ENFIELD BOARD OF EDUCATION SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES JANUARY 24, 2012 A special meeting of the Enfield Board of Education was held at Henry Barnard Elementary School in the Board Conference Room, located at 27 Shaker Road, Enfield, CT on January 23, 2012. 1.

CALL TO ORDER

2.

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

3.

FIRE EVACUATION ANNOUNCEMENT evacuation announcement.

4.

ROLL CALL

5.

The meeting was called to order at 6:32 PM by Chairman Neville. Chairman Neville Chairman Neville announced the fire

MEMBERS PRESENT

Tina LeBlanc, Charles Johnson, Vincent Grady, Donna Szewczak, Joyce Hall, Jennifer Rancourt (arrived at 6:42 PM) and Timothy Neville

MEMBERS ABSENT

Peter Jonaitis and Kevin Fealy

ALSO PRESENT

Dr. John Gallacher, Superintendent of Schools; Mr. Anthony Torre, Assistant Superintendent of Schools; and Chris Chemerka, Business Manager

CONTINUE FY2012-13 BUDGET DISCUSSION

Chairman Neville stated that the Board will continue with the FY2012-13 budget discussion. Mr. Russell, Chief Technology Officer is present to answer any questions. Dr. Gallacher presented his draft budget to us last night. Board members would like to ask Mr. Russell some technology related questions. Ms. Hall would like to know if the grade 6 students liked or disliked the special equipment they received. Mr. Russell stated the interactive white boards and the Mimio response system have been well received and we have heard positive feedback from the principals. We also provided them with new windows devices in the classrooms and mobile lab for the sixth graders. The mobile lab included 32 windows laptops. Ms. Hall asked about the white boards. Some were covered and painted and were not official whiteboards made by a manufacturer. Mr. Russell stated Wall Talker was installed on the blackboards so the Mimio devices could be used to be interactive in the grade 6 classrooms. When you add on the Mimio device, the white board will become interactive. You can still use the white board as a chalk board, but with markers instead of chalk. Chairman Neville asked for a description of what the Mimio device can do. Mr. Russell stated a digital interactive device is attached to the white board and is connected through a blue tooth device to the teacher’s wireless tablet. This allows the teacher to move about freely for better classroom interaction. Ms. Hall asked how the device works. Mr. Russell stated a hand held device for the students to use has 7 buttons (labeled a,b,c,d,e, yes & no) for multiple choices. It allows for the classroom to interact. It will show tabulation for the results. The teacher will know which way each student answered. This device is shared among 4 classrooms. Mr. Van Tasel added that the Special Board of Education Meeting January 24, 2012 Page 1

