DCF Exonerates Former Principal Patricia Girard of Abuse Allegations

BOE Chairman Dr. Gene Nocera has released the DCF report clearing former Farm Hill Principal Patricia Girard of abuse or neglect of a child (or children) in connection with the "Scream Room" allegations of January 25, 2012.

According to a State of Connecticut Department of Children and Families Report dated 3/30/2012, an investigation found no substantiation of abuse.

Girard left her position as Principal on January 30th, and Interim Principal Mark Proffitt stepped in until a new principal can be hired. That search is underway, but complicated by the subsequent departure of Superintendent Michael Frechette and Assistant Superintendent Barbara Senges last month. At this evening's Board of Education meeting, Interim Superintendent Dr. David Larson specifically mentioned the importance of finding a new Superintendent before vacancies at the building level are fulfilled so that the new head administrator has input on two new Elementary principals (Farm Hill Elementary School and Woodrow Wilson Middle School) and an assistant principal at Middletown High School.

Interestingly, the BOE also voted this evening to modify Policy 4111 (Personnel - Certified). Specifically, the old policy regarding the hiring of Administrative Staff allowed the Superintendent to override the interview committee's candidate selection. The new policy calls for a slate of finalists to be recommended to the Board of Education for interviews, with the Board and the Superintendent interviewing candidates together.

The Board of Education has hired Cooperative Educational Service to assist in the search for a new Superintendent, and is hopeful that the search will be concluded by the end of June.

Reader Submitted: I would have simply liked to have heard, "I'm sorry". from the BOE

Below is a letter submitted to the Eye from reader Jane Majewski. Majewski spoke emotionally during the public session at the last Board of Education meeting Tuesday. Earlier in the year Majewski started a petition calling for the termination of three Special Education Administrators because of what she felt was the mismanagement of her special needs son's education. The petition is here. The photo is of the courtyard at Keigwin School where Majewski stated her son wandered into the pond area pictured after she was reassured that the doors to the courtyard we locked at all times.

Majewski's letter is below. The posting of her letter is a courtesy, and does not necessarily represent the views of all the Eye contributors. The burden of proof lies with the author, Jane Majewski.

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Words That I finally heard for the first time from BOE member Shelia Daniels . The sound of those words almost made me to breakdown in tears. It was echoed again moments later by Cheryl McClellan. Words that I have been waiting for since the beginning of becoming vocal about the issues we faced in this school district. Words that had I heard sooner, from anyone, I would not have called for the terminations of our BOE administrators.

The apology came after I presented the BOE with photos and a plea.

I have consistently voiced my concerns about the closing of the DEAL program- on two levels. One, that it was being closed and two that that transition of those kids into icm status was done without parental input.

Had I been asked, I would have offered my time, my expertise, my physical help and financial resources to help ensure a safe transition of our children into the district schools. For free, I would have told administrators that preschool size furniture for fifth graders would be ineffective. For free, I would have pointed out that a timeout room should not include a circuit breaker box. For free, I would have suggested field trips to transition the kids. I would have created a simple brochure describing the general needs of our kids for the district schools. For free, I would have donated and hung a coat rack at Keigwin.

When I recently asked Ms. Slade; "why weren't the parents included in the decision to close DEAL and/or the transition of them into the community?" her response was, " we wouldn't include parents in facility decisions; that is an administration role".

Since that is the case; then I feel the administrators need to accept the responsibility of the failed transition.

I would have simply liked to have heard, "I'm sorry".

I AM SORRY

Thats's all.

I am not asking for anything more than a safe environment for my son and his staff. Which brings me to why I write this story.

When I first saw the quad pond garden at Keigwin, I panicked. I know my child enough to know he would find away into that area. I was assured he would not because the doors are securely locked.

Imagine my surprise to receive a phone call and incident report that my son opened an unlocked door from the art room and entered this very area! He was reportedly running around this cement, unleveled cement area with statues and a filthy pond containing dead fish.

The staff hired to work with my son are trained and responsible to restrain him if needed. To be compelled to restrain a child acting out in this area is inconcieveable!

The quad has three walls of windows on multiple levels; open for the school population to view the pond. How inclusive is it to him to be viewed acting inappropriate by peers? How does it effect their perceptions of children with autism?

