ANSONIA PUBLIC SCHOOLS

ANSONIA PUBLIC SCHOOLSBOARD OF EDUCATIONMINUTESPLACE: ANSONIA CITY HALL DATE: 07 SEPTEMBER 2011 TIME: 7:00 P.M.MEETING CALLED TO ORDER BY: VICE PRESIDENT Carmen PitneyI. OPENINGA. Pledge of AllegianceB. Roll CallMEMBERS OF THE BOARD PRESENT ABSENT LATE (time)MR. GEORGE BOATH7:02 p.m.MR. ROBERT CARUSOXMS. FRANCES DIGIORGIXMR. JOHN LAWLOR, PresidentXMR. WILLIAM NIMONSXMR. CARMEN PITNEYXMR. EDWARD SHARKEYXTOTAL 4 2 1There was a moment of silence for Ruth H. Feinberg Connors, a former A.H.S. teacher, A.H.S. Principal and anAnsonia Superintendent; Gail Miller, a former Ansonia teacher; and Edmond Gubbins, a former Ansonia teacherand A.H.S. Vice Principal, who recently passed away.II.PUBLIC SESSION1. Gerry Longerini, of 2 Berkshire Road, addressed the Board. She said her son will be transitioning from Birth-3 toAnsonia’s PreK program. Ansonia has an amazing team and gives her son the best possible environment. She toldthe Board that they have her and her husband’s full support and she hopes that the Board will support the specialeducation department. Mrs. Longerini passed around a picture of her son so the Board could put a face to thename. Mr. Pitney thanked Mrs. Longerini.After asking three times if anyone wished to speak, Mr. Pitney closed the public session.NOTE: Mr. Boath entered the meeting at 7:02 p.m.III.Recognition of Ansonia 2011/2012 Teacher of the Year, Sherrod McNeill,Prendergast SchoolDISCUSSION: Superintendent Merlone, said it is truly her privilege to recognize the Ansonia 2011/2012 Teacherof the Year, Mr. Sherrod McNeill. Mr. McNeill is a phenomenal sixth grade teacher, is great with the students and is asuper role model. There was applause from the audience. Mr. McNeill thanked the Superintendent, who presented himwith a small token of his achievement. Mr. Pitney, on behalf of the Board, congratulated Mr. McNeill.

IV. ACTION ITEMS, CONSIDERATION OF APPROVING . . .A. Ansonia Board of Education meeting minutes dated June 1, 2011 (regular), June 14, 2011 (curriculum),June 21, 2011 (special), August 10, 2011 (policy) and August 10, 2011 (special)MOTION: That the minutes dated June 1, 2011, (regular)be approved as written.MOTION YES NO ABSTAINMR. GEORGE BOATHXMR. ROBERT CARUSOMS. FRANCES DIGIORGI 2 XMR. JOHN LAWLOR, PresidentXXXMR. WILLIAM NIMONS 1 XMR. CARMEN PITNEYXMR. EDWARD SHARKEYXTOTAL 5 0 0MOTION: That the minutes dated June 14, 2011,(curriculum) be approved as written.MOTION YES NO ABSTAINMR. GEORGE BOATHXMR. ROBERT CARUSOMS. FRANCES DIGIORGIXMR. JOHN LAWLOR, PresidentXXXMR. WILLIAM NIMONS 1 XMR. CARMEN PITNEYXMR. EDWARD SHARKEY 2 XTOTAL 5 0 0MOTION: That the minutes dated June 21, 2011,(special) be accepted as presented.MOTION YES NO ABSTAINMR. GEORGE BOATH 2 XMR. ROBERT CARUSOMS. FRANCES DIGIORGI 1 XMR. JOHN LAWLOR, PresidentXXXMR. WILLIAM NIMONSXMR. CARMEN PITNEYXMR. EDWARD SHARKEYXTOTAL 3 0 2

