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Dr. Renzulli on Gifted Education

Spotlight on Best Practices

Robert Rader

Editorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Note: CABE is very excited to continue its series on â&#x20AC;&#x153;Best Practices that Lead and Inspireâ&#x20AC;?. Please send us your Best Practices and they might be published in the CABE Journal. This month we are highlighting â&#x20AC;&#x201C;

Executive Director, CABE

Meriden Program Title: Data Systems to Improve Student and Talent Growth Categories that best describe your program: â&#x20AC;˘ Curriculum/Student Achievement â&#x20AC;˘ School Climate â&#x20AC;˘ Technology

Bridgeport Uses Collective Impact to Address Challenges: Should You? Robert Rader Executive Director, CABE

Imagine your whole community focused on one or more challenging issues, such as cradle-to-career concerns.

Could your school district, nonprofit organizations and for-profit businesses, the city or town government, religious leaders and their congregations, foundations, service organizations and hospitals, all unite behind a set of core values focused on the same goals and coordinating, communicating and collaborating for success?

Bridgeport is doing exactly that. And, while the effort is still relatively young, it has given new hope to a community that has long searched for ways to pull in the same direction.

Collective Impact is different from the types of collaborations that we have seen in the past. Collective Impact initiatives involve a centralized infrastructure, a strong backbone organization, and a shared process that leads to a common agenda, shared measurement, continuous communication and mutually reinforcing activities among all participants.

Here are the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Five Conditions of Collective Successâ&#x20AC;? according to a Stanford Social Innovation Review article: See BRIDGEPORT page 13

Grade Levels: All Grade Levels See SPOTLIGHT page 2

CABE Honors Bonnie Carney Robert Rader Executive Director, CABE

Patrice A. McCarthy Deputy Director and General Counsel, CABE

Bonnie Carney, CABEâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Senior Staff Associate for Publications, was recently honored for her 45 years of service to CABE. To commemorate this significant milestone and create a lasting tribute to Bonnie, the CABE See CABE HONORS page2

2017 Convention Location Choosen

See You in Court

Family Medical Leave Act

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Center for Public Ed. Focuses on Equity

81 Wolcott Hill Road Wethersfield, CT 06109-1242

Connecticut Association of Boards of Education Inc.

Bob: Tell us about Gifted Education, Dr. Renzulli.

Dr. Renzulli: Gifted Education is really a branch of special education where Dr. Joseph S. Renzulli we try to accommodate particular traits or characteristics of students. The way I approach gifted education is a little different from the â&#x20AC;&#x153;you have to be labeled gifted before we can provide any services.â&#x20AC;?

I recommend some general enrichment experiences for all kids. The ways in which kids respond to those experiences determines exactly the kinds of follow-up support services that we might provide. I think the best analogy or metaphor for it is what any good band director or any good athletic coach does. They donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t say: â&#x20AC;&#x153;donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t come out for the basketball team unless youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re such and such a height.â&#x20AC;?

Rather, they say â&#x20AC;&#x153;come out and let us see what you can do and then will see if there is a way that we can use and develop your talent.â&#x20AC;? In psychometric terms, this is called performance-based assessment (as opposed to test-based assessment).

I have always argued that giftedness is in the response; itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not in the stimulus.

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s what we do with kids when they respond in highly positive ways in a learning opportunity or situation. In my See RENZULLI page 8

MARCH 2016

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The Journal – Connecticut Association of Boards of Education/March 2016 PRESIDENT COMMENTARY

Adjusting as Needed March weather is famously unpredictable. Whether it begins like a lion or lamb, it is certain to present variety.

This has been an unusual winter in terms of weather. As we all know, December and January were unseasonably warm, giving us a reprieve from the intensity of last year.

Whether a function of global warming or El Nino, we needed to adjust to the changing weather. Then, in one week, the pattern changed altogether. Now we have snow. Lots of snow. Are we, like cars that drive themselves, geared to automatically adjust to changing conditions?

While we have had an unusual winter, it still may pose challenges. In many ways we may have grown accustomed to having information ahead of time that allows us to guide our courses in anticipation of certain needs.

However, weather, like human interaction, may be difficult to predict. Not impossible, but sometimes difficult.

With all the best equipment and skill, there are times when the actual conditions evolve in ways that may have been unanticipated. For instance, a snow storm that escalated in intensity can have a more complicated

“Finding common ground is essential to resolution and effective work in leadership teams . . . that involves creating and using reasonable options . . . adapting to changing conditions.” impact because it was not anticipated. The effects can be magnified due to the weight of the snow and the wind gusts. These lead to power outages. The texture of the snow makes travel more treacherous.

As members of boards of education work together in districts that represent a range of communities, there are many variables we need to consider. The size and composition of districts, the available resources, the education levels of parents, cultural factors, and the degree of support for educational initiatives are some of the many factors that make a difference. We establish priorities together.

Sometimes we need to consider history, like the desegregation of public schools, to remind ourselves and each other how opportunities have changed. It is almost unimaginable to remember the scourge of slavery, and the near-total lack of educational opportunities afforded to young people of color.

