybas, Mrs. Yonsky and I met with the First Selectman and Comptroller to come up with a plan for a the stadium field.  I will provide the Board with an overview of that plan, including a timeline at the meeting.  Attached are architectural renderings and preliminary cost estimates.  

Rationale:  This executive session is discuss an one-year unpaid leave of absence request by an employee. The administration supports the employee in their request.