What The NCLB Waiver Means for Naugatuck

The announcement on Tuesday that Connecticut of the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act has some bearing locally, as Naugatuck is one of several districts in Connecticut that is .

Arne Duncan, the secretary of education under President Barack Obama, , and during a press conference he credited Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s recent education reform legislation as making Connecticut “one of the leading states in this round” to be granted waivers.

Malloy’s reform has called for a number of changes to education in the state — including, to name a few, changes to teacher tenure and the .

But part of the reform included the distribution of toward the 30 lowest underperforming districts, schools in Hartford, Stamford, Manchester, Ansonia, Derby and Naugatuck.

Under that proposal, Naugatuck was being allocated nearly $640,000, which would go toward specific programs geared on improving the school district’s underperforming status.

So, with the announcement that the federal government will waive the NCLB legislation — paving the way for the governor’s reforms — means Naugatuck will be able to access the extra $640,000 in state funding available to it under Malloy’s reforms.

“It just moves the process right along,” said Naugatuck schools Superintendent John Tindall-Gibson. “The criteria for making an application for that funding was contingent upon the Connecticut waiver.”

Knowing that the waiver has now been granted, Tindall-Gibson said the Naugatuck School District should be hearing soon from the Connecticut Department of Education the process for how to apply for that extra funding.

Naugatuck’s entire 2012-13 budget is partially contingent upon that funding. , the joint Board of Mayor and Burgesses and Board of Finance shaved nearly $1 million from the school district budget, mostly due to the fact that the joint boards were taking into account that the school district would likely be granted that extra funding.

But, as Tindall-Gibson noted, Naugatuck still will have to apply for it.

“We are working on initiatives that we believe is what the commissioner (Stefan Pryoer) would be looking for,” the superintendent said.

Tindall-Gibson said his office received a letter from Pryor on Friday stating the borough should begin its application process, as the state Department of Education was already anticipating the federal government waiver.

Among the ideas on the table, Tindall-Gibson said Naugatuck is considering some programming that would increase early childhood education or extending school hours for some underperforming students. The latter of which, the superintendent explained, could mean bringing some younger students in a half-hour early to school so they can participate in reader enrichment.