June 17, 2021 at 7:00 PM - Bethel Board of Education Regular Meeting

Rationale: 

Congratulations to the Bethel Board of Education for once again winning Level II CABE Board of Distinction Award.  

The CABE Board Recognition Awards are designed to recognize boards which provide effective leadership to their districts through the use of good practices. This program, which acknowledges the importance of school board members and superintendents working together as effective teams, strengthens public education in Connecticut and across the country.  This award recognizes Boards which are truly exemplary. The award will be presented at the 2021 CABE/CAPSS Conference in November 2021.  

I would like to thank the Board for their hard work and dedication to the families and children of Bethel Public Schools and their tireless commitment and support to fulfilling the mission of the Bethel Public Schools. 

Rationale: 

Gifts

Bethel High School - $2,500 for BHS EMT Program, Arnhold Foundation, NY, NY

Rationale:  Twice a year, we provide an update to the Board of Education on our progress towards our Strategic Plan.  AS we are all aware, this year has been unique due to the pandemic, but we are proud that we have continued to make progress towards our goals and action steps.  We will also maintain our updates on our new District Dashboard.  

Rationale: 

To receive the ESSR III grant, we are required to distribute our Opening Plan for 2021-2022 to parents by June 24th.  We have drafted that plan and I reviewed it with staff at voluntary staff meetings last week.  As you know from the survey and a few emails, there are some parents who want the district to go back to "normal" and eliminate the mask mandates, which is currently beyond my or the BOE scope of authority.   

We are providing you with the draft of the revised plan.   You will see that the format changed and only the required areas were included.  In addition, the new "plan" states that the district will follow DPH and SDE directives.   We purposely did not include specifics, because we expect the requirements to change over the summer.  The state did issue guidance on June 10th. Mitigation strategies are based on this year's standards, again which we expect will likely change over the summer.  

Rationale: 

• Letter to Bethel Police Commission regarding installing speed bumps in school campus.
• Letter to BOE Chair from CABE regarding membership renewal.
• Bethel CT Public Schools Mail - Volunteers at Johnson School
• Bethel CT Public Schools Mail - Masks - E. Barchi
• Bethel CT Public Schools Mail - Unmask kids in gym - E. Barchi
• Bethel CT Public Schools Mail - Mask usage - K. Ferrante and Supt. Response
• Bethel CT Public Schools Mail - Re_ Bethel Public Schools Fall 2021 Mask Usage Concern K. Ferrante - L. Vasile Response
• Bethel CT Public Schools Mail - OUTDOOR 8th grade dance Mask Mandate - S. Wade
• Bethel CT Public Schools Mail - OUTDOOR 8th grade dance Mask Mandate - C. Carver Response
• Bethel CT Public Schools Mail - Bethel superintendent violates outdoor mask mandate - S. Wade
• Bethel CT Public Schools Mail - Bethel superintendent violates outdoor mask mandate - C. Carver Response

Rationale:  (Please note:  The Board welcomes Public Participation and asks that speakers please limit their comments to 2 minutes.  Speakers may offer objective comments of school operations and programs that concern them.  The Board will not permit any expression of personal complaints or defamatory comments about Board of Education personnel and students, nor against any person connected with the Bethel Public School System.)

Rationale: 

• School-Based Health Center - Rockwell and Johnson have received their federal scope approval and should be ready for service delivery in the Fall.  They expect Berry soon.

• ESSR III or ARP Grant - As required by the grant application, we were required to provide stakeholder input on the use of the funds.  We asked for that input through my newsletter last Friday.  We have not had any response.  As mentioned in the last Committee meeting, we indicated that our Kindergarten numbers are on the lower side.  To date, we have 185 students enrolled.  This would put the current class size at approximately 18, with some classes at 19.  This provides us significant room for additional summer registrations. As a result, we have shifted the funding allocated for the additional elementary teacher into a math specialist for BMS.  We have advertised the position so we can secure a qualified individual and backfill any positions. 

• July Board Meeting/Retreat

Rationale: 

Summary of the Briefing:

• In Statistics 42, we have been using the textbook, Stats in Your World (2012) and in AP Statistics, we have been using the textbook, Stats: Modeling the World (2007). 

• We have engaged in a program review of the textbook, Updated- The Practice of Statistics (2020) 6th edition by Starnes and Tabor and are recommending it as a new core instructional program for both classes. 

• Students can receive either Early College Experience (ECE) credit through UCONN or receive AP credit as long as they meet the established requirements.

• This book was selected for the following reasons:

  • Approved by College Board for AP Statistics

  • Approved by UConn ECE for early college credit

  • College Board resources such as AP Classroom are aligned to this book.

  • The authors of the book are heavily involved in writing the AP Statistics curriculum, practice questions and AP exam  questions.  

  • We want both AP Statistics and Statistics 42 to have the same book and for all statistics students to have access to UConn ECE credit in the future.

  • There are clear explanations of complex content.

  • Numerous towns across the state use this book.

  • The Practice of Statistics is the “overwhelming bestseller” for High School AP Statistics courses per BFW Publishing Group.

• The cost options by preference are listed as follows:

  • Both textbook & digital access- $24,200.78 

  • 125 textbooks- $19, 610.78

  • 125 licenses for digital access- $21,523.28

 

Rationale: 

Rationale: 

Background

• The Connecticut State  Department of Education is beginning the process to ‘reimagine’ Connecticut’s educator evaluation for the  academic year 2021-22 and beyond. 

