Elizabeth Bobrick, Sally Boske, Fred Chappelle, Marie Derosier, Lloyd Duggan, Edward McMillan, Geen Thazhampallath, and Barbara Weiss.

Superintendent of Schools Carol Parmelee-Blancato, Associate Superintendent Richard Cormier, Assistant Superintendent John Hennelly, Director of Food Services and Transportation William Pillarella, Director of Facilities Ken Jackson, Recording Secretary Virginia Pandolfo, Student Representative Roisin Wisneski, two representatives from the Middletown Federation of Teachers, one representative from the Middletown Federation of Paraprofessionals, Hartford Courant Reporter Ken Byron and three visitors. 

Mr. Chappelle called the meeting to order at 7:20 p.m. and the pledge of allegiance was recited.

Mr. Chappelle asked for approval of the minutes from the Tuesday, April 10, 2001, meeting.

Mr. Thazhampallath asked that the superintendent’s financial statement report be modified to read that he expressed concern about the way the public hearing of April 12^th was handled. He also requested three sources of information be attached to all financial monthly statements—1) overtime costs by program, person and project; 2) number and cost of all consultants in each program and, 3) listing of all transfers between accounts.

MOTION Ms. Boske made a motion, seconded by Ms. Bobrick, and the Board VOTED unanimously to approve the minutes of the April 10, 2001 regular meeting as amended.

Anita Malfour, 156 Plaza Drive, spoke in support of the establishment of a wrestling program at Wilson Middle School.

1) Ms. Parmelee-Blancato requested that the June Board meeting be changed from June 5 to June 12, 2001. A reception, beginning at 6:30 p.m. will be held to honor World War II veterans. The Board meeting will begin at 7:00 p.m.

2) Ms. Parmelee-Blancato requested that one Board member serve on the district’s goal revision committee, chaired by Assistant Superintendent John Hennelly. Mr. Thazhampallath volunteered to serve on this committee, which will be meeting in the near future.

3) A workshop will be held this Thursday evening, 7:00 p.m., in Conference Room A, to discuss Macdonough School and the unique and magnet school concepts.

4) The Board received a letter from former elementary school principal James Downey thanking everyone for their gift of flowers in remembrance of his wife, Margaret, who recently passed away.

5) Ms. Weiss stated she had received a letter from George Souto, a proponent for the establishment of a wrestling program at the middle school. Ms. Parmelee-Blancato said that the Director of Athletics, Hank Koritkoski, has been asked to research this issue to determine the number of students interested and approximate costs associated with this program. He will report his findings to the Board at its June meeting. In reply to a question from Mr. Thazhampallath, Ms. Parmelee-Blancato stated that a stipend position must be considered for the program.

Mr. Chappelle stated that, once again, the recently held Honors Reception was terrific.

Anyone interested in purchasing symphony tickets can contact Ms. Parmelee-Blancato.

MOTION Ms. Derosier made a motion, seconded by Ms. Bobrick, and the Board VOTED unanimously to approve the following Personnel Action items:

Julie Chevan, an English Teacher employed since August 1997, has submitted her resignation effective June 30, 2001, to take a position in another school district.

Susan Gonzalez, a Mathematics Teacher, employed since August 1998, has submitted her resignation effective June 21, 2001, to take a position in the magnet school.

Jill Daley, a Reading Teacher employed since January 1994, until January 15, 2002, effective date October 6, 2001.

Meghan Slesinski, an Elementary Teacher employed since August 1998, until January 2, 2002, effective September 20, 2001.

Ms. Weiss stated that the Policy Committee met on April 26, 2001, to review a number of policies and will bring them forward for first review and discussion under H-2 of this agenda.

1) Financial Statement

Ms. Parmelee-Blancato said the administration is closely monitoring the projected deficit in the tuition account, paraprofessional salaries, transportation for special education, and the cost of fuel oil and diesel fuel. At this time, the administration anticipates a balanced budget. She will provide the Board with a status report of finances and is confident that the fiscal year will end with a balanced budget.

2) Building Projects

Mr. Jackson said this project is near completion. The playscape that opened last week has been a successful addition. The building committee has done a full walk through of the building and identified areas that must be completed by the general contractor to bring closure to this project.

