Rationale: 

Gifts to the System:

Bethel Middle School - Cello (John Burcner-Geigenmacker) & Cellow Bow (Emil Dupree), $2300 value, Stanley Anderson, Melborne, FL

Rationale: 

Importance of this topic to the Board:  Social and emotional well-being is a key component in supporting students to achieve academic success and sets the stage for all future learning.

 Key Points of the Briefing: The social and emotional needs of the students in the Bethel Public Schools are supported through the PPS staff.  Each building is staffed with counselors, social workers and school psychologists.  Both proactive and reactive strategies, in the buildings and the district, will be discussed. The focus of the work is to identify individual student needs, provide appropriate supports and assess the effectiveness of the supports. This work aligns with the Bethel mission statement, core beliefs, strategic plan, and social and emotional standards. 

 Summary of the Briefing: The Board of Education will be presented with an overview of the support services provided by the PPS staff, which impact students’ social and emotional learning.  

Rationale: 

• Correspondence - 2017 CAPSS Public Policy Agenda
• Correspondence - Attachment_MORE_Dec29_2016
• Correspondence - CAPSS - CABE Letter re Mid-Year Cut to ECS
• Correspondence - CAPSS - CABE Statement on ECS Cuts
• Correspondence - Letter_MORE_Dec29_2016
• Correspondence - Re_  Bethel Turf Project - Y. Grimes
• Correspondence - When will the state and the town evaluate common core_J Gangi
• Correspondence - teachers speak out- J.Gangi #2
• Correspondence - Board meeting on the 19th - D. Jordan

Rationale:  (Please note:  The Board welcomes Public Participation and asks that speakers please limit their comments to 2 minutes.  Speakers may offer objective comments of school operations and programs that concern them.  The Board will not permit any expression of personal complaints or defamatory comments about Board of Education personnel and students, nor against any person connected with the Bethel Public School System.)

Rationale: 

• Generator Hook-up Update
• Lighting Project on Whisttlesey
• Roofing Project

Rationale: 

This position statement was developed through a collaborative effort of a variety of stakeholders in order to ensure that the Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE) continues to provide equity and excellence in education inclusive of computer science for all Connecticut students. The Position Statement on Computer Science Education for All Students K-12 articulates beliefs about computer science education. It includes a rationale for and description of computer science education to ensure that students are prepared to meet the changing needs of the workplace, technology and a global economy. In addition, the position statement includes suggested responsibilities of various stakeholders.

Rationale: 

Public Act 13-122 required the Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE) to conduct a study of alternative school programs offered by local and regional boards of education and produce a report to the Connecticut General Assembly that examined:
• enrollment and discharge criteria;
• methods to obtain parental consent;
• enrollment by gender, race and ethnicity;
• curriculum offered;
• the length of school day and year;
• attendance and truancy rates;
• graduation rates;
• student academic performance;
• program effectiveness in meeting the needs of students enrolled; and
• program compliance with Connecticut General Statutes (C.G.S.) Sections 10-15, 10-16 and 10-16b.

Data were collected for four types of alternative school programs: alternative elementary and secondary programs; expulsion programs; dropout diversion/credit recovery programs; and districtwide special education and transition programs. One hundred and ninety-five school districts were surveyed, including local and regional boards of education, unified school districts, Regional Educational Service Centers and charter school districts. In total, 322 programs were reported by 100 school districts via an online survey. The results did not include Homebound (N=3) and expulsion only (N=20) programs. Based on this analysis, it was determined that there are 55 alternative programs and seven alternative schools across Connecticut accounting for approximately 4 percent of student enrollment. Approximately 90 percent of the alternative schools/programs served students in Grades 9 through 12. More than half of the students served (56.5 percent) were African American/Black or Latino. Almost two thirds were male (61.7 percent) and eligible for free lunch (58.5 percent).

The study determined that CSDE only had partially accounted for alternative school programs offered by districts. To that end, CSDE issued a May 29, 2014, memorandum to Superintendents of Schools notifying them of data collection needed to further inform the work of alternative schools. After consultation with internal and external stakeholders and the State Board of Education (SBE), the CSDE implemented a policy that required all programs under the purview of a district to request a unique organization code. This included off-site locations, multisite programs, and programs that run after school hours. Additionally, all programs had to report staff assignments; and students had to be reported in these programs through CSDE data collections. Students attending the public school during the regular school day and a separate program after school hours must have both education locations in the Public School Information System (PSIS).
Guidelines for Alternative Education Settings 4

As a next step to develop guidelines and best practices to support the operation of alternative school programs offered by local and regional boards of education, the CSDE established an Alternative Schools Committee in July 2014. The committee met over the course of a year in developing draft guidelines.

Subsequently, Public Act 15-133, An Act Concerning Alternative Education, required the CSDE to develop guidelines for the provision of alternative education. The statute required that such guidelines shall include:
• Description of the purpose and expectations of alternative education;
• Criteria for who is eligible to receive alternative education; and
• Criteria for how and when a student may enter or exit alternative education.

These guidelines are designed to support the operation of alternative education settings (schools or programs) offered by local and regional boards of education. The purpose of the guidelines is to ensure improved program designs and greater outcomes for students in alternative education settings. The Alternative Schools Committee then worked collaboratively to develop the guidelines to meet the requirements of the statute.

Rationale: 

Presenters:

Mrs. Alisa Trachtenberg, French Teacher

Dr. Christine Carver, Superintendent

Key Points of the Briefing:

1. Bethel High School would like to organize a trip to Québec for those students interested in the study of world history, culture, language, art, cuisine, and architecture.
2. We will use the tour company, Prometour, which is based out of Montréal, Canada has been organizing student tours for the last 25 years. We have used this company in the past for the French exchange in 2012-2013 and several districts across the State of CT use this company, many of which are in Fairfield County .
3. The dates of the 5 day trip would be October 5 through October 9, 2017 (Professional Learning Day and Columbus Day weekend). The students will not miss any school during this time.
4. The cost of the trip for our students will be approximately $700- $900 per student (dependent on how many students are interested), which covers motor coach transportation and associated ground transportation costs, hotels, meals, tours and admissions, service of a bilingual Tour Director, and basic insurance).
5. Students will travel by coach bus.
6. The goal is to have at least 20 students and 2 chaperones for the trip. Students taking French classes will take precedence if numbers interested are too large.
7. As of 12.22.16, there is no travel alert or travel warning to Canada.