June 3, 2020 at 7:00 PM - Regular BOE Meeting

Rationale: 

Regina Klonoski - Math Teacher - Memorial Boulevard M.S. - 9/3/68 - 6/30/85
Gisele Blanchette - Longest Serving Crossing Guard 41 Years - 1978-2019
Pat Clavette - Crossing Guard - 2012-2018

Rationale: 

We are beginning a new tradition within Bristol with recognizing a Paraeducator of the Year. The award is
named in honor of Anne Marie Murphy, a paraeducator who lost her life at Sandy Hook
Elementary School in 2012. The program honors one paraeducator who has demonstrated
exceptional skill and dedication in the performance of his/her job, thereby earning that person the
respect and admiration of other paraeducators, students, teachers, administrators, co-workers,
and parents.

The 2021 Bristol Paraeducator of the Year for Bristol Public Schools will be announced at the June 2020
Board of Education meeting. The Bristol Paraeducator of the Year Selection Committee consisted of:
Principals Ryan Broderick, Amy Bastiaanse, and Emily Gomes; Special Educator Director Kimberly Culkin;
Special Education Supervisors Molly Goodine and Catherine Cassin, and Special Education teachers, Christine
Heimgartner and Courtney Decker. A reception will be held in the fall to honor the Paraeducator of the Year.

Rationale: 

The 2021 Teacher of the Year for Bristol Public Schools will be announced at the June 2020 Board of Education meeting.  The Teacher of the Year Selection Committee consisted of:  Board of Education commissioner, Jennifer Dube; Principals Scott Gaudet, Daniel Sonstrom and Geoffrey Sinatro; Teaching and Learning Supervisor Georgina Rivera, and  Former teachers of the year:  Lisa Carroll, Corey Nagle, Scott Ruel, Julia Darcy, Sharon Campolo, Sharon Vocke, and Michael Reynolds.  A reception will be held in the fall to honor the Teacher of the Year.

Rationale: 

The CABE Student Leadership Awards Program was developed to give local boards of education the opportunity to recognize student achievement and potential. Students nominated by their school principal should exhibit the following leadership skills: Willingness to take on challenges, Capability to make difficult decision, Concern for others, Ability to work with others, Willingness to commit to a project, Diplomacy, Ability to understand issues clearly and Ability to honor a commitment.

The following student are recipients of the CABE Student Leadership Award:

Lorrin Jackson - Bristol Central H.S. - Gr. 12

Tyler Manzone - Bristol Central H.S - Gr. 12

Anabelle Redline - Northeast M.S. - Gr. 8

Patryk Kustra - Northeast M.S. - Gr. 8

Alex Kuzniar - West Bristol K-8 - Gr. 8

Brittany Cantres-Cruz - West Bristol K-8 - Gr. 8

Jacob Stringer - Chippens Hill M.S. - Gr. 8

Arianna Rivera - Chippens Hill M.S. - Gr. 8

Rationale: 

The following students have received CAS Scholar Leadership Awards:

Mark Petrosky - BCHS -  CAS Scholar Athlete 

Katherine Funk - BCHS -  CAS Scholar Athlete

Lorrin Jackson -  BCHS - CAS Arts Awards

Rebecca Bender - BEHS -  CAS Scholar Athlete

Kelvin Catalano - BEHS - CAS Arts Awards

Vanessa Drury - CHMS

Ava Gesner - NEMS

Liam Gagnon - NEMS

Nathan Johnson - GH

Isabel Paolino - WB

Rationale: 

Drew Dauphinee  - Bristol Eastern High School - Grade 12

Katherine Funk - Bristol Central High School - Grade 12

Rationale: 

The Board of Education should vote to approve any Regular or Special Meeting Minutes:

May 6, 2020 - Regular Meeting

Rationale: 

Communications & Community Relations	Finance	Operations	Personnel	Policy	Student Achievement
Shelby Pons, Chair	Karen Vibert, Chair	Eric Carlson, Chair	Thomas O’Brien, Chair	Kristen Giantonio, Chair	Chris Wilson, Chair
Karen Vibert	Kristen Giantonio	Chris Wilson	John Sklenka	Shelby Pons	Kristen Giantonio
Tom O'Brien	Allison Wadowski	John Sklenka	Eric Carlson	Allison Wadowski	Shelby Pons
Alternates:
Eric Carlson	John Sklenka	Karen Vibert	Allison Wadowski	Tom O'Brien	Allison Wadowski

Rationale: 

Chair Jennifer Dube will update the Board and the public on:

1. MBIAMS - Community Forum

Rationale: 

Dr. Carbone will report/update the Board on district topics.

