Evaluations And Transfer Policy Also Reviewed—

School Board Hears Complaint Of Bullying In NHS Sports

By Eliza Hallabeck

The Board of Education covered a range of topics Tuesday, April 3, from a budget transfer policy rewrite to the superintendent’s evaluation and finalizing the dates for the Newtown Middle School Moving Up Ceremony, June 18, and for the Newtown High School Graduation Ceremony, June 20. Some members of the public came to the meeting, however, to put something else on the board’s agenda: bullying in the Newtown High School sports program.

On February 28 at a Board of Education Coffee with the Board special meeting, multiple people spoke about alleging bullying on sports teams at Newtown High School. Two of those speakers were Griselle Santos and her son, Angel.

Before the full Board of Education, Superintendent of Schools Janet Robinson, and Assistant Superintendent Linda Gejda, parents voiced frustration and examples of bullying within sports teams without, for the most part, referencing specific situations.

This week, while speaking during the public participation portion of the school board meeting, Ms Santos said her and her son’s concerns were not added to the minutes for the February 28 meeting, and said she has not been contacted since speaking before the school board about her son’s situation. She questioned how it could take weeks to find a resolution.

“Angel’s civil rights need to be protected,” she said.

Ms Santos was the first to speak during Tuesday’s public participation, and, following her, others, including her son, voiced concern about the NHS boys’ basketball team.

“Over the past five weeks your administration has neglected to find an answer to solve my problem,” said Angel Tuesday night. “They have broken my civil rights.”

Standing before the board, he said, was not easy. Angel asked questions about his situation, and Ms Leidlein later asked him to e-mail his prepared statement so she could follow up with him.

“I want the removal of the current Newtown coaches,” Ms Santos said. “All of them, because they are all guilty of allowing and condoning the bullying and harassment my son has [encountered] in that program. And I want no further retaliation against Angel, because, I am telling you, this is only the beginning. I am not going away. I will fight for my son until my last breath.”

Another resident, Joe DeVellis said he attended the meeting in support of the Santos family, and said, “the negative atmosphere has been alive for years in the boys’ basketball program.”

Mr DeVellis cited a 2007-2008 parent group he was involved with that brought frustrations forward to the high school principal and superintendent at that time. With the turnover of the NHS principal and superintendent positions, Mr DeVellis said the behavior in the sports atmosphere has survived.

“We need to be more proactive than reactive at this point,” he said.

Following Tuesday’s meeting, NHS Principal Charles Dumais said, “We take all allegations of bullying seriously and make sure that they are all investigated. One of our school goals is, and has been for years, to eliminate mean and cruel behaviors. The school has a comprehensive safe school climate plan and our Student Assistance Team regularly reviews all reports of suspected bullying. When there are cases of confirmed bullying, we address them promptly and accordingly in a manner consistent with the district plan and school policies.”

Transfer Policy

Also at the meeting, after the school board voted to pass a number of reworked policies, board Chair Debbie Leidlein asked for a motion on Policy 3-202, which governs board procedures and major object code transfers.

The policy was brought before the board for its first read during the school board’s March 20 meeting. Ms Leidlein explained at that meeting the Board of Education policy subcommittee looked at the transfer policy because its members wanted a better understanding of where money is being moved within the budget.

“This was already voted on last October,” said board member Keith Alexander, reiterating concerns he expressed at the board’s previous meeting. “I thought it was fine the way it was, and voted for it.”

School board member William Hart said he was concerned the policy as submitted by the subcommittee would not do what board Vice Chair Laura Roche and Ms Leidlein, the subcommittee’s members, want it to do.

After deliberation and adding a sentence, the school board held off voting on the transfer policy until its next meeting.

Superintendent’s Evaluation

For the second board meeting in a row, Ms Leidlein brought up the idea of evaluating Superintendent of Schools Janet Robinson prior to her regularly scheduled June evaluation.

Dr Robinson also regularly has an informal midyear evaluation, but the school board missed holding one this year.

After speaking with Dr Robinson, Ms Leidlein presented a timeline to her board this week.

As presented by Ms Leidlein, the evaluation process will start with a board self-evaluation scheduled for its first meeting in May, and will end with meeting with Dr Robinson on June 5 to finalize her evaluation.

Ms Roche motioned to have the board approve Ms Leidlein’s timeline, and to have the board officially use a Connecticut Association of Board of Education (CABE)/Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents (CAPSS) evaluation process, which has been used for the past several years to evaluate the superintendent, for the evaluation. The motion passed in a 5 to 1 vote with Mr Hart voting against the motion.

Stating she felt it would be helpful with three board members going through the evaluation process for the first time, Ms Roche also made a motion to have the school board hire a consultant to assist with the evaluation process. School board member John Vouros seconded the motion.

Ms Roche said the school board needs the right people in place to guide the board through the evaluation.

Pointing out that the minority of the school board is new, Mr Hart, along with Mr Alexander, questioned how much a consultant would cost. Mr Hart also referenced the number of concerns raised by the school board over hiring consultants in the past.

“At least we are discussing it,” said board member Cory McCubbin. “It’s not just happening.”

Ms Roche agreed to look into how much a consultant would cost before the next board meeting, and a vote on her motion was postponed.