REGION 9 BOARD OF EDUCATION
Special Meeting
Joel Barlow High School
Thursday, January 31, 2019 – 7:30 p.m.
Minutes
ATTENDANCE
Region 9 Board of Education: D’Agostino, Coppinger, Hocker, Johnston, Denny, Graziano
Absent: Hancock, Williams
Administration: McMorran, Pierson Ugol, Reiss, Pin, Desmarais, McTague, DeAngelo, Roszko
Others: Videographers and 3 members of the public
CALL TO ORDER
Mr. D’Agostino called the meeting to order at 7:33 p.m.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Motion: move to approve minutes of the December 18, 2018 Region 9 Board of Education Regular meeting (Hocker, Denny). Approved. Unanimous.
Mr. D’Agostino noted that the meeting was being broadcast live on Channel 78 for the first time.
STUDENT COMMENT
Max Monson reviewed noteworthy events and achievements from the previous several weeks and responded to questions. Mr. Monson is the newly designated Student Representative to the Board.
PUBLIC COMMENT
None.
BOARD MEMBER COMMENT
None.
DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION: DRG A & B SPECIAL EDUCATION BUDGET COMPARISONS
Dr. McMorran led a presentation showing Special Education cost comparisons among DRG A and B school districts in Connecticut, and answered Board member questions. The data indicated that Special Education spending for Region 9 was approximately average for the state.
DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION: REGION 9 SPECIAL EDUCATION BUDGET OVERVIEW
Ms. Roszko and Mr. DeAngelo led a presentation of likely Special Education costs for Region in the forthcoming budget for 2019-20, including a review of the staff resources expected to be needed, and answered questions from the Board. At this point, Special Education costs are expected to be approximately $500,000 less than in the current budget year.
DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION: PRELIMINARY BUDGET DISCUSSION
Mr. D’Agostino invited Board members to offer their guidance on the forthcoming 2019-20 budget.
– Mr. Johnston noted the need to understand the budget from an overall program perspective, and suggested that a 2-1/2 to 3 percent increase would be acceptable.
– Ms. Denny expressed her hope to maintain the current depth of curriculum
– Ms. Graziano noted that Redding will have a larger share of the budget due to school population shifts; offered that a 1 – 3 percent increase could be appropriate; agreed with taking an approach strategically linked to overall program needs.
– Mr. Coppinger requested that the budget be available on a spreadsheet that could be analyzed and manipulated; supported the budget “bucket” approach used in previous years.
– Mr. Hocker stated that he did not want to suggest a percentage increase, but that anything the Board needed to understand what the Administration put forward and why so that it could be explained to the voters.
– Mr. D’Agostino would like to see a budget proposal that was close to flat from this year, and wanted to understand how the proposed budget would relate to the view of Barlow’s needs over the following few years.
DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION: A09CC CABLE CONTENT GRANTS
Mr. D’Agostino noted that $13,028.58 has been provided by the Area 9 Cable Council (A09CC) for live broadcasting.
Motion: move to accept the A09CC funding of $13,028.58 (Denny, Graziano). Approved. Unanimous.
DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION: RFP FOR CAMPUS IMPROVEMENTS
Mr. Coppinger presented the timeline and engineer’s estimate for moving forward with bids and a May bonding referendum for the planned package of campus improvements. Mr. D’Agostino raised the possibility of substituting post-tensioned concrete for asphalt for the tennis court renovations, but no action was taken to make this change. It was noted that changes in scope details could be made if desired based on the results of the bid.
Motion: move to authorize the Director of Finance and Operations to issue a Request For Bids in accordance with the scope of work presented (Coppinger, Denny). Approved. Unanimous.
Motion: move to approve referral of the Campus Improvements Project to the Redding Conservation Commission for its review (Coppinger, Denny). Approved. Unanimous.
DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION: POLICIES TO BE PRESENTED FOR 1st READING:
Ms. Denny presented the following proposed Policies for a First Reading. Board members are to review and contact Policy Committee members with any comments prior to the February meeting.
1110.4 Automated Calls, Text Messages, Auto System
1321.2 Public Videotaping of Educational Activities
2141 Recruitment, Appointment of Superintendent
3280 Gifts, Grants & Bequests
3516.33 Do Not Resuscitate Order
3520.13 Student Privacy, Cloud Based Issues
4111-4211 Recruitment and Selection
4112.2 Certification
4112.51-4212.51 Employment, Reference Checks
4118.114 Pregnant Women in the Workplace
Motion: move to accept the above policies for a 1st Reading (Hocker, Coppinger). Approved. Unanimous.
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS
Dr. Pin reviewed her written report on activities and events related to Social/Emotional Learning.
Dr. Pierson-Ugol reviewed her written report on the use and evolution of Scientific Research Based Intervention (SRBI). The group implementing SRBI is now known uniformly in ER9 as the Student Intervention Team.
Mr. Reiss reviewed the Budget Object Summary, the Health Insurance cost report, and the Budget Transfers Report. He requested approval for a transfer of $50,000 within Special Education from 1200-563 Tuition-Private to 1200-330 Other Professional Services.
Motion: move to approve budget transfer as described by Mr. Reiss (Coppinger, Graziano). Approved. Unanimous.
BOARD OF EDUCATION COMMITTEE REPORTS
Mr. Johnston and Mr. Reiss reported on activities of the Budget Committee, including changes in budgeting practices and presentation that will be seen in the forthcoming budget proposal.
Ms. Denny noted that additional policies for review and approval will be forthcoming.
Mr. Hocker reported on the previous night’s Pension Committee meeting, noting that the Defined Benefit Pension Plan Fund was meeting its performance benchmarks, and that the Defined Contribution Plan would be converted to a new provider with all required conditions in place by June 30.
PUBLIC COMMENT
None.
BOARD MEMBER COMMENT
None.
RECESS TO EXECUTIVE SESSION TO DISCUSS SUPERINTENDENT’S EVALUATION
Motion: move to enter Executive Session to discuss Superintendent’s Evaluation, with Dr. McMorran invited to participate (Coppinger, Graziano). Approved. Unanimous.
The Board entered Executive Session at 11:00 p.m.
RETURN TO PUBLIC SESSION FOR POSSIBLE ACTION ON EXECUTIVE SESSION ITEM
The Board returned to Public Session at 12:00 a.m. No further action was taken.
ADJOURNMENT
Motion: move to adjourn the regular meeting of the Region 9 Board of Education (Coppinger, Johnston). Approved. Unanimous.
The meeting was adjourned at 12:01 a.m.
Recorded and Submitted by
Chris Hocker,