April 1, 2015 at 6:30 PM - Regular Board of Education Meeting

Rationale: 
Please note the personnel report as you will find updated employee information reflected in it.

Please take note of the April enrollment report. We have a total of 1,361 students enrolled.

Our students and staff at LOLMS who are a part of our French exchange program left on Friday, March 27 for Paris. Upon their return, Mrs. Russell and a few of the students would like to report to the Board about their trip. They would like to attend our May meeting.

We received our annual report from the College Board and are proud to announce that we rank 3rd and 4th respectively in percentage of students who took at least one AP exam and in percentage of students who scored a three or better.  Congratulations to the students and staff of LOLHS for this tremendous accomplishment!

Percent of Class of 2014 cohort taking at least one AP exam
1. Ridgefield 80%
2. Simsbury 69%
3. Lyme-Old Lyme  68.1%  (3rd in state)

Madison 44.8%
Guilford 52.4%
East Lyme 40.4%

Percent of Class of 2014 cohort scoring 3 or higher on at least one AP exam
1. Ridgefield 74.2%
2. Weston 62%
3. Darien 59.6%
4. Lyme-Old Lyme 55.8% ( 4th in state)

Madison 37.9%
Guilford 44.0%
East Lyme 34.7%

The annual staff banquet is scheduled for May 21 at The Gelston House . Again this will be a celebration of all of our staff members. Please mark your calendars for this special event.

Rationale:  Mrs. McCalla will provide a year to date budget status report as well as a contingency fund report. 

Rationale:  Mr. Wygonik and Mrs. Dean will update the Board on preparations for the upcoming NEASC visit including a detailed schedule of events.

Rationale:  Section 10-16l (Establishment of graduation date) of the C.G.S. states, “Notwithstanding any provision of the general statutes to the contrary, a local or regional board of education may establish for any school year a firm graduation date for students in grade twelve which is no earlier than the one hundred eighty-fifth day noted in the school calendar originally adopted by the board for that school year, except that a board on or after April first in any school year may establish such a firm graduation date for that school year which at the time of such establishment provides for at least one hundred eighty days of school.”  Per statute, I am recommending the Board vote to establish June 19, 2015 as the firm graduation date for the Class of 2015.  This requires Board action.

Rationale:  Per policy #2420, the Board is required to set a tuition rate for non-resident students by May 30.  Mrs. McCalla has calculated next year’s tuition rate of $20,063  based on proposed budget. Last year, the Board set the tuition increase in line with the increase in teachers’ salaries which was 2%. There was also much discussion around consideration of an annual 2-3% increase regardless of the previous calculations that have been used.  The current tuition rate is $18,500.

This requires Board action.

Rationale: 

The attached agreement with our insurance broker reads, “Three months prior to the conclusion of the Agreement, the Board shall have the option to renew the Agreement for three (3) successive one-year periods under the same terms and conditions subject to appropriation of funds.” The Finance Committee is recommending approval of this extension as Thompson and Peck has agreed to keep their costs stable in order to retain our business. We have been very pleased with the level of service we have received from them. Approval of this extension, which includes waiving the bidding requirements of Policy #6330, requires Board action.

 

 

Rationale: 

Background:  Lyme Consolidated roof is scheduled to be replaced during the 2015 Summer as part of the facilities projects plan.  The project was publically bid and the results are listed below:

 

Contractor	Bid
Greenwood Industries	$778,000.00
Secondino & Son, Inc.	$695,000.00
Commercia Roofing and Contracting	$834,000.00
Silktown Roofing	$746,000.00

The apparent low bidder is Secondino & Son.  The school district’s architect has reviewed the bid results and confirmed that Secondino & Son is qualified to complete this project.

The facilities committee will be reviewing the bid results prior to the Board of Education meeting.

 

Rationale:  There have been some changes in the planning of this project that require the Board to reconsider their approval from last month.  Mr. Rhodes will explain the potential cost saving changes that are being proposed.  Approval of this revised project requires Board action.

Background:  This project was rebid due to two factors.  First the previously approved contractor notified us they had miscalculated quantities and requested to withdraw their bid.  Second, we have decided to replace the carpets with carpet only versus a mix of carpet and rubber.  This will provide the media center greater long-term flexibility.

This project was publically bid.  Results are as follows: 

Contractor	Bid
M Frank Higgins	$36,000.00
R&B Ceramic Tile	$53,000.00
Bartholomew Co.	$21,450.00
Red Thread	$25,000.00

The project is within the projects budget.

Rationale:  Report as needed.