Mr. Jackson was pleased to report that the May 1^st referendum was overwhelmingly approved and that the building committee, AM Design Architects, Inc., and the administration will now move forward with the design development, approval, bidding and construction phases.

Mr. Jackson was pleased to report that the May 1^st referendum was approved by voters. The building committee and Friar Associates anticipate construction will begin this fall.

Mr. Duggan asked who was responsible for letting voters know of the city-wide referendum. Ms. Parmelee-Blancato told him that although there was a tight window from the finalization of the schematic to the referendum date, articles appeared in both The Hartford Courant and the Middletown Press. Significant talks at the school level, flyer distribution, and special visits were made to PTOs to alert voters of referendum.

1) Textbook Adoption – Approval

MOTION Mr. Thazhampallath made a motion, seconded by Ms. Boske, and the Board VOTED unanimously to approve the following textbook adoptions.

Schultheis, Kaliski, Passalacqua; Keeping Financial Records, Southwestern, 2001

Lamb, Hair, McDaniel, Marketing, fifth edition, South-western, 2000

Ferett, Preston, Preston; Access 2000 Essentials, Prentice Hall, 2001

Fox, Metzelaar; Excel 2000 Essentials, Prentice Hall, 2000

Levitt, J.; Your Career—How to Make It Happen, South-Western, 2000

Hoggatt, Shank, Robinson, Computer Applications and Keyboarding, 2002

Holt, Rinehart and Winston, World Literature, 2001

Hildebrand, Dr. Verna; Parenting: Rewards and Responsibilities, Glencoe/McGraw Hill 2000.

Rongieras d’Usseau, Emmanual; Allez, Viens!, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 2000

Humbach Nancy and Ozete, Oscar; ¡Ven conmigo!, Holt Rinehart and Winston, 2000

Ecce Romani I, Second Edition, Longman, New York, 1995

Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Algebra 2, 2001

Holt Science & Technology, Physical Science, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 2001

Holt Science & Technology, Life Science, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 2001

Malfas, Brown, Presley; An Introduction to Desktop Publishing Using Adobe Pagemaker, Lawrenceville Press, 1998

Kuhn, Jerry; The CADKEY 99 Cookbook, Tech Ed Concepts, 2000

Mr. Duggan asked if the district offers students courses or programs in financial literacy. Ms. Parmelee-Blancato replied that although there is nothing specific, various courses offered by the business education department or family and consumer science have courses with content dealing with financial literacy. Mr. Duggan will meet with Dr. Hennelly to further discuss and explore this issue.

Mr. Michael Colarusso, President of AM Design Architects, and Adam Kornafel provided Board members with a summary of their findings from the site study conducted in accordance with the district’s requirements. A team of civil engineers, landscape architects, environmental and mechanical engineers studied three specific sites to determine feasibility of building a new high school and vocational agricultural center. The three sites chosen for study were Hunting Hill Avenue (location of present high school), Wilderman’s Way (location of Wilson Middle School) and acreage on Long Hill Road.

Site #3, Long Hill Road (40 acres, only ten usable) is a large area of wetlands with a stream running through its center. A very steep slope on the east side and a west slope toward the middle, creates a bowl. Because of the extensive area of wetlands, this area would be under the control of the Army Corp of Engineers, necessitating a lengthy and complicated process. After review, this area was not considered a viable location site.

Ms. Weiss and Mr. Thazhampallath both were concerned why this parcel of land was so highly ranked on the original available listings. Mr. Colarusso explained that this parcel of land met many of the criteria that were used to make selections, although the type of soil, type of vegetation, and extent of wetlands can only be determined by walking the property. Mr. Thazhampallath suggested that the list of available parcels may have to again be reviewed. Mr. Chappelle indicated that it wasn’t practical to look back and that a decision must be reached by the 18^th to ensure staying within the timeline for processing necessary paperwork.

After discussions with administrators, teachers, department heads, Vocational Agriculture administration and staff, AM Designs determined program needs, core facilities and ancillary support areas and developed a preliminary conceptual design plan. Using the State’s recommended size, AM Design applied a utilization factor to the total number of instructional locations needed and determined that the new high school’s recommended size would be 253,700 square feet for a student population of 1,400. The Vo-Ag center would expand from 13,000 square feet to 26,000 square feet.