I contacted Ms Slade and Ms Senges. Ms. Senges quickly investigated. She reported that a janitor allegedly knew the lock was broken for some time but failed to report it to the administration.

Why would he? Keigwin never had a population of "ICM" kids. Shouldn't have he been briefed on what our kids need for safety?

My son is not allowed to go to art until the lock is fixed. Now he is being restricted from learning.

The administrators put a child into a building that continues to restrict his learning and jeopardizes his safety in a serious way. The safety of the staff are also jeopardized! Where is their union leadership? If their union and administration can't keep them safe- no wonder a para recently quit her job instead of mandate reporting.

Ann Perzan and Laurie Slade;
I have to ask you,

Would you want to be a para responsible to restrain a child in this garden?

Would you want your child running around and climbing in it?

Will it take a serious accident for either of you to accept responsibility for not preparing the community to transition DEAL kids into ICM status?

What will it take for one of you to turn to us, our staff, and our son-
And say,

"I'm sorry" ?

Board of Education Appoints Interim Superintendent

At tonight's regular Board of Education meeting, the BOE voted to appoint Dr. David H. Larson as Middletown's Interim Superintendent of Schools.

Dr. Larson was Middletown's Superintendent from 1992-2000, Southington's Asst. Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction from 1988 - 1992, and Ridgefield's Superintendent from 1987-1988. He started his teaching career in math at Trumbull High School in 1965.

After his retirement in 2000 from active school involvement, Dr. Larson was the Executive Director of the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents Association in West Hartford until 2008. When he retired from that position in 2008, Larson went on to work as a Senior Educational Consultant with Futures Education as well as an Educational Consultant with the University of Connecticut CommPACT Schools Project.

Dr. Larson has lived in Middletown for 19 years, and he starts work tomorrow morning. BOE Chairman Dr. Gene Nocera commented, "We could not have found a more qualified candidate. David Larson brings instant credibility to our district, and he will be incredibly helpful in the day to day operations as well as helping to guide us in finding a new superintendent."

Just moments before confirming Dr. Larson as the Interim Superintendent, the BOE voted itself (the full board of education) to be the search committee for a new Superintendent. Dr. Nocera confirmed that the board will start meeting with search organizations next week as the national search for a new superintendent begins.

Dr. Larson believes his immediate job is "to make sure our children continue to get a quality education. This district has great staff, several principals that I hired back in the day, and we're going to work together for the next six months or so as the search begins for a new superintendent."

Dr. Larson will also shepherd the process to find a new Asst. Superintendent as the current Asst. Superintendent, Barbara Senges, is retiring at the end of the month.

Two Board members were missing from tonight's meeting: Ted Raczka is on vacation, and Attorney William G. Grady has resigned his position on the board (as the EYE reported last week). Dr. Nocera expects that by the next meeting, the vacant position will have been filled by a joint Mayoral/Common Council nomination and confirmation process. The new board member will have to be a Democrat as well.

Assistant Superintendent To Retire March 30, 2012

Assistant Superintendent Barbara Senges has announced her intention to retire as of March 30, 2012, citing a need to care for ailing parents as her motivation for leaving.

See the Patch's full article here.

Until her departure, Senges will stand in as acting Superintendent in the wake of Dr. Michael Frechette's departure yesterday.

The next regular Board of Education meeting is this Tuesday, March 13, at 7pm.

Farm Hill Interim Principal Delivers On District Promise

On Thursday, January 12th, 2012, then Superintendent of Schools Michael Frechette told the parents gathered at the Farm Hill PTA meeting that he was "committed to turning this around...we need to be transparent with our outcomes and clear with parents, clear with students, clear with staff, and we need to talk about the issues we face. Communication here really needs work....Quite frankly, it has gone on too long." Frechette's comments were of course made in the context of the "scream room" controversy, and by Monday, January 30th, Farm Hill Principal Patricia Girard had stepped out on an indefinite leave of absence.

Girard's replacement, a former principal at both Spencer and Lawrence Elementary Schools, was called out of the classroom and back into the principal's office. Citing a need to better balance his work/life responsibilities, Mark Proffitt had previously stepped out of administrative duties with an eye toward retirement along side his wife, a veteran teacher of 35 years in the Torrington School District.

