The Killingly High School football team has been invited to the board meeting in order that they could be publicly recognized for their successful season -- they were the 2009 ECC small division champion this year. Their overall record was 6-4; their division record was 4-1 and their home record was 4-0.  In addition, this was their third straight Thanksgiving Day win over Putnam.

Members of the Killingly community are encouraged to share their thoughts with the Board of Education and are invited to do so during this segment of the meeting.  When appropriate to do so, members of the Board and the administration may respond to comments. However, in consideration of those in attendance and in an effort to proceed in a timely manner, follow-up discussion may need to take place outside of the meeting setting.

Sheryl Kempain will be at the meeting to give a brief overview of what has been taking place at Killingly Intermediate School.

Barbara Otero will be at the meeting to review the food services department, as she does on an annual basis. As can be seen from the attached materials, the deficit in the food services account has been reduced (but not eliminated) by increased catering, primarily for Head Start.

In 2000, the lowa Association of School Boards released a research study showing that school boards, administrators and teachers in high-achieving districts had significantly different knowledge and beliefs than those in low-achieving districts. Boards in high-achieving districts held a consistent belief that all students could learn and their schools could teach all students; understood curriculum, instruction, assessment and staff development particularly as they related to school improvement goals; regularly used data to make decisions, monitor progress and modify direction; supported educators through staff development, shared decision making and other means; and listened to and involved their communities. Designed to serve as a "lighthouse" for boards in their effort to improve student learning, several states are applying the research - including Idaho, lowa, Wisconsin and now Oregon. (Alabama, Connecticut, and Washington are now participating as well.)

Alexis, Brad and I met with Nick Caruso (CABE), Warren Logee (SDE) and Lol Fearon (SDE), trainers for the program.  The goals of the program - improved board focus and functioning, and improved student achievement - dovetail well with the current effort in the district.  After hearing about the program and the training available to the Board at a minimal cost ($2,000 per year for materials fees; the training itself is free), we are recommending that the Board proceed with the year-long training sequence.  The first session is scheduled for Thursday, January 28 [instead of the regularly scheduled January 27 meeting].  Subsequent training sessions would largely be held on the second meeting of the month; see attached schedule.

We are continuing to plan for the board retreat on Saturday, January 23.  The morning will start at the new high school site with a tour of the building, beginning at 8:00 a.m.  Further information to follow.

We have started the budget development process for the FY11 budget, with principals and other cost center supervisors submitting initial requests.  The basic timeline for the budget development process will be distributed to you at the meeting with meetings of the Fiscal Committee for budget review to be scheduled. 

Given the condition of the national economy, the additional costs related to opening the new high school, and cognizant of the difficulties experienced by all Killingly taxpayers, every effort will be made to keep budget recommendations to the bare minimum necessary to maintain existing programs while keeping the district moving forward to meet Board goals and improve opportunities for students.  One factor that will help us meet this goal is the contractual agreement with the KEA that freezes teacher salaries at current levels.

A brief project construction update will be given.  Focus shifts, to a certain extent, to FF&E and technology purchases, and planning for the move.  Bids were opened on December 22nd, with Fletcher Thompson taking the past two weeks to analyze the bids (the regular high school and vo-ag are treated separately in the analysis, since funds cannot be intermingled).  The good news is that the high school FF&E bids are below budget; the bad news is that the technology is over.  Additionally, there are a number of items not included in the bid since they can be purchased off of state bid lists or from sole-source providers; for example: computers/printers, TV studio equipment, and maintenance equipment.  Costs for those items are now being developed, and will be combined with the bid results to create a complete list of items needed for the school.  The PBC has scheduled a special meeting for January 20 to consider the recommendation to award contracts for items with long lead times or are necessary for immediate installation to allow the building to be granted a certificate of occupancy.

Enclosed is an electronic version of the latest NESDEC enrollment projections.  The projections show a small but steady decrease in district enrollment since 2001, continuing (but more slowly) into the future.  Much of the historical drop has been at the high school level.  Enrollments for preK-8 have been more consistent and are projected to be fairly stable (but slowly declining) overall for the near future.  Efforts to attract out-of-district tuition students continue, and we expect to see greater enrollments with the opening of the new high school and the implementation of the 1-to-1 laptop program.  For example, we have the largest number of ninth graders from Brooklyn than at any time in four years, and initial indications that next year's cohort will be larger.

Attached are materials relating to the two principal searches that are beginning. Included in that material is the advertisement, timeline, invitation for interest in being on the committees, and the make-up of committees.  An invitation for community members to express their interest to serve on the committees was also placed on the website. Closing date for receipt of applications is January 15.

At the special board meeting on Wednesday, January 6th, the Connecticut Accountability for Learning Initiative (CALI) was mentioned and several BOE members were not familiar with the program.  Brad will provide some background information about CALI and explain the extent of Killingly's involvement so far and our anticipated plans for accessing future CALI workshops.

MOTION:  to approve the consent agenda:

a.  regular meeting minutes of December 9, 2009 and special meetings of December 3, 2009 and December 9, 2009
b.  payment of bills for the 2008-2009 year in December in the amount of $2,984.00 and for the 2009-2010 year in December in the amount of $895,922.08
c.  Employee of the Month for January 2010

Alexis Rich, as Chairperson, will appoint committees in accordance with her authority under Policy #9121(a).

As a follow up to the Governor's Dropout Prevention Summit, Killingly has received a planning grant to begin work on a comprehensive action plan to address dropout issues.  The Board has previously received information on the summit and the relevant research/best practices.  For a summary of activities to date, see the attached materials from Jan Huber.

Administration is recommending that the board establish a broad-based task force to begin the planning process toward the long term goal of a significant reduction in our dropout rate.



MOTION:  to establish a task force and authorize the superintendent to appoint members to the task force.