12-10-24 boe-12112024093943.pdf (2,098 KB)

COLCHESTER BOARD OF EDUCATION ‘2.8 9 -
Regular Meeting e ao ,

 

 

 

Tuesday, December 10, 2024
6:00 PM
William J Johnston Middle School

MINUTES

BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT : Chair Alexander Oliphant, Vice-Chair Christopher Rivers,
Secretary Margo Gignac, Donna Antonacci, Michelle Millington and Rosemary Gignac.

ADMINISTRATION PRESENT : Superintendent Daniel P. Sullivan, III, Assistant Superintendent
Jessica L. Kuckel, Director of Pupil Services Eve Hurley, Assistant Director of Pupil Services
Rebecca Tedesco, Bacon Academy (BA) Principal Amy Begué, BA Assistant Principal Michael
Mal, Colchester Elementary School (CES) Principal Judy O’Meara.

OTHERS PRESENT : Director of Finance and Operations Rachel Linkkila, Instructional
Technology Coordinator Barbara Johnson, Executive Assistant to the Superintendent Alyssa
Fratoni, Student Board Member Abigail Stillwell, BA Counselor Ashley Zaugg

1. MEETING OPENING
1.1. Call to Order
Chair Oliphant called the meeting to order at 6:01 PM

1.2 Roll Call
Chair Oliphant conducted roll call of the Board.
All present except for S. Tracey-Calash

1.3 Pledge of Allegiance

2. RECOGNITIONS / ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
2.1. BA Carolers
The BA Carolers took time out of their busy Holiday Schedules to perform 2 songs for
the Board to spread holiday cheer. Thank you, BA Carolers.

2.2. | BA Senior Mugs

Senior Football players at BA started a new tradition where they made coffee mugs for a
staff member that has made an impact on their lives throughout their high school journey and
delivered them to those staff members in their BA football uniform.

3. STUDENT BOARD MEMBERS REPORT


3.1. Report from the Student Board Members

A.Stillwell stated that all fall sports have ended and the winter sports season has begun.
The National Honor Society and Student Council have some upcoming fundraisers and toy
drives. There is the BA Holiday Concert next week.

4. *ADDITIONS / CHANGES TO THE AGENDA

4.1. | *New Agenda Items

Chair Oliphant stated that he is very upset with the emails that have been received and
circulating attacking the characters of Board of Education Members and Colchester
Administrators on Social Media. He stated that while it is okay to disagree, it must be done in a
respectful manner. This type of activity will no longer be tolerated. He thanked all of the faculty
and administration who have supported the BOE recently. He stated that it is nice to know that
people appreciate the job the BOE members are doing.

5. PUBLIC COMMENT
5.1. For Public Comments, please see Bylaw on Meeting Conduct
No Public Comment

6. *CONSENT AGENDA
6.1. *Approval of Regular Meeting Minutes of November 12, 2024
Motion by: C. Rivers
Motion to approve agenda items 6.1 and 6.2 as a block
Second: M. Millington
Roll Call: All in favor
Vote: Motion carried

6.2. | *Approval of Special Meeting Minutes of November 25, 2024
See Agenda Item 6.1

6.3. *Approval of BA Fundraising for BA Theatrics
Motion by: M. Gignac
Motion to approve agenda items 6.3, 6.4 and 6.5 as a block
Second: R. Gignac
Roll Call: All in favor
Vote: Motion carried

6.4. *Approval of BA Donation for 1974 Memorial Scholarship
See Agenda Item 6.3

6.5. *Approval of BA Fundraising for Robotics Team 1699
See Agenda Item 6.3

6.6. *Approval of 2025 Board of Education Regular Meeting Schedule
Motion by: M. Millington
Motion to approve agenda items 6.6
Second: D. Antonacci
Roll Call: All in favor
Vote: Motion carried

7. REPORT FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT
7.1. HVAC Update


Superintendent Sullivan stated that as previously mentioned, we were unable to secure
equipment originally intended with USA Mechanical, so we terminated the contract and had to
start over. There was a significant change in the project and it violated what we went out to bid
on. We put out a new bid for design work and the package closed a couple of days ago. We
only received two bids, and are supposed to have three. We are currently waiting to get
guidance as to how to proceed and if there is any way to move forward with two or if we have to
start over again. Superintendent Sullivan is slightly concerned about the timeline of the grant
funds, stating that they received a survey from the state today on the HVAC grant to see where
we are in the process since we are not the only district running into this obstacle. He stated that
an extension could be applied for, there is a meeting tomorrow with Andrew Barillari, Rachel
Linkkila and Jessica Kuckel to discuss next steps and they will keep the Board up to date.

7.2. Magnet School Update

Superintendent Sullivan stated that it has been a very busy two weeks since the Special
Meeting on November 25, 2024. It is his recommendation to appoint Ashley Zaugg as the
Development Coordinator for the Magnet School and use the grant to fund the substitute for her
in the Counseling Office for the remainder of the school year. The Superintendent recognizes
that there are still parents who are trying to understand what the Magnet School means. He said
that he attended the BA Parent Meeting last night where there were many good conversations
around the Magnet School and he is excited to schedule Parent Meetings in the coming months
at CES, JJIS and WJJMS.

Superintendent Sullivan asked Principal Begue if she had a sense from the students
about the Magnet School. She stated that they held a Student Advisory Forum yesterday to
specifically talk about that because, like parents, the students were looking for clarifying
information as well. The team plans to do a student forward FAQ as they are hungry for
information and how it will impact them.