1. District Priorities
2. Summer School
3. Closing Activities
4. Transitions
5. 2020 - 2021 Re-Opening
6. Results from Parent Survey

Rationale: 

Coan, Amy – BEHS – Chemistry Teacher – effective June 30, 2020
Collin, Karen – NEMS – 0.5 Math Intervention Teacher – effective April 30, 2020
Smith, Kirstin – GH – Grade 4 Teacher – effective June 30, 2020

Rationale: 

Bortugno, Matthew – Split BCHS/BEHS – School Psychologist – effective August 25, 2020
Cawley, Meghan – Gr. 7 Language Arts Teacher – effective August 25, 2020
Elliott, Lauri – BEHS – Chemistry Teacher – effective August 25, 2020
Kelley, Jillian – CHMS – Special Education Teacher – effective August 25, 2020
Sisson, Suzanne – CHMS – Math Teacher – effective August 25, 2020
Wayton, Matthew – NEMS – Special Education Teacher – effective August 25, 2020
Weiland, Peter – WB – Special Education Teacher – effective May 18, 2020

Rationale: 

Bristol has received a federal grant in the amount of $136,532 through Title IV, Part A.  With the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, the Every Student Succeeds Act provides funding under the newly authorized subpart of Title IV with the intention to 1) provide all students with access to well-rounded education; 2) improve school conditions for student learning; and 3) improve the use of technology in order to improve academic achievement and digital literacy of all students.

Priority in funding must be given to those schools that are identified as having students with the greatest needs, the highest number of students from low-income families who are counted for Title I and are identified for support under Title I.

Rationale: 

BACKGROUND:  Members of the public are invited to comment to the Board on any topic related to school business.

Items requiring consideration by the Board must be approved as an agenda item by a 2/3ds vote of the Board members present.  Such items may be referred for further study and not necessarily acted upon at this meeting.

Anyone wishing to address the Board should adhere to the following procedures:

1. Send your comments to: susaneverett@bristolk12.org
2. Be sure to put PUBLIC COMMENT in the subject line.
3. Include your name and address.
4. Direct your comments to the Board Chair.
5. Your comments will be read at the meeting by the Board Chair.
6. All comments should be written in an appropriate manner, particularly if concerning a personnel matter.
7. Any comments not adhering to the guidelines will not be read at the meeting.

 Board Policy #1120(a)

Rationale: 

Teachers trained to serve as TEAM (Teacher Education and Mentoring) mentors and cooperating teachers provide assistance and support to student teachers and first year beginning teachers in the district in areas such as lesson design and classroom management and provide feedback and support in the areas of instructional planning and student assessment. Cooperating teachers are those teachers who are trained to work with student teachers. We need to increase the number of cooperating teachers in the district in order to meet the need of student teachers. Mentors must be assigned to first-year teachers to provide mentoring and support to newly certified teachers; this program is required by the State Department of Education. Principals recruit teachers to apply to be a TEAM mentor/cooperating teachers; the applications are reviewed by the TEAM Coordinating Committee. The following teachers were approved by the TEAM Coordinating Committee and are recommended to be TEAM Mentors/cooperating teachers.  Approved teachers must attend a three day training program and update their training every three years.

Rationale:  Bristol Public Schools is developing several opportunities for learning this summer to boost students’ grade-level learning prior to entering school next fall.  All students will have access to self-directed virtual learning boosters.  Students who have demonstrated that additional learning support will be needed will be invited to participate in teacher-directed virtual learning boosters.  These boosters will include both synchronous and asynchronous instruction.  High school students who are not able to complete credit will have the opportunity to earn credit through credit-recovery options that include asynchronous and synchronous learning.  Learning opportunities will begin on July 6 and will run through the middle of August.

Rationale: 

Decisions regarding a child’s eligibility for Extended School Year for students with Disabilities services are to be made by Planning and Placement Teams (PPTs) on an individual basis based on the needs of the child. Students will be provided with remote learning aligned to their Individualized Educational Programs to the greatest extent possible. Special education teachers will plan both “live” virtual and remote instruction. Related service providers will plan for both “live” virtual and remote services.

Rationale: 

The Connecticut adoption of the Next Generation Science Standards, along with the requirement of administration of the Connecticut Next Generation Science Assessment, necessitated a revision to our high school science core and elective curriculum. Botany is an elective course that provides students access to additional NGSS standards while engaging in rich learning around the plants. This course encapsulates three dimensional learning that will allow students to actively engage with scientific practices and apply crosscutting concepts in order to deepen their understanding of Core Ideas in order to explain phenomena and solve problems.  Units of instruction include such relevant and interesting topics such as an introduction to Botany, pollination and growth, plant structures and function, and the connections between plants and humans.  Each unit has a storyline structure that is anchored with a phenomenon or design problem. Each learning sequence attends to science content, provides access to student use of the science and engineering practices and crosscutting concepts, and that applies directly to the phenomenon or design task. 

