October 20, 2022 at 7:00 PM - Bethel Board of Education Regular Meeting

Rationale:  BPS District Teacher of Year -  Kristine Komoroski was a finalist for State of CT Teacher of the Year.

Congratulations to Sarah Alvero, Roderick Chittem, Owen Detwiler and Michaela Louch for being named Commended Students in the 2023 National Merit Scholarship Program. "Those being named Commended Students have demonstrated outstanding potential for academic success," commented a spokesperson for NMSC. "These students represent a valuable national resource; recognizing their accomplishments, as well as the key role their schools play in their academic development, is vital to the advancement of educational excellence in our nation."

Rationale:  Rockwell School
$150 for Rockwell Library in memory of Mary Menti, Pat Morgan, DE.
$275 for purchase of book club books, Rockwell PTO, and Seed to Read, a Donors Choose matching partner.

Bethel High School
$7000 Ingersoll STEAM Grant through the Bethel Education Foundation.

Rationale: 

Mrs. Legnard, Ms. Soucy, and Mrs. Salerno will be providing a brief presentation on their School Improvement Plans for the 2022-2023 school year.  The purpose of the presentation is to provide the Board with an overview of the focus of the schools.  This year, because the strategies and action steps are similar in all three schools, the three principals will be conducting a joint presentation (attached).   You will see a connection from the school improvement plans to the presentation given by Mrs. Rutledge, Director of Teaching and Learning on the Science of Reading.  Please note, the data in the plans will be updated over the next few weeks, as we finish our Fall assessments.  

Rockwell School Improvement Plan
Berry School Improvement Plan
Johnson School Improvement Plan


 

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:  CABE Level II - Legislative Meeting
HVAC Grant Update 
District work with the Center for Public Research and Leadership at Columbia University. 
Innovation Committee - CAPSS
Business Advisory Council - Business Partners , Pathway Programs, Healthcare Pathway Discussion with RVNA, Manufacturing Program with NVCC
Bus Arrival Update - New Vehicles 
Sustainable Bethel Committee 
Free and Reduced Lunch Percentage 29.04% - slight decrease
Updated District Dashboard 
Cyber Security Assessment Update

Rationale:  Monthly Data  -  We include in the BOE agenda the monthly data as requested by the BOE.  

Rationale: 

Key Points of the Briefing: 

• We are bringing forward the following English curricula for approval:

  • English 11 & English 12 (Grade 9)

  • English 21 & English 22 (Grade 10)

• Using Understanding by Design (UbD), our English curricula is built around Common Core State Standards and our Vision of a Graduate 

• English 11 (Honors) units include:

  • Readers and Writers Boot Camp

  • World Perspectives

  • Inquiry

  • Language in the form of Love

  • Mythos and Archetype

• English 12 (College Prep) units include:

  • Readers and Writers Boot Camp

  • Contemporary Literature 

  • Inquiry

  • Adolescent Identity

  •  Courage in the Face of Adversity

• English 21 (Honors) units include:

  • The Transformative Power of Storytelling 

  • Villainizing the Other 

  • Restorying the Narrative

  • The Power and Problem of ‘I’

  • Literary Criticism

• English 22 (College Prep) units include:

  • Critical Reading and Writing 

  • Creativity and Genre

  • Mankind’s Essential Illness 

  • Research 

  • Ambition and Power

  • Teacher’s Choice: Contemporary Voices

Rationale:  Annually, the District is supposed to review and revise our District Safe School Climate Plan.   This is completed with the support of the District Safe School Climate and Wellness Committee.  The committee is made up of administrators, teachers, parents, students and has Board of Education Representation.   The Committee met on October 3rd to make minor revisions.   The plan covers topics such as bullying, harassment, teen dating violence, hate crimes and bias incidents.  It provides students and parents with an overview of definitions, preventative measures, investigations and potential disciplinary consequences. 

Regulation 5131.911 - District Safe School Climate Plan 

Rationale:  Per legislation, this policy and regulations need to be updated.  
Attendance and Truancy Policy.  The update to the policy included legal references.  There were more revisions to the regulations, to include the addition of Mental Health Days and the definition of truancy.  

Policy 5113 - Student Attendance and Truancy

Regulation 5113 - Student Attendance and Truancy

Rationale: 

There was legislation passed in the last session requiring BOE to update their administration of medication policy to address the use of Narcan in schools.  Our administrative team and nurses have been trained twice on the administration of Narcan (in 2018 and 2022).  

We updated it based on a model policy from Shipman and Goodwin.  The new language mirrors the use of EpiPen in schools. The new policy was reviewed by our Health Supervisor and our District medical advisor, Dr. Alon.  

We are required to annually provide parents with the opportunity to refuse the administration of EpiPen or Narcan.  


Policy 5141.21 - Administration of Student Medications in the Schools

Rationale:  This is a NEW policy.  We are proposing using Shipman's model policy.  This is specifically a Personnel Policy.  This is in response to recent legislation and an incident in another district.  There is also a requirement in this legislation to provide additional professional development developed by the Department of Children and Families.  

