June 5, 2013 at 6:30 PM - Regular Board of Education Meeting

Rationale:  We have a number of employees retiring and will take a moment to recognize each of them individually. 

Rationale:  As previously noted, the Science Olympiad team won the state championship followed by a trip to the national competition in Dayton, Ohio.  Members of this team, along with the team advisors, will be present to be recognized and to present a brief description of the program and its accomplishments.

Rationale:  The Boys' Varsity Crew 8 and 4 man boats won the Connecticut Public Schools Rowing Association’s State Championship.  The Boys first Varsity 4 placed fourth at New England’s, a mere 2 seconds away from qualifying for the national championship!  In addition to the fourth place finish by the boys' first boat, the Girls' first Varsity 4 as well as the Boys second Varsity 4 placed fifth at New England’s.  The New England championship capped off our most successful season as a varsity crew program ever.  Congratulations!

Rationale:  The Memorial Day essay contest winners have been invited to the meeting to read their winning essays. We will welcome and recognize them for their accomplishments.

Rationale:  Each year, CABE invites its member Boards to recognize outstanding student leaders at the middle and high school levels.  The principals of each school are asked to facilitate the selection of the students based on a given set of criteria.  Mr. Wygonik and Mr. Pomroy will recognize the award winners.

Rationale:  A representative from the Lions Club has asked to present the organization’s annual scholarships to several LOLHS students at this meeting.  We welcome the Lions Club and the award recipients to this meeting for the presentation.

Rationale: 

1. Please note the personnel report as you will find updated employee information reflected in it.  This is the time of the year where many changes occur due to retirements and/ or resignations.  At this time it appears that we will need to hire approximately five external candidates to fill vacant positions.  This is a far cry from where we were just one month ago.
2. Please take note of the June enrollment report. We have a total of 1,472 students enrolled. We are continuing to include the ADM (Average Daily Membership) breakdown in this report to allow better tracking of the budgetary impact to the towns.
3. As noted last meeting, we have already realized savings in next year's budget.  Specifically, our health insurance renewal rates came back at 3.4% with 1.3% (approximately $83K) of that increase due to changes resulting from the Affordable Care Act.  We budgeted for an increase of 9%.  As well, we secured a price for heating oil of $2.99/gallon which is $.15 cheaper than the state consortium price. We budgeted $3.25/gallon for next year.  So far our new hires have all been placed lower on the salary scale than those people they are replacing.  This too will result in a savings as we were not aware of most retirements and/ or resignations when developing the budget. 
4. The Governor recently announced a grant program for school security upgrades.  While the restrictions of the program may limit our ability to receive significant funding, we are going to pursue some reimbursement for the security upgrades recently implemented and planned for the future.  Additional information is attached.

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

Rationale:  Enclosed you will find a proposal for a new AP English course at LOLHS.  Dr. Borden will discuss the rationale behind this decision.  Board policy assigns the task of curriculum development to a committee.  However, the practice has been to present new courses to the full Board.  There are no new staffing requirements.  No action is required.

Rationale:  Each year the Board is asked to approve application for all state and federal grants.  These include those for special education as well as remedial, staff development and other entitlement grants.  A single motion authorizes the administration to apply for all that the District is eligible.  This requires Board action.

Rationale:  Now that the communities have approved our proposed budget, we are able to rescind the non-renewals of staff members.  This will allow us to make appointments for next year and finalize our scheduling and placements.  This requires Board action.

Rationale:  Each year the Board is asked to appoint a designee(s) to act in the absence of the Superintendent as necessary.  It is useful to have the Board designate two individuals for the rare occasions when both the Superintendent and Director of Curriculum are unavailable.  I recommend the Board approve Dr. Borden and Mrs. Johnston as designees for this purpose.  This requires Board action

Rationale:  As discussed during budget deliberations, one of the goals of our technology plan is to have our wireless network extend to all district buildings.  The Board had approved the use of funds from the 12-13 budget for this purpose.  Mr. Rhodes will review the proposal and answer any questions regarding this installation.  This requires Board action.

Rationale:  As part of our technology plan, we follow a regular cycle of computer replacements to remain current.  This request will keep us committed to that cycle.  Mr. Rhodes will present this information and answer any questions you may have.  This requires Board action.

Rationale:  The school district has historically contracted for the mowing of the athletic fields at an annual cost of approximately $16,125. Last year we purchased a used mower for $5,000 to determine whether our Facilities Staff could mow the athletic fields without having to contract with an outside firm. Based on this trial, we are recommending that we purchase a new Toro mower as outlined in the attached document.  Mr. Rhodes will present this proposal.  This requires Board action. 

Rationale:  The Facilities Committee has recommended a continual review of energy usage combined with investments that will reduce our energy costs.  This proposal will provide more efficient lighting to help reduce our energy costs.  Mr. Rhodes will present this proposal.  This requires Board action.

Rationale:  We had previously budgeted for the installation of a generator at Lyme Consolidated School.  The town of Lyme has shown an interest in sharing this generator for their Town Hall and new library at no additional cost to the district.  The results of the bidding are enclosed and will be presented by Mr. Rhodes.  This requires Board action.

Rationale: 

Paving of the existing high school parking lots was not included as a part of the original high school project scope. However, both the Building Committee and the Board requested pricing to repave these parking lots to ensure full completion of the project. Mr. Rhodes will present the bidding results.  This requires Board action. 

Rationale:  The renewal of our three year grounds maintenance contract bids are enclosed for your review.  Mr. Rhodes will present and will be available to answer questions regarding this budget item.  This requires Board action.

Rationale:  As promised at the last meeting, I have reviewed the data relative to field trips at the high school.  This review included field trip data from this school year, current attendance policies, and new regulations adopted by the State Board of Education regarding attendance.  This school year students at LOLHS went on 57 field trips.  1013 students participated in those trips.  (Obviously, there is significant overlap as we do not have 1013 students at LOLHS.)  The total time out of class for these trips amounted to 192.5 hours out of school.  As a point of reference, we report annually to the state our total hours of instruction as 1056/year.  Additional information is attached. 

Based on this review, along with the input of community members, I am recommending the consideration and approval of two field trips included as an attachment. This requires Board action.

Rationale:  We will address three separate issues in the executive session.  The first will be my annual evaluation which will be presented by Dr. Jones.  Upon conclusion of that discussion we will discuss the contract terms negotiated by the HR committee for Ms. Warren and Mr. Rhodes.  Finally, we will discuss my contract terms for next year as negotiated with the HR committee.  If the Board chooses to accept the terms as recommended by the HR committee, we will need to move into open session to vote for approval.