Rationale:  The Connecticut adoption of the Next Generation Science Standards, along with the requirement of administration of the Connecticut Next Generation Science Assessment, necessitated a revision to our high school science core and elective curriculum.  Environmental Issues and Sustainability is an elective course that provides students access to additional NGSS standards while engaging in rich learning around the environment. This course encapsulates three dimensional learning that will allow students to actively engage with scientific practices and apply crosscutting concepts in order to deepen their understanding of Core Ideas in order to explain phenomena and solve problems.  Units of instruction include such relevant and interesting topics such as humans and sustainability, biodiversity, land and water use, energy resources, and terrestrial and aquatic pollution.  Each unit has a storyline structure that is anchored with a phenomenon or design problem. Each learning sequence attends to science content, provides access to student use of the science and engineering practices, and crosscutting concepts, and that applies directly to the phenomenon or design task.

Rationale: 

In 2014 there was a national revision of music standards that had been in existence since 1994. The major emphasis and difference in the 2014 Music Standards are the focus on Music Literacy. The standards emphasize conceptual understanding in areas that reflect the actual processes in which musicians engage. The standards cultivate a student’s ability to carry out the Four Artistic Processes of Creating, Performing, Responding and Connecting. These are the processes that musicians have followed for generations, even as they connect through music to themselves and their societies. Our teachers have created the curriculum to reflect these national standards and used the work of John Feierabend to achieve the highest level of music literacy. John Feierabend is a music education researcher, pedagogue and author. He is known for his First Steps in Music and Conversational Solfege music education curricula, as well as his contributions to the music intelligence education for young children. His methodologies combine the teachings of Edwin Gordon and Zoltán Kodály. He is currently the Director of Music Education at the Hartt School of the University of Hartford. Bristol students in grades K-5 experience music once a week for 45 minutes. There are 6 units of study that carry through to 5th grade and then layered in throughout the years. By 5th grade there are a total of 11 units that vary between year-long and trimester based units of study

This curriculum revision was presented to the BOE Student Achievement Committee on May 20, 2020 and a motion for full board approval was unanimous. There are no text books associated with the new curriculum revision. If you should have any questions, please contact Samantha Sarli.

Rationale: 

In recent years our Middle and High School mathematics data has indicated both a lack of rigor and attainment of the math standards through the previously adopted curriculum. As a result of this data and significant research, the BPS has revised the middle school and Algebra I curriculum to be informed by the standards-based program  Illustrative Mathematics. The Illustrative Mathematics approach supports the attainment of the Common Core Mathematics Standards and follows a “learn by doing” philosophy. 

Students learn by doing math, solving problems in mathematical and real-world contexts, and constructing arguments using precise language. This revised Bristol mathematics curricula embeds this learn-by-doing philosophy by focusing on high expectations for all students and providing students with opportunities that build conceptual understanding, computational and procedural fluency, and problem solving through the use of a variety of strategies, tools, and technologies. The mathematics curriculum is responsive to the individual needs of students while providing a structure tied to the Common Core State Standards in Connecticut.  

The learn-by-doing  philosophy develops mathematically literate and productive students who can effectively and efficiently apply mathematics in their lives to make informed decisions about the world around them by doing math. To be mathematically literate, students must understand major mathematics concepts, possess computational facilities, and have the ability to apply these understandings to situations in daily life. 

Revised units of study allow students to read, discuss, and write within the discipline of mathematics, as these are integral skills that support mathematical understanding, reasoning, and communication. Revised units provide the opportunity to think critically and creatively to solve problems is important to deepen mathematical knowledge and foster innovation.  Each unit offers rich hands-on mathematical experiences essential to building foundational knowledge and skills that prepare students to be mathematically literate, productive citizens.

Rationale: 

Any communications/information regarding building projects:

1. MBIAMS Update
2. Stafford School - Roof Project
3. South Side - HVAC Project
4. Northeast Middle School 

Rationale: 

The Board of Education will discuss any new business proper to come before the Board.

Rationale:  Commissioners will report to the Board on any groups/organizations in which they serve as Board of Education Liaisons and information pertinent to the Board.

Rationale:  There being no other business to come before the Board of Education the meeting should adjourn.