January 23, 2020 at 7:00 PM - Bethel Board of Education Regular Meeting - Supt. Budget Presentation

Rationale: 

The Neag School of Education and its Alumni Board recently announced the 2020 Neag School Alumni Awards honorees.  Dr. Christine Carver has been named the 2020 Outstanding School Superintendent of the Year!

Dr. Carver was identified for this prestigious award by the dean and faculty of the Neag School of Education. This award is given annually to a graduate who has made a significant impact on education, has a national reputation for her/his work, has been an inspiration to other professionals, and has shown continued involvement with the Neag School of Education.

Dr. Carver will be formally recognized at the School’s 22nd annual Alumni Awards Celebration on Saturday, March 14, 2020.  

 

Johnson Unified Award

Johnson School has been accepted to the Special Olympics Unified Sports Schools.  They have been awarded a $750 grant.

 

GIFTS, GRANTS, BEQUESTS

BHS -

$30,000 for Annual EMT Conference, Arnhold Foundation, NY, NY

$1,000 for BHS Art Scholarship, Anne Brecher, Danbury, CT

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: 

Presenters:  

Mrs. Jen Variale

 

Topic:         

Math Textbooks and curriculum

Key Points of the Briefing: 

• We are bringing forward 2 textbooks to the Board of Education:

  • Single Variable Calculus: Early Transcendentals 

  • Multivariable Calculus

• Single Variable Calculus: Early Transcendentals - Stewart- 8th edition - UConn Custom edition, 2017

  • Addresses Calculus 42, AP Calculus AB, and AP Calculus BC courses

  • Required for UCONN Early College Experience (ECE)

  • Recommended by College Board for AP Calculus

  • Seeking 55 books @ $89.75 each

  • Total estimate- $4,936

  • Purchasing the book through UConn instead of Cengage results in a significant cost savings.

• Calculus: Multivariable Calculus - Stewart 8th edition, 2016

  • Addresses Multivariable calculus course

  • Used by UCONN and is a continuation of the textbook that we will use for AP Calculus BC.

  • Seeking 20 books @ $80 each

  • Total estimate- $1,600

  • Purchasing the book through UConn results in a significant cost savings.

• We are also bringing forward the Discrete Math Curriculum for approval.

  • New course this year (approved by the Board last year)

  • Students in Elementary Discrete Mathematics will have the opportunity to earn three College Math Credits through the University of Connecticut Early College Experience (UConn ECE) program.  Topics of study will include, problem solving strategies, counting and probability, graph theory, deductive reasoning, number theory, voting methods, and the mathematics of money.

  • This semester course will be offered to juniors and seniors who have successfully taken Algebra II as a prerequisite course. 

  • Used the new Understanding by Design (UbD) framework

Rationale: 

We wanted to provide you with an update on our school renovation projects.    As you are aware, the actual construction oversight is conducted by the Town's Public Site and Building Committee. We are also responsible to report to  and file with the Office of School Construction which oversees the school construction grant (45% reimbursement of eligible expenses).  The committee meets at least twice monthly to review the project progress and budget, in conjunction with the schools and the Owner’s Representative STV. All minutes and agendas  can be found on the town website. The minutes are detailed, so if you ever have a question about the project, reviewing the minutes is a good resource.  

As previously communicated, the projects in total remain under budget, including contingency.  By clicking on the link below you can have full access to the tracking budget to date. The table below provides and overall summary and the link will provide you with details on the most recent progress of construction from our owner's representative and a detailed master budget.  Contingency is established in a construction to deal with any unforeseen issues associated with the construction.  

If contingency is used, it comes in the form of a change order.  Change Orders are additions or deletions from the approved project scope initiated by the owner or due to field conditions/hidden conditions outside of the control of the constructor.  A change order that is approved becomes an eligible expense and is reimbursed through the grant. Regardless, the contingencies are there to deal with those unforeseen issues.  

*The Public Building and Site Committee did approve a small change order at Johnson School last night after the date of the writing of this newsletter.  The budget will be adjusted accordingly.  

In terms of overall phasing, we are on track at the Johnson School.  Rizzo plans to turn over the new addition by February 14th. We will start to move our 5th grade to the new addition.   Because of all of the rain in December, it delayed some roof work at Rockwell. It has pushed the move of second grade to the end of February.  Nonetheless, it is exciting to see the finishing touches being put into place. The walls are being painted, flooring, millwork, and windows are being installed, etc.   The delay in February should not change the dates within the next phase.  

I was asked recently, when we are going back to a “normal calendar” (before Labor Day).  The answer is after this summer. We needed to extend the summer again this summer (2020) for construction.  The next proposed calendar (2021-2022) will go back to starting before Labor Day. We appreciate your patience in this matter.