MOTION: That the minutes dated August 10, 2011,(policy) be accepted as presented.MOTION YES NO ABSTAINMR. GEORGE BOATH 2 XMR. ROBERT CARUSOMS. FRANCES DIGIORGI 1 XMR. JOHN LAWLOR, PresidentMR. WILLIAM NIMONSXMR. CARMEN PITNEYXMR. EDWARD SHARKEYXTOTAL 3 0 2MOTION: That the minutes dated August 10, 2011,(special) be accepted as presented.MOTION YES NO ABSTAINMR. GEORGE BOATH 1 XMR. ROBERT CARUSOMS. FRANCES DIGIORGI 2 XMR. JOHN LAWLOR, PresidentXXXMR. WILLIAM NIMONSXMR. CARMEN PITNEYXMR. EDWARD SHARKEYXTOTAL 3 0 2B. Resignation/Stephen Barton/Special Education/Prendergast SchoolMOTION: To accept the letter of resignation fromStephen Barton, a special education teacher atPrendergast School, and send a letter of thanks.MOTION YES NO ABSTAINMR. GEORGE BOATH 1 XMR. ROBERT CARUSOMS. FRANCES DIGIORGI 2 XMR. JOHN LAWLOR, PresidentXXXMR. WILLIAM NIMONSXMR. CARMEN PITNEYXMR. EDWARD SHARKEYXTOTAL 5 0 0V. INFORMATION ITEMSA. Assistant Superintendent’s Report/District Improvement Plan (DIP)ATTACHMENT #1DISCUSSION: Dr. Tony Gasper, Assistant Superintendent, gave a quick summary of the 2011 CMT and CAPT testing.He said he will be giving the Board a more in-depth presentation at next month’s meeting. There are 72 points of informationshowing the Board what progress has been made over a five-year period. The news is overwhelmingly positive with 36 areasshowing improvement and 21 areas remaining steady. Fifteen areas have showed a decline. Dr. Gasper said that grade 6continues to be a strong group of teachers performing strongly as a team for us. Both grades 4 and 5 show steady growth,while grade 3 continues to be a concern. He added that grade 3 is a measurement of not only grade 3 but of PreK-grade 3.We have lost full day kindergarten this year and this will certainly be an obstacle for us to overcome. We will be dedicatingmore attention and resources to the primary grades this year. The CAPT testing in grade 10 is flat or shows a decline. We are

focusing our attention and will be working vigorously this year with the high school. Dr. Gasper said the science column showsa decline. Our District Improvement Plan (DIP) does not address science. We have purchased new science kits for theelementary level and these will give teachers more resources. Mr. Nimons asked if other districts have the same K-3 issues.Dr. Gasper said he has not looked into that yet but knows for us it has been a problematic trend in these areas. We areworking on these issues now with Bridget Calabrese, our new language arts coordinator. It is tough to thoroughly get students’abilities at that grade level because their reading and writing abilities are so undeveloped at that point. We will be looking tosee if there are other districts we can learn from but also use our own assessments and resources to better help teachers.Dr. Gasper said he included in his report a sample of the curriculum that was written over the summer. Curriculum waswritten three consecutive days during the summer with 39 of our teachers who wrote 29 curricula. There was space left forgrowth in the future. This was an impressive turnout which translates into one in five classroom teachers participating. Dr.Gasper said they hope to find funding to continue this in the years to come because we need about three to four more years ofwork like that to get to level ground. From then on we could start with our regular renewal of our curriculum documents. Dr.Gasper explained that the curriculum will not be published in hardcopy for two reasons: it is a living document and can beaccessed using WIKI posted on our website. The Board members should have received an email invitation through theirAnsonia.org email address with a login and password. By keeping curriculum online we can make small enhancements orimprovements and simply send out an email to the staff saying the online curriculum has been updated. The WIKI alsoincludes the ability to discuss. Right next to each document online is an assessment board and we already have had someteachers using it.Dr. Gasper said we are scheduling a Curriculum Subcommittee meeting for September 27 th at which time he would like tohave the subcommittee review and recommend to the full Board the curriculum. He added that if it is okay with thesubcommittee he would like to not provide hardcopies to them unless requested. There would be about 1,000 pages.Everything is online for the Board’s perusal. Ms. DiGiorgi asked how will you show us the changes, since we don’t havelaptops? Dr. Gasper said there will be a projector at the meeting.B. Special Education Director’s ReportATTACHMENT #2DISCUSSION: Ms. Gabrielson, special education director, explained her report to the Board. She said since the Boardpackets were sent to the Board she has updated her report twice for preschool referrals and start dates, and asked the Boardnot to discard the original sent with their packet. She will be updating this specific report throughout the course of the year sothey have an ongoing record of the number of preschool referrals that they are receiving, by month. A third classroom willneed to be opened. We are currently providing classroom-based services to 27 preschoolers with disabilities within the tworeadiness classrooms. Because of the way the Readiness Grant is written she is unable to put more than 27 students betweenthose two classrooms. Ms. Gabrielson said she is projecting to run out of spaces in October. She is expecting two students inNovember. Mr. Boath asked if these two students would be placed outside the district. Ms. Gabrielson said if she does nothave room she will have to outplace these students. She explained that in her report the tuition cost for out-of-districtplacements for preschoolers does not include transportation or related services. Ms. Gabrielson said it is not just the need fora third preschool classroom: it is important that we are cognizant of the overwhelming need for long-term as the studentsprogress to the next levels. We are notified of students from Birth-3, three times a year. Our time crunch for this is not just for aclassroom by October/November. Supplies for the third classroom will be funded by the IDEA ARRA funds that have been setaside for equipment. That grant is due to close out the end of October and all funds have to be encumbered by September 30 thor we will have to return them to the federal government. Money is set aside for everything but the staff. Ms. Gabrielson saidshe is looking to house this classroom at Prendergast School with six to eight children in the a.m. and six to eight children inthe p.m. It will be a self-contained classroom. She would initiate having one certified teacher, based on the numbers today.Non-certified staff would be needed once the classroom has three to four students. Ms. Gabrielson said the numbers she hastoday she did not have a year ago when the budget was planned for this school year. Mr. Boath said it sounds like Ms.Gabrielson has from the grant funds, the necessary funds to get the classroom up and running but without having staff. Whatdoes that do to the program? Right now we don’t have any money in our budget to make this happen, staff wise. Goingforward we have been flat funded for the last several budgets, and we are anticipating a loss for next year. Mr. Boath said heknows there is a need that we have to fill and this is extremely volatile from month to month. Ms. DiGiorgi asked, then wheredo we get the money from? Out-placing is three times the cost. We have to find the money somewhere. We don’t have achoice. Mr. Nimons said what Mr. Boath may be asking for is that the Board would like to have some numbers regarding inand out-placing students. He suggested working with Mr. Gaskins, business manager, on this for the Board prior to the nextmeeting. Mr. Nimons said he would also like to have a forecast on these students. Mr. Boath said it sounds like we are goingto have to go back to BOAT for funding. Mr. Boath said that the Board is looking for prospective. Ms. Gabrielson said this isnot specific to Ansonia; it is statewide. Mr. Pitney asked if there is enough time. Ms. Gabrielson said she can haveencumbrances ready to go prior to the end of September. Mr. Boath said we will schedule a special meeting on September27 th , after the Curriculum Subcommittee. Ms. Gabrielson said she is having surgery on September 23 rd but will be available viaphone for September 27 th .

