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Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Communications Committee Formed and Two Central Office Positions Hired

At Tuesday night’s  BOE meeting the Republican-endorsed Parents Not Politicians board members fulfilled one of their main campaign promises and pushed the BOE to create a Communications Committee.  The resolution establishing the new committee passed unanimously but not without Democrat members voicing concerns about the committee's purpose, composition and outreach to non-English speaking parents.

In addition, the Board approved the hiring of two key central office positions.  Robert Polselli has been hired as Director of Technology. He is currently the IT Director for the Middletown Public Schools. Carol Marinaccio is the new Director of Elementary Education.  Ms Marinaccio has been  NPS’ grants coordinator for the past five years. 

(I will do a more in depth story about the two new hires shortly)

There were several remarks during the public comments section regarding the establishment of the Communications Committee.

Emily Aguilar of the PTOC asked that the Board materials be translated into Spanish and said that translation software is not always reliable. She asked that the newly formed committee use “cultural sensitivity” in its approach.

Kerry O’Neill, president of the Silvermine PTO, said that Communications Committee should consider the work the already established parent groups which also focus on district wide communication.

Bruce Mellion, president of the Norwalk Federation of Teachers, said that the new committee should address issues of  communications between the Board and the NPS staff and suggested that the language of the motion include more specifically teachers. 

Steve Colarossi put forth the motion to set up the Committee in order to discuss better ways to communicate with parents, teachers, and other community members.  Before the unanimous vote, Ms. Rivas had several questions and concerns about the Committee: 

“How will you decide who is going to be on the committee?”  she asked.  “How will you reach out?”

She also thought the committee should have non-board members on it.  “How will we ensure that the committee is diverse?”

Board Chairman  Glenn Iannacone assured her that this committee would function like all the other committees and information would be brought forth before the entire board.

(Committee members were appointed subsequent to the meeting. They are:  Erin Halsey, Chair, Heidi Keyes, Sue Haynie and Migdalia Rivas)

In addition, a motion was put forth to put non-confidential BOE documents of the website. 

Ms. Bishop-Pullan questioned whether this motion was necessary since documents have begun appearing on the website.

“I think it’s important for the public that we take this direction,” said Mr. Collarossi.  “It had not been done for so long.”

Ms. Rivas said that we need to make sure that documents are available in other languages like Spanish and French-Creole.

This comment irked Board Member Jack Chiramonte who exclaimed passionately that the BOE cannot translate documents in to every language.

“I can understand Spanish, but why French Creole? What about the Koreans?” he said.  “This is America.  We can’t bend over for everyone.  They need to make an effort.”

Also during the public comments section, Matthew Surapine, a parent of a Ponus Middle School student read several sexually graphic pages of "TTLY" a  young adult novel by Lauren Myraclet hat his daughter took out from her school library. 

“Is this what kids are reading in middle school?” he said  “Shouldn’t they be reading Ernest Hemmingway?”

A draft calendar for the 2010-2011 school year was presented to the Board.  Several Board members asked that the second day of Rosh Hashana (Sept 10th) be reinserted into the calendar.  Ms. Haynie commented that several of the neighboring towns do not take the second day of Rosh Hashana off. 

Ms. Haynie suggested that the Board solicit the input of parents about the calendar by reconvening the PTO Council calendar committee that was established last year. 

“Let’s make parents part of the process,” said Ms. Haynie.

Other members thought that this process would be time-consuming and said that the calendar was similar to this year’s and it should be voted on as an action item at the next meeting.

(I will post the draft calendar shortly)

Dr. Papallo and Board Member Sue Haynie briefed the Board on Race to the Top, $4 billion federal grant for which states have to compete.  Norwalk is one of 18 districts targeted by the State for funding, although it is not one of the five cities that the Commissioner called to lead the work on the application. Ms. Haynie said that this funding could potentially mean $1.5 million additional funds for NPS.

“Local district buy-in is a important piece in receiving funding,” said Ms. Haynie. 