The conceptual design plan would limit the number of floating teachers. Most departments would have larger classrooms-- the planned 88.5 full classroom modules were given a capacity of 22 students each, for a total of 1,947 students. However, each module can accommodate more than 22 students. Other design features include a full-size gymnasium with bleachers for 800 spectators, a pool with seating for 400 spectators, a cafeteria to handle student population in three waves, and an auditorium for one-half the school’s population.

Mr. Duggan asked about the present trend in schools for technology. Mr. Colarusso replied that trends are changing rapidly but that computer and media labs are being used, and plans include the expansion of present media center size from 7,200 to 19,600 square feet.

The conceptualized design plan was applied to Site #1, Hunting Hill Avenue, a combination of the present high school and city-owned property. Total acreage is 32, although only 29 is usable. The present high school and a privately owned apartment building would be razed. The new high school would be constructed in the Pat Kidney field area and would allow for one football field, one track field, one soccer field, one practice field, one baseball field, one softball field and four tennis courts. Parking spaces would number 450. Approximately 1.5 million is needed to correct drainage problem at the Pat Kidney field. The vo-ag building would not be expanded.

The cost of this plan would be $88,270,02; the state’s 61% portion being $52,882,975, and the city’s share is $35,387,927.

If consideration was given to expansion of the existing high school, Hunting Hill Avenue would have to be closed. The Vo-Ag building would not be expanded, an additional practice field would be added, but there would be a deficit in tennis and soccer fields.

The cost of this proposal would be $38 million, $22 million reimbursed from the State, and the cost to Middletown would be $16 million.

The last site for consideration is the existing Woodrow Wilson Middle School (WWMS) building on Wilderman’s Way. Total acreage is 117, with 40+/- usable. AM Design suggests taking flat portion of high ground and constructing facility, while WWMS is still in operation. After building is complete and WWMS is razed, ball fields would be developed. A section northeast of Keigwin School would provide two play fields. From a designer standpoint, this is the best site. One football, track, and an oversized soccer field would be provided. Because of topography, six instead of eight tennis courts would be provided. Ms. Bobrick asked if Keigwin School presently uses available fields. According to AM Design, it does not. Additionally, the Vocational Agriculture building can be built adjacent to the high school. From a designer’s standpoint, this is the best site.

Mr. McMillan asked about parking spaces for students. Plans call for parking for 290 students, 50 teachers, and 10 for visitors (total of 450 spaces). An additional 150 spaces can be developed for a cost of $619,000.

Mr. Thazhampallath asked if problems would be encountered with busing students at the sixth grade level, and the high school. Ms. Parmelee-Blancato said that sixth graders would be transported separately from high school students and that additional transportation costs would be incurred. There also would be some transportation issues with teachers who teach at both WWMS and Middletown High School. The number of buses using Newfield Street would be about the same as it is now for transporting WWMS students.

Costs included in the estimate include razing WWMS, football field lights ($60,000), raising fields, $300,000 for special foundation consideration ($300,000), site costs (additional $850,000), air conditioning for administrators, auditorium and nurses wings, and 450 parking spaces

Another benefit of this parcel is the location of the Nike site, a very large undeveloped area to the west. In the long term, this may provide some potential for future expansion.

The estimated cost for this building plan is $77,403,000 with 61% reimbursable from State ($46,253,000), and the cost to Middletown $31,149,622.

Because of the present condition of WWMS, A&M Design took a walk through to determine renovation costs if in fact it is not razed. Serious damage exists with the exterior façade and faces of blocks are coming off. They estimate that it would cost $31 million to renovate and at a 61% reimbursable rate, the city’s portion would be 12 million.

Ms. Bobrick asked about the condition of the present high school. Mr. Colarusso replied that it is actually in good shape, core facilities have been maintained and no outstanding code violations exist. He estimates that, if needed, it would not take a great deal of money to bring up to code requirements,

After a brief discussion of the two sites advantages and disadvantages, Mr. Chappelle told Board members that they must decide and vote for the site which makes the most sense. A decision must be to assure that the Common Council includes our request on their June agenda, after which appropriate forms must be filed with the State by June 30^th.