Mimio device is in all grade 6 classrooms. The 4 Mimio clicker devices are available for each grade 6 class to use. We have enough clicker devices for 4 classrooms. Dr. Gallacher stated the Board members can visit the school to see how the devices work if their schedule permits it. If there is one at Barnard, maybe we can take a break and go to the classroom. Mrs. Beaulieu added that the SPED resource classrooms have one in each of the buildings. Ms. Hall asked if they are popular with the students and the teachers. Mr. Van Tasel stated they are popular. The plan was to put the Wall Talker in all of the secondary classrooms. We were looking at this long range so more rooms have a white board. It has gone well enough in grade six and he would like to place this in grade 7 and 8. The upper grades are very interested. Pupil Services looked at the devices and has invested in them for primary schools. They are very easy to use. He would be happy to give another presentation to the Board. Ms. Hall asked if grade 7 and 8 are interested in the Mimio device and the clickers. Mr. Van Tasel stated we have been able to expose the Mimio devices to other teachers. We used the clickers at our last staff meeting and it showed the teachers how easy they are to use. You would not use this every day in the classroom. Chairman Neville would like the Board to see a demonstration of the Mimio device at a Board meeting. Dr. Gallacher stated we can set that up. Mr. Grady asked about the cost for the Mimio devices. Dr. Gallacher stated the cost was $90K. Mrs. LeBlanc stated the devices would be placed in all grade 7 classrooms. Mr. Van Tasel stated that is correct. He believes that price includes the Wall Talker, so we may be able reduce that and buy additional clicker devices. Chairman Neville stated there are other components that go with this system. The costs for this are needed. Ms. Hall stated this equipment is a step in the right direction for technology. She would like to see us using iPads in school. Chairman Neville added that some technology is better than no technology. Both Ms. Hall and Chairman Neville are looking at where are we going, where are we headed – a vision is needed. Leasing costs need to be discussed. Mr. Russell stated based on the equipment we currently have in the district that is what the $350K would replace. We have discussed this at ITPC meetings. We have full wireless integration in all of our classrooms now. Ipads for the students could be swapped out for a lab. Technology is moving so quickly. We are looking for efficiencies and being out in front. He is pleased to see the Town Council using iPads. Mr. Russell stated they will receive their February packets on the iPads. Chairman Neville is wondering when the Board will receive them in the same way. This is a way to show the community that we are using technology and it is also beneficial. Mr. Russell will look into the costs for supplying Board members with iPads also. Chairman Neville asked when the contract date ends. Mr. Russell stated on June 30th the three-year lease ends. Depending on how we want to move forward, we will start returning the units or refreshing them. Chairman Neville asked how many computers were leased. Mr. Russell stated we leased 580 laptops for staff. We kept 10% for spares. Chairman Neville asked how many are actually functional. Mr. Russell believes there are 560 but will check on the exact number. Chairman Neville asked if we delay this for one year for the projectors and laptops what are we looking at. Mr. Russell stated the projectors are disposable due to the bulb. After 3 years, more projectors may fail. The elementary classes want them mounted with speakers. Ms. Hall asked about the cost of the bulbs. Mr. Russell stated they are around $340 each and the unit Special Board of Education Meeting January 24, 2012 Page 2

is $425. Dr. Gallacher believes that is probably why we received so many of them free. Chairman Neville added the bulbs are difficult to get and to replace. Chairman Neville asked about the cost for one year for the equipment and delays the leasing for another year. Mr. Russell will look into this and get the exact numbers for each year. The fourth year of the unit will increase with unit failures. Chairman Neville asked if we extend the lease for additional year will they replace the units that fail and what would it cost. Mr. Russell stated they would stretch out the lease and instead of paying $117K you will end up paying $172K for an extension of the lease. We will own the units at the end of the fourth year. Ms. Hall asked if they will repair the units. Mr. Russell stated no. Mrs. Szewczak asked if we lease all our equipment or are some items purchased outright. Mr. Russell stated that our core infrastructure is bought outright. The desktops lose their reliability after the third year plummets. Even on a lease agreement for 4 or 5 years there is no real benefit. The equipment is still viable after the third year but we are not sure about the reliability. Chairman Neville stated we do not want to continue the lease with old technology that may not be as efficient. We want to be able to provide our students with more current technology. Textbooks will also be used differently in the future. If we can wait one year we will have a better idea. Mr. Russell stated the fourth year will put additional stress on the units. Chairman Neville stated we may be able to do a partial lease. We don’t have to do this all at once. Mrs. Szewczak asked how long it takes to change out the equipment. Mr. Russell stated we can rollout 50 units in a week. Chairman Neville asked if they are imaging them on-line. Mr. Russell stated we are. We have an imaging room at Alcorn that helps speed up the process. Chairman Neville stated iPads will work with e-school. If every teacher and student had them, is there enough bandwidth available. Mr. Russell stated the bandwidth should be ok. We are looking at adding two additional high speed connections at JFK and Enfield High to give us 3 times the bandwidth speeding up the connections. Chairman Neville stated you have done a great job with this. He can connect at any of the schools once he pulls into the parking lot. If the teachers had their own laptops or iPads could they use them. Mr. Russell stated we would need to implement a virtual desktop environment like Citrix and would need to bring in high end servers that would allow for multiple devices to connect. Printing would be issue but we could get around it. Dr. Gallacher asked if these servers would be more expensive. Mr. Russell stated the price would be similar to what you would need. Dr. Gallacher asked about accessing excel spreadsheets on these devices. Mr. Russell stated without a high end server or Citrix, you could not interact with the network. Chairman Neville stated you could save them to the device. Mr. Russell added there are other ways around this. Dr. Gallacher asked if the current IT staff could manage this. Mr. Russell stated we would need virtual administrators to manage this. Dr. Gallacher would also like this priced out to give us an idea. Chairman Neville applauds IT embracing this technology. Mr. Russell added BYOD (bring your own device) will require an environment being added for this regardless if it is an iPad, Netbook, Tablet, Laptop or whatever devise you are using to allow you to interact on network. Chairman Neville asked about the labs at the high schools. Mr. Russell stated that any room that has computers is considered a lab. The age of the labs vary 6-8 years old. Dr. Gallacher stated that 240 units are on the current lease agreement. Chairman Neville stated the refresh Special Board of Education Meeting January 24, 2012 Page 3

