August 20, 2015 at 7:00 PM - Bethel Board of Education Regular Meeting

Rationale: 

Under new statute the Fire Marshal Report, completed annually, requires submission to the Board of Education.

This is not a new report.  We receive it after the annual inspection by our Fire Marshall and work to rectify all issues.   The two documents contain the following information:  

• Annual report by school from the Fire Marshall.
• A status update on all of the issues noted by the Fire Marshall.  All issues except three have been resolved.  The subsequent issues are scheduled to be completed next week. 

Rationale: 

Attached are the Convention at a Glance and registration form for the CABE/CAPSS Convention on November 20-21, 2015.  If you would like to attend, please complete the registration form and return to Sue Pare.  She will register you. 

**Pre-registration discount applies if received by CABE on or before August 31st.  So if you plan on attending, please let Susan Pare know as soon as possible so we can receive the discount. 

Rationale: 

As an outcome of the Board of Education Retreat, the members requested keeping the "business" portion of the agenda to 1 hour and spending more time getting reports and updates on matters related to the implementation of the Strategic Plan.   Dr. Brooks, Mrs. Rutledge and I are recommending the attached schedule.  If the Smarter Balance assessment is not available for the September meeting, we would just focus on intervention.   

At the Board's request, we also embedded a cycle of executive session items, focused on security.  

Rationale: 

Annually our students at Bethel High School take the Advanced Placement Exams.   We are extremely proud of the results.  

• 82%  of students received scores of 3 or better, earning them college credit.
• We have substantially increased the number of students taking the exam through increased access.  

The summary by Dr. Brooks provides a break down by course and the second document gives a 5 year overview of results.  

Rationale: 

There was a significant amount of legislation passes in the 2015 legislative regular session which directly effects education.  The purpose is to provide you with a summary of the legislation, impact and unanswered questions or clarifications needed.   

This document will be useful to the Policy Committee of the Bethel Board of Education, as there will be likely many changes required.   

I will summarize the legislation passed in the Special Session for the September, 2015 meeting.  

Rationale: 

The State Department of Education released the Annual Performance Report by district for Special Education.   Bethel received the highest classification of "meets requirements".  Classification is based on select indicators from Connecticut's Performance Plan to the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP).  At the top of the report, under the classification, it indicates the focus area for the reporting year.  The targets for performance are set by the State of Connecticut.  It is important to note that the state is always a year behind in its reporting.  The current report is from the 2013-2014 school year.  

Congratulations to the Special Education Staff for achieving the highest rating. 

Rationale: 

Governor Dannel P. Malloy announced that the U.S. Department of Education has approved a waiver request he submitted on behalf of the State of Connecticut to reduce the amount of standardized testing required for public high school students. In an effort to eliminate duplicative testing, reduce over-testing, mitigate student stress, and address parental concerns, the Governor last fall sought federal approval to replace the 11th grade Smarter Balance Assessment – or SBAC exam – with the SAT.

With this approval, starting in the fall 2015-2016 school-year, the SAT will be used in lieu of SBAC, and will be free for all Connecticut students.

Rationale: 

As you are aware, we will be going 1:1 with Chromebooks at the middle school next year.  The attached manual will be provided to parents and students outlining expectations for use.   We modeled the manual after several other districts.   The manual has been reviewed and approved by our attorney at Shipman and Goodwin.  

The guidelines provide an overview of expectations related to:

• Care
• Use Responsible Use
• Legal Properties
• Protection and Storage
• Damage/Destroyed/Lost/Stolen Chromebooks
• Applicable BOE Policies

Parents and students will need to sign off on the agreement prior to the student being issued a Chromebook.  

Rationale: 

Key Points of the Briefing:

 

• Revisions were needed for job descriptions to better clarify the expectations of the job.

  • Coordinator of Art K-12

  • Coordinator of Music K-12

  • Curriculum Leader 6-8

  • Instructional Coach

     

• Several job descriptions are newly created, as there previously was no job description.

  • Professional Learning Community (PLC) Leader

  • Chemical Hygiene Officer

  • Tech Champion

  • Tech Champion/Web Master

  • IEP Coach

  • Data and Applications Specialist

Rationale: 

Key Points of the Briefing:

 

• In accordance with the guidelines set forth by P.A. 13-245, the Bethel Public Schools requested a waiver from participating in CT’s Evaluation Plan- System for Educator Evaluation and Development (SEED).
• We do not believe in using an algorithm to rate our teachers’ or administrators’ performance; rather, we holistically review multiple sources of data and work collaboratively in determining ratings through reflection and conversations.
• The State Department has approved our waiver request.
• As a condition, the State Department is requesting the districts receiving waivers compile a report highlighting the successes, challenges, and outcomes of implementing their own plan. This information will serve to inform the Performance Evaluation Advisory Council (PEAC) for the State where they may share promising practices with others.
• In addition to approving our waiver request, the State Department has also approved Bethel’s Educator Evaluation and Support Plan for the 2015-2016 school year for both teachers and administrators.
• Revisions to plan include:
• More succinct and clear information
• Inclusion of the district’s newly adopted mission and core beliefs
• Implementation of Charlotte Danielson’s newly revised 2015 Framework for Teaching rubric which illustrates effective practice for teachers
• Implementation of the State’s new leadership rubric for administrators
• Supervised Assistance Plan that provides increasingly more assistance to teachers who are in need of more focused help