In an election year in a climate and atmosphere that is often contentious, there may be a negative focus on differences and conflict rather than an explicit understanding of our commitment to a non-partisan, issueoriented approach.

Our continued willingness to create and commit to shared goals, to build consensus, and to sustain our momentum addressing ongoing essential issues, is central to our effectiveness as board members.

Whether we are communicating with legislators, administrators, parents or board members we need to be prepared to use respect and effective interpersonal skills to acknowledge differences and resolve conflicts.

Finding common ground is essential to resolution and

effective work in leadership teams.

Sometimes that involves creating and using reasonable options. It frequently means adapting to changing Ann Gruenberg conditions.

Whatever the weather, tenor, and general climate, we need to be ready to adjust to changing conditions. The responsibility for making “the call”, making decisions regarding whether or not to close school for weather-related events is made more feasible through accurate information and technology that helps us predict what occurs.

In truth, however, such information, like with educational issues, is not an exact science and sometimes the natural world (AKA “Mother nature”) tosses us curve balls. As leadership teams, we need to be ready to adjust and/or regroup, as warranted, making the best decisions we can on a broad range of issues with the information we have. In doing so, we can, collectively, provide high quality opportunities for students in Connecticut’s public schools.

Spotlight on Best Practices (continued from page 1) Description of the program: The use of technology and data to improve systems includes school climate surveys with trigger emails to staff, the development of Key Concepts as a tool to monitor the progress of students, the teacher dashboards, and strong union management relationships to roll out major strategies such as expanded learning time schools, PLC Data Team times, and complementary evaluators.

Program and Contact Information: www.schooldatasystems.org; Dr. Mark Benigni, Superintendent, mark.benigni@meridenk12.org, 203-630-4171.

CABE Honors Bonnie Carney (continued from page 1) Board of Directors renamed CABE’s Communications Award as the Bonnie B. Carney Award of Excellence in Educational Communications.

This ongoing tribute honors the work that Bonnie has done to support school districts and CABE communications throughout her career. When asked whether she ever thought that she would be with CABE for so many years, Bonnie said “I love my work, I love what I do.”

Patrice McCarthy noted that “Bonnie is a lifelong learner, continuing to adapt to the changing needs of school districts and CABE”.

Bob Rader said “Bonnie is a very special person – hardworking, change-oriented and committed. Her creativity has been a hallmark of her work for so many years!”

CABE President Ann Gruenberg, CABE staff and one of Bonnie’s daughters marked the anniversary with a surprise luncheon held in her honor.

Mission: To assist local and regional boards of education in providing high quality education for all Connecticut children through effective leadership.

Vision: CABE is passionate about strengthening public education through high-performing, transformative local school board/superintendent leadership teams that inspire success for each child.

CABE Board of Directors EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Ann Gruenberg .................................................. President, Hampton Robert Mitchell ................................ First Vice President, Montville Donald Harris ................ VP for Government Relations, Bloomfield Elizabeth Brown ....... VP for Professional Development, Waterbury Elaine Whitney .................................. Secretary/Treasurer, Westport Richard Murray ........................ Immediate Past President, Killingly John Prins ............................................. Member at Large. Branford Lydia Tedone ........................................... NSBA Director, Simsbury

AREA DIRECTORS Jonathan Moore ................................ Area 1 Co-Director, Region 1 Susan Karp ................................... Area 2 Co-Director, Glastonbury Donald Harris ................................. Area 2 Co-Director, Bloomfield Michael Purcaro ...................................... Area 3 Director, Ellington Douglas Smith ........................................ Area 4 Director, Plainfield Michelle Embree Ku .............................. Area 5 Director, Newtown Jennifer Dayton ............................. Area 6 Co-Director, Greenwich Roxane McKay ............................. Area 7 Co-Director, Wallingford Lon Seidman ................................................. Area 8 Director, Essex Andrea Ackerman ..................................... Area 9 Director, Groton

ASSOCIATES Eileen Baker .............................................. Associate, Old Saybrook Sharon Beloin-Saavedra .............................. Associate, New Britain Robert Guthrie .............................................. Associate, West Haven Robert Trefry ........... Associate, CT Technical High School System

COMMITTEE CHAIRS Donald Harris ......................... Chair, Federal Relations, Bloomfield Becky Tyrrell ...................................... Chair, Resolutions, Plainville Christopher Wilson ........................... Chair, State Relations, Bristol

CITY REPRESENTATIVES Matthew Poland ................................ City Representative, Hartford Carlos Torre .................................. City Representative, New Haven Charles Stango ............................... City Representative, Waterbury

STAFF Robert Rader ....................................................................... Executive Director Patrice McCarthy .................................. Deputy Director and General Counsel Rebecca Adams ............................................................... Senior Staff Attorney Bonnie Carney ............................................ Sr. Staff Associate for Publications Nicholas Caruso ............................................ Sr. Staff Assoc. for Field Service and Coord. of Technology Sheila McKay ............................. Sr. Staff Associate for Government Relations Vincent Mustaro ..................................... Sr. Staff Associate for Policy Service Lisa Steimer .............................. Sr. Staff Assoc. for Professional Development Teresa Costa .................................. Coordinator of Finance and Administration Pamela Brooks ......................... Sr. Admin. Assoc. for Policy Ser. /Search Ser. Terry DeMars ............................................... Admin. Assoc. for Policy Service Gail Heath ........................................ Admin. Assoc. for Government Relations Wilmarie Newton ........................................ Admin. Assoc. for Labor Relations Nancy Propfe ................................. Admin. Assistant for Membership Services Corliss Ucci .................................. Receptionist/Asst. to the Executive Director