Assistant Superintendent Tony Daddona, NFT President Bruce Mellion,  and Board Chair Glenn Iannacone will attend a meeting this Friday held by Commissioner Mark K. McQuillan about Connecticut’s application.

Earlier in the meeting, Superintendent Papallo gave an update on the budget and said that a draft budget will be ready by Friday for internal distribution and will be released to the public on Monday.  It must be submitted to the city by January 15.   He said that he will also try and have it uploaded to the NPS website.  A meeting is scheduled for January 4, to solicit public comment on the proposed budget.

Dr. Papallo also stated that he plans to stay on as Interim Superintendent until the middle of February. The state law allows him to work at 45% of the compensation of the full-time position and he will stretch his time out by taking furlough days.  

During the approval of field trip section of the meeting, Ms. Bishop-Pullan said that she has been hearing concerns from parents about the value of some of the field trips, as well as the cost and ability of some children to participate in them.  She said she would like to be presented follow-up reports after the field trip in order to evaluate their usefulness.

Mr. Iannacone said that he has engaged a committee of business and community leaders to review the compensation of the new superintendent. Committee members include Joe Mann director of the NEON Center, Tony Lopez a benefits expert and Michael Lyons, an attorney.
Posted by Moina Noor

22 comments:

  1. Jack Chiramonte, I understand your frustration, but you need to present yourself better when you object to what may well be unreasonable demands because your comment, "This is America. We can't bend over for everyone. They need to make an effort," makes it sound as though "we" are too much trouble for the board of education.

    A better response would be that the board will make a determination when it deems it necessary to translate documents into other languages, but it can't translate everything it produces -- unless it makes translating the major part of its work.

    On the other hand, Ms Rivas, whom I do not know, presents herself as someone who is out to create conflict after conflict because of perceived slights by the rest of the board. She is being unreasonable and she ought to spend more time doing the work she was elected to do.
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  2. Dr. Papallo has been busy, he has the first draft for the budget prepared and delivered a month early.

    We have hired an IT guy, when will he start if he is currently under contract upstate? What is the mandate/policy/job description to bring us not just updated but positioned for the future?

    Laterally positioning Carol Marinaccio as the new Director of Elementary Education, hmmm, (scratches head).

    Hope she does much, much better in a higher paying director position than she did as a grants writer.

    Highering a go getter grants director is what we really need. We have been and we continue losing out substantially on funding resources that are desperately needed.

    Keep focusing on cuts, while we ignore the flashing neon's of funding streams.

    What does an Elementary Director do, exactly?

    What are an Elementary Directors responsibilities?

    What are we paying for this position?

    In reference to the field trips, ITS ABOUT TIME, this issue is addressed.

    Many of these trips are of little if any value on curriculum.

    What is most unacceptable is that many children do not have the resources to join in these trips and are futher marginalized and traumatised. The students that have no resouces to attend are left behind with a sub, basically a babysitting day with no educational exposure.

    What if we did trips that actually inspired?

    What if we are inclusive of the entire student body?

    What if we began to focus on and follow through on getting the biggest bang for the buck instead of following primitive status quo?

    A recent study, released by a research arm of a building hvac and battery maker, commisioned by the redevelopment quasi public agency, indicated that we have an over suupply of office space and an unskilled workforce.

    Instead of dumbing down, what if we really thought out of the box and flipped on the floodlights?

    We have abundent history right here and we choose to tear it down and throw up boxes with dead end low paing retail employment.

    What if we cast our attention farther down the road.

    Could we become a diverse economy with a wealth of history, a hub of education, health and inovation?

    Are we ignoring our most precious resource,ourselves and our own abilities?

    We seem to have a bipolar economy full of turtles and hares, what we need is a few foxes and an eagle.
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  3. Congratulations on forming the Communications Committee. It's long overdue and I'm sure it will quickly come up with a variety of ways to improve communication throughout the system and our community.

