Board of Education streamlines: no more committees

SALISBURY — The Salisbury Board of Education decided last week to experiment with streamlining its work, and announced that the replacement of windows in the lower building has encountered a snag.

At the regular monthly meeting Monday, Nov. 29, at Salisbury Central School, Chairman Roger Rawlings said that three bids for replacing the lower building windows had been opened, but the entire process is on hold because there is asbestos in the caulk of some of the windows.

Rawlings said that it could mean considerable delays and significant additional expense, as removing building materials with asbestos requires abatement and isolation of the area.

And if that’s not enough, Rawlings is expecting a report this week on any PCB presence.

The bottom line is that it is likely the window project will be put on hold, he concluded. The matter may require a special meeting of the board before Christmas. The next regular meeting of the board is in January.

Individuals, not committees?

Rawlings floated the idea of doing away with the standing committees of the board in favor of having individual board members take responsibility for different areas and bring their research to the full board for consideration, rather than have several committee meetings and then present to the board.

Rawlings said he felt by eliminating a step the board could save itself time and duplicated effort. He pointed to the board’s Student Health and Safety committee and said, “The faculty has one of these too. Why doesn’t one of us just go sit in on their meeting?�

He also said it would be better from a public information standpoint, as the committee meetings are often called for morning or early afternoon starts, as opposed to the usual 5:30 p.m. meetings of the full board.

Brian Bartam approved of the idea, saying it would be a better process, especially for the budget.

The board decided to give it a try, which will require revising its by-laws at the January meeting.

“We may hate it,� said Rawlings. “But I think it’s worth a try.�

Principal’s report

Salisbury Central School Princpal Chris Butwill reported that a snafu involving the dropping off of students at  the Cynthia White Children’s Center at 58 Interlaken Road had been resolved.

The question was whether buses could or should  drive up to the building’s door. At the October meeting, school board members expressed some concern about maneuverability on the driveway and about liability when going on private property.

Butwill said the matter had been arranged to everybody’s satisfaction as of Nov. 10.

And board Clerk Sue Bucceri, who also works in the school office, said that this week’s introduction of the new student lunch payment system was going smoothly.

As part of a larger effort to better manage school finances — and get cash out of the building — the school has adopted a computerized system in which parents create an account for their children, who are given a number that they provide to the cashier in the cafeteria.

Parents can monitor the account online, to make sure their children aren’t lunching exclusively on ice cream.

Butwill announced that Sara Leo will be the long-term substitute for fifth-grade teacher Tiffany Romaniello, who begins parenting leave on Dec. 10. Leo holds a master’s degree in education from the University of Bridgeport, a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Western Connecticut State University and state certification as a K-6 teacher. She has worked most recently with students in grades three to five in Thomaston and Oakville.

Region One issues

Rawlings and Jeff Lloyd both expressed their support for Region One Superintendent Patricia Chamberlain, in the context of the inquiry being conducted by attorney Jeffrey C. Pingpank into the circumstances surrounding the August resignations of the principal and vice principal at Housatonic Valley Regional High School.

“You’ve got my support 100 percent,â€� Rawlings said to Chamberlain, who was at the  meeting.

“Me, too,� added Lloyd.

Board member Brian Bartram brought up the idea of having Salisbury Central School e-mail addresses for board members. Recently, other elected officials, such as members of Planning and Zoning, have been supplied with e-mail addresses at the town website.

Bartram said that for transparency purposes it would be better to have official Board of Education e-mails, which would make it easier to handle Freedom of Information requests.

The suggestion met with a lukewarm response. Rawlings said he didn’t particularly wish to have another e-mail service to check; Jennifer Wiegel suggested making it optional; and Butwill said from a technical standpoint there would be no difficulty accommodating board members within the school’s system.

And that’s where the board left it.

Upcoming dates to remember: March 3, when the board presents its initial budget to the Board of Finance; April 14, the board presents its final budget to the Board of Finance;  public hearing on the education budget April 25; the Board of Finance votes April 26.