So when Dr. Frechette called and asked Proffitt to step in as interim principal, Proffitt was very upfront about his plans to retire this summer: "If I were in a different place in my life, I would love to stay here. I'm having a great time working with teachers, parents and children here at Farm Hill." Because he agreed to stay only though the end of the year, Proffitt hopes a new principal is found before the end of the year so there is time to begin the transition process while students are still in school to see what's happening.

In the meantime, in just five short weeks, parents and PTA President Apryl Dudley agree that Farm Hill is "a completely different school." Dudley commented,

I have been at the school all morning. I find it hard to leave because it is now such a happy, positive environment. I can't stress to you how much happier the staff and students seem to be now that Mr. Proffitt has been here! I just met with him this morning about more exciting and fun events he is planning for the school and our 5th graders. I look forward to working with him for the remainder of this school year and hope his positive behavior and great ideas continue next year with a new principal. The school which once had a "Black Cloud" lingering over it now has "sunshine."

Mark Proffitt obviously is excited about the positive direction he sees the school moving in. “My big issue and primary focus at this point is to gain as much positive press about the school as we can.” His secondary focus is to reach out to parents to engage in a meaningful dialog, and a third priority is to maintain open communications. To accomplish these goals, Proffitt has turned to some "old school" techniques to build community:

[Author's note: I say "old school" because it's stuff I remember from my elementary school days, and I'm fairly old, so that counts as a legitimate descriptor as far as I'm concerned.]

• There's a new white board in the main hallway at the foot of the stars that lists all the events/important information happening at the school in one place.
• All the school events between now and the end of the year are posted on the school's website.
• Morning announcements occur each morning over the intercom, including the Pledge of Allegiance*, a time for silent meditation, updates on activities, student reminders (including behavior expectation reminders), and acknowledgement of student accomplishments outside of school functions.
• Mr. Proffitt gets on each bus every morning to greet students and gets back on at the end of the day to say good-by.
• Mr. Proffitt is very visible during the day in the cafeteria, the playground, the hallway, and even in classrooms.
• On Fridays, Mr. Proffitt's Reflections go home with students, and all of the weekly letters are posted here on the school's website.
• A DATTCO bus has been arranged to pick up families from Traverse Square and Green Street for all PTA activities through the end of the year.
• The Partnership Committee has met and is ready to roll out a new Social Compact at parent conferences during the week of March 28. Parents will also get a fridge magnet listing the STARR behaviors (Safe, Trustworthy, A+ Attitude, Respectful, Responsible) the school teaches and enforces in the social curriculum.
• Mr. Proffitt personally visits Traverse Square and the Green Street Art Center as part of his after school routine to conduct parent outreach and to support the after school programs in those locations.
• The student survey on school climate, set into motion by the Superintendent's Farm Hill Support Plan, has been conducted and is awaiting final review.

While concrete evidence of changing attitudes satisfies even the most serious doubters, also noticeable was a language change: Mr. Proffitt used words like positive, caring, responsive, pro-active, vigilant, firm, respectful, and visible to describe his job and his focus. He also spoke confidently of his "menu" of choices to address student behavioral issues as they arose, and easily rattled off more than half a dozen options available to him when students act out. Not coincidentally, no phone calls have been made to the police since Proffitt's arrival more than five weeks ago, and he insists that the atmosphere on the buses has changed for the better.

"When you expect kids to misbehave, of course they do. When you expect a high standard of behavior out of kids, then they rise to your expectations and behave well, " Proffitt explained. This pro-active focus, instead of a reactive one, seems to have won over the hearts of Farm Hill students and parents, and many are already wishing Proffitt would stay. Assistant Superintendent Barbara Senges confirmed that the search for a new principal is underway, with the "in-house" posting closing this week. This means that by contract, Senges has to post the job opening to district administrators first. Senges also talked about the selection process itself:

There will be parents on the Committee and the plan is to have finalists meet parents and staff prior to the Board making its choice. It is also our hope to have someone chosen before the end of the year, so that there will be an opportunity for the community to meet the new principal.