Ms. Weiss expressed her view that she would like to postpone voting until Thursday evening’s meeting, May 10^th, to give her ample time to reread the feasibility study and speak to Republican members of the Council.

MOTION Ms. Weiss made a motion, seconded by Mr. McMillan, to defer decision until Thursday, May 10^th, and the Board VOTED with three in favor –Mr. McMillan, Mr. Thazhampallath, and Ms. Weiss, and four opposed Ms. Bobrick, Ms. Boske, Mr. Chappelle, and Mr. Duggan, and the motion was defeated.

At this time, Mr. Chappelle called for a vote on this agenda item.

MOTION Mr. Duggan made a motion, seconded by Ms. Boske, and the Board VOTED unanimously to approve the new Middletown High Vocational Agriculture Center Educational specifications and request the Common Council approve the submission of the ED 049, establish a building committee, authorize the preparation of schematic drawings and outline specifications at the Woodrow Wilson Middle School (Wilderman’s Way) site at a cost of $77,403,000.

MOTION Ms. Boske made a motion, seconded by Mr. Duggan, to include 150 additional parking spaces (from 450 to 600) at an additional cost of $601,000, and the Board VOTED with four in favor – Ms. Bobrick, Ms. Boske, Mr. Duggan, and Ms. Weiss, and one opposed—Mr. McMillan, and the motion was approved.

MOTION Mr. Duggan made a motion, seconded by Ms. Bobrick, and the Board VOTED unanimously to include the additional cost of $3,503,000 for full air conditioning.

Mr. Chappelle read a note from Board member Marie Derosier (who had left before voting) stating that she wanted to go on record in support of the Wilderman’s Way location for the location for the new high school.

This proposed, state-mandated policy reflects a change in the mandatory school attendance age, from 5 through 16, to 5 through 18, unless the student has graduated from high school or has received consent from parent or person with control over him. This new proposal will replace existing policy.

MOTION Ms. Bobrick made a motion, seconded by Mr. Thazhampallath, and the Board VOTED unanimously to approve this new policy

This proposed new policy, again state mandated, replace present policy and reflects a change in the mandatory school attendance age from 5 through 16, to 5 through 18, unless the student has graduated from high school or has received consent from parent or person with control over him.

MOTION Mr. Thazhampallath made a motion, seconded by Ms. Weiss, and the Board VOTED unanimously to approve this policy.

Revisions in present policy have been made to reflect state-mandated changes regarding the mandatory school attendance age from 5 through 16, to 5 through 18, unless the student has graduated from high school or has received consent from parent or person with control over him.

MOTION Ms. Bobrick made a motion, seconded by Mr. McMillan, and the Board VOTED unanimously to approve this policy.

To reflect state-mandated changes, this policy has been revised to show the mandatory school attendance age from 5 through 16, to 5 through 18, unless the student has graduated from high school or has received consent from parent or person with control over him.

MOTION Ms. Bobrick made a motion, seconded by Mr. Thazhampallath, and the Board VOTED unanimously to approve this policy.

Currently, as state mandated, a student’s expulsion is recorded on cumulative educational record (except transcript). The revision of policy will allow the expulsion to be expunged from cumulative record if the student graduates from high school, unless the expulsion was for possession of a deadly weapon. The definition of "deadly weapon" is also included in the policy.

MOTION Ms. Weiss made a motion, seconded by Ms. Boske, and the Board VOTED unanimously to approve this policy.

 f) Policy #6161.3 Instruction – Comparability of Services

Because our district receives federal Title I funds, we must have a policy indicating that all district schools provide substantially comparable services. This newly written policy complies with that requirement.

MOTION Ms. Bobrick made a motion, seconded by Mr. McMillan and the Board VOTED unanimously to approve this policy.

This new policy was written to ensure the appropriate use of federal Title I funds toward improving the educational opportunities of educationally disadvantaged or deprived students.

MOTION Sally Boske made a motion, seconded by Elizabeth Bobrick, and the Board VOTED unanimously to approve this policy.

Although changes made to this policy are not state-mandated, revisions now delineate responsibilities for monitoring student immunization records. Building principals must ensure that each student has fulfilled health assessment requirements and the school nurse must check and document immunizations and assessments for all students.

