March 2, 2016 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 March enrollment report. We have a total of 1324 students enrolled.

Congratulations to the LOLHS Art Department who for the third year in a row was named the recipient of the Judy Streeter Outstanding School Award by the Shoreline Arts Alliance.

The budget edition of the Focus will go out in the mail this month. We will also present our budget to the OL BOF and the Lyme BOF in April. 

At our April meeting, we will have an official vote to set a date for graduation as prescribed in statute. Assuming no more closures beyond the two we have already had, the last day of school will be June 14, 2016.  I will review some options for potential graduation dates.

The month of March is Connecticut Board of Education Member Appreciation Month. I will take a moment to recognize all of our Board members for their dedicated service to our communities.

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

Rationale:  Dr. Borden will present information on the redesigned SAT which all juniors will have taken as the new state assessment on the day of our meeting.

Rationale:  Dr. Borden will present information on the redesigned SAT which all juniors will have taken as the new state assessment on the day of our meeting.

Rationale:  One of the roles of the Board is to approve textbooks.  While no action will be taken tonight on any books, we would like to make you aware of your ability to review the proposed texts for the following courses:  Modern U.S. History, French, Java Programming, and AP European History.  These texts will be available at Central Office for the public to review prior to voting on them next month.  You are encouraged to take some time to read through them tonight or at another time in the Central office.

Rationale:  The policy committee has updated the graduation policy to align with new regulations relative to state testing.  This is a first read and does not require Board action.

Rationale:  The Lyme Consolidated roof replacement was successfully completed during the summer and fall of 2015.  The completed project cost is $760,273 excluding reimbursement.  Closure of this project requires Board action.

Rationale: 

As part of our school district’s technology plan included in the 2016/2017 budget, we will be deploying and training our staff and students to utilize a Learning Management System (LMS). The system will be used to increase digital collaboration and productivity between staff and students. A number of Learning Management Systems are available and are similarly priced. In lieu of using a publicly bid process for LMS selection we formed a team consisting of teachers, administrators and technology staff. The selection process was as follows:

• Review seven Learning Management Systems most commonly used in the public school environment. These included: Blackboard, Finalsite, Haiku, Google Classroom, Schoology, Canvas and Edmodo. Group selected top four for interviews;

• Interviewed Schoology, Google Classroom, Canvas and Haiku. Based on these interviews, the LMS team decided to further investigate Canvas.

• A Canvas LMS ‘sandbox’ was set up for teachers to try using the LMS environment, phone interviews were held with three school districts currently using Canvas and a follow up interview was held with Canvas to address follow up questions.

Based on this process, the LMS team recommends the Board of Education award Canvas the contract to provide a Learning Management System for our school district.

The following is a three-year pricing comparison of the top three Learning Management Systems:

Canvas                  $32,120

Haiku                    $32,728

Schoology              $33,217

Rationale: 

Both the Lyme Consolidated School and Lyme Street campus water systems are Connecticut Department of Public Health licensed municipal water systems that have been in operation for over thirteen years.  Connecticut state statutes require this system to be operated and tested by a Connecticut licensed operator.  The contract with our current operator, White Water Incorporated, has expired. We publicly solicited bids in accordance with Policy 6330. However, only one bid was received.

White Water has been our current water system operator and has performed satisfactorily. They are a large firm operating a large number of water systems in Connecticut and Massachusetts. The proposed fee in their proposal is the equal to their current fee.

We recommend contracting with White Water Incorporated to continue providing licensed water system operator services.

Rationale: 

The Lyme Street Campus waste water system is a Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection licensed municipal waste water system that has been in operation for twelve years. Connecticut state statutes require this system to be operated and tested by a Connecticut licensed operator. The contract with our current operator, Natural Systems Utilities, has expired.  We publicly solicited bids in accordance with Policy 6330. Below are the bid results:

Natural Systems Utilities           $382,248

The Water Planet Company       $343,140

White Water Incorporated         $250,761

White Water Incorporated currently operates 70 waste water facilities in Massachusetts and Connecticut all of which are multi-year contracts. Seventeen of which are automatic renewals. In addition, 29 of the facilities are similar in plant design to the Lyme Street campus system.

 

We recommend contracting White Water Incorporated to provide licensed waste water system operator services.

Rationale: 

Through a publicly advertised competitive bid process, Tarantino Landscapes was the successful lowest qualified bidder.  The bidders competed to win a three year contract for the three school district properties.  The scope of the contract includes lawn mowing and trimming, mulching, sand removal and leaf pickup.  Reference checks were performed with satisfactory results.  Below is a summary list of bids received.

Tarantino Landscapes                      $217,275

Mystic Lawn Care                            $220,980

TNT Landscaping and Excavating      $237,315

 

 

Rationale:  This is a follow up from last month when we reviewed the final project numbers for the HS building project.  John will answer any questions that you may have and then the Board will need to take action to close the project.