• The first step in the process of ‘reimagining’ educator  evaluation was to update and revise the current Flexibilities for Implementing the CT Guidelines  for Educator Evaluation 2017 (Guidelines) in 2020-21.

•  The CSDE Educator Evaluation and Support Council recommended updates to the Flexibilities for the 2021-22 school year that were approved by the State Board of Education. 

Flexibilities 2021-22 

• A balanced  approach to student learning and educator growth and improvement is essential.

• Focus areas for 2021-2022 

  • social and emotional learning and overall well-being of students, staff, and educators; 

  • equitable learning opportunities for all students; 

  • culturally responsive teaching and learning practices; 

  • academic achievement; and 

  • engagement with families. 

A summary of the components described in the Flexibilities 2021-22 are described below: 

•  Student Learning Indicators (45%) for both teachers and administrators

• Observation of Performance and Practice (40%) 

• Stakeholder Feedback (10%)  

•  Whole-School Student Learning Indicators/Teacher Effectiveness Outcomes (5%) 

•  4-Level Matrix Rating System including end-of-year summative reviews through a holistic review of evidence

Further information from the CSDE can be found here. 

Adopting the Flexibilities 2021-22 

Local education agencies (LEAs) that choose to adopt these flexibilities must do so through the  mutual-agreement process of the Professional Development and Evaluation Committee (PDEC)  and the local board of education. 

Rationale: 

Key Points:

Pursuant to Board of Education Policy, the following tuition rates for non-resident students attending Bethel Public Schools are recommended:

                         2019/2020           2020/2021      2021/2022        % Increase

Elem/Middle         $13,137               $13,595          $13,900               2.25%

High School          $15,156               $15,685          $16,038               2.25%

These tuition rates do not include transportation.  Additionally, Special Education rates will be calculated as needed based on the costs of a specific program with related services.  The Special Education Costs are not discounted.

Rationale: 

Summary of the Briefing:

1. Proposal is to not raise the school meal prices as during 2021/2022 it is anticipated that meals will be at no cost to students.
2. Meal prices will only be charged for second meals and if the USDA changes its plans of free meals for the 21-22 school year.
3. Bethel will submit for the waivers to continue on the Seamless Summer Option and provide meals at no cost to all students regardless of income status.

Rationale: 

Recommendation of FSMC for 21-22 for 1st of 4 one-year optional renewals

Key Points of the Briefing:

 

* It is important to the Bethel Board of Education that an excellent Food Service Management Company administer the food service operations for the district in accordance with all of the regulations of the National School Lunch Program under the direction of the USDA and the CSDE.

* The CSDE reviews all renewal documents between districts and FSMCs.

following motions
1)  Sodexo can charge an increase of up to 4.5% (the CPI) but they are charging an increase of 3% to cover rising costs but understand the challenges of the upcoming school year.
2)  Sodexo has brought to the district an alternate way of charging us for the current 20-21 school year that will result in at least $20K in savings.  This method has been approved by the CSDE.
3)  Sodexo has been a good partner and will work creatively with the district for full-in-person school meal service.
4)  The management fee will not exceed $34,774 and the administrative fee cannot exceed $69,369 for the contract year

Rationale: 

Key Points of the Briefing:

* We are nearing the end of the fiscal year.  Final payrolls are scheduled to be processed on June 22nd and then we will know what funds remain with which to close accounts and if possible, make a positive impact on our district during the final week of June.  We ask for your authorization to focus year end spending on areas that support our school reopening plan, our strategic plan or have been discussed by the BOE this fiscal year.

* 1) Unexpended Funds Account – Knowing that we continue in uncertain times and that next year’s BOE budget was reduced by $400K, we will plan to deposit any unspent funds to this account which is for opportunities and contingencies in the future.  We do not anticipate that there will be much at all remaining this year to deposit here.

* 2) Technology – One of the four Board of Education goals is to have technology as a catalyst for teaching and learning.  There is a long term chrome-book replacement plan for our 1:1 strategic plan initiative for Grade K through Grade 12.  If we are able to purchase the next planned replacements, we would like to go forward.  There is also specialized technology for certain educational programming that we may be able to transfer funds and make progress on.

*  4) Special Education – The SPED department is still closing their books especially for outplacement tuition and transportation and necessary student evaluations and outside services; this will all be reconciled. 

* 5) Safety & Security– This area continues to be paramount and we will add security measures in accordance with our approved plan.  Since we did not receive the Capital Funding, we are progressing with the plan to address the most critical pieces.  Milestone is being installed at Berry, BMS and BHS.  Remaining funds may be earmarked for some new security cameras.

* 6) Facilities – With the reduction to the 460 budget there are a few critical maintenance items that we had this year and may need to transfer funds to cover these expenses.

Rationale: 

I will provide a verbal update on progress.   The last budget documents are attached.  

Cash Flow Report

Johnson Tracking Budget

Rockwell Tracking Budget

Schedule to End of Work - Updated

Rationale:  Annually, the Bethel Board of Education sets the increase for all non-union employees.  A motion will need to be made after coming out of executive session regarding increases based on Board of Education consensus.