October 3, 2018 at 6:30 PM - Regular Board of Education Meeting

Rationale: 

Please note the personnel report as you will find updated employee information reflected in it.  

Please take note of the enrollment report as we have had some changes in enrollment. In-house enrollment is now 1,255. I have requested updated enrollment projections from both NESDEC and Peter Prowda. This new information will be examined as it relates to our official enrollment count of October 1. In addition, our October 2018 enrollment report indicates that 80.5% of our students are from Old Lyme, while 19.5% of our students are from Lyme. This is a similar percentage to what we saw last October when 20.2% were from Lyme and 79.8% were from Old Lyme. Our billings to the towns are based on an average of the October 1 and April 1 student counts. 

As a reminder, if you have not done so already, please contact Jeanne to sign up for the annual CABE-CAPSS convention on November 16-17, 2018.

Teacher negotiations begin next week.  The HR committee has reviewed and submitted their proposals.  Once this process is complete, we will inform the whole Board of the outcome.  

The installation of our solar panels has begun while the installation of the oil tank at Mile Creek has been delayed due to ledge.  I will update the Board on those projects.

Our Pre-K expansion committee has met twice and is in the process of gathering data and developing ideas for this concept.

I will update the Board on progress toward our district goals.

Rationale:  Mrs. McCalla will provide a year to date budget status report as well as a contingency fund report.

Rationale:  Michelle will present and review the outcomes of last spring's standardized testing which includes the SAT and SBAC.

Rationale:  Mrs. Dean will present and review the outcomes of last spring's standardized testing which includes the SAT and SBAC.

Rationale: 

Sarah Hylas, Social Studies Teacher at LOLHS, is requesting approval for a field trip for the Mock Trial Team to Harvard University on Friday, November 9, 2018 (leaving after school) through Sunday, November 11, 2018. This requires Board approval.

This event draws schools from all over the country. Harvard is the #1 college mock trial team in the country and their workshops coach students through all steps of preparing for trial.  

Information about trip:

Departure: Friday, November 9, from Providence/Stoughton Line traveling on MBTA (leave at 7:24 pm and arrive Boston at 8:34 pm). Individual parents have agreed to drive their student to the Providence train station. 

The students and chaperones will take the public subway to the Holiday Inn & Express Suites Hotel in Cambridge, MA. 250 Monsignor O'Brien Highway, Cambridge, MA 02141

Stay 2 nights in the hotel; 3 students per room (2 rooms) + one room for adult chaperones.

The hotel is a walk or bus ride away from Harvard's campus (10 minutes).

Students are in legal trial workshops all day Saturday and Sunday morning. They compete in a trial on Sunday at 3:00 pm. The workshops are led by Harvard’s mock trial team which is #1 in the nation. 

Return Sunday night, arriving to Providence at 8 pm. Parents have agreed to pick up their student in Providence. 

The cost is:

Workshop: $185 per student

Train: $25 + public transport of $15 

Hotel: $200 per student (that covers the cost of the chaperone room). 

Students pay for themselves. In the past, donations have been received to offer scholarships or off-set the cost. The team has also fundraised $350 this year.  

Total cost is $425 per student. Meals not included, although Harvard covers breakfast.  

Chaperone is Sarah Hylas.  

Rationale: 

This Permanent Single Agreement (Agreement) represents the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) requirement for state agencies to provide each school food authority (SFA) with a single Agreement when a state agency administers any combination of the USDA Child Nutrition Programs (CNPs).  This Agreement replaces all previous Agreements with the Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE).

Rationale: 

Jennifer Skelly, Science Teacher at LOLMS, is requesting an unpaid leave of absence through the remainder of the 2018-2019 school year. This requires Board approval.

 

Rationale: 

Sec. 10-51(d)(2) allows regional Boards of Education to appropriate up to 1% of the current fiscal year’s budget to a reserve fund for capital and non-recurring expenditures. The unaudited budget balance for fiscal year 2017-2018 is $723,000. The Board of Education may appropriate up to $342,985 to the reserve fund.

Rationale: 

During excavation for the new fuel oil tank, the contractor encountered ledge rock preventing the tank from being installed at the proper depth. We dug exploratory holes in other locations and encountered additional ledge rock. Our only recourse is to blast the ledge rock.

Rationale:  Attached is the budget calendar for the development of the 2019-2020 budget. This requires Board approval.

Rationale:  The policy committee is recommending the adoption of the two attached policies.  This will be a first read and does not require Board approval at this time.