The Newtown Board of Education (BOE) met on the evening of Tuesday, October 15, in the library of Reed Intermediate School.

After a Celebration of Excellence was conducted for Middle Gate Elementary School and Newtown Middle School (read about it in The Newtown Bee’s October 25 print edition), the consent agenda passed unanimously.

BOE Chair Michelle Embree Ku gave her Chair Report, saying that with the possibility of new members joining the board after the upcoming election, there will be a new member orientation on the horizon. She wished everyone luck who was running.

Superintendent of Schools Dr Lorrie Rodrigue followed with the Superintendent’s Report, saying she will be going to an upcoming symposium about absenteeism and raising student attendance. She will then share information and strategies for town implementation.

She also brought up the recent changes to Newtown High School (NHS) practices “to provide consistency in grading across levels and subject areas, which included making sure students have both informative, which are ongoing, and summative assessments.”

The goal, Dr Rodrigue said, is to ensure that students will have similar grading assessment experiences.

“Don’t hesitate to reach out to the high school administration for further information on that,” she added.

BOE member Andrew Clure asked what the general thought behind this change was, to which Dr Rodrigue said, it is “strengthening what should have been in existence all along.”

Tanja Vadas, financial analyst/business assistant for Newtown, later gave the Financial Report.

“As I am sure you are aware, September is a very busy month for the business office,” she began.

While the main accounts are in a positive balance, she mentioned special education is currently projected in a negative balance. “But keep in mind this number is budgeted in the excess cost grant…” she said.

Presentations

Peter M. Prowda, PhD, of Simsbury, gave a slideshow presentation on Newtown’s enrollment projection to 2029.

He went over the town’s enrollment history; projections by grade level; projections for each public school, as specially requested by the BOE; projection factors; contributing factors; and prior projections.

With 50 years of enrollment history, Dr Powda was able to show the town’s enrollment in comparison to the State of Connecticut’s patterns dating back to 1970.

The “up and down cycles are a natural phenomenon,” that he sees all over the state.

Newtown ranks above average for the state when it comes to students enrolled in non-public schools, which Dr Powda cited as 510 students last year.

Looking at the overall statistics: Newtown for 2019 has a total enrollment of 4,177 students, with a projection of 4,273 students for 2029. K-4 enrollment for 2019 is 1,322 students and for 2029 it is projected to be 1,566 students.

Following the enrollment review, Assistant Superintendent Anne Uberti gave a slideshow presentation on district-wide student performance with data from the 2018-19 school year.

Ms Uberti prefaced her talk by saying, “Although it is cliché, no one test defines the achievement or, more importantly, the potential of a student.”

Some of the takeaways, she explained, were that while there are some shifts in performance over time, average student performance in grades 3 through 8 remain the same.

The data for the SATs showed that Newtown students performed high in literacy and mathematics compared to other districts in Connecticut.

For advanced placement (AP) tests, despite the decline in overall school enrollment, there is a significant increase in students participating and their performance is improving.

Old Business

After rewording a sentence in the BOE Budget Goals for 2020-21, the action passed unanimously.

Also passing unanimously was the action to send a letter to the first selectman regarding purchase of property at 27 Church Hill Road, next to Hawley Elementary School.

BOE member Rebekah Harriman-Stites expressed her thanks for the letter being drafted, so they can explore this option fully.

Rounding out old business was the unanimous approval of passing Policy 9000 Roles of Board members and bylaws 9125, 9140, 9221, 9230, and 9240.

New Business

Ms Harriman-Stites motioned to approve the Newtown Federation of Teachers contract, which was seconded by BOE member Daniel Cruson, Jr.

Ms Ku said the negotiation processes for the contract was “productive” and involved listening to concerns and offering solutions.

The motion passed unanimously.

The next Newtown Board of Education meeting will be Wednesday, November 5, at 7:30 pm, at Reed Intermediate School. For more information, visit newtown-ct.gov/board-education.