MINUTES
OF
KEY COMMUNICATORS MEETING
MONDAY, November 20, 2006
Present: Joe Luongo,
Josephine Ciocia,Connie Doheny, Lisa Hodulik,Kathy Iapelli, Donna
Wipper, Linda Condal, Cathy Meseck, Marrie Messeri, Nancy
Smith, Lizz Nuzzo, Gina Hoffman, Lynn Nilsson, Ana Mastropietro,
Lisa Pallandino
Joe Luongo opened the meeting at 7:31 PM.
District:
Technology Position – Tom Matty resigned his position. An
outside service was hired and they sent a person on Friday and
that person quit. The service will send someone else. The
Board is looking at candidates and hopefully within the next
two months someone will be hired.
Director of Special Service Position – Harriet Eisenberg
resigned effective 12/31/06. Mr. Luongo will recommend
to the Board to hire an Interim Director at the rate of $600
per day, 4 days per week from 12/1/06 to 6/30/07. He will
also review the entire special education program and make recommendations
to the Board in June 2007. There are several people from
within that are qualified for the position. The Board will
follow the entire interview process and is planning on approving
someone prior to the end of this school.
Depken Field Project – Mr. Luongo attended the last
council meeting where one council member stated that there should
have been a written agreement with the Board of Education and
Mayor and Council prior to submitting plans to the Council. Mr.
Luongo stated that he has been speaking with the Council for
months and at present, there is an unwritten agreement. All
parties concerned are meeting and there will be a written agreement
to present to the Council within one month. If everything
runs smoothly, the project could start May 2007. If there
are no complications the project would be done by September 2007. The
Board of Education is looking into billboards for the fields.
The Board of Education needs permission from the Zoning Board
and a letter has been sent to the Zoning Board already.
Hillsboro School District – nonsmoking policy –We
have a law on the books regarding no smoking. Any child
16 years old and under found with any tobacco product can be
prosecuted.
High School:
Security Cameras -
There were 18 cameras installed and the police department reviewed
the positions of the cameras. Police
made a few adjustments. Mr. Luongo stated that we still need
more cameras for the back field and around the outside of the building. The
cameras did catch a student smoking.
Auditorium – The
seats will be installed the first week of February.
Middle School:
MS Exams
- Parents questioning
whether teachers are told that final exams should be from January
till the end not cumulative. Mr. Luongo stated that science, math and English
can be from the beginning of the year because of applied techniques
that are carried over into the second half of the year. Parents
wanted to make sure that teachers will be giving the students a
brief outline of the exams well in advance. Last year, middle
school students received some outlines 3 days prior to exams. Instructional
supervisors and education committee will meet regarding final and
midterm exams, what is on it and how far in advance to notify students.
Class Detention – Parents felt that it is unfair
to have class detention because of a few students who are constantly
disrupting the class. Also, parents questioned whether a
substitute can give detention. We were told students must
be given 24 hour notice.
Bathrooms - Parents
wanted to know if more bathrooms during the day can be opened. The first floor has bathrooms opened
during the day because there is a hall monitor. The bathrooms
in the cafeteria are opened during lunch and then they are locked. The
bathrooms in the basement in the new wing are locked. There
are bathrooms on the second floor opened only for middle school
students and no bathrooms on the third floor are opened. Evergreen
students have the third floor bathrooms.
Cafeteria bathrooms -
The cafeteria bathrooms are in bad condition and will be fixed
next year during the summer. However,
they need to fix the ventilation problem in the cafeteria bathrooms.
Elementary:
Security – Mr. Luongo stated that as long as he is
superintendent he will always recommend a special question for
moving the offices to the main floor at both schools. A parent
stated that they understand the need to move the offices however
we will be losing a classroom at both schools. Our enrollment
is constantly increasing how can we possible accommodate more students
with fewer classrooms without increase class size? It was
stated that all of these concerns are being investigated.
LS lunch
tables – A
parent questioned that the lunch tables at Lincoln School are
not being cleaned during each lunch sessions or after. There are two custodians on at lunch
time and one must clean two peanut free rooms. Therefore,
there is one custodian to clean 21 tables with a few minutes between
each session. Mr. Luongo will try to resolve the problem
of cleaning the tables during and after lunch.
LS computer
media center – subject was that some
classes are watching movies and not participating in library or
computer. Grades 1-5 watch no movies. The teacher reads
the pre K a short story, they discuss it and than a short movie. Kindergarten
read stories for 20 minutes and than collecting and taking out
of library books. If the
student can not take out a book there is a movie on to keep them
occupied. The kindergarten software is not running at this
time.
3rd grad
student incident– The incident occurred
during the pep rally on Friday. That student has been suspended
several times and has gone to counseling. There are now restrictions
for any future assemblies with this student. If there is
another incident at lunchtime, he will be removed from lunch time
recess.
Any organization
or group that wishes to have fund raisers must get the information
to the board early. The committee must
meet to discuss the fund raisers prior to putting it on the Board’s
agenda.
Next meeting
is scheduled for Monday, December 18, 2006 at 7:30 PM.
Meeting adjourned at 8:58 PM.
Minutes submitted
by Donna Wipper.