School Board Hears About Reed Schedule, Transportation

By Eliza Hallabeck

From Reed Intermediate School’s new schedule to an update on how transportation in the school district is fairing, the Board of Education discussed a range of topics during its Tuesday, October 2, meeting.

Reed Assistant Principal Jennifer Sinal and Interim Principal Jay Smith told the board during a presentation the school’s new schedule is working well and is being monitored for possible improvements.

As Ms Sinal explained, following the efforts of a committee, a new schedule was put in place at Reed Intermediate School this year. The new schedule continues to run on a six-day cycle, but also changed some things at the school, like the set up of the clusters and placement of the grades. Homeroom is now longer, allowing time for what Mr Smith called “soft education,” which incorporates learning lessons that may not fall into typical class categories.

“We are a work in progress,” said Ms Sinal. “As you know, whenever you start something new there are some elements you don’t see until they are in motion.”

While the new schedule is not perfect, Ms Sinal said, it is a strong structure to build on. Teams at the school will monitor the schedule, Ms Sinal explained, for improvements that can be made in the future. One specific challenge will be to cover a gap in assistance in the school’s library/media center when an educational assistant is not able to help due to hours.

During her report to the school board, Chair Debbie Leidlein said a meeting with John and Richard Dufour, two of the co-owners of All-Star Transportation, was held last week. Communication, arrival times for the Tier 2 buses, and complaints voiced by residents were discussed during the meeting, she said.

“All-Star is working hard to improve their communication regarding routing changes,” said Ms Leidlein, who also said the company has been helpful in addressing concerns.

Buses have been added to the Tier 2 bus runs, which drops students off at St Rose of Lima School and Reed. Ms Leidlein also said the district’s central office has communicated that students are now allowed to be dropped off before the previously designated 8 am at Reed.

One complaint discussed with All-Star centered on a Hawley Elementary School bus that had been reported to be dropping students off on the road rather than at the door of the Children’s Adventure Center. At a previous BOE meeting, Superintendent of Schools Janet Robinson said the 77-passenger bus assigned to the Children’s Adventure Center drop-off was too large to fit in the center’s parking lot.

Last week, Ms Leidlein said, she learned a van has been assigned to that drop-off, with no additional cost to the district from All-Star.

Multiple members of the public spoke regarding the drop-off situation at the Children’s Adventure Center. Former first selectman Joe Borst said the van is a temporary solution, and it would be more sensible to swap the 77-passenger bus with a smaller bus already serving another Hawley School bus route.

“Swapping the buses is the answer to the problem,” said Mr Borst.

Legislative Councilman and former owner-operator Phil Carroll also spoke regarding the bus situation at Reed, saying splitting the St Rose of Lima and Reed Intermediate drop-off times, so half the students would be dropped off at one school first before going to the other, would alleviate traffic congestion at both schools, especially at Reed.

Also during the meeting, district Business Director Ronald Bienkowski gave a report on the BOE’s 2012-13 budget, and what can be expected for the coming fiscal year. After explaining the current budget had a .57 percent increase, or $384,367, over the previous budget, Mr Bienkowski listed anticipated costs that he estimated could increase the district’s 2013-14 fiscal needs by 2.84 percent.

“I wanted you to be aware that this is going to be a difficult year,” said Mr Bienkowski.

School board Vice Chair Laura Roche requested that Mr Bienkowski’s presentation be made available on the district’s website for people to read.