Schools

School Makeup Days, Salary Negotiations, Bullying Laws, Storm Wrap-up and a BOE Open Forum

Bethany Board of Education Meeting Nov. 9, 2011

A brief synopsis of what happened at last night’s Bethany Baord of Education meeting:

  • The Bethany Board of Education discussed the significant issue of making up the eight days lost to inclement weather and the ensuing power outages. The students are making up two days this week as they are attending school on Election Day and Veteran’s Day. Another day will be made up by attending school on March 30, which had been designated a professional development day, and a fourth professional development day may be used at the end of the school year. Board members decided it was too early to make decisions on other options such as using April vacation as winter has not even begun and there is no way of knowing how severe it will be.
  • Superintendent Tim Connellan said teacher salary negotiations went well and he recommended that when the board went into executive session later that evening, they vote to accept the proposal.
  • Connellan also discussed the School Climate Policy and it’s revisions in accordance with new tougher state laws that address bullying. He said he would recommend that Bethany adopt the same policy that was being put in place by the Amity Board of Education.
  • Chris Pittenger said the next Bethany Board of Education Open Forum is scheduled for November 30 at 6:30 p.m. Pittenger said he hopes for a large turnout and that everyone is invited, including parents, teachers and school staff. He added there will also be a forum of the school board and teachers later in the year.
  • The BOE was provided with CMT test scores in a format that compares Bethany to their BOW cohorts. The board will look at them and discuss them at another meeting. School Principal Rob Spino said there was a, “trend of improvement.”
  • The new oil tanks are installed, as are the fences around them. The old tanks were scheduled for removal on Election Day, but since students used that as a makeup day, they will be taken out on Saturday.
  • The BOE discussed storm-related problems including those with the school generator that have only recently been discovered since it has been used so much in the past few months. The generator is not powering some things that it is supposed to power, and the superintendent said they are still trying to understand why. Connellan said it may not be powerful enough to service what they need, including the server room. Without power to the school’s computer, there was no access to the list of parent’s emails.
  • Connellan publicly thanked First Selectwoman Derrylyn Gorsky and Fire Marshal Rod White for their help during the recent power outages. Connellan said White was always available during the crisis, and that when all forms of communication were down, White included school updates in the Code Red alerts. He encouraged town families to sign up for Code Red alerts if they have not already.


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