School Administrators Present 2005-06 Budgets To School Board

By Larissa Lytwyn

Administrators from Newtown’s seven public schools presented their budget proposals for the 2005-06 school year to the Board of Education at a special meeting on December 8.

“The principals prioritized their needs from one to three, one being essential, two being ‘We’d really like this and this is important,’ and three being something needed, but not absolutely essential for the coming year,” explained Superintendent of Schools Evan Pitkoff.

Most of the items marked a three were removed from the schools’ budgets.

Elementary School Needs

On the elementary level, dominant themes included the addition of time for early-intervention teachers, added work-days for math/science and library/media specialists, language arts consultants and lead teachers, safety-driven door replacements, and the need to better equalize teaching time between faculty members.

According to the latest state projections, said Hawley Elementary School Principal JoAnne Peters, there is an enrollment decrease of approximately 26 students, from 450 to 424.

“This [decrease] is the first time this has happened at our school that I can remember,” she said. Thus, she will not be requesting new teachers.

At the same time, she cautioned, the school was currently five students above what had been projected for this year. “In addition, we are expecting two more students to enter the system in January,” she said.

Of utmost concern, she continued, was the kindergarten and first grade class sizes.

The school board recommends a maximum of 20 students per class in grades K–2.

“Numbers at these [K–2] levels can be hard to predict because there are a lot of families in town who have taken advantage of the full-time kindergarten programs that are offered outside the [public] school program,” Ms Peters noted.

Additionally, the latest research trends show the critical value of early intervention, particularly at the primary grade levels. In accordance with this theme, Ms Peters, as well as her three elementary school colleagues, requested an increase in early intervention time for students.

Ms Peters requested an additional half-time early intervention teacher to work at the kindergarten level. She also proposed extending the work year for her lead teacher, language arts consultant, math/science and library/media specialist by ideally five days apiece.

Introducing her list of building and maintenance improvements, Ms Peters reminded board members that Hawley was the oldest school in the district.

She proposed completing the second phase of bathroom renovations in the 1948 section of the building at a cost of $26,000. In addition, she discussed the importance of renovating two bathrooms in the 1921 section of the building, at a cost of $7,000.

Speaking with Building and Maintenance Director Dom Posca, she said, renovating the four bathrooms at the same time would ultimately be the most cost-effective.

In addition, Ms Peters proposed finishing a floor replacement project begun on the second floor of the 1948 section of the building, at a cost of $6,000.

The project was never finished, she said, because the school ran out of funds.

At Head O’ Meadow Elementary School, Principal Bill Bircher said that the school’s population of 482 students was expected to remain stable, dropping slightly to 479 students next year.

Like Ms Peters, he emphasized the addition of a half-time early intervention teacher, as well as an additional full-time remedial reading and math teacher and a 0.5 worth of reading paraprofessional to work approximately five hours a week.

“These students [in the remedial programs] don’t necessarily qualify for special education,” said Mr Bircher. “They just need some more one-on-one time — more time in general.”

He urged the school board to “fulfill the dream” of children learning efficiently by supporting the additional remedial staffing.

In addition, Mr Bircher talked about the school’s current pay-to-participate fourth grade orchestra program, which was implemented this fall following the program’s removal due to a $1.6 million cut to school board’s proposed 2003-04 budget.

He appealed to the board to add a 0.3 orchestra teacher to continue the program in the spirit that “public music education should be free,” using statistics to cite the importance of music education in expanding intellectual capacity.

One study, he said, found that 67 percent of medical school students had studied music during their undergraduate years, compared to 48 percent who studied biochemistry.

Mr Bircher’s building improvements request were minimal; he noted only a single paint and repair metal siding project at a cost of $15,000.

At Middle Gate Elementary School, Principal Judy Gallo said there was expected to be a slight rise in students for the 2005-06 school year, from 504 to 507.

“Bear in mind that we are at 510 students right now, so we will see how that turns out,” she said.

Citing the school’s large student population and housing of the district’s autistic program, Ms Gallo proposed increasing Middle Gate’s current 0.27 early intervention teaching position to a full-time one.

She also proposed extending the work year by four days apiece for Middle Gate’s language arts consultant, library/media and math specialists, as well as put in a 15-hour per week increase in educational assistant time to support students’ math study groups.

But her biggest proposal was to change the school’s lead teacher position to assistant principal, which would incur a salary increase of approximately $15,000.

“I hope that one day all elementary schools can have an assistant principal in them,” said Ms Gallo. “Middle Gate is unique at this time because we have a lot of new, untenured staff members who, while they are great, have certain special needs.”

Some young teachers, she said, may go on maternity leave; all need more instructional “supervision” than more seasoned educators.

In addition, Ms Gallo again reminded school board members that Middle Gate holds the district’s autism program.

“While a lead teacher is an amazing component to our team, they are limited in what they can do,” said Ms Gallo. “We need an administrator to represent the school at, for example, [PPT] meetings.”

For building improvement requests, Ms Gallo sliced her list of eight items, including ceiling replacements and bathroom renovations, to two: an $18,000 project to restore flooring in six classrooms and the purchase of four white boards, at a cost of $3,000.

Sandy Hook Elementary School Principal Donna Pagé said that her school has the distinction of housing the district’s largest elementary student population.