C. Technology ReportATTACHMENT #3DISCUSSION: Mr. Bundy explained the technology report to the Board. In speaking about the School Dude Help DeskSystem, Mr. Boath asked how that was going. Mr. Bundy said the biggest requests are related to printer. It is almost a one-tooneratio of computers to printers. A good portion is inkjet printers which are extremely costly. He said he is working on a planthat he will present later on to save money and man hours. Mr. Boath asked if the printers are multi-colored. Mr. Bundy saidyes, most are. Mr. Nimons suggested taking color cartridges out of the printers to save a ton of money. Mr. Bundy explainedthat he has a plan but is not yet ready to present it to the Board. He said they will use what they have and in the future stoppurchasing new ink. Eventually those printers will go away. Mr. Boath asked if the ink has been purchased for the year. Mr.Bundy said yes, we are spending $30,000 – $40,000 per year for toner and ink.D. Financial ReportsATTACHMENT #41. 2011-2012 Year-to-DateDISCUSSION: Mr. Gaskins explained the financial report to the Board. Mr. Boath asked if a spending freeze hasbeen implemented. Mr. Gaskins said yes. He added that the 2010-2011 year wrapped up on June 30 th with an anticipatedbalance of $40,000 going back to city. Mr. Gaskins said $20,000 of that is just from one invoice that was negotiated with thevendor for a better deal.The 2010-2011 audit started in June. The auditors were at central office for about one week and he hasn’t seen them since.The ED 001 is complete and he is preparing to hand deliver it to the auditors. He is also planning to meet with the auditorsnext week.As previously mentioned, Mr. Gaskins said, the traditional spending freeze has been implemented. All is on track and wehave no concerns right now. We have started encumbering benefits, transportation and tuition.Mr. Gaskins explained that the 2012-2013 school year is a big concern. Many of our grant funds are going down, such asthe Priority School District, and the Education Jobs Fund Grant, which completely goes away next year, and there are threeother smaller ARRA Grants going away, which is an additional $170,000. We are looking at a lot of funding that we currentlyuse that will be going away next year. In addition to that, one of the concerns is the salary increases that we have beenhedging for the past few years, teachers had a 0% increase last year and administrators and custodians had a 0% increasethis year. Next year, all bargaining units contracts have been scheduled for raises with the exception of two that need to benegotiated; secretary, nurse, library clerk and the paraprofessional bargaining units. Hopefully, we will be able to hedge someof the salary increases with those contracts for next year.Mr. Gaskins said he has received an invitation from City Hall to a department head budget meeting tomorrow and he hasno direct information on what the meeting will be about but he suspects it is be the same concerns we have. We will need towork together with our budgets. Mr. Gaskins said he will give more information to the Board after it happens.Mr. Nimons said you have expended all the money and encumbered it on the benefits line item. What happens if Ms.Gabrielson has to hire staff? Mr. Gaskins said, as the Board knows, many of these accounts, especially benefits and tuitionand transportation, are very volatile accounts. He will have to look at those as each occurrence warrants it. He said he is veryconservative in his projections and does not want to be caught short. Mr. Nimons said if Ms. Gabrielson needs to hire morepeople they will need benefits. Mr. Gaskins said yes. Hopefully by then we will have at least one month under our belt wherewe could adjust the projected monthly value for the actual, and the actual will be less. There is no way he can say right now.Mr. Boath said the mechanics in the audit with the anticipated refund to the city, how does that work? Do we send that moneyback to the city after the audit is complete? Mr. Gaskins said what is interesting is that we never really had possession of themoney. We request it when it is time to pay a bill. The city retains that money based on our encumbrance list we submit June30 th to them. They reserve that funding. So the account that the city has will have a balance.2. AthleticsDISCUSSION: No questions were asked.3. GrantsDISCUSSION: No questions were asked.4. Other IncomeDISCUSSION: No questions were asked.

