Naugatuck School Board Roundup Including High School Renovation Project Update

Superintendent Sharon Locke (pictured) recognized two bus drivers for going above and beyond. Krizti Marin and Jessica Wyman organized a back to school drive on Aug. 2 in front of WalMart to collect school supplies for children in the district.

The drivers are employees of Student Transportation of America in Naugatuck, which is the bus company for the school district. They reported that they collected a large amount of school supplies from backpacks to pencils and everything in between. The ladies will work with Naugatuck Youth Services to distribute the donations to students who need them.

During the acceptance of the consent agenda, Chair David Heller asked that the record of last month’s meeting reflect that he voted in favor of the approval of the HR Director’s contract. His name was inadvertently omitted from the recording of the vote.

Mr. Heller also announced that Janice Mons will be retiring after 27 years. Ms. Mons serves as the Head Start & School Readiness Director and will retire as of Nov. 2.

Bernice Rizk requested that the board approve two line item transfers from the health account (where savings were realized due to the early retirement incentive at the end of the previous school year and retirees moving to the Sterling Health Insurance.) $50, 000 was transferred to the transportation account and $100,000 to technology.

When the board was asked to approve RFPs, bid awards, waivers and contracts, board member Glenn Connan suggested that a question be added regarding when was the last time that each one went out to bid and Ms. Rizk agreed that it could be added to the form.

Bob Butler updated the board about the borough budget process. The referendum is scheduled for Sept. 22 at one location at the train station if it is available. A public hearing will follow on Sept. 28 and the adoption date of the budget would be Oct.1.

Ms. Rizk reported that the state has notified the district that the current food service contract can continue for one more year but next year must go out to bid.

She also presented the board with a 924 page memo regarding the school district’s all hazards safety and security review that is required by the state. The confidential report contains an appendix for each school that has been reviewed with each building principal. The superintendent thanked Ms. Rizk for coordinating this massive document and Mr. Heller was required to sign the document’s first page.

In her report, the superintendent told the board that there will be professional development for teachers on Aug. 31, followed by a convocation on Sept.1 to be held at Naugatuck High School in a location to be determined. Students will lead tours from 8am-9am for school employees. PE teacher Tony Loomis will give the keynote address and student drummers will perform. Board of Education members are invited to attend.

Jan Saam, NHS principal, reported that there will be a photo finish to preparing the building for opening to students on Sept. 2. O & G continues to work on the cafeteria and east wing area and Ms. Saam is hopeful that the school year will be able to begin with full days for students.

Director of Information Technology Alan Merly provided the board with an extensive technology update in which he hit the highlights of the work that has been done over the summer. These include making sure that all alarm systems are working correctly and that every teacher’s desk has a 2.5 year old, reliable desktop pc of the same model and a functioning projector for their interactive whiteboard.

Twenty-eight whiteboards were installed where they were needed and all Chromebooks were checked to be sure they are working. Fifteen new Chrome carts were added, with ten at the high school and five to other schools. Powerschool was upgraded to the latest version and security upgrades were made at six schools, with large screen displays available for administrators to keep tabs on the their building. The tech advisory team continues to meet and on Aug. 25 85 district employees have volunteered to attend the Tech Summit at City Hill Middle School for a day of training by district teachers. Mr. Merly added that the goal is to rewire all schools to enable “corner to corner” wireless coverage.

John Lawlor gave the board a teacher vacancy and hiring report. The district had 30 vacancies due to ten resignations, four retirements, four transfers, one leave of absence and the death of Mrs. Rebecca Cruz. Mr. Lawlor reported that 24 of the positions have been filled with the remaining six being actively recruited by building principals. The district remains reduced by 19.5 positions and a $225,000 savings in salaries is anticipated.

The board approved unanimously the new teacher and administrator evaluation plans that have been approved by the state. The minimum number of formal observations for teachers has been reduced from four to three and the language that defines ineffectiveness has been cleaned up to allow for differentiation of the support that the teacher would receive. Board member Glenn Connan questioned the results of the last year’s teacher evaluations that rated 117 exemplary, 219 effective, one developing and none at the below standard level. Assistant Superintendent Christopher Montini explained that last year there were 10 resignations and that the results should not look like a traditional bell curve.

Mr. Montini reported that the alliance grant has been verbally approved. The slightly more than $1.6 grant will be used to continue existing strategies and two new attendance officers will be added to reduce chronic absenteeism.

Board member Ethel Grant will once again serve as the ACES representative with James Scully as the alternate and the board voted to pay the $250 membership fee. The Smarter Balance results update was that the results are expected to arrive soon and that they will serve as baseline data for the students in grades 3 through 8 and grade 11 who took the the test on language arts and math on computers. The state has recommended that 11th grade students take the SAT and the superintendent confirmed that the state will pay for the test should this move forward.

Student representative Steffanie Dube told the board that she had worked at the summer school at CHMS and was impressed with the students who attended. She also asked if incoming freshmen could receive their schedules before the first day of school to ease their transition, but Ms. Saam answered that this would not be feasible. She enumerated several programs that will be in place to make the first day easier for the incoming students.

The superintendent reported that the summer registration program was positively received by the parents of students new to the district, but numbers fluctuate continue to fluctuate. In a memo to the board, Mr. Montini requested the addition of a kindergarten class at Salem and a fourth grade at Western to alleviate large class sizes.

Debbie Sauers, a nurse at Naugatuck High School, will serve as the new chair of the Wellness Advisory Committee.