would replace the units. Starting a pilot with the iPads is something Chairman Neville will recommend. Ms. Hall asked if the pilot for the iPads would be for teachers or for the classroom. Chairman Neville is talking about both. He would like to use some of the new textbook software on a trial basis before we make any big financial decision. It is also a way to connect with parents. Mrs. LeBlanc would like the labs at the intermediate schools increased and the primary schools could be reduced based on enrollments. Mr. Russell added we could have 30 at the intermediate schools and 20 at the primary schools. Mrs. Rancourt asked if this is just in the computer labs or does it include the classrooms? Mr. Russell it would be both. Chairman Neville stated we are looking to plan ahead. The high schools have 2 roaming labs. Mr. Russell stated the cost would be for fixed labs. We may not need as many actual labs when we establish a virtual desktop environment. Chairman Neville is looking for flexibility. Mrs. LeBlanc stated the computers in the libraries were donated. Mr. Russell stated the library computers are probably the oldest is the buildings. Mrs. LeBlanc asked if the older desktop units could be filtered down to the libraries. Mr. Russell stated that is exactly what we would do. We might look for tablet devices for the libraries to use. Chairman Neville stated we need to decide on what devices we will use. What is our vision? Where do we want to go with technology for our students? The educational and technology piece need to be looked at. Mr. Russell stated if you approve a technology refresh or adoption we would look at our SharePoint and collaborate with the teachers and administrators and hone in on what technology is needed. Chairman Neville stated collecting assessment data is our weakest area. We will still have too much paper data. Dr. Gallacher has recommended a position to help with this. Ms. Hall asked if we are being consistent with the manufacturer for the equipment. Mr. Russell stated we try to. HP has always been our go to and may be selling their personal services group. There is also IBM and Dell. It is becoming a commodity market. Things are changing rapidly. There are different tiers. If we choose a State contract, we do not need to go out to bid. Chairman Neville will be looking for a price to pilot iPads for a classroom. At the next meeting we will be discussing this in detail. Mrs. Rancourt asked about the usage on the teacher laptops. Are they really using them? Mr. Russell stated we can review the numbers. Around 95% of the teachers are using them on a continuous basis. Chairman Neville stated that is how we received our increased bandwidth to deal with the influx of users all at the same time. Our superintendent communicates by e-mail. Mrs. Rancourt would also like to know the percentage for the high school library computers. Mr. Russell will get this information also. Mrs. Rancourt asked if the primary schools are using the computers. Mr. Russell stated the teachers are. Mrs. Beaulieu stated they are using them more and more. There are smaller groups using them for intervention. Mr. Russell stated they are the really older computers and they are being used based on the calls they receive for internet usage issues.

