September 15, 2022 at 7:00 PM - Bethel Board of Education Regular Meeting

Rationale: 

National Merit Scholar Semifinalist

Congratulations to BHS Senior, Suhani Kashyap, for being selected as a semifinalist in the National Merit Scholar Program!  Suhani was one of 16,000 students across the nation selected as a semifinalist.

District Teacher of the Year

District Teacher of Year -  Kristine Komoroski has moved onto the next round for State of CT Teacher of the Year! 

Rationale:  Bethel High & Middle School
$500 to support Bethel Community Cares Coalition, BHS Class of 1981, Karen Ledan, Danbury, CT

Bethel High School
Marching Band Uniform Cabinets (3, $1,400 in material cost), Owen Detwiler, Bethel, CT

Rockwell School
DIY Logo Tables Project, $280, Rockwell PTO & All-State Foundation

Rationale:  Mrs. Rutledge, Director of Teaching and learning will provide the Board of Education with a brief overview of our participation in the Science of Reading Pilot and associated legislation.  .  

Rationale:  A motion must be made at a BOE meeting to approve the application to be eligible for the CABE Board of Distinction Award.  

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:  Transportation 
All-Hazards Safety & Security Plan
School Opening
Registration, Residency, and Enrollment
CABE/CAPSS Convention Reminder (Reg Info attached)

Rationale:  Monthly Data  -  We include in the BOE agenda the monthly data as requested by the BOE.  Please note, most data fields will NOT be completed until October 1st for the month of September.  The only real field completed is the enrollment information as of September 1st.  

Rationale:  Public Act No. 21-199 directs boards of education, not later than July 1, 2022, to adopt a policy to improve completion rates of the FAFSA by students enrolled in grade twelve or an adult education program maintained by the board.  We have drafted a policy that meets statutory requirements.  The suggested procedures are not required by law.

Series 5000 - FAFSA    (New)

Rationale:  No recommended changes..This policy was reviewed as part of the 2000 series review.  

Policy 2150 - Administrative Staff

Rationale:  This policy was reviewed in conjunction with the new legislative requirement on weighted grades.   The policy itself is more general in nature. The details are provided for families as part of the school handbooks and/or programs of study.    As a result,  it is recommended that the regulation be deleted as it is significantly outdated (2001).   Links to the Bethel Middle School grading system and the Bethel High School program of studies are included for your reference.  

Policy 6146.1 - Grading/Assessment Systems

Regulation 6146.1 - Grading/Assessment Systems (Recommended for deletion)

Bethel High School Program of Studies
Bethel Middle School Grading 

Rationale:  In the last legislative session, Boards of Education were required to adopt a policy for weighted grading and calculation of grade point averages.  The weighted grading policy is the model suggested by Shipman and Goodwin.  The scale outlined in the policy is the one Bethel High School has always used and published in the program of studies.   

Policy 6146.11 - Weighted Grading and Calculation of Grade Point Averages

Rationale:  Due to the retirement of Theresa Yonsky as the Director of Fiscal Services and the hiring of Jennifer Variale as the Director of Finance and Business Operations the following accounts require board action to update authorized individuals:
 

• The CSDE requires that we file an Authorized Signature Change Form whenever either one of the two authorized signers of the ED-099 Agreement for Child Nutrition Programs changes.
• Fidelity Brokerage Services, the banking entity which holds the Hennessey Scholarship accounts, requires a board resolution to add or change authorized individuals.