2003-04 School Year Brought Changes Great And Small

By Larissa Lytwyn

A far cry from the prior school year, when the Newtown Board of Education dealt with a $1.4 million cut to its proposed budget, the 2003-04 school year passed smoothly — though not without some significant changes.

The district welcomed a new transportation director, Anthony DiLonardo, a seasoned transportation coordinator for Waterbury public schools.

Newtown High School also saw the surprise departure of 16-year-principal Bill Manfredonia.

 

Budget Passes

On First Try

Last January 29, Superintendent of Schools Evan Pitkoff presented his $53,865,315 2003-04 budget, which he described as a “conservative” one, to the school board. He stressed the importance of adding more teachers and guidance counselors, especially at the high school.

On April 26, the town voted “Yes” to an $84.4 million budget, $53,118,457 of which was awarded to the Board of Education.

The passage gave ardent school supporters a happy ending, especially when compared to the prior year, when the public rejected the town budget twice before approving it on a third go-round.

Contracts Approved,

Eventually

In early November, the Legislative Council made no motion to challenge the 2005–2008 teachers’ contract, which thus automatically passed at the end of the month.

The contract includes revisions to Section 28.1.1.1 to allow the school board more latitude in selecting alternative insurance carriers for its health insurance coverage. Salaries will be raised 2.25, 2.55, and 2.75 percent over the next three years. First year teachers with a bachelor’s degree currently earn $37,600. Next year’s 2.25 percent increase will raise the 2004-05 salary for teachers with the same qualifications to $38,446. First year teachers equipped with master’s degrees currently earn $40,600; next year’s counterparts will earn $41,514.

The net annual cost of the contract, including the established schedule of teacher salary adjustments for educational credits and degrees, and coaching and activity assignments, is 4.36 percent for the first year, 4.34 percent for the second year, and 4.1 percent for the third year of the contract.

In addition to its clauses regarding salary and insurance, the contract addresses issues ranging from expectations regarding leaves of absence to a parent-teacher relations clause. All teachers are granted 15 fully paid sick days in each year. Maternity leaves are treated as a temporary disability and provided “in accordance with state and federal laws.” Teachers on disability leave can receive full pay for up to six months.

During its September 21 meeting, the Board of Education approved the administrators’ contract.

At that time, administrators were given a wage increase of 3.75 percent for each of the next three academic years and a graduating annual insurance co-payment increase from 15, to 16, to 17 percent.

Newtown’s Legislative Council voted down that initial administrators contract on October 20.

Under the new stipulated agreement eventually approved by the council, the insurance co-payment percentage increases will remain the same. But while administrators’ wages will increase by 3.75 percent for the 2005-06 year, raises will be 3.70 percent for the 2006-07 school year and 3.65 percent for the 2007-08 school year.

Transportation Improves

The 2003-04 busing system underwent a major four- to three-tier transition. For the system to work, Head O’ Meadow, Sandy Hook, and Middle Gate school schedules were shifted approximately an hour and a half later. With some bus drivers still getting to know their routes amid traffic-heavy afternoons, some elementary-aged children did not return home from school until nearly 5 pm.

Over the next month and a half, the Board of Education and Transportation Department, under former director Mary Kelly, struggled to make the three-tier system work. About $65,000 was transferred back into the budget to add two and half more buses. Routes were tweaked to shorten driving times and eventually a functioning system was in place.

But few parents, administrators, and BOE members would forget the chaos of fall 2003.

In January, Ms Kelly retired and the district welcomed new Transportation Director Anthony DiLonardo of Waterbury.

To facilitate smoother routes across Newtown’s 60-square-mile geographical landscape, Mr DiLonardo authorized the transportation department’s $20,500 purchase of VersaTrans, a cutting-edge, Windows-compatible software routing system.

VersaTrans detailed both route information and students’ personal information, including date of birth, grade, address, contact, and medical information, was instantly accessible. The new software proved a strong ally for Mr DiLonardo and the transportation department.

The start of the 2004-05 school year saw significantly fewer transportation problems than the prior school year.

School Start Time

Committee Expresses

Concern For Younger

Students

After months of researching the biological impact of adolescent sleep deprivation and related academic and disciplinary issues, the School Start Time Committee concluded that a more “moderate” school schedule, in which children would not be picked up before 7 am, should be established.

The committee was formed after concerns were expressed following the district’s shift this year from a four- to three-tier busing system.

Newtown Middle School students now follow the same schedule as Newtown High School while Head O’ Meadow, Middle Gate, and Sandy Hook elementary schools began school an hour and 15 minutes later, arriving home as late as 4 pm.

The committee lauded the ideal of a two-tier bus system, in which younger children were bused first, followed by older ones.

Recently Louis J. Boffardi of Transportation Advisory Services (TAS) concluded that the current three-tier system was operating “as efficiently and as timely a manner as is possible” in a report reviewed at the last school board meeting on December 21. (See separate story.)

The Boffardi report estimated that to bring third-tier students home just ten minutes earlier would require nine additional buses and require the middle and high school students to begin school even earlier, at 7:20 instead of 7:30 am. Such an adjustment would cost an estimated $620,000.

To shift the three-tier system to a two-tier one, in which elementary students would arrive at school first, followed by middle and high school students, an additional 33 buses would be required, a 106 percent increase over the current 31-bus fleet. The fleet required would be about 64 large buses.

The shift would also elicit a massive cost, estimated to be in the millions.

Dr Pitkoff expressed disappointment over the findings, a sentiment echoed by parents who want the school board to “think outside the box” to improve school schedules.

During the December 21 meeting, Board Chair Elaine McClure assured that the issue was not going away and would certainly be discussed in the future.

Substance Abuse Policy Reformed

On June 23, the Board of Education approved, 4 to 2, a revised substance abuse policy in which students could be recommended for expulsion after their second offense of using a controlled substance on school grounds.

While Chairman Elaine McClure, Vice Chairman Lisa Schwartz, Secretary Andy Buzzi, and Paul Mangiafico voted in favor of the policy, board members David Nanavaty and Tom Gissen voted against it, expressing concern over some of the policy’s language and definitions.

Previously, the policy had followed a three-offense structure. The revision basically condenses the first two offenses into a single, first-time offense that includes strong intervention requirements, including counseling and automatic suspension.

The policy’s language is still in the process of being modified to better help students struggling with a substance abuse problem while still protecting other students from a potentially unsafe environment.

Administrators

Say Goodbye

Last June, the district bid farewell to retiring Newtown High School Assistant Principal Jules Triber, a three-decade education veteran who was replaced with seasoned former Torrington High School Assistant Principal Cathy Ostar.

This past September, the district saw the sudden, more shocking departure of 16-year Newtown High School Principal Bill Manfredonia. Mr Manfredonia had served the high school for a total of 34-years, the entire span of his education career.

On December 1, however, Mr Manfredonia left to become principal of Edgemont Junior/Senior High School in Scarsdale, N.Y.

He was replaced with Interim Principal Patricia Llodra, a Newtown resident and retired principal of Northwestern Regional School in Winsted.

Recently, the district’s seven public school administrators presented their 2005-06 budget requests to the Board of Education. Though anticipated to be a difficult year economically, groups like Citizens for Newtown (CFN) (formerly Support our Schools) are dedicated to informing fellow residents of how the budget process works, while encouraging them to get out and vote in the spring.

As the New Year looms, yet another new education cycle beings, a cycle in which lessons learned have the power to yield fresh possibilities for the town’s public education system.