The CABE Journal (ISSN 1092-1818) is published monthly except a combined issue for July/August as a member service of the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education, 81 Wolcott Hill Road, Wethersfield, CT 06109, (860) 571-7446. CABE membership dues include $30 per person for each individual who receives The CABE Journal. The subscription rate for nonmembers is $75. Association membership dues include a subscription for each board member, superintendent, assistant superintendent and business manager. The companies and advertisements found in The CABE Journal are not necessarily endorsed by CABE. “Periodicals Postage Paid at Hartford, CT.” POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The CABE Journal, CABE, 81 Wolcott Hill Road, Wethersfield, CT 06109-1242. Email: bcarney@cabe.org.

Members can find the CABE Journal online at: https://www.cabe. org/userlogin.cfm?pp=1024&userrequest=false&keyrequest=YES

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The Journal – Connecticut Association of Boards of Education/March 2016 EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR COMMENTARY

CABE Affiliate Members BUSINESS AFFILIATES DIAMOND MEMBER Finalsite GOLD MEMBERS

Berchem, Moses & Devlin Centris Group Guidance Counselors for Senior Teachers Pullman & Comley Shipman & Goodwin SILVER MEMBERS Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Arthur J. Gallagher & Company Corporate Cost Control Milone & MacBroom, Inc. Perkins & Eastman Siegel, O’Connor, O’Donnell & Beck The Segal Company Sprint Svigals & Partners

BRONZE PLUS MEMBERS BL Companies Coordinated Transportation Solutions Friar Associates JCJ Architecture Milliman, Inc. Morganti Group O & G Industries The S/L/A/M Collaborative Trane

BRONZE MEMBERS Brown & Brown Insurance Chinni & Meuser LLC Dattco Inc. ECG Engineering, PC Fuller & D’Angelo Architects and Planners Goldstein & Peck, P.C. Kainen, Escalera & McHale, P.C. The Lexington Group Muschell & Simoncelli Suisman Shapiro Attorneys at Law

EDUCATIONAL AFFILIATES American School for the Deaf Area Cooperative Educational Services Capitol Region Education Council The College Board Connecticut Association for the Gifted Connecticut Association of School Business Officials Connecticut Center for School Change Connecticut School Buildings and Grounds Association Cooperative Educational Services EASTCONN EDUCATION CONNECTION LEARN Unified School District #1

How Much Dissent Is Too Much?

When I am visiting a Board of Education to facilitate a roles and responsibilities workshop, the efficiency and effectiveness of Board meetings is often discussed. Sure, there are some agenda items that are usually pro forma and an efficient Board deals with such items using a consent agenda. This timesaver allows any Board member to ask for a vote on an item. The remaining items are all decided by one vote.

Using the consent agenda makes for a better use of time than voting on each item separately. Moreover, usually everyone agrees to the consent agenda since the issues are noncontroversial.

What about items that are discussed in detail by the Board? These may very well be controversial and voices may be raised in dissent over these issues.

Good boardsmanship suggests that all discussion on such items should be preceded by a motion setting out the desired outcome by the person making the motion. This is intended to frame the issue, so that the discussion doesn’t veer into irrelevant (at least on this issue) facts and opinions.

The issue, when under discussion may reveal big differences in the opinions held

by Board members. Some may strongly agree with the motion; others may very well strenuously oppose it. Obviously, there can also be very close votes either way.

Sometimes, the entire Board may unanimously support or defeat the motion.

What can be said about a Board that always has unanimous votes? Conversely, is a Board that always splits its votes a Board that might be called “dysfunctional”? What about a Board where the votes always go 8-1 or 6-1? Does that imply something negative about the Board or individual Board member(s)?

The answer is “It depends”. I know, spoken like a true lawyer.

Is a Board that always votes unanimously a good Board?

My answer to this will depend on the situation. I sometimes say that if all votes are unanimous, we could get by with just one member on each Board. Board members, who come from different backgrounds with different experiences and skills, would probably not vote unanimously in all situations. However, what if the Board has committees and, like some of the Boards in Connecticut, issues are discussed and debated in depth there? Assuming that the meetings of the committees take place in public and other FOIA rules are followed, it seems like a sound decision-making process is underway. Unanimity might also occur because the goals are clear and the Board

and Superintendent are working well in tandem.

On the other hand, if unanimous votes occur on virtually every issue and there has been insufficient discussion, it would seem to me that, perhaps some Board members are not really sure of their roles.

There is nothing inherently wrong with voting the same as the other members of

Robert Rader

“Is it the Board Chair’s responsibility to ensure that everyone gets a “fair shake” when issues are discussed and debated.

