Last Meeting for Five Board of Education Members

Tuesday night's Board of Education meeting was the last regular meeting for five members of the board. Republican Corinne Gill and Democrats Sally Boske, Jay Keiser, Bill Boyd, and Renee Johnson-Thornton are not seeking re-election. BOE Chairman Ted Raczka thanked each individual for their service on the board, noting that Middletown schools were better off because of their collective efforts.

The first public session (for agenda items only) was interrupted by a brief recess when a member of the public tried to speak about a subject not on the agenda. Chairman Raczka ruled the Sal Caracoglia out of order, and then called a recess when Caracoglia refused to stop speaking. It got really ugly when the comments got personal and profane as Caracoglia walked up to BOE member Jay Keiser and yelled in his face, and the police were called at that point. The three minute timer went off right as the police arrived, and Caracoglia stopped talking and walked quietly out with the two police officers.

Parents Cheryl Miller and Alexa McClain spoke to the BOE about bullying and its effect on their respective child and grandchild. October is National Bullying Prevention Month, and Miller and McClain both chided the board for not being able to resolve the bullying affecting their families. Alexa McClain said she was notifying the board "out of courtesy" that her granddaughter Monique's story had gone national with HBO's special, and that while Monique was accomplishing amazing things with her boxing, it still didn't change the fact that she's unable to return to school in Middletown.

Parents Craig Byrd, Micky Latina and Grandparent (and BOE write-in candidate) Mark Loomis asked the board to consider their request for a bus stop change. The stop is currently at the junction of Prout Hill Rd. and Crystal Lake Rd., and there is no sidewalk leading to the stop or where the stop is, so the kids wait in the road. If the stop was changed to the junction of Trailside Crossing and Crystal Lake Rd., the road is wider and there are sidewalks. All complained of the lack of effort on the part of the Superintendent's Office to respond to their complaint despite a Middletown Police Traffic Unit finding that the location was unsafe. [More on this in a separate story to follow...]

BOE Member Bill Grady was asked to report on any discussions he's had with the City of Middletown regarding a recent State Labor Board decision. There has been no response from the city, and Grady lamented the lack of cooperation over a matter that, in his opinion, "could have been negotiated and settled." Grady went on to ask that he "be relieved of the responsibility to meet with the city any further."

Asst. Superintendent Barbara Senges reported on the first meeting of the District Data Team and the group's goal to rewrite and develop a new three-year district improvement plan. "Actually, we're proposing a four year plan because we need one year to figure out where we are going and then we need to see where we are and what needs to change." Senges added that she's hoping the state won't have a problem with the proposed approach since "last time we got in trouble for changing our minds all the time." She also noted that "the level of commitment by the staff to this process is really high, and that's really saying something." The District Improvement Plan is required because of Middletown's position on the "Needs Improvement" list according to CMT scores, and the last three year plan expired last year.

MHS Principal Bob Fontaine updated the board on the status of the high school's self-assessment for the NEASC (New England Association of Schools and Colleges) accreditation visit in October. For the visit, the school has to rate itself on seven different areas, and those results are reviewed by the visiting team. The 2011 NEASC standards are available here. The purpose of accreditation, as explained on the NEASC website, is as follows:

The Association's purpose is exclusively educational. It serves the public and the educational community by
(1) establishing and maintaining high standards of educational excellence and
(2) utilizing evaluation processes which focus on self-improvement through effective peer review.
Schools which voluntarily demonstrate through the Association's evaluation processes that they meet established standards are accredited and thus become members in the Association. Member schools must undertake an exhaustive self-study involving the participation of faculty, administrators, staff, students, community members, and board members.
A committee of peers, comprised of professional educators who have volunteered to serve on the visiting committee, visits an institution to evaluate its adherence to stated standards, a process that includes reviewing the findings of the self-study and identifying areas of strength, and making recommendations that will lead to better adherence to standards and to school improvement.
School personnel then respond to recommendations stated in the visiting committee report by designing and implementing short-term and long-range plans for improvement.

During Committee Reports, Budget Chairman Jay Keiser commented that Middletown has had a current services (or zero increase) budget for the last four years, and that the committee needs input from the whole board on whether this will remain the trend or if the budget will move ahead. BOE Member Corinne Gill asked Superintendent Michael Frechette if he could provide a prioritized funding initiatives list so the board could have an idea of where additional monies are needed in next year's budget. Looking at the financial statement for the District as of 9/30/11, BOE Member Sheila Daniels asked why the Business Office needed 116.75 hours of overtime for clerical support. Business Manager Nancy Haynes replied that the position of payroll supervisor is not filled and that her secretary has to spend significant time training others in the payroll department to do the job. This means the secretarial jobs are not getting done, and thus the overtime. [Author's note - remember also that the BOE and City are arguing over who can fill this position...]

The Board of Ed voted on two action items before hearing from members of the public during the second public session. First, the Board voted to table a motion to establish a Feasibility Committee until after the Election and the installment of the new Board of Ed. In part, the motion to table was a result of BOE members being unable to decide what the committee was tasked with and what its scope of responsibility would be. Corinne Gill made the motion, and she wanted the committee to look at the district's facilities as well as recommendations not yet implemented from redistricting. While most other BOE members agreed that this committee was a good idea, they did not agree to establishing a committee without specific parameters in place. Secondly, BOE Member Bill Boyd moved to acquire a 4' by 10' sign naming the Rosek-Skubel Stadium at MHS. The sign would cost $565 and Boyd wanted it up by Homecoming (weekend of Nov 4) to honor the football coaches this season. Jay Keiser was the only member of the board to vote against the sign, saying it was a totally inappropriate intervention of the board in matters that should be handled by the Superintendent's office.

During the second public session, Craig Byrd addressed the board a second time regarding the bus stop issue. Byrd was particularly upset that he had never been told, in all his interaction with the main office, that he needed to formally request a transportation hearing to consider his bus stop change request. Cheryl Miller also addressed the board again, reiterating that her son was not a valued student at MHS and that she could not believe the Superintendent couldn't resolve her son's case.

The meeting adjourned and the board gathered to say good-bye to the outgoing members.