In the end, Proffitt admitted that a school is "only as successful as our parents' involvement," meaning that he needs parental wisdom, support, and thoughts on how to challenge and support all Farm Hill students. He went on to say, "I need to let parents know 'we need you,' and if we have their unconditional support, that's key!" Proffitt also credited Donna Merino, the District's Parent Resource Coordinator, as a key player in the effort to reach out and engage parents in the school's mission.

Now, if only Public Works could make some headway on the parking lot situation, Farm Hill might just be well on the road to sunnier days!

*In case you're curious...

I'm from the Midwest originally, and I've never experienced a school that didn't have morning announcements and a collective Pledge of Allegiance to start the day. Eighth graders at my school had the honor of reading morning announcements and leading the Pledge. It was a nerve-racking rite of passage, but an awesome one at the same time. I have to admit I was a little shocked to hear that the pledge wasn't part of the morning routine at Farm Hill. Here's what I found out after a review of state law and BOE policy:

C.G.S. Sec. 10-230. Flags in schoolrooms and schools. Policy on the reciting of the "Pledge of Allegiance".

(c) Each local and regional board of education shall develop a policy to ensure that time is available each school day for students in the schools under its jurisdiction to recite the "Pledge of Allegiance". The provisions of this subsection shall not be construed to require any person to recite the "Pledge of Allegiance".

Middletown Public Schools Policy 6115 (a) Pledge of Allegiance

Each school within the district shall provide time each school day for students to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. Such recitation is voluntary.

I'm not trying to start an argument about whether or not the Pledge forces religion on those not wishing to have it, I'm simply trying to point out that simple rituals have immense power to create community. I suppose someone could also call it brain-washing if he or she were really anti-government, but please try in good faith to see what I'm after. There was no magic used at Farm Hill to make a huge difference in a small amount of time...no pixie dust, nothing in the water, no secret formula. It was simply good customer service, plain old common sense, and a man who loves children and teachers leading in a job he absolutely adores. So let's replicate those efforts everywhere we can! We can get behind all the other fine teachers and administrators in our town, collectively expect the leadership that brings the results we desire, and push hard in the direction of the change we want [and yeah for the Pledge of Allegiance too]!

Superintendent Outlines Farm Hill Support Plan

An addition to the agenda at Tuesday night's Board of Education meeting allowed Superintendent Michael Frechette to update the board on the resources being put into play at Farm Hill Elementary School to address "behavioral issues" in the school.

Frechette had originally planned to meet with the Farm Hill PTA and faculty and staff first before updating the board, but the media frenzy and BOE member interest caused the front office to "drop everything and prepare this report for tonight's meeting." Click here to be linked to the report posted on the Superintendent's website (it's called Farm Hill Support Plan).

The plan outlines the additional staff Farm Hill will be receiving as well as the creation of a Climate Committee "to facilitate and establish [an] action plan to address building needs." The plan also outlines specific action steps, identifies who is responsible for those steps, and what student groups those action steps apply to. For example, the immediate response to inappropriate language and physical aggression will be an In School Suspension and it will be implemented by the Building Sub/Student Manager Coordinator.

Dr. Donn Sottolano, Director of the ACES Behavior Services Center (ACES stands for Area Cooperative Educational Services and exists "to improve public education through high quality, cost-effective programs and services"), was also scheduled today to meet with the Farm Hill grade levels for "collaborative conversations with regard to children at risk." One could speculate that this meeting might be one way the school tries to identify why there are "issues" and how they can be properly addressed.

The Farm Hill PTA meeting this evening is a regularly scheduled PTA meeting that just happened to be planned for this week. It was not called specially for the purpose of discussing a new support plan, and PTA officers plan to have a normal meeting with normal business on the agenda. "This meeting has been planned since the beginning of the year, and we usually have about ten people at each meeting, so that's what we would regularly expect, " commented one PTA officer.

Superintendent Frechette told the BOE that he plans to meet with Farm Hill's faculty and staff tomorrow. When asked by BOE member Ed McKeon for a "history of this issue without confidential specifics," Frechette answered that he had been working with the Farm Hill principal for almost two years now, through the re-districting process, and more specifically at the beginning of this year as new staff was added. Dr. Frechette went on to add that plan had been finalized even before Christmas, and that the coordination of additional state and other agency involvement had taken time to come together.