The Chair’s role should not be to merely ask for the yeas and nays, but also to help the Board be inclusive and help any member who might feel he or she is not getting the opportunity to speak.

the Board; we just have to hope that this groupthink is not pressuring members to vote a certain way. To the public, however, that unanimity might look like deals were made before the meeting occurred.

Therefore, we have to go beyond the vote itself to really understand what is occurring.

So, what does an 8-1 or 6-1 vote tell us? Well, just like with the previous example above, it may tell us a little or a lot about how the Board operates.

Sometimes, a Board member will vote “no” to simply make the point that the Board isn’t unanimous on an issue.

Certainly the individual may not like how the decision was made or the likely result.

It may also be that the minority Board member is dissenting for other reasons.

The Board member may feel that he or she has not gotten a fair hearing on his or her view of the motion. Wouldn’t that suggest that there may very well be some dysfunction on the Board?

It is the Board Chair’s responsibility to

ensure that everyone gets a “fair shake” when issues are discussed and debated.

The Chair’s role should not be to merely ask for the yeas and nays, but also to help the Board be inclusive and help any member who might feel he or she is not getting the opportunity to speak.

Years ago, I facilitated a retreat and a Board member who had been on the Board for at least five months, confessed that she still did not know when it was appropriate for her to speak! A little help from the Chair might have easily taken care of that.

Yes, there are Board members who will vote “no” just to get a little attention.

There are also Board members who will undermine a Board’s decision by running to the media after the meeting to, as they said on Seinfeld, have an airing of grievances.

It is in the interests of all Board members, not only the Chair, in these situations, to remind that Board member that if the shoe was on the other foot and they were successful in getting a motion passed by the Board that they liked, they would not appreciate another Board member undermining the vote and the Board. Payback can be brutal.

When is there too much dissent on a Board? The answer is, as with many other institutional situations, gray. One must look beyond the raw numbers of a vote to understand if the Board is effective and/or efficient in getting its work done.

Dissent often serves the positive role of slowing the process down, causing the Board to examine other options and ensuring that due diligence is done before action is taken. But, when dissent is used to obfuscate and delay just because a person isn’t getting her way, in the long run, that probably doesn’t serve anyone’s interests.

I hope your Board has enough dissent to help make the “right” decisions, but not so much as to impede its progress in helping students achieve more!

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The Journal – Connecticut Association of Boards of Education/March 2016

2016 CABE/CAPSS Convention Committee Chooses 2017 Location Lisa Steimer Senior Staff Associate for Professional Development, CABE

With the Convention on November 18-19, the CABE/CAPSS Convention Committee held its first meeting of the year in January. And was it ever a productive meeting!

The theme of the 2016 CABE/ CAPSS Convention is Children First: Opening Opportunities for All!. The workshop strands are Diversity, High Performing Boards and Superintendents, Pathways and Partnerships, and Spotlight on Innovation. Call for Proposal information was mailed on February 4 and is also available online at www.cabe.org/page.cfm?p=1354.

The Convention Committee also began the process of looking at alternate sites for the 2017 CABE/CAPSS Convention. (The 2016 CABE/CAPSS Convention will be held at the Mystic Marriott.) We are thrilled with the relationship we have with and the service provided by the Mystic Marriott Hotel over the years, but the Committee, responding to concerns of attendees, felt the need to explore other options that would provide the Convention room for growth. The Commit-

tee charged staff to begin sorting out viable options for the Committee to consider.

As the staff investigated various options, some were easily ruled out in that they provide less space than we currently

further investigate. The properties on this list, simply based on having space at least as large as the Mystic Marriott include the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford, the Conference Center at Foxwoods, the Conference

use at the Mystic Marriott. Some of the sites that fell into this category include the Heritage Southbury, the Trumbull Marriott, the New Haven Omni, the Stamford Marriott, the Stamford Sheraton and the Hyatt Regency Greenwich.

This left us with a very short list to

Center at Mohegan Sun and the Mystic Marriott Hotel.

Upon inquiring about availability for the Convention dates in 2017 and 2018, staff learned the following: • The Connecticut Convention Center is booked in 2017 and 2018.

• The Conference Center at Foxwoods is booked in 2017 and 2018.

• Given the revenue generated and space used, the Conference Center at Mohegan Sun is not able to bid on our Convention until approximately six months prior to the event.

• The Mystic Marriott Hotel has our dates available.

In order to ensure we have space for the Convention, the Convention Committee approved going to contract with the Mystic Marriott for 2017.

While we have had conversations on this topic before, both CABE staff and the Mystic Marriott Hotel staff will meet to try to find more creative ways to use the space available to us at the Mystic Marriott.

Previous conversations have allowed us to better us the main ballroom and three of the breakout rooms associated with the main ballroom. Additionally, the CABE/ CAPSS Convention Committee will continue to discuss this issue.

We look forward to continuing to offer what is Connecticut’s premier education professional development event!

Legislative Breakfasts Held in All Corners of the State Representative Jeff Currey addressing the CREC-sponsored Area 2 Legislative Breakfast held at the State Capitol in Hartford.

Education Committee Co-Chair Senator Gayle S. Slossberg addressed participants at the Area 7 Legislative Breakfast at Derby High School.

