Back to School Post-Irene with RSD 17 Board of Education

The Haddam Killingworth Board of Education convened on the delayed first day of school to discuss its most important concern: opening the schools after a five-day delay due to Tropical Storm Irene.

For students, September 1^st was to have been the first day of school in the Haddam-Killingworth Regional School District (RSD) 17. As things went, the fallout from Irene caused a total loss of two student school days and three faculty/staff days that will need to be made up.

The meeting included several agenda items, including a visit from a parent, Lauren McCue, who addressed the board regarding the bus routes in the Forest Ridge area for the 2011-2012 school year.

There was also a report on a Capital Projects update from Director of Facilities, Mike DiStefano. He reported that a relatively simple project, rebuilding 26 catch basins all over the HKHS grounds, ran into some major issues.

“The number that most jumps out from $10K to $57K is due to extensive work that had to be done; several catch basins with serious damage had to be totally rebuilt. We pretty much decided that, thirty years ago, a bad run of block had been used to build these catch basins. Some of them completely deteriorated and had to be rebuilt six feet down.”

Distefano showed pictures of the catch basins and the serious damage to the Board.

The issue of a new pool cover also came up, but Distefano cautioned, “I don’t want to commit to something that’s not ideal,” so no decision is being made in haste.

Since school had only been in session one day, there were few Board Committee reports given. 

For the most part, the meeting featured a thorough Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene debriefing report from Superintendent Howard Thiery who gave several “kudos to my administrative, secretarial, and maintenance teams” for their support.

Thiery also thanked the community for their patience. In the absence of internet and limited phone service, Thiery and Distefano drove around the community, spreading word of the latest developments and the delay in the opening of school.

The superintendent’s biggest concern between the last BOE meeting and this (and in the aftermath of Irene): “How do we assure that we open the schools on Tuesday, September 6^th?”  There was plenty of work done before, during and after the storm, which was documented in a four-page report.

The storm gave educators a real learning experience, resulting in recommendations designed to improve communications and enable the district – and the towns – to better handle future disasters. One interesting observation made by the superintendent.

“We have to make sure that all our schools have quality signage,” Thiery noted. When power and internet aren’t working, word of mouth and a good old fashioned sign by the roadside gets the word out effectively.

Good planning on the part of administration ensured that the payroll of 9/01 was prepared and processed– and numerous invoices processed for payment- in advance of power outages.

On account of the August 28^th storm, convocation and professional development in the days just prior to the opening of school were cancelled.

Superintendent Howard Thiery advised the board that all teaching vacancies had been filled prior to the commencement of the new school year and Amy Jacques-Purdy expressed a “Welcome Aboard” on behalf of the Board to the new hires.

The resignation of Haddam Elementary School Art Teacher, Bethany Kohary, was accepted and passed. On behalf of the board, Amy Jacques-Purdy wished Kohary the best of luck.

The next H-K BOE meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, September 20th, at 7:30 p.m. in Central Office.