Several board members asked if re-districting was a root cause of Farm Hill's immediate issues, and Assistant Superintendent Barbara Senges replied that if the implication was that moving a special needs program to Farm Hill was the problem, then no, it wasn't re-districting that's at fault. "Frankly, the majority of the behavioral problems at Farm Hill aren't kids in the special needs program," Senges explained.

School Enrollments Hold Steady, Moody Remains Overcrowded

The School District's enrollment numbers at the beginning of September are very similar to those last December. Overall there was a 4% drop in the number of elementary students, with the largest reduction coming at Snow School, with 65 fewer students this year (an 18% drop).

Moody continues to be the only school which has more students than the building was designed to handle. An interim report from the JCJ Architecture firm, released in late May , indicated that Moody was built to house a maximum of 395 students, the current enrollment is higher than capacity by at least two classes. Moody has been forced to alter room uses over the past two years to accommodate all of the classes.

In addition, the average class size in grades 1 to 5 at Moody is higher than at any other elementary school.

	capacity	September 4 enrollment	% of Capacity	mean class size, grades 1-5
Moody	395	449	113.7%	21.6
Spencer	426	370	86.9%	18.4
Wesley	432	365	84.5%	20.7
Lawrence	451	349	77.4%	19.8
Macdonough	288	217	75.3%	18.1
Farm Hill	407	288	70.8%	18.1
Bielefield	526	285	54.2%	19.7
Snow	575	292	50.8%	18.5
total	3500	2615	74.7%	19.5

The superintendent of schools office has paid close attention to the overcrowding at Moody. Last January Barbara Senges, Assistant Superintendent of Schools, expressed deep concern about the overcrowding, and in a meeting with the Moody School PTA told parents that this overcrowding would be addressed before the start of the school year.

Senges, as well as the parents, anticipated that a feasibility study commissioned by the Board of Education would make recommendations in April or May for alleviating Moody overcrowding and for addressing a racial imbalance at Macdonough. However, JCJ Architecture, which was hired by the Board for this study, recommended against any changes this past summer. Senges told me, "JCJ recommended, and the Board agreed, to put off any changes."

Senges said that the final JCJ report would undoubtedly recommend redistricting, "I definitely know that the recommendation from JCJ will move kids around." She also mentioned the possibility of changing the current arrangement of one school for all 6th graders (Keigwin), and one school for all 7th and 8th graders (Wilson), asking "Would it make more sense to have two 6, 7, 8 schools instead?" Senges said it didn't make sense to move students around this past summer because the more extensive changes which will take place next summer are not yet defined.

JCJ is due to turn in their final report in late November or early December, in time for the budget process to reflect any effects of the recommendations. Senges said, "This is the last year [Moody students and teachers] are going to have to deal with this issue."

The principal of Moody, Yolande Eldridge, told me in an interview that Moody was having no troubles because of too many students, "I don't hear the word 'overcrowding' in the school." Eldridge noted that Moody's test scores were good, and that some of the schools with much more space and with smaller class size were identified as "in need of improvement."

She said that over the summer she was able to move functions around to create needed space, for example moving Kids Corner into the Cafeteria, and turning a storage room into an office room. Her only regret was that there is no space to host all-school functions; Moody does not have a dedicated auditorium, and the gym can't even hold all students, let alone their parents too.

I asked Eldridge about redistricting, and what she considered to be an ideal enrollment for Moody. She simply responded, "We're in great shape. I consider us a good staff." She said JCJ were experts in redistricting, and would be taking many factors throughout the city into account in their recommendations, "It's not just about Moody."

Eye on the Air, August 8

Eye on the Air, Middletown Eye Radio, every Friday, 1-2 p.m. on WESU, 88.1 FM and live online.



Today's Guests

Barry Simon, Executive Director, Gilead Community Services speaking how a downturn in the economy and state budget cuts affect services to individuals with mental health issues.

Barbara Senges, Assistant Superintendent of Middletown Public Schools on assessment of CAPT and Mastery Exam results.