Ms. Bobrick questioned whether the district has enough nurses to fulfill these responsibilities. Ms. Parmelee-Blancato replied that nurses are asked to come in a few days before the start of school to check student records. Some difficulties were experiences with this past June’s new immunization requirement. However, we continue to make every effort to alert parents and will send home an official letter in June. Appropriate notification documentation will be kept.

MOTION Ms. Bobrick made a motion, seconded by Ms. Boske, and the Board VOTED unanimously to approve this policy.

It was a recommendation of CABE that our policy, although not required, be revised to delineate function of the surrogate parent program. Richard Cormier explained that the State assigns a surrogate parent to special education children without a parent. The surrogate parent has all the rights and responsibilities to oversee the child’s educational program and is the guardian of the child’s rights.

MOTION Ms. Boske made a motion, seconded by Mr. Thazhampallath, and the Board VOTED unanimously to approve this policy.

To ensure the safety and well being of students, bus transportation is limited to eligible students of Middletown public schools and eligible students of private schools. All other persons cannot enter or ride school buses without the written permission of the superintendent.

Ms. Parmelee-Blancato replied to Ms. Bobrick’s question that parents would be permitted on buses to chaperone field trips. She indicated that if unauthorized adults enter buses, DATTCO will call the police to enforce this policy.

MOTION Mr. Thazhampallath made a motion to add the word "oral"/written permission of superintendent, Ms. Bobrick seconded, and the Board VOTED unanimously to approve this policy as amended.

Graduation requirements necessitate that beginning with the Class of 2001, students must take and pass algebra, and effective with the Class of 2002, must take and pass algebra and geometry. The administration believes that some latitude in meeting these requirements must be given to juniors and seniors new to the high school.

Mr. Duggan expressed his concern that standards are being lowered. Ms. Parmelee-Blancato explained that we are the only district that requires geometry, and although Algebra I is not a difficult hurdle, geometry is and believes that the district must be flexible. Ms. Weiss requested that for the next few years, the Board be informed of new students not meeting this requirement.

MOTION Ms. Bobrick made a motion, seconded by Ms. Boske, and the Board VOTED with five in favor—Ms. Bobrick, Ms. Boske, Mr. McMillan, Mr. Thazhampallath, and Ms. Weiss and one opposed – Mr. Duggan, to approve this policy.

Two professional improvement grants were approved for funding for a total of $2,386. The remaining $2,614 will be used to support teachers’ attendance at conferences, workshops and seminars.

MOTION Ms. Bobrick made a motion, seconded by Mr. Thazhampallath, and the Board VOTED unanimously to approve proposals for funding the Technology and Curriculum Integration Workshop - $1,386, the World Language Museum - $1,000, and using the remaining $2,614 to support teachers’ attendance at conferences, seminars and workshops for the 2001-02 school year.

Agenda Items H4 through H6 were considered together.

4. Educational Technology Consolidated Grant
5. IDEA Sliver Grant
6. Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration Grant – Macdonough School

MOTION Mr. Thazhampallath made a motion, seconded by Mr. Duggan, and the Board VOTED unanimously to authorize the administration to apply for funds under the Educational Technology Consolidated Grant; the IDEA Sliver Grant program, and to apply for a three-year grant for Macdonough School under the Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration Grant program.

This is the first reading of this motion to adopt textbooks recommended for the 2001-02 school year.

MOTION Ms. Boske made a motion, seconded by Ms. Bobrick and the Board VOTED unanimously to approve the first reading of the following textbook adoptions:

Modern Biology, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 2002

Kaskel, A.; Hummer, P.; and Daniel, L.; Biology, An Everyday Experience, Glencoe McGraw-Hill, 1999.

MOTION Ms. Bobrick made a motion, seconded by Ms. Boske, and the Board VOTED to unanimously GO INTO Executive Session for the purpose of discussing a personnel matter. Time: 10:35 p.m.

All Board members, the Superintendent of Schools and the Associate Superintendent of Schools remained for executive session.

MOTION Ms. Weiss made a motion, seconded by Ms. Bobrick, and the Board VOTED to return to public session.

With no further discussion, Mr. Chappelle adjourned the meeting.

Time: 11:05 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Barbara M. Weiss

Secretary/vcp

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