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Chairman Neville thanked Mr. Russell for coming. Mr. Russell stated that you can contact him at any time a [email protected] with any additional questions. Chairman Neville stated that Board members received the class matrices. Both Mr. Newton and Mr. Van Tasel are present to answer questions. Enrico Fermi High School Principal Paul Newton reviewed the high school matrices with Board members. He explained the course numbers, co-taught classes, number of seats and used seats and class sizes. Mr. Newton added that some of the classes are part of the graduation requirements and will allow us to have lower class size numbers. Mr. Newton reviewed classes with lunch periods and added Enfield high does this differently than Fermi. Mr. Newton reviewed the marking periods listed on the matrices. Mr. Newton stated that Assistant Principal Brien Brown is the building scheduler at Fermi. Mr. Newton explained the scheduling process to Board members. Mr. Newton stated the classes are robustly enrolled. As you look at next year, staffing decisions should be based on next year’s course requests. Then we can look at what can be reduced. Dr. Gallacher stated you will need to increase electives if a class is dropped. Mr. Newton stated reductions in whole staff numbers are preferred. Both Mr. Duffy and Mr. Newton work with the two buildings as one. Each cut has equal cuts at both schools. The more that we can look at the high schools as one building the better it will be for the reorganization. Mrs. Szewczak asked about the shared staff. Mr. Newton stated we have around 6 staff members that are shared. Chairman Neville asked about the travel time. Mr. Newton stated we lose one period for one duty period for travel time. The more sections you have, the easier it is to balance class sizes. Balancing single classes are difficult to schedule. Chairman Neville appreciated Mr. Newton going through this. Mr. Newton added that both he and Mr. Duffy are very committed to working on this one high school concept. We would also be happy to share additional staff as well. Mrs. Rancourt asked about current Freshman class of 467 and the grade 8 class of 431. Do more students enroll in high school? Dr. Gallacher stated that you will some and some will remain in grade 9 if they do not pass the assessments. Mr. Newton added we usually have around 25 parochial students per grade level between the two high schools. Mrs. Rancourt asked if any of the students leave for magnet schools in grade 9. Dr. Gallacher stated yes. The magnet schools will accept them pretty much in all grade levels. Mr. Newton added there are some that come back. Dr. Gallacher added that we have very few early graduations. Mr. Newton stated that we sometimes will have around 2 mid-year graduations. Some of the students want to start at Asnuntuck. Mr. Newton stated he is also available if you have any additional questions. Chairman Neville stated that both Mr. Van Tasel and House Master John Coleman are available to answer any questions on the JFK matrices. Chairman Neville asked about the projected numbers for next year. Mr. Van Tasel stated 422 in grade 5. Last year we lost 35 students in grade 6 to magnet schools, we lost 51 for grades 7 & 8. This year he would project 392 in grade 6, 407 in grade 7 and 363 in grade 8 for a total enrollment of 1,162. Dr. Gallacher stated that we currently we have 1,211 students at JFK. Mrs. Szewczak asked how many students have come back from magnet schools this year. Mr. Coleman stated around 8. Most of them have come back from the Public Safety Academy. Dr. Special Board of Education Meeting January 24, 2012 Page 5