Curriculum Committee Considers its Role

The Board of Education Curriculum Committee met on Thursday morning to discuss how to respond to a new law, effective July 1st, which requires that the Board of Education of all school districts establish a Curriculum Committee. Several options were considered, including making no changes to the current arrangement, replacing the current Curriculum Committee with an all-professional one, and having both an all-professional committee and the current citizen's committee. There was vigorous discussion, but no decisions were reached.

A new approach

The Curriculum Committee consists of Board of Education members Bill Boyd, Sheila Daniels, and Sally Boske, and community members Susan Glass and Bill Grady. They meet once a month to discuss curriculum issues with Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum, Barbara Senges.

Senges informed the committee about the new law, "What's new is that now the law says it's [the Board of Ed's] duty to establish a "District-wide Curriculum Committee" (DWCC) that would establish the curriculum." She called for this new DWCC to be composed entirely of education professionals, including teachers, principals, and experts in education like her. She envisioned a group of people each with "life membership", who would concentrate on all aspects of the K-12 curriculum. There would be working groups responsible for each of the 4 areas of the curriculum (Language Arts, Mathematics, etc).

Senges contrasted such an approach with the approach that has been used, under former Assistant for Curriculum Dr. John Hennelly. In previous years, extra pay would be offered to teachers who wanted to spend time during the summer developing the curriculum. Senges said, "I don't like the method that has been used in the past. It's been a little random."

The "Leveling Brouhaha" and the role of the public

This spring parents discovered that the administrators had decided to eliminate leveling (the separation of students into different levels of ability) in 6th grade math and language arts. The committee discussed the uproar created by this decision, which was perhaps exacerbated by the lack of communication with parents. Boyd suggested that this episode indicated that the Board of Education needed to have authority over the curriculum.

Senges disagreed, saying that leveling was NOT a curriculum issue. She said an example of a curriculum issue would be the kind of math abilities that should be taught in third grade, not how students should be grouped in classes. She said that the District Wide Curriculum Committee would be responsible for interpreting the broad guidelines which the state provides to all districts, tailoring the curriculum to best serve the Middletown population.

Senges suggested that one advantage of a new DWCC would be that its meetings "would not be public meetings in my opinion... I don't think you want public to be there."

I waved my hands at this point, and Chairman Boyd graciously allowed me, as the only member of the public at the meeting, to comment. I questioned whether any committee formulated by state statute could hold meetings that were closed to the public. I also commented that after this spring's elimination of leveling, and the uproar caused in part by the lack of communication with parents, it might not be a good idea to reduce the opportunities for public information and input into curriculum issues.

Senges vigorously defended the idea that curriculum planning should be done by professionals, without any members of the public present. She said that of course Board Members would be welcome to come to any meetings of a District-wide Curriculum Committee.

Lines of authority

Boyd, Sheila Daniels, Susan Glass, and Bill Grady all questioned what the role of the Board's Curriculum Committee would be if there were a new, professional District Wide Curriculum Committee. Senges responded that Board Members "can ask about things, ... and [the board] needs to fund the curriculum development payments to teachers ($28/hour)". She also said that by state law, the Board needs to approve textbooks, although she agreed with Boyd that the Board has not done any textbook approval in many years. However, it seemed quite clear to her that matters of such centrality to education as the curriculum should be handled by professionals.

She told the board that the responsibility of the Board of Education Curriculum Committee is to be well informed, and that "Our job as administrators is to keep the Board of Education well informed... The reason we are at odds at times is because you don't have all the information."

Senges was in favor of keeping the current Board Curriculum Committee in place, after the formation of the DWCC. She agreed to create a chart with clear lines of responsibility and authority, delineating what the role of the Board, the Board's Curriculum Committee, and the professional DWCC, would be.

Board members also questioned whether the new state law unambiguously mandated a new committee of professionals. Several said that at the most recent meeting of CABE (Connecticut Association of Boards of Education), speakers from different school districts had discussed a wide range of ways that the new law could be met. Senges agreed to provide a legal interpretation of the law.

Next steps

At the next meeting of the Board's Curriculum Committee, which will occur probably on August 18th at 8AM, Senges is to present the legal interpretation, as well as the flow chart of responsibilities and authorities. The Board will then make a decision on the nature and responsibilities of Curriculum Committee(s).