CABE Past President Richard Murray (Killingly) and Area 4 Director Doug Smith (Plainfield) hosted a Legislative Breakfast featuring the Killingly High School Jazz Band.

Senator Art Linares addresses participants at the Area 8 Legislative Breakfast at the John Winthrop Middle School in Deep River.

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The Journal – Connecticut Association of Boards of Education/March 2016 See You in Court – The Nutmeg Board of Education

The Nutmeg Board deals with over expenditures in the budget Thomas B. Mooney, Esq. Shipman & Goodwin

The Nutmeg Board of Education makes many mistakes. The latest imbroglio created by the board will be reported here each issue, followed by an explanation of what the board should have done.

Though not intended as legal advice, these situations may help board members avoid common problems.

Now that the budget for next year was finally completed and submitted to the Town, the Nutmeg Board of Education turned its attention to the current year’s budget. Board member Red Cent had been poring over the monthly financial reports, and she raised a number of questions at the Board meeting last month.

She noted, for example, that the supplies account at Acorn Elementary School was in the red, as was the substitute account at Nutmeg Memorial High School, where absenteeism was endemic. “Who’s in charge here?” she demanded stridently.

“If we overexpend our budget, the Board members will be personally liable.”

“Oh posh,” said veteran Board member Bob Bombast. “If anyone is liable, it will be Mr. Superintendent for not keeping his eye on the budget. We set the budget, and the Superintendent spends it.

It is not our problem.”

Mr. Superintendent bristled visibly at Bob Bombast’s comments. “We are in this together. We carefully monitor the budget, and we move things around as necessary to assure that we stay within the budget.”

After hearing Mr. Superintendent’s explanation Board member Mal Content weighed in with a question of his own.

“Aren’t we supposed to monitor line item transfers? The Board can’t just leave things to the Superintendent and his staff.”

Mrs. Chairperson sought to regain control of the discussion by employing her favorite strategy – creating a committee. “OK. I have heard enough. I think that we need to get a better handle on our finances. I am creating a Budget Oversight Committee, and I appoint Bob Bombast, Mal Content to the committee along with Red Cent, who will serve as chairperson.”

Red Cent couldn’t wait to get to work.

She appeared unannounced at the Business Manager’s office bright and early the next morning. She demanded to see his Excel spreadsheet setting forth the expenditures at that various schools.

Red confirmed that the substitute account at the high school and the supplies account at Acorn Elementary school were overexpended, as she had suspected, and she found several other accounts similarly overexpended, including the conference expense account and the Superintendent’s discretionary account.

She promptly shared her findings in an email to fellow Committee members Bob and Mal. After some discussion, they agreed to express their concerns as a Committee at the next Board meeting.

When the Board next met, Red did just that. She reported on her findings, and she excoriated Mr. Superintendent for his lack of oversight. Mr. Superintendent did his best to remain calm, and he explained that some variation from the detailed budget estimates is to be expected. But he did tell Red to back off with the criticism on matters she really didn’t understand.

Who is right here?

Red has raised a legitimate issue, and the Board should clarify with Mr. Superintendent its expectations concerning budget management and reporting.

However, these small variations from the adopted budget should not be a problem for the Board.

Conn. Gen. Stat. Section 10-222 provides that the “money appropriated by any municipality for the maintenance of public schools shall be expended by and in the discretion of the board of education,” and further that “[e]xcept as provided in this subsection, any such board may transfer any unexpended or uncontracted-for portion of any appropriation for school purposes to any other item of such itemized estimate.”

When boards of education need to exercise their right to transfer funds from one item to another, they must remember that only the board of education may make item transfers unless it delegates that authority to the superintendent (or other employees). Such delegation, however, is limited in two ways.

First, such transfers must be “limited,” which presumably means that the board must specify a maximum amount that the superintendent or other authorized person may transfer on his or her own.

Second, authorized persons may transfer from one item to another only “under emergency circumstances if the urgent need for the transfer prevents the board from meeting in a timely fashion to consider such transfer,” which is a tough standard to meet.

The statute also imposes special notification requirements on such transfers.

Since 1998, transfers made by authorized persons other than the board of education must “be announced at the next regularly scheduled meeting of the board,” and since 2013 the statute has also provided that “a written explanation of such transfer shall be provided to the legislative body of the municipality or, in a municipality where the legislative body is a town meeting, to the board of selectmen.”

Given these requirements, it is usually easier for boards simply to make transfers themselves.

The key in such matters is for boards of education to adopt a reasonable definition of what should be considered an “item” in the budget estimate submitted to the town and in the adopted budget.

Here, statute itself gives us some help, providing that “‘itemized estimate’ means an estimate in which broad budgetary categories including, but not limited to, salaries, fringe benefits, utilities, supplies and grounds maintenance are divided into one or more line items.” To avoid triggering the special procedures described above with unnecessary frequency, boards of education are well-advised to define “item” broadly.

To be sure, the board and superintendent may subdivide budget item further in the interest of fiscal oversight, but when “item” is so defined, the obligations regarding budget transfers will only be triggered when funds are moved from one major budget category to another.

With such a definition, the need to make adjustments to address the shortfalls Red identified in Nutmeg would likely not be “transfers” under the law.