    However, creating such a committee does not mean that some Board members should continue their absurd pracitice of refusing to respond to communications from constituents because the Board is a "policy making" body. All elected officials have a moral responsibility to communicate with the people who elected them.

    I was at the first hour of last night's Board meeting and witnessed the brief discussion on field trips. I had to smile when I heard the comments from one Board member.

    During my time on the Board, from August 2005 until February 2009, I repeatedly argued that the district needed to examine its policy of promoting expensive trips. I'm talking about trips, mostly by non-language AP classes, that cost anywhere between $2,000 and $4,000.

    I recall trips to China, to various European countries, to the Galapagos Islands, etc. We would receive the trip requests, and the backup documents would casually mention something to the effect that financial aid would be generated by bake sales or car washes or some such activity. It seemed as if the administrators who wrote the proposals didn't believe we could do simple math.

    I always asked what percentage of eligible students would be going on the trip (the proposal always estimated the total number of students who would be going). At first, I couldn't get a straight answer, but pretty soon administrators appearing before the Board were forced to make it clear that the percentages were quite small.

    It was obvious, to me at least, that the only students going on these trips were from relatively comfortable homes; a fact that was verified when the Hour did a feature on the issue and interviewed some students who had gone to China.

    I argued that, in the name of equity, the district needed to devise a way of funding these trips; even if it meant a separate account in the operating budget, or even the use of grant money. I felt it was patently unfair for those children who signed up for courses but then couldn't afford all that those courses offered. I kept voting against the trips, doing what I could to keep the issue alive.

    The only Board member who took my concerns seriously was Greg Burnett, who was not nominated for re-electon by the Norwalk Democrats. While he voted for the trips, he did recognize that we had a problem that needed to be addressed. I find it sadly ironic that now -- when diversity and equity have finally come to forefront -- at least one of my former colleagues has deemed it a worthy issue to discuss.
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  4. The new Director of Elementary Education is responsible for evaluating all elementary principals. She is their new boss. This should be very interesting indeed!
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  5. it is amazing how one can already judge the director of elementary education and not even given either person in a position a chance. first of all do you not even understand that the positon of the grants person was enhanced so much by that individual that you criticize. Expansion of programs, better utilizing of funds, getting schools to share and collaborate, putting funds toward programs at all schools, literacy and numeracy initiatives, support for paras, only to mention a few.
    let's get our facts straight please. Let's move forward.
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  6. Let's get the facts straight is right. What expansion of programs? In what way did she better utilize funds? The superintendent and the principals together determine the use of funds. She did not invent Literacy Specialists, they existed long before she came.
    Funds have always been directed to all schools, except for Title I, which is funded by a formula. You make what she did sound different from what has always been done. Paras were always supported through central office training. Literacy and numeracy initiatives also originated way before this person arrived. Reading Recovery and it's spin-offs started long ago. Yes, let's get the facts straight.
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  7. Wow!!!! Hiring someone with NO elementary classroom experience to be Superintendent.Bringing forward only one candidate, overlooking the candidate(Ms.Jenkins)with experience.Rewarding Mr.Dadonna's choice for the position and let's not forget all the grants she brought to the city to pay for her grants position. She even has a list of consultants she uses every month to avoid doing her own job.Happy Holidays children of Norwalk,The ghost of Christmas past has come home again...
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  8. Different people, same Board. BIG mistake on this appointment.
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  9. HEY- 2 OF THE NEW PEOPLE VOTED "NO" ON THE NEW DIRECTOR. THINK THAT COUNTS FOR SOMETHING.
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  10. I don't know enough about the situation to make a judgment about the person who got this job. Who is Ms Jenkins? Were there any minority candidates?
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  11. Jenkins is former VP from Brookside and now a principal at some k-8 school in B'port that has won all kinds of awards. She is a minority candidate. They also overlooked Paul Krasnavage (form what I've heard). But, the whole interview process was very hush-hush. Everyone on that commitee was hand-picked by Bill Pap., so it's not wonder that nothing has leaked out. Funny, but the Board Watchers weren't shilling for Ms. Jenkins-- wonder why??????
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  12. it does seem like some sour grapes out there.
    it may be so that the good ole boys are not getting their way so now we have bloggers who attack, and definitely do not have their facts straight. as a community member I not only know this person but I am familiar with the work accomplished. It goes without saying she was the choice and a very good one.
    move on and get over it...
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  13. 10:32 - I speak only for myself (I am the 10:00 poster), and I assure everyone that I am neither one of the "good ole boys," nor someone who is eating sour grapes.