Gallacher added if they here on October 1st they count for us and if they are somewhere else they count for somebody else. Chairman Neville stated there is no pro-ration on the tuition. Chairman Neville asked about the portables at JFK. Mr. Van Tasel stated we have had some concerns with the portables this year. Heating units are not working properly and water is pooling on the roof. There are some structural issues that need to be looked at. Space issues at JFK also warrant us to looking at the portables. Chairman Neville asked if something happened to the portables would you be able to schedule those students for next year. Mr. Van Tasel stated we would be in trouble without the portables. Dr. Gallacher added that we started discussing this last night. One portable is a single and one is a double. He is hoping that the town can replace them with 3 double portables. The autism class cannot be held in a portable due to State legislation. It is not in the cards for next year to move the autism class to JFK. Mr. Van Tasel stated every room at JFK is being used and without the portable classrooms we would be in trouble. Chairman Neville stated we need to push for this CIP item. Chairman Neville asked about the number of teachers for grade 6 next year. Mr. Van Tasel stated we are looking for the same number of teachers with 4 teams in grade 6. Mrs. Rancourt asked about grade 7 for next year. Mr. Van Tasel stated we would have 11.6 teams – 4 in grade 6, 4 in grade 7 and 3.6 in grade 8. Mrs. LeBlanc asked about the grades for the students that came back from magnet schools. Mr. Van Tasel stated he would get that information for her. Chairman Neville stated the class sizes are remarkable. Mr. Van Tasel stated we originally planned on using the café but were able to work around this. Mr. Grady asked about the pool. Mr. Van Tasel stated a dryer unit is needed. The PE staff would like to use it in the future but there would be some staffing issues that would need to be addressed. Dr. Gallacher asked if Park & Recreation uses the pool. Mr. Van Tasel stated yes. Chairman Neville stated this was taken out as a budget reduction due to costs a few years ago. We may send Mr. Van Tasel some additional questions. Chairman Neville would like to schedule a presentation for the Board on the Mimio devices. Dr. Gallacher stated we can change the location of one of the special meetings to take place at JFK. This way you can tour the school and look at the Mimio devices. Chairman Neville stated we have January 31st and February 7th. Mr. Van Tasel will look to see if the café at JFK is available on either January 31st or February 7th. Mrs. Rancourt asked where TAG would be placed at the middle school. Mr. Van Tasel stated that this was one of our concerns but we believe that it has been solved. A logical spot would be in the library for this program. Dr. Gallacher added there will be 8 students for each grade level at JFK. Chairman Neville asked if the teacher needs a certain level of certification. Mr. Van Tasel stated no. Mrs. Szewczak added that they will be trained. Chairman Neville stated we will move onto the next item on the agenda. 6.

POLICY REVISION – SECOND READINGS - #5131 STUDENT DISCIPLINE; #5131.9 BULLYING PREVENTION AND INTERVENTION POLICY (INCLUDING THE DISTRICT’S SAFE SCHOOL CLIMATE PLAN & THE ADMINISTRATIVE REGULATION) AND #6172 EDUCATION INSTRUCTION UNDER PARENTAL DIRECTION Special Board of Education Meeting January 24, 2012 Page 6

Dr. Gallacher stated that we had the first reading on the policies on January 10 th. We have only heard from one person on one of the policies. Mr. Torre added that the policies are posted on the website for public viewing. Mr. Johnson moved, seconded Mrs. Szewczak that the Enfield Board of Education moves forward with the second readings for #5131 Student Discipline; #5131.9 Bullying Prevention And Intervention Policy (Including The District’s Safe School Climate Plan & The Administrative Regulation) and #6172 Education Instruction Under Parental Direction. Discussion: Mr. Johnson stated that one person did bring up questions regarding policy #6172 Education Instruction Under Parental Direction. Chairman Neville asked if we could separate the motions. Both Mr. Johnson and Mrs. Szewczak withdrew the original motion that the Enfield Board of Education moves forward with the second readings for #5131 Student Discipline; #5131.9 Bullying Prevention And Intervention Policy (Including The District’s Safe School Climate Plan & The Administrative Regulation) and #6172 Education Instruction Under Parental Direction. Mr. Johnson moved, seconded by Mr. Grady that the Enfield Board of Education moves forward with the second reading for policy #5131 Student Discipline as presented. Discussion: Ms. Hall asked about the written report for bullying and stated that students can also make an anonymous report. Chairman Neville stated that is for the next policy 5131.9. Ms. Hall withdrew her concern. A vote by roll-call 7-0-0, passed unanimously. Mr. Johnson moved, seconded by Mr. Grady that the Enfield Board of Education moves forward with the second reading for policy #5131.9 Bullying Prevention and Intervention Policy (Including The District’s Safe School Climate Plan & The Administrative Regulation) as presented. Discussion: Ms. Hall asked how we are dealing with the anonymous reporting. Mr. Torre stated it could complicate things. There are sign-off sheets if a student wants it to be anonymous. The law is clear regarding this. The policy guarantees against any act of discrimination or retaliation against a person that reports is an expellable or suspendable offense. Mr. Newton stated the anonymity is not from the investigator, it is anyone beyond the reporter of the offense. The individual needs to let the investigator know and will ask for anonymity. The investigator will talk to witnesses. Chairman Neville stated an anonymous victim needs to let the administration know that they want to be kept out of the picture. Can you impose sanctions against the bully without them knowing who is accusing them? How would you do this? Mr. Torre stated it may be a problem but there are other ways around this. We worked with our attorneys on the form. These things will eventually work out. We receive anonymous reports now. We are pretty thorough with our investigation process. Chairman Neville added it makes it easier if they go on the record. Mr. Torre stated it is difficult sometimes to get the correct story. Chairman Neville Special Board of Education Meeting January 24, 2012 Page 7