Motion by: M. Gignac

Motion to to appoint Ashley Zaugg as the Development Coordinator for the Magnet
School and use the grant to fund the substitute for her in the Counseling Office for the
remainder of the school year.

Second: D. Antonacci

Roll Call: All in favor

Vote: Motion carried

7.3. Hayward Academy for Public Service FAQs

Superintendent Sullivan stated that a communication went out just this afternoon
reiterating that the Board did approve the Magnet School and also included FAQ’s that we have
received. It will be posted on the website and includes hyperlinks to presentations, applications,
etc. He is hoping this will help people understand what we are doing and how it benefits all
students. He stated that the reality is that the revenue received from tuition should far exceed
operating costs.

8. *PRIORITY DISCUSSION / ACTION ITEMS
8.1. Safe School Climate
CES Principal O’Meara and BA Assistant Principal Mal presented the changes,
objectives and steps of implementation for the 2025-2026 school year with an emphasis on
restorative practices and a school climate improvement plan. They stated that there will be a
school climate coordinator and specialist at each school and training for staff would begin in the
2024-2025 school year. They stated that CPS is already doing a lot of this work, but now it is


just mandated by a legislative change by the state. The state used Cabe to create the bullying
report form that we must use. They stated that there was a form used to gather information
during a bullying investigation before and now they will just have to use the new form. These
forms are strictly used to help work through the process and they are not for the students’
cumulative records.

8.2. *Discussion and Possible Action on Policy 5131.911 Bullying Prevention and
Intervention
Superintendent Sullivan stated that we wanted to educate tonight and understand what
is driving the change and what the impact of the change will be. It will go back to the Policy
Committee for review and be sent back to the Board for approval at a later date.

9. POLICIES - FIRST READ
9.1. Policy 3517 Security of Buildings and Grounds; Policy 3532 Insurance
Policy Chair Antonacci stated that the language was outdated as well as not being
necessary due to the fact that these are mandated by the state. They will go to second read at
the next Board of Education meeting.

10. POLICIES - SECOND READ
10.1. Policy 3250 Materials/Service Fees, Fines Charges; 3260 Sales, Trade-In,

Disposal of Books, Equipment and Supplies Disposal of Obsolete or Surplus
Equipment, 3281 School Fund Raisers and Online Fundraising Campaigns -
Crowdfunding; 3313 Relations with Vendors; 3324.1 Contracts; 3410 System of
Accounts; 3420 Classification of Expenditures; 3434 Periodic Audit; 3541 Petty
Cash Funds; 3510 Operations and Maintenance of Plant; 3513.1 Energy
Conservation.

Motion by: C. Rivers

Motion to approve Agenda Item 10.1 second read policies
Second: M. Gignac

Roll Call: All in favor

Vote: Motion carried

11. POLICIES - FIRST AND SECOND READ
11.1. Policy 3516.5 Sexual Offenders on School Property.

Policy Chair Antonacci stated that the cross references are now obsolete, just making
the Board aware of the change.

12. REPORTS FROM COMMITTEES
12.1. | Ad Hoc Budget Committee
Ad Hoc Budget Chair M.Gignac stated that the Committee is currently looking over the
3000 series Budget Policies. They are talking about timelines, templates and the way the
budget is presented. She stated that the Board of Finance Chair Belding will be joining the
Friday morning meeting this week. There has also been discussion about the workshops and
splitting up the information between the two workshops.

12.2. Budget Finance Committee
Budget Finance Chair Rivers, in his work through the Ad Hoc Budget Committee, has
found that we are far surpassing what was in Policy and they plan to keep it that way. Due to
scheduling conflicts, the meeting last week was postponed to later this week. There will be a
more in depth update at the January Board Meeting.


12.3. Curriculum Committee
Curriculum Chair Antonacci stated that there was a meeting earlier today discussing
programming and rolling out the program of studies in January.

13. REPORTS FROM SCHOOL LIAISONS
13.1. Bacon Academy
D. Antonacci stated that she attended the Mr. Bacon pageant where Senior Boys were
able to showcase their talents and a winner is chosen. Congratulations to JP who was voted Mr.
Bacon 2024

13.2. William J Johnston Middle School
C. Rivers had nothing to report.

13.3. Jack Jackter Intermediate School

M. Millington and M. Gignac stated that they had plans to attend the concert last week,
but it was cancelled due to the snow.

13.4. Colchester Elementary School
R. Gignac had nothing to report. Principal O’Meara stated that the BA peer mentorship
program is going very well.

14. BOARD ANNOUNCEMENTS AND INFORMATION ITEMS
14.1. Next Meeting
Tuesday, January 14, 2024 at 6:00 PM at William J Johnston Middle School
BlackBox Theater.

15. PUBLIC COMMENT
15.1. | For Public Comment, please see Bylaw on Meeting Conduct
Jocelyn Anastasiou, via Zoom, stated that she had some magnet school questions. She
said that she reviewed the FAQ that had just gone out, but she is hoping for further opportunity
to discuss format and funding.
Superintendent Sullivan stated that there will be Parent Night’s at CES, JJIS and WJJMS
in the coming months specifically for this purpose.

16. ADJOURNMENT
Motion by: C. Rivers
Motion to adjourn.
Second: M. Gignac
Roll Call: All in favor
Vote: Motion carried

Chair Oliphant adjourned the meeting at 7:13 PM

Respectfully submitted,

rato

Alyssa Fratoni
Executive Assistant to the Superintendent