E. EnrollmentDISCUSSION: Superintendent Merlone said it appears that enrollment is down but we are still enrolling. Thesespreadsheets are actual bodies in the seats.F. Notes from the Desk of the SuperintendentATTACHMENT #5DISCUSSION: The Superintendent presented her notes to the Board members. She said it was a busy summer butrelatively quiet. It went by quickly. Superintendent Merlone said she wanted to publically thank Mr. Evans for his support duringthe hurricane.Superintendent Merlone congratulated Dr. Gasper because he was selected for this year’s Education Policy FellowshipProgram administered by ACES. He will be meeting with education leaders, business people as well as policy advocates towork on policies. He will be leaving for two national experiences, a trip to Washington, DC in April and one that is yet to bedetermined. Dr. Gasper was one of seven selected in the State. There was applause from the audience.Mrs. Merlone again said she was thrilled for Mr. McNeill, he deserves the honor. He excels as a teacher and his studentsexcel as well. We are very proud of him.G. Additional; Administration or Board of EducationDISCUSSION: Mr. Boath asked if we have spoken with Derby. Superintendent Merlone said, she along with Mr. Lawlor,met with the Superintendent of Derby and their Board Chair and we haven’t heard any more from them.VI. EXECUTIVE SESSION: Board of Education Members and Supt. Carol Merlone re:ExpulsionMOTION: To enter into executive session with Board ofEducation Members and Supt. Carol Merlone re:Expulsion at 8:10 p.m.MOTION YES NO ABSTAINMR. GEORGE BOATH 1 XMR. ROBERT CARUSOMS. FRANCES DIGIORGIXMR. JOHN LAWLOR, PresidentXXXMR. WILLIAM NIMONS 2 XMR. CARMEN PITNEYXMR. EDWARD SHARKEYXTOTAL 5 0 0MOTION: To return to the regular meeting at 8:15 p.m.MOTION YES NO ABSTAINMR. GEORGE BOATH 1 XMR. ROBERT CARUSOMS. FRANCES DIGIORGIXMR. JOHN LAWLOR, PresidentXXXMR. WILLIAM NIMONS 2 XMR. CARMEN PITNEYXMR. EDWARD SHARKEYXTOTAL 5 0 0

MOTION: To accept the agreement entered into by theSuperintendent and student’s parent.MOTION YES NO ABSTAINMR. GEORGE BOATH 1 XMR. ROBERT CARUSOMS. FRANCES DIGIORGIXMR. JOHN LAWLOR, PresidentXXXMR. WILLIAM NIMONS 2 XMR. CARMEN PITNEYXMR. EDWARD SHARKEYXTOTAL 5 0 0VI.ADJOURNMENTMOTION: To adjourn the meeting at 8:15 p.m.MOTION YES NO ABSTAINMR. GEORGE BOATH 1 XMR. ROBERT CARUSOMS. FRANCES DIGIORGIXMR. JOHN LAWLOR, PresidentMR. WILLIAM NIMONSXMR. CARMEN PITNEYXMR. EDWARD SHARKEY 2 XTOTAL 5 0 0NOTE: The Board of Education members were given handouts, the Ansonia High School and Ansonia Middle SchoolSeptember 2011 calendars.Respectfully submitted,Fran PerrottiRecording SecretarySeptember 12, 2011