April 6, 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 April enrollment report. We have a total of 1318 students enrolled.

Our students and staff at LOLMS who are a part of our French exchange program unfortunately were notified that we had to postpone the trip due to a Travel Alert issued by the US Department of State.  We are exploring options to reschedule the trip and are working to try to get refunds for students should they ultimately not be able to attend.

The annual staff banquet is scheduled for May 26 at the Gelston House. This will be a celebration of all of our staff members. Please mark your calendars for this special event.

Per policy 6270, I am pleased to report that the OLRA has been busy with equipment purchases for our kids over the winter and are donating those to our district.  They recently made 2 purchases of lightly used rowing shells that will support our second and third varsity boys and girls this season and beyond.  We will be taking delivery of these boats in the near future.

The donations include:

2006 Vespoli Metallic Blue V1 ES4+  Serial Number VUAVG133D606 Value $8,100.

2010 Vespoli Red V1 EM4+  Serial Number VUAUG123E010 Value $11,500.

Dave Roberge, Lee Watkins, and I have been invited to be a part of a school safety panel for a presentation to CCM sponsored by the DEMHS.  This is in recognition of our ongoing safety practices and is a testament to the regional cooperation of the three organizations when it comes to school safety.

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

Rationale:  John and Beth will update the Board on the progress and revised proposal for our 1:1/ LMS initiative.

Rationale:  Section 10-16l (Establishment of graduation date) of the C.G.S. states, “Notwithstanding any provision of the general statutes to the contrary, a local or regional board of education may establish for any school year a firm graduation date for students in grade twelve which is no earlier than the one hundred eighty-fifth day noted in the school calendar originally adopted by the board for that school year, except that a board on or after April first in any school year may establish such a firm graduation date for that school year which at the time of such establishment provides for at least one hundred eighty days of school.”  Per statute, I am recommending the Board vote to establish June 10, 2016 as the firm graduation date for the Class of 2016.  This requires Board action.

Rationale:  Per policy #2420, the Board is required to set a tuition rate for non-resident students by May 30.  Mrs. McCalla has calculated next year’s tuition rate as $21,489 based on the proposed budget. The current tuition rate is $18,870.

This requires Board action.

Rationale:  As is annual practice to ensure compliance with state statute, and in accordance with Conn. Gen. Stat. § 10-151(b), which gives authority to the Superintendent to determine whether a non-tenure teacher should be offered a contract for the subsequent school year, I am recommending the non-renewal of all non–tenured teachers. This requires Board action.

Rationale:  The policy committee is recommending a revision of the current tutoring policy which was last amended in 1996.  Diane and I will review the history behind this policy and explain the proposed changes.

Rationale: 

Last summer our maintenance staff reconfigured both the Mile Creek and Lyme Consolidated media centers to better meet 21^st century educational needs. This included removing and moving walls, repainting, replacing carpeting, and reconfiguring bookcases. Due to the limited time during the summer, we deferred installation of permanent circulation desks until the 2016 summer.

This project was publicly bid twice. Unfortunately, there was no qualified bid response either time (sealed bids must be received before the advertised bid opening date and time). However, we did receive one unqualified emailed bid by the advertised due date, and we were able to obtain a second emailed bid.  Results are listed below:

LaRose’s Woodworking LLC                        $35,500

Pierre Marchand Architectural Millwork        $22,824 

Pierre Marchand Architectural Millwork fabricated and installed the renovated high school millwork successfully and are recommended to perform this project.

Rationale: 

As part of the school district capital projects budget, the Lyme Street campus fuel oil tank will be replaced during the 2016 summer. This fuel oil tank, along with the Lyme Consolidated and Mile Creek School tanks, are reaching end of life. Replacing the Lyme Street campus fuel oil tank is the first year of a three year plan to replace all three fuel oil tanks.

This project was publicly bid.  The bid results are listed below.

ENPRO                                                              $320,750

ETT Environmental Services                                $156,000

Kropp Environmental Contractors                   $124,500

Lemelin Environmental Services                         $128,700

Service Station Equipment                                 $172,689

True Blue Environmental Services                      $174,611

Based on reference checks and scope review, it is recommended that Kropp Environmental Contractors Incorporated be awarded the fuel oil tank replacement.

 

Rationale: 

The Board was presented with four textbook proposals at their March meeting for the following courses: Modern U.S. History, French, Java Programming, and AP European History. These texts were available at the Central Office for the Board to review. We are now asking the Board to approve the textbooks.