REGION 9 BOARD OF EDUCATION
Regular Meeting
Joel Barlow High School
Tuesday May 22, 2018 – 7:30 p.m.
Minutes
ATTENDANCE:
Region 9 Board of Education members: D’Agostino, Coppinger, Hocker, Graziano, Denny, Hancock, Williams
Administration: McMorran, Pin, Reiss, McTague, Pierson-Ugol, Panos, Czudak, Desmarais
Others: 20 members of public and videographer
CALL TO ORDER
Mr. D’Agostino called the meeting to order at 7:35 p.m.
APROVAL OF MINUTES
Motion: move to approve minutes from April 24, 2018 Regular Region 9 Board of Education meeting. Coppinger, Graziano. Approved. Unanimous.
Motion: move to approve minutes from May 7, 2018 Annual District Meeting. Coppinger, Hancock. Approved. Unanimous.
Motion: move to approve minutes from May 15, 2018 Special Region 9 Board of Education Meeting. Coppinger, Hancock. Approved. Unanimous.
STUDENT COMMENT
Maha Ulhaq spoke about the Sikorsky team taking first place in the chemistry scholarship completion and upcoming events at JBHS, such as the Palooza scheduled for May 24, 2018 from 5:30 – 8:00 p.m., awards night on May 31, 2018 starting at 7 p.m. in the JBHS auditorium, and the graduation ceremony at the O’Neill Center at WCSU on June 17, 2018. She shared positive news from parents of students who attended the Junior/Senior prom.
PUBLIC COMMENT
Megan Cormier, Stepney Road, Redding and Cara Krupnikoff-Salkin, Orchard Drive, Redding (students at JBHS) requested that the musical production at JBHS be scheduled in the fall instead of the spring. The reasons for this included conflicts that many students have with sports and academics.
Richard Giannicchi, Redding, spoke in support of moving the musical from spring to fall.
Phyllis Rhodes, Gallows Hill Road, Redding spoke about her concerns regarding misinformation about budget on social media. She suggested finding ways to make facts about progress of budget more available to public. Nancy Gregoire, Deer Hill Road, Redding spoke about the need for accurate information regarding the budget.
BOARD MEMBER COMMENT
Mr. Coppinger spoke about the process of budget review by the Board of Education and the importance of presenting both sides and how budget items are considered. He spoke about the public feedback that was received by several board members.
Ms. Graziano spoke about the variety of views on issues and how the board supports the final decisions as a whole. She suggested making a hard copy of board meetings available to public.
Mr. Hocker, Mr. Hancock, Ms. Denny and Ms. Williams spoke about importance of voting and encouraged people to vote on the next budget on June, 5, 2018.
Mr. D’Agostino thanked students for coming out to speak about timing of the school play and feels that it is an administrative decision. He also encouraged everyone to vote in the upcoming referendum.
BUILDING ADMINISTRATOR REPORTS
Ms. Pin proposed that the Sikorsky team would like to open the board meeting in June to show what accomplishments our budget goes to support. Ms. Pin spoke about cancellations for underclassmen at JBHS and that the senior exam schedule would remain the same. The last day of school for teachers will be June 25, 2018. She also said that Latin 2 and Latin 3 will be combined in the fall.
Mr. Czudak spoke about solar power for town buildings. He requested approval from the board in order to hold a spot in upcoming discussions to explore options for obtaining bids from vendors. There was no objection from the board to continuing participation in these discussions.
Motion: move to add agenda Item A. to consider a student trip to France and a revision to move Item D. to Item B. Coppinger, Hancock. Approved. Unanimous.
DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION: PROPOSAL FOR STUDENT TRIP TO FRANCE
Mr. Smith gave a brief Power Point presentation about a trip to France in February of 2019.
Motion: move to approve student trip to France as proposed. Hancock, Denny. Approved. Unanimous.
DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION: INSURANCE PLANS-HIGH DEDUCTIBLE HEALTH PLAN (HDHP)/HEALTH SAVING ACCOUNT (HSA) AND STATE 2.0 INSURANCE
The ER9 insurance consultant made a presentation comparing the current HDHP and the state’s “Partnership” plan that some other districts have joined. The board asked questions regarding how changing to the state plan would affect employees’ choices of doctors, medications, etc. as well as costs. Questions and answers were given regarding the HDHP.
DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION: POST HIGH SCHOOL PLANS CLASS OF 2018
Ms. Panos spoke about graduating students’ post high school plans and presented data regarding college applications and acceptances. She indicated many students were applying and getting accepted earlier in the school year than in the past.
DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION: MIDDLE SCHOOL TO HIGH SCHOOL TRANSITION
Dr. McMorran suggested tabling the topic for a later meeting in the interest of time.
DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION: OPEN CHOICE
Dr. McMorran spoke about students from Bridgeport participating in the Open Choice program in Easton and at Barlow. He spoke about the costs, opportunities, and benefits of the program. Mr. D’Agostino asked about the cost of special education, if needed, by students in Open Choice. Dr. McMorran said those costs would be the responsibility of the town in which the students reside and not the district.
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS
None.
BOARD OF EDUCATION COMMITTEE REPORTS
Mr. Coppinger reported that the Transportation Committee will be giving updates on progress in the near future. For the Facilities and Fields Committee, he said capital projects are needed to repair the driveway, tennis courts, etc., due to safety issues. The board will plan to move forward to a referendum in May of 2019.
Motion: move that the Region 9 Board of Education direct Mr. Reiss to draft an RFP for engineering consulting services related to developing a capital project plan. Coppinger, Hocker. Approved. Unanimous.
PUBLIC COMMENT
Eva Ortiz, Cricklewood Road, Redding spoke about the board presenting a 3-5 year plan to show efforts to reduce future budget spending.
BOARD MEMBER COMMENT
Mr. Coppinger said that the Budget Committee is continuing with its efforts to plan ahead regarding the budget. He encouraged students to speak with administration to request changing the order of the plays at JBHS for the upcoming year.
ADJOURNMENT
Motion: move to adjourn the meeting. Coppinger, Denny. Approved. Unanimous.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:23 p.m.
Recorded by
Deborah DeLorenzo
Submitted by
Chris Hocker, Region 9 Board of Education Secretary