School Board Increases Support For

Gifted And Talented Program

By Susan Coney

The Newtown Board of Education voted to increase the current gifted and talented education faculty position at Reed Intermediate School from a 0.5 position to a 0.8 position at the July 6 meeting. Last year the part-time gifted position at Reed was held by Jill Bontatibus-Beaudry, however, she has chosen to leave that position to accept a full time fifth grade teaching assignment at Reed.

Currently the 0.5 existing position utilizes $25,000 from the salary budget, the addition of the 0.3 position would add another $14,900, which would need to come out of the salary line of the existing budget. An additional $11,600 for health benefits would be needed because a 0.8 position allows an employee to be eligible for medical insurance. The total cost of a 0.8 position would be approximately $51,500 [the figure could vary according to the experience of the selected candidate]. A total of $26,500 would need to come out of the current salary budget to pay for the increase in the position.

The increase in hours changes the job description of the position. The job title is Gifted And Talented Education Services (GATES) teacher and assessment coordinator. The job description states the teacher will provide an enrichment program for identified gifted and talented students at Reed Intermediate School, coordinate and administer assessments of students at the elementary and intermediate levels and assist with coordination of the elementary program.

Essential responsibilities would be: to assist in the identification of gifted and talented students, participate in meetings to develop guidelines for identification and manage the assessment process at Reed Intermediate and the four elementary schools.

The teacher would also be responsible for providing an enrichment program for students at Reed by: following district curriculum guidelines, developing activities that build confidence through knowledge of self, develop skills relating to others, use skills and strategies to cope with difficult tasks, situations and problems. The teacher would also guide the students to become self directed learners and would monitor student progress. The teacher would also be responsible for attending GATES meetings to coordinate program delivery and services for students taught by other GATES teachers. In addition the position requires that the teacher collaborate with classroom teachers to enhance understanding of the needs of gifted and talented students and provide enrichment activities and materials as appropriate.

Board member David Nanavaty questioned whether the town would be better served by hiring a full-time person for the job. “I’m just concerned in looking at the job description; do you think we can get someone to do this? Why aren’t you looking for a full time? Spend an additional $13,000 and you can get a full-time person.” Chairman Elaine McClure said, “I think David’s question is valid. This program still needs work.”

Superintendent Evan Pitkoff said, “We want to hire an experienced, seasoned teacher and you have to think what will it take to recruit the kind of people talented enough to address the needs.” He stressed that providing health insurance is an incentive to entice high quality candidates. “We really do have to be conservative, it is a balancing act [referring to budget constraints]. What can we do? We want to make a conservative addition. There are not that many people out there with that specific interest, but we have three potential candidates who have shown interest.”

Board member Tom Gissen commented, “There are clouds on the horizon with oil costs and special education. This is a fluid budget. I think it is something we should do [increasing to a full time position] but are we going to need this money in the future for other things?”

Paul Mangiafico agreed with fellow board member Gissen by saying, “Directionally we need to move toward a full time but not at this time. We are increasing the amount of time of the position.”

With budget constraints the board felt it was the more prudent course to increase the amount of time in the position at a conservative rate.

At the close of the meeting Newtown resident Sarah Beier, a staunch advocate for the GATES program, stated, “I respect the reasoning and am thankful for the increase but it’s not enough. There is so much work to get done. It is absolutely so much work, much more than even a full time position person could do. I believe in my heart it’s not enough. Also there is a real inequity in how the program is run across the school district. Newtown needs to support these kids and work toward providing something of substance.”