added that cyber bullying is also a concern. Mr. Torre stated that we must report it to the police if any criminal activity is going on. Ms. Hall asked about counter reports from the person that has been accused of bullying. Chairman Neville added the he said, she said factor. Mr. Van Tasel stated there are circumstances that we have received bullying reports from multiple persons. Each one will be given their due diligence and we will try to come up with what actually happened. We will look for consistencies and we will determine the act of bullying. Mr. Newton added there is mutual bullying or is it two individuals being bullied or is it one case of mutual altercations. If two students get into a fist fight we call that one altercation and we deal with it. Every case is not identical. You need to investigate each case on the merits and facts and decide if it is two separate cases of bullying or is it one case of mutual disrespect. Mr. Torre added that we are following the State statutes and have created safe school climate committees at every school and have safe school coordinators at each school. We have 40 plus staff members that have gone for workshop training. All staff will be in-serviced on this in February in April. We will send this out to everyone on Friday electronically to all EPS users. We are doing a great job investigating. These are emotional issues. We take this seriously. The staff takes this seriously and he is happy with the reaction that we have received. We have come a long way. Chairman Neville stated the safe climate part is the best part because it will lessen the number of bullying incidents from pre-k -12. Mr. Torre stated any time a student is harassed, bullied or intimidated we will investigate it thoroughly. Mrs. LeBlanc stated that she attended a PTO meeting at JFK and they had a presentation on this and it was extremely affective. Mr. Torre stated one of the things our secondary principals asked about was to have our school attorney Tom Mooney work with ADCO and go through this and answer any questions. Ms. Hall stated that she has heard from parents that nothing is being done. She has explained to them that the student’s confidentiality is kept and the parents will not be told what the outcome is. Our bullying policy has been strong for many years. Mr. Van Tasel added that we are bringing the policy out to the public and community. It is part of re-educating the teachers and the public. Chairman Neville stated the investigations take place but we can only deal with what we know about. Sometimes after the investigations, they don’t like the outcome or why the student isn’t suspended or expelled longer. Mr. Torre stated now there will be a final report where the parents can be invited back. There are more safe guards now. The principals have always done a fantastic job. Chairman Neville stated this policy is head and shoulders above the other ones that he has seen. The policy committee has done a great job. Mr. Johnson thanked Chairman Neville. Parents have told us that their child has been bullied for years and he understands their concerns. Both students have rights and we cannot tell parents what is being done. They need to trust us and understand that we will take the necessary steps to prevent this from happening again. This type of behavior is unacceptable. Mr. Johnson added that he also likes this policy. The past policy committee members have done a great job and he fully endorses this policy. Mr. Newton added that we will take an administrative action and tell the students to leave each other alone or there will be consequences. That doesn’t mean they will always listen to us. When this happens the parents may come back to us and say it didn’t work. We will increase the administration action in those cases even if it means we must expel a student to keep the Special Board of Education Meeting January 24, 2012 Page 8

