July 27, 2020 at 6:00 PM - Bethel Board of Education Special Meeting

Rationale: 

The administration is recommending Beth Grieco for Board Approval as the Assistant Principal at Johnson School. In our search, we not only preferred that the leading candidate have some administrative experience, but we also were looking for a strong background in literacy. Below is an overview of the interview process. As shared, as Mrs. Grieco is a former employee, we are very familiar with her work and when she left to take an AP job in Hartford, it was huge loss to the Bethel Public Schools. 

The committee consisted of district & building level administrators, instructional leaders, staff, and parents. 12 candidates were interviewed through three rounds of interviews.  Mrs. Grieco's references overwhelmingly indicated that Mrs. Grieco is exceptional. We are very happy to welcome her back as we know she will be a strong member of the team.

Rationale: 

As you may know, the Governor made a decision to waive the 180 day requirement for students to attend schools and moved it to 177 days.  Due to this change, we have adjusted our 2020-2021 school calendar to provide more time at the beginning of the year to prepare for reentry into school.

The adjusted calendar provides us two additional PL days (Monday, August 31 and Friday, September 25).  August 31st provides additional planning for reentry while September 25th gives us time to reflect, make any course corrections, and provide additional training. With the addition of these 2 PL days, the school year will also be adjusted at the end of the year. Rather than the projected last day being June 16th, it will now be June 15th, which provides for 179 student days. (not including emergency days).

Rationale:  Attached is the Reopening our Schools Plan Fall 2020 that was submitted to the State.  We will be discussing Shipman & Goodwin's Memo (*Attorney-Client Privileged Communication), updates from the State, and parent survey results.

Rationale: 

Topic: Waiver of Bid Process for Split A/C Units and other Ventilation work necessary under CSDE requirements to Reopen Schools September 2020 meeting all COVID-19 at Bethel High School

Key Points of the Briefing:

* To speed up our continuing re-commissioning work at BHS in light of the CSDE guidelines for improved ventilation in schools due to COVID-19

* Installing several split A/C units addressing sections of the high school where the air is quite stagnant and at times very humid.

Summary of the Briefing:  By moving forward now, we continue our process of re-commissioning at BHS including equipment repairs, replacement and installation of other solutions and meet the guidelines of the CSDE under COVID-19.