Finally, the concern of Red Cent over personal liability is admirable, but perhaps overstated. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 7349 does provides that a town official who authorizes expenditures in excess of funds appropriated “shall be liable in a civil action in the name of such town.”

However, Conn. Gen. Stat. § 10-235 provides that school board members (and employees and even volunteers under certain circumstances) are indemnified and held harmless against claims made against them for actions taken within the scope of their responsibilities unless those actions are “wanton, reckless or malicious.”

Therefore, it is reasonable to presume that a board of education member will not have any personal liability if he or she acts in good faith, even if it turns out later that the budget is overexpended.

Attorney Thomas B. Mooney is a partner in the Hartford law firm of Shipman & Goodwin who works frequently with boards of education. Mooney is a regular contributor to the CABE Journal.

The Eighth Edition is here!!

A Practical Guide to Connecticut School Law

by Thomas B. Mooney, Esq. Shipman & Goodwin The Guide comes with a CD which provides hyperlinks to many cases and statutes and will permit ord searches as a supplement to the Index.

The Eighth Edition was substantially rewritten to reflect statutory changes, significant case law developments in state and federal courts. Some of the numerous legal developments and update are as follows: • School Safety and Security • Bullying Law • Teacher Evaluation and Support • Teacher Tenure Act • New Requirements for Professional Development • Budget Issues • Prohibitions on Electronic Notifications of Referenda • Minimum Budget Requirements • FMLA for Paraprofessionals • Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Requirements • Uniform Regional School Calendars • Excusal • Student Assessments • Pool Safety • Concussion Prevention and Education • Sudden Cardiac Arrest Prevention and Education • Administration and Storage of Epinephrine • Excused Absences • Student Free Speech • Employee Free Speech

Order your copy TODAY by going to the CABE website: www.cabe.org/page.cfm?p=1241

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The Journal – Connecticut Association of Boards of Education/March 2016

The Family and Medical Leave Act Rebecca Adams, Senior Staff Attorney, CABE

Intermittent Leave The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), is a federal law which provides job-protected family and medical leave for employees who meet certain requirements and employers, including school districts, that employ 50 or more employees.

In addition, the State of Connecticut has its own medical leave law, CGS section Sec. 31-51kk, et. seq.

Under the federal law, employees may be entitled to take leave on an intermittent basis. The Connecticut law, however, does not mandate that employers grant this type of leave.

Employees who qualify and successfully apply to districts for FMLA coverage may, under certain circumstances, take their leave “intermittently”. Intermittent leave is FMLA leave taken in separate, and often irregular, blocks of time for a single illness or injury. This also includes reduced leave schedule where there is a reduction in an employee’s usual number of working hours per workweek, or hours per workday.

It is a change in the employee’s schedule for a period of time, normally from full-time to part-time.

Generally, employees must show the medical necessity for intermittent leave or a reduced leave schedule.

Who Qualifies for Intermittent FMLA Leave?

Under the FMLA, eligible employees are entitled to take, and employers must grant, intermittent FMLA leave: • when the employee’s own “serious health condition” renders him unable to do his job; • to allow the employee to care for a spouse, son, daughter or parent with a serious health condition; • under the FMLA’s military leave provisions, to allow an employee to care for a covered service member with a serious illness or injury.

Employers may also voluntary grant intermittent FMLA leave after the birth of a healthy child, or after adopting or fostering a healthy child. For example, an employee may want to work part-time after the birth of a child, and have her reduced schedule count as FMLA leave so that she will receive job protection and benefit continuation. Under the FMLA, an employer may allow the employee to do this, but it is not required to do so.

Is Leave Paid or Unpaid and Why Does it Matter?

The FMLA only requires unpaid leave.

However, the law permits an employee to elect, or the employer to require, that the employee use paid vacation or sick time for some or all of the FMLA leave period.

An employer that requires that paid leave

Connecticut Wins Jump$tart State Coalition of the Year Patrice A. McCarthy Deputy Director and General Counsel, CABE

The Connecticut Jump$tart Coalition has been selected as State Coalition of the Year by the National Jump$tart Coalition. The State Coalition of the Year Award recognizes the affiliate’s effectiveness and innovation in reaching, supporting and assisting teachers; its public awareness activities; the level of participation and collaboration within the coalition itself and other achievements over the past year.

Some of the accomplishments that Connecticut is being recognized for include: • A survey of all Connecticut public high schools to assess

be substituted for unpaid family medical leave, must properly notify the employee of that requirement when the leave begins in order for paid leave and FMLA leave to run concurrently (i.e., count against the 12-week FMLA leave entitlement). Accurate recording of paid and unpaid leave is important for purposes of payroll and accrual of sick and vacation time and may impact eligibility for other contractual benefits such as longevity pay.

While collective bargaining contracts for some district employees contain provisions governing the use of paid leave, either elected by the employee or required by the employer, the majority do not. CABE strongly encourages districts to adopt FMLA policies covering whether employees are required to use paid time and, if not, when employees may elect to substitute paid leave for unpaid FMLA absences.