Series 4000 - Reports of Suspected Abuse or Neglect of Children or Reports of Sexual Assault of Students By School Employees

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.

Policy 6148 - 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:  Last year- spring 2022 - we had 18 members that participated.  All the athletes that started the year completed the season.  We practiced 2-3 times a week and had two friendly scrimmages at the end of the season. The season ran from the first week of April and ended prior to Memorial Day.  We had two coaches that were paid a $550 stipend each.  

We are going to offer the same program this spring. 7/14 SWC schools currently offer men's volleyball as a varsity sport.

Option 1 JV and V cost
Year 1- Approximate cost for 23-24 season.  JV and V programs
Stipends- 2 Coaches- $ 8309 Head Varsity and JV
Head Stipend- $5228
Assistant- $3081
Officials- 10 Home Doubleheaders-  $2850
Busing- 10 Away Buses- $2500
Uniforms- $2000 for 20 sets of Uniforms
General Expenses- Balls, state fees, scorebooks etc $500
Income Generated- Pay-to-play fees $1200
Total Cost- $16,159- $1200= $14,959

Option 2- JV team only 
Year 1- Approximate cost for 23-24 season.  JV only      
Stipends- 1 Coaches- $ 5228 Head Coach only
Officials- 10 Home JV games-  $1140
Busing- 10 Away Buses- $2500
Uniforms- $1000 for 10 sets of Uniforms
General Expenses - Balls, state fees, scorebooks, etc $500
Income Generated- Pay-to-play fees $600
Total Cost- $10,368 - $600= $9,768

Rationale:  The district has had a Pay to Play fee of $100.00 per athlete and a $300.00 cap for a number of years.   When we presented the turf project to the town, we communicated that we would charge a fee, to be placed in a special fund established by the Town of Bethel to help with maintenance and eventual replacement of the turf.   After meeting with the town and Park and Recreation staff, we felt that a $30.00 fee for all athletes whose sport uses the complex was appropriate.  

As always, we waive the fee for any student who does not have the financial means to pay the fee.  

 

Answers to BOE Athletic Questions

 

1. How much is the athletic budget short that justifies the increase?

We are projecting to be at least $20K short.  

2. We are only three plus months into the fiscal year. How long have we known of the shortfall?

This has been an ongoing issue.  Pay to Play does not currently make enough money to reimburse the board for the portion of uniform and supply expenses that was originally budgeted ($35K).  In the past, we have been able to cover the shortfall from other budget areas.

3. Perhaps most importantly why did we not know of this potential shortfall when the budget was put together?

We did know, it was mentioned during the budget cycle.  We also raised the price of admission to games and hoped it would help to cover shortfalls.  

4. How much money does the increase generate?

Increasing the fees from $100 to $150 would increase the Pay to Pay fees by approximately $28K per year.    2021 - 2022 Pay to Pay fees were $56,740.44.  

5. Will there be any increase to the maximum student/family amount?

The family cap would increase from $300 to $450.

6. Using this year's fall participation count, how many students are participating in pay to play who are eligible to waive the fee due to free or reduced rate lunch qualification? How many if any of those who are eligible are taking advantage of the waiver?

At BHS 51 out 317 students qualified for free/reduced lunch.  All eligible students received a waiver. 

7. How many HS interscholastic sports do we have? How does this compare to other schools of "similar size"? to schools in our conference? in our DRG?

Bethel has 26 athletic programs out of 29 possible CIAC sports.  Boys VB is currently a club and we are proposing starting a team in the spring of 2024.  For Skiing and gymnastics we have had teams of one shadowing other teams and competing in individual competitions. 

SWC

Brookfield- 29 

Bunnell-25

Immaculate-23

Joel Barlow- 29

Kolbe-16

Masuk-27

New Fairfield-24

*New Milford-26

Newtown-29

Notre Dame-21

Pomperaug-29

Stratford-24

Weston-29

 

* = DRG - Group D 

 

*Berlin - 25

*Colchester - 28

*Ledyard - 23 

*North Haven - 28

                       *Rocky Hill - 25 

*Windsor - 27 

 

Alternative Monies:

1. Contingency account?

We are using the 1% account for Security work.  We are not comfortable regularly using it for athletics.  We want to make sure we have a safety net due to our growing Special Education needs.

2. Retirement account?

The BOE does not hold the defined benefit retirement account; the Town does. All other retirement expenses are mandated or contractual.

3. New buses not being available as contracted?

Bus contract savings is estimated to be about $20K.   (18 buses x 42 days x $26.40)  However, this is offset by rising diesel prices.

4. Any savings because First Student does not have enough drivers?

We are borrowing drivers from other towns, so there isn’t significant savings due to the driver shortage.  Going forward, we cannot count on underruns in transportation spending.

5. Any other known or potential savings?

No, we are very concerned about the increase in Special Education requirements.

Regional and DRG Pay to Play Fees 

Rationale: 

By November 30th of each year, the Board of Education needs to submit to the Board of Selectman the Capital Plan.  The Board will need to vote on the plan at the November Board meeting.  This item is for informational purposes only.  

Capital Plan 2022-2032