REGION 9 BOARD OF EDUCATION MEETING
Joel Barlow High School Media Center
Wednesday, January 31, 2018
7:30 p.m.
Attendance:
Region 9 Board of Education Members: D’Agostino, Coppinger, Hocker, Denny, Graziano, Hancock, Williams
Administration: McMorran, Pin, Roszko, Reiss
Others: 8 members of staff and public and videographer
CALL TO ORDER
Mr. D’Agostino called the meeting to order at 7:31 in the Joel Barlow High School Media Center.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Motion: move to approve the minutes from the December 14, 2017 Region 9 Regular Board Meeting and the January 23, 2018 Easton, Redding and Region 9 Joint Boards of Education Meeting. Hocker, Coppinger. Because the January 23 Joint Boards minutes had not been distributed in final form due to late revisions, approval of these minutes was withdrawn. The minutes of the December 14, 2017 meeting were approved. Unanimous.
STUDENT COMMENT
Maha Ulhaq spoke about scholarship recipients, math team accomplishments and upcoming Winter Show at JBHS. She spoke about student and teacher interest in scheduling exams before the holiday break instead of mid-January. The Spring Sports Meeting date has been changed from February 26, 2018 to February 28, 2018.
PUBLIC COMMENT
None
BOARD MEMBER COMMENT
None
Motion: move to change an item from Discussion and Possible Actions item D. Special Services: Budgeted/Actual Expenditures, to item A, and renumber the next three items accordingly. Coppinger, Denny. Approved. Unanimous.
DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION: SPECIAL SERVICES: BUDGETED/ACTUAL EXPENDITURES
Ms. Roszko spoke about the need for an evaluation of responsibility for school and parent expectations for special education students. Ms. Roszko noted that there is a larger percentage of students enrolling in the high school that have IEP’s. Mr. D’Agostino noted the increase in the special education percent of the budget since 2013. Ms. Roszko spoke about potential Excess Cost Grant funds to help with budget. Ms. Roszko stated that a possible reason for the increase is due to transfers from private schools to public school at the high school level.
DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION: APPOINTMENT OF COMMITTEE MEMBERS
Mr. D’Agostino thanked members of the Board for sending committee preferences and announced the members who would be serving on the following committees:
Audit Committee: Mrs. Graziano, Mr. Johnston
Budget Committee: Mr. Johnston (Chair), Mr. Coppinger, Mrs. Graziano
Curriculum Committee: Mr. Hancock, Mr. Hocker, Mrs. Graziano, Mrs. Williams
Facilities & Fields committee: Mr. Coppinger, Mrs. Denny, Mr. Hocker, Mr. Johnston
Negotiations Committee: Mr. Coppinger, Mr. D’Agostino, Mr. Hocker
Pension Committee: Mr. Hancock, Mr. Hocker
Policy Committee: Mrs. Denny, Mrs. Williams
Superintendent Evaluation Committee: Mr. Coppinger, Mrs. Graziano
Technology Committee: Mrs. Denny, Mr. Johnston
Transportation Committee: Mr. Coppinger, Mrs. Denny
ER9 Long Range Planning: Mr. Coppinger, Mrs. Graziano
ER9 Wellness Committee: Mr. Hancock
ER9 Food Service Committee: Mr. Johnston
ER9 Transportation Committee: Mr. Coppinger, Mrs. Denny
ER9 Calendar Committee: Mrs. Williams
ER9 Health Insurance Committee: Mrs. Graziano
DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION: ACCEPTANCE OF GRANTS
Dr. Pin presented three grants to Joel Barlow High School from the Easton Learning Foundation and the Weller Foundation as follows:
1. Easton Learning Foundation: $5,836 for Chromebooks for two science classes to support NGSF
2. Easton Learning Foundation: $8,000 towards CNC router to support Robotics and Engineering
3. Weller Foundation: $1,000 towards CNC router to support Robotics
Motion: move to accept grants as presented by Dr. Pin from the Easton Learning Foundation and the Weller Foundation. Hocker, Denny. Approved. Unanimous
DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION: ACTION PLAN RELATED TO SUBSTANCE ABUSE, VAPING AND RESTROOMS
Dr. Pin spoke about the Region 9 substance abuse policy and reasons for its success. Dr. Pin gave a Power Point presentation showing data supporting decline of substance abuse at JBHS. Dr. Pin also discussed a plan of action to address future incidents of substance abuse.
DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION: 2018-19 BUDGET DRIVERS
Dr. Pin presented a Power Point describing how a budget request is constructed and the budget development and resource request process. She spoke about upcoming budget workshops for March 2018.
Mr. D’Agostino invited Board members to offer guidance on the appropriate budget levels for 2018-19. Generally, Board members preferred to wait for the administration’s budget presentation.
Mr. Hocker noted that the approved budget increases in previous years had ranged between about 0.6 and 2.8 percent, and suggested that this was an appropriate range. Mr. Coppinger asked that the budget presentation not include specific areas that could be cut further from the Superintendent’s budget request. Mr. D’Agostino pointed out that due to enrollment shifts between the member towns, Redding’s share of costs would increase even if the overall budget increase were zero, and noted the dilemma of having increasing Special Education costs combined with declining enrollment.
DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION: RFP FOR SECURITY CAMERAS
Mr. D’Agostino spoke about the RFP committee opening a bid package to obtain pricing for security cameras at Joel Barlow High School.
Motion: move to authorize RFP for Joel Barlow High School security improvements as presented. Coppinger, Hancock. Approved. Unanimous.
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS
Mr. Reiss spoke about the new carpeting that was installed successfully in chorus/band rooms over holiday break. He stated that the sidewalk project needed additional funds for permit fees. Mr. Reiss proposed adding $244.49 from budget to cover permit fees.
Motion: move to authorize expenditure of $244.49 by the Director of Finance to cover permit fees for the sidewalk project not covered in original proposal. Coppinger, Hancock. Approved. Unanimous.
Mr. Reiss spoke about the Transfers Report, the Budget Summary, and the Health Reserve Account.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Mr. Coppinger (Transportation Committee) suggested scheduling a meeting in February 2018 to discuss a bus depot and increase in cost of transportation. Mr. Hocker (Pension Committee) reported on the pension fund for Central Office and non-certified staff.
PUBLIC COMMENT
None
BOARD MEMBER COMMENT
None
ADJOURNMENT
Motion: move that the meeting be adjourned. Coppinger, Denny. Approved. Unanimous.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:28 p.m.
Submitted by Chris Hocker, Region 9 Board of Education Secretary
Recorded by Deborah DeLorenzo