    As I said, I don't know enough about the situation to judge the person who got the job, and knowing now who the minority candidate was, I don't know enough to judge her either, other than to say that I know she is a very intelligent person because I have worked with her on rare occasion. The person who got the job is very intelligent, too. I haven't worked with her, but I have at least spoken with her enough to make at least a tentative judgment. I am not attacking her success in getting this job.

    There is a big "HOWEVER" coming. However, I find it very surprising that the board of education, which ought to be especially concerned about its sensitivity to the minority population, didn't even grant a board interview to a Black candidate who was a successful elementary level administrator in Norwalk, who is intelligent, and who (to me, at least) has good interpersonal skills. I don't know about her success as a principal in Bridgeport, but if the earlier poster is correct and her school has won awards, she has done well for herself.

    I am the last person to say that the minority candidate should be given preference, but I do believe that the minority candidate ought to be given a chance. And let's not forget that the board voted in not one, but two, White central office administrators at this week's meeting.

    Norwalk's central administration is still notoriously White, and this White administration seems to want to surround itself with people who look like them. This will continue to be so until the community demands a change.
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  14. For those who don't know, the 'good ole boys' are enjoying the choice. They will have great fun trying to distract and annoy this person, and nothing will change. If Krasnavage was indeed a candidate, he was their choice, but this one is absolute putty in their hands.
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  15. How about some specifics on what meaningful progams this new Director brought to Norwalk in the last five years? I must have had amnesia for that period of time, because I can't think of any. I don't get it.
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  16. I like her but I can imagine the problems ahead with the elementary principals. No one in the central office has been able to control them, and I mean no one.
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  17. A likable person is NOT what that office needs. What we don't need is a likable person who writes likable evaluations.
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  18. Since no one has been able to furnish specifics on the new director's accomplishments in Norwalk, I assume that she hasn't made any contributions to the system. Way to go, new BoE! Congratulations on elevating someone who was a do nothing to someone who can do nothing with a much larger salary.
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  19. Let's see what they do with the top job, which greatly concerns me. Let's see what major accomplishments the candidates can claim, and let's be sure that someone does the homework necessary for verifying the claims. Assume nothing other than that there are a lot of frauds in educational administration, and the worst of them sometimes work their way toward the top.
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  20. It seems as if Pappallo is going to make a statement and leave. He brings in his "people" and gives them all new high paying jobs. The Elementary Education director has zero experience and the IT guy is from "where"? Oh yeah, not from Norwalk! I wonder what Pappallo is getting in return????
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  21. I don't think it's Papallo who pushed for both of these.
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  22. Shame on you, Mr. Jack Chiramonte! I've just viewed the BOE December 15th Meeting video on yourct.com. Your comments on translation of information in French Creole were ethnocentric and exclusionary. One could easily respond to you, "Yes, this IS America. A country BUILT on diversity." Get on board with the 21st century, Mr. Chiramonte. By the way, I am white, middle class, but do not fool yourself into thinking that you are speaking for me. You need to engage in self-reflection, and ask yourself if you are cut out to adequately represent a diverse community such as Norwalk. For a moment, I thought I was being transported back to the bigotry of the 1950s world. No, Mr. Chiramonte, the white middle class does not applaud what you believe to be your brave stance. I am ashamed for you.
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