While numbers are expected to drop slightly, from 658 to 655 students, Ms Pagé said that the school is currently holding 661 students.

She requested a half-time early intervention teacher, an extension of the work year by four days each for the school’s language arts consultant, library/media specialist and educational assistant, and math/science specialist.

Ms Pagé’s building improvement requests included $5,900 worth of electrical work, which she said was a “safety issue” that direly needed to be addressed.

Other requests included the $2,400 replacement of a broken skylight shade, essential for maintaining bearable temperatures in warm weather, as well as $5,000 in whiteboard replacements, $12,000 for completing a floor renovating project, and $6,800 to replace the art room’s countertops.

“The countertop request may seem frivolous,” she said, “but I am concerned about the counters getting so bad that they begin warping.”

Reed Intermediate School

Reed Principal Donna Denniston said that the school’s population is expected to increase from 874 to 913 students next year, a 4.3 percent increase.

“Something that I think is really essential this year is adding a guidance counselor to our staff,” she said. “The American Guidance Counselor Association recommends a ratio of 1 to 250 students; we will have one to serve over 900 students.”

She also proposed adding a single full-time special education teacher, eliminating three paraprofessionals. Ms Denniston was quick to note, though, that these paraprofessionals would not lose their jobs. “They would likely be utilized in other parts of the district,” she said.

She also proposed a 0.2 physical education teacher, 0.6reading teacher and a 0.4 music teacher (which would break down in part-time hours for possibly one to multiple instructors) to serve the school’s burgeoning student population.

While she had no top-priority building improvement plans for the newly built school, Ms Denniston put in a special request for a single bass clarinet at a cost of $1,500. The instrument, she explained, was an important part of the school’s music program.

Newtown Middle School

Newtown Middle School Principal Diane Sherlock said that, like Reed, the school is growing steadily, from 864 to 907 students.

Last year, Ms Sherlock proposed a two-part hiring of two seventh grade teachers for the 2004-05 school year and two eighth grade teachers for the 2005-06 school year to handle the particularly large class of 2005’s more than 450 students.

The school board granted her the hiring of two seventh grade teachers for the 2004-05 school year, and, in accordance with last year’s proposal, urged board members to hire two eighth grade teachers.

She also proposed the addition of adding 0.357 in physical education teaching time and 0.143 of math teaching time to manage the school’s considerable student population.

For building improvement requests, Ms Sherlock’s proposals included a $40,000 replacement of three room dividers, $25,000 for replacing the gym’s double-doors, and $40,000 in replacing entrance and exit doors.

“Students have told me that they can open these [entrance] doors when they are locked by shaking them very hard,” she said. “It’s a very big safety concern and needs to be taken care of.”

Newtown High School

Newtown High School Interim Principal Pat Llodra said that the school was growing steadily, from 1,622 to a projected 1,660 students.

She emphasized the hiring of a school psychologist and a 0.20 social worker, expanding the social worker’s current four-day workweek to a full five days.

Though there has been the hiring of additional counseling staff in recent years, Ms Llodra said, the school was still far above the recommended maximum ratio for such staff to students.

Also notable was Ms Llodra’s proposed hiring of a 0.40 in-school suspension supervisor.

Board Vice Chair Lisa Schwartz said she was very pleased to hear of such a proposal. “I don’t believe I’ve ever heard that on all my years on the board,” she said. “That is excellent and very much needed.”

Ms Llodra said that the district holds a preventative, rather than reactive, philosophy regarding all matters of students’ academic and social development.

Ms Llodra also proposed the hiring of a 0.60 music teacher and a 0.429 world languages teacher to handle increasing sections of Spanish, French, Latin and Italian.

“I would also like the board to consider elevating our dean to an assistant principal position,” Ms Llodra said.

With the school’s high number of students, she said, there were ever-mounting administrative demands that stretched beyond a dean’s capabilities.

Ms Llodra also discussed creating a special stipend for a physical education department chairperson. “PE is the only department right now that lacks internal leadership,” she said. “I believe this would be a truly wonderful, necessary development.”

Ms Llodra also proposed adding summer hours for the school’s Athletic Director Gregg Simon, who, she said, currently works far above and beyond the reaches of the academic school year.

In addition, Ms Llodra proposed adding a full-time guidance department secretary. “These secretaries do an enormous amount of work and provide us with a monumental level of support,” she said.

While most schools, for example, limit the number of college applications students can process through them, NHS allows seniors to send out as many applications as they want.

“We never want to discourage them, and we don’t want to turn them away,” said Ms Llodra.

She also proposed expanding the main office’s part-time secretarial position to a full-time one, extending the English and Science department secretary from a 40 to 42 work week and adding a world languages, math and social studies department clerk.

Building improvements included a $36,000 door replacement project, as well as a $216,000 endeavor to complete restoration work on the auditorium ceiling, lighting, painting, and flooring.

Equipment requests included adding three sets of row bleachers at a cost of $3,897, a $4,700 convertible tuba, and a $3,500 baritone saxophone. Ms Llodra explained that such instruments were essential in maintaining the high-level of the school’s music programs.

Dr Pitkoff thanked the administrators for their presentations and explained how he would now work to “put together all parts of the budget,” making necessary adjustments and tweaking.

He will present his budget to the school board on January 27.