students safe in our schools. Ms. Hall added that in some cases the students become friends again after a short time. A vote by roll-call 7-0-0, passed unanimously. Mr. Johnson moved, seconded by Mr. Grady that the Enfield Board of Education moves forward with the second reading for policy #6172 Education Instruction Under Parental Direction as presented. Discussion: Mr. Johnson stated this policy is for home schooling and we were trying to clear up some of the language in the policy. Chairman Neville stated we had one parent that had some questions on this policy. We are trying to clean up some of the language in the policy to include what our current practice is. Dr. Gallacher agreed with Chairman Neville. Chairman Neville added that is our intent not to exclude anyone. Mrs. Szewczak asked about the parent question with instrumental music. Dr. Gallacher stated that was one of the questions raised by the parent. Our policy was not specific towards extracurricular activities. The revised policy reflects what we believe administratively at the high school, middle school and elementary schools. We also believe the students should go through the same health screenings and vaccinations that an enrolled student has. We also spelled out that some classes have prerequisites. Ms. Hall stated we are aware of the number of students that are currently being home schooled. Is there a penalty for not registering to home school your children? Dr. Gallacher stated if you are between the ages of 7-16 you must register with the school. If they do not register with us, we will notify DCF for educational neglect. If we didn’t we would be in violation for this. The lists we have are for people that are compliant with the law. Most people want their children in school. The State would consider them as truant. Mrs. LeBlanc stated the concern with the elementary music is that is happens during the school hours. Dr. Gallacher stated that there are 39 students being home schooled. If they wanted to come in during the day it would increase the class sizes, you would be responsible for them in the building, for liability issues if they slipped and fell or were bullied. There are a lot of things to think of. If someone has made the choice to home school their child, they should not be able to pick and choose. Chairman Neville added the classes are not always at the same time. Dr. Gallacher stated especially at the elementary level. Class times vary. A vote by roll-call 7-0-0, passed unanimously. 7.

ACTION(S), IF ANY, TO ALTER CURRENT SCHOOL CALENDAR FOR MAKE-UP DAYS

Chairman Neville stated we put this off to revisit. The weather gods have been good to us. Dr. Gallacher would recommend staying with the past practice for snow days. We have 5 days available in April and 5 days in June to use if needed. He would not recommend bringing the students back in April. The absenteeism rate would be high. We have had this practice for a long time. Special Board of Education Meeting January 24, 2012 Page 9

Chairman Neville stated it is a good decision to not make a decision. Chairman Neville asked if we need to make a motion on this. Dr. Gallacher would like the Board to make an official decision on this. Mr. Grady moved, seconded by Mrs. Rancourt that the Enfield Board of Education sticks to their current practice for make-up days for the FY2011-12 school calendar. A vote by roll-call 7-0-0, passed unanimously. Dr. Gallacher added that we will inform all EPS Users, PTO Presidents and will copy the Board on this. 8.

ACTION, IF ANY, ON APPROVING TENTATIVE AGREEMENT FOR LOCAL 130346/COUNCIL #4 CLERICAL EMPLOYEES

Dr. Gallacher stated that this was discussed at the last executive session. This is for the clerical employees. Ms. Hall moved, seconded by Mrs. Szewczak that the Enfield Board of Education approves the tentative agreement for the clerical employees Discussion: Mr. Drezek stated that this was unanimously ratified by the clerical employees A vote by roll-call 7-0-0, passed unanimously. 9.

EXECUTIVE SESSION – MATTER(S) RELATED TO COLLECTIVE BARGAINING – TENTATIVE AGREEMENT

Mr. Grady moved, seconded by Mrs. Szewczak that the Enfield Board of Education enters into Executive Session to discuss Matter(s) Related to Collective Bargaining – Tentative Agreement. A vote by show of hands 8-0-0 passed unanimously at 8:40 PM. Dr. Gallacher, Mr. Torre, Mr. Drezek were invited to join the Board in Executive Session. No action occurred while the Board was in Executive Session. 10.

ADJOURNMENT

Mr. Grady moved, seconded by Mr. Johnson to adjourn the Special Meeting of January 24, 2012. All ayes, motion passed unanimously. Meeting stood adjourned at 8:50 PM. Donna Szewczak Secretary Enfield Board of Education

Respectfully Submitted,

Kathy Zalucki, Recording Secretary

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