Let CABE help you adopt district policy to ensure the consistent and predictable application of state and federal FMLA. Please contact Vincent Mustaro at vmustaro@ cabe.org for more information regarding and examples of CABE policies covering FMLA.

CABE-Meeting CABE-Meeting is a user-friendly online service offered by CABE specifically for school boards. Users can eliminate unnecessary paperwork, increase efficiency and reduce costs while enabling board members to utilize the latest in cutting edge technology. Using CABEMeeting, the Meeting Manager can create an electronic meeting from developing the agenda to creating the minutes and everything in between.

CABE-Meeting Offers: • Secure login access for board and district staff • Access from any location with Internet access • Search archived agenda and meeting related items in a flash.

• Ability to download and print attachments • Option to provide a public link to board meeting information

• • • •

Your Subscription Provides: Access to CABE-Meeting Initial and ongoing training Support and maintenance Upgrades to the service

CABE Member Subscription Info: Initial Subscription Fee – $3,000 Annual Maintenance Fee – $1,500 If you have an interest in this service, contact Lisa Steimer at 860-571-7446 or lsteimer@cabe.org.

Testifying on Your Behalf

which schools were teaching financial literacy.

• A Financial Literacy Summit where nearly 150 educators, parents, business people and policymakers gathered to begin collaborating on new ways to improve the financial education of the state’s youth.

• A new financial literacy outreach initiative with the Science Center.

• A series of Financial Reality Fairs, promoted in conjunction with the Credit Union League of Connecticut.

Patrice McCarthy represents CABE on the Connecticut Jump$tart Board of Directors.

CABE President Ann Gruenberg testified before the Appropriations Committee on behalf of all school boards in Connecticut.

The Journal â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Connecticut Association of Boards of Education/March 2016

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The Journal – Connecticut Association of Boards of Education/March 2016

Dr. Renulli on Gifted Education

(continued from page 1) work, I look as much at the motivation and interests of kids as just simply what their achievement levels are.

Bob: How did you get involved with this area in the first place?

Dr. Renzulli: I got involved in this area when I started teaching and the Russians sent Sputnik into space. Everybody, including Superintendents, were beside themselves for getting something going to challenge our more able students.

I was a math and science teacher and we developed a program in our school where a certain amount of time was set aside each week for our highest potential science students and basically, it was from there that my whole Enrichment Triad Theory developed. In this model, we provide general enrichment for larger groups of kids and the ways that kids respond to that determines the opportunities and resources for follow up – really a common sense approach.

We didn’t have a planned curriculum, except for the general enrichment experiences. When young people got interested in a topic, like building a robot, then we, in a sense, built the curriculum around the student. We looked at what resources they needed, who in our school or community might be able to help the student and what kinds of support they needed to develop their project.

Bob: Do you think all children are gifted?

Dr. Renzulli: No I don’t. But I believe that there are a lot more young people that can develop giftedness or, as I prefer to call it, “gifted behaviors” than just those who reach a certain predetermined cutoff score on an IQ test. I always use the word as an adjective and history has shown that many great people would never have made it if we only looked at their cognitive ability scores.

We are looking at a population that is above average, even well above average, in their traditional academic achievement.

However, beyond that I’m looking at things like motivation, creativity, and executive function skills. Someone that wants to get the job done.

Our research has shown that these other non-cognitive skills are as important to task completion as traditionally measured academic skills. As I used to say to my own kids, their ability to “get their act together” and to use their time wisely is as important as academic skills.

These non-cognitive skills include planning, learning how to work collaboratively and cooperatively with others, self-regulation, time management skills, situational awareness, and organizational skills. These skills are all very important things in putting a good product on the table.

Anyone who has ever worked on a challenging project knows the importance of these skills; and therefore, we should

CABE Executive Director Robert Rader interviews Dr. Joseph Renzulli. provide project-based opportunities within our curriculum for this kind of skill development.

Bob: What do you think of mastery based or personalized learning?

Dr. Renzulli: Well, I think that you really raised two topics because mastery based learning can be a form of personalized learning. In fact most of what’s out there these days parading under the banner of “personalized learning” is simply finding out areas where youngsters are deficient in certain skills and providing them with more drill and practice for improving those skills.

No one can argue against the importance or the value of such a diagnostic/ prescriptive approach. My approach to personalized learning looks at other characteristics in addition to academic achievement and over the years I have developed instruments to assess four sets of characteristics that are important to personalizing learning.

The first and most important area is interest. We can get more out of learners, from diapers to doctorate, if we give them an opportunity to select a topic within a curricular area in which they may have a particular interest.

The second is learning style. We know that kids learn in different ways and if we can accommodate learning style differences, then we can get more out of a young person than if we just teach them all in the same manner.

The third is preferred modes of expression. Imagine if we didn’t give a young Steven Spielberg an opportunity to express himself through the medium of film rather than just speaking it or writing it, which are very typical ways school expect kids to express themselves.

The fourth area is the executive function skills mentioned above. I believe that we need to take all of those things into account if we want to provide young people with truly personalized learning experiences rather than a one-size-fits-all approach or only making decisions about personalization based on achievement test data.

What we have done in our work at UConn is to develop a technology based program that assesses all of these different areas that define the multi-dimensional input for personalization. It’s all based on researched instruments that were formally developed in a paper-and-pencil format. Students respond to items at their keyboard and it produces an electronic profile for each individual student. A search engine then scans through about 50,000 very high engagement resources and it picks resources just for that student.

I think an equal or perhaps even more important use of this technology is that teachers can use the search engine to jazz up any standards-based curriculum topic.

If they are teaching a unit on a particular topic that has to do with, for example, mechanics in science they can find sites where a young person can design his or her own roller coaster or robot. If they are studying Ancient Egypt they can engage in an activity that lets them dissect and preserve their own mummy.

These activities promote very high student engagement and research has shown that engagement is more influential than achievement test scores in improving school performance.

Besides safety, every resource that we have built into the databases has to be more engaging than just worksheets online or text material that can be found in books or encyclopedias.

Bob: So what are the best ways for school boards and superintendents to support gifted education?

Dr. Renzulli: I think that one of the ways is to take a look at a more broadened conception of giftedness. I think if you have to be stamped with an IQ of 130 on your forehead before we will provide any enrichment opportunities we are going to overlook many students with high levels of motivation, creativity, and executive function skills.

What the research says about people who have done creative productive things – inventors, writers, designers, artists, entrepreneurs, scientists – is that they weren’t necessarily the smartest kid in the class when judged by traditional measures.

In my work I have used a Venn (threering) diagram to show gifted behaviors as the intersection of above-average ability in a particular area, creativity, and task commitment.

The second thing is having a highlytrained gifted education specialists in a school so you have a go-to person, especially for finding, managing, and infusing high engagement resources into the curriculum and serving as a resource to classroom teachers.

All classroom teachers should have some background in enrichment teaching strategies and in recognizing some of the traits that I mentioned earlier (interests, learning styles, and preferred modes of expression).

Most importantly, teachers should have training on how to infuse enrichment teaching strategies and high engagement activities into the curriculum — the kinds of things that will motivate kids and get them very active in individual and small group projects.

My staff and I at UConn have been training teachers to do these things for years and now they are becoming popular with names like Genius Hour, and Project Based Learning, and Maker Spaces.

If we want to remain competitive as a nation these kinds of experiences are necessary to produce more Thomas Edisons and Rachel Carsons, Steven Jobs, and Louis Armstrongs.

Kids with these potentials are in all of our schools today – we just have to work smarter to develop it.

Bob: I want to say thank you for the work you have done over the years. We have much to learn from you. If people want to get in touch with you, you’re at UCONN. I encourage boards to think about what you said. So thank you very much.

Dr. Renzulli: My pleasure.

Dr. Joseph Renzulli is associated with UConn’s Neag Center for Creativity, Gifted Education and Talent Development. He is a nationwide expert in this area.

The Journal â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Connecticut Association of Boards of Education/March 2016

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The Journal – Connecticut Association of Boards of Education/March 2016

The

Media Message

from Ann Baldwin, Baldwin Media Marketing, LLC

Sometimes You Have to Invite Yourself to the Dance February 3rd was opening day of the 2016 Legislative Session, which was kicked off with the House of Representatives and State Senate’s first sessions of the year. Governor Dannel Malloy presented his State of the State Address to a joint session in the Hall of the House, in which the Governor pinpointed his proposals for refining the state’s budget priorities, including spending cuts and state employee reductions.

Also, front and center at the State Capitol, were Patrice McCarthy, Deputy Director and General Counsel, CABE and Joseph Cirasuolo, Executive Director, of CAPSS. Both are members of the WhatWillOurChildrenLoseCoalition (WWOCL). The WWOCL coalition, which also includes CASBO and CAS, was formed more than four years ago, as a coalition offering insight on

various issues and “real” potential impacts that additional and unfunded solutions, as it relates to Connecticut’s mandates are having in the classroom.

As numerpublic schools. ous lawmakHere, ers, commisthese two sioners, sat with lobbyists and CT-N news media filled the Anchor, Diane entrance to Smith for the State Capitol, you the opportunity to may wonder thank the how public education got Governor for supa seat in the spotlight. The porting Diane Smith, CT-N Anchor, interviews Patrice public answer is; beMcCarthy, Deputy Director and General Counsel, education CABE and Joseph Cirasuolo, Executive Director, cause we in our asked to be CAPSS. state, but part of the to also speak about some of the negative conversation on opening day.

Oftentimes, the only way that your voice will be heard, is if you ask. We began the process of “pitching” our story on public education and mandates, months before opening day. We developed talking points that we sent to CT-N producers and made our case as to why it was important for us to participate in this live television event.

In the end they thought that our “pitch” was compelling and as a result, Patrice and Joe got more than 4-minutes of airtime talking about some of the issues being dealt with as they relate to public education in our state and the impact of legislation in our classrooms.

To view Patrice McCarthy and Joseph Cirasuolo’s interview with Diane Smith, please go to: www.youtube.com/watch?v=HY4ZVk2 MxdA&feature=youtu.be

CABE Upcoming Hot Topic Workshop

What is Global Competency and What is Your Board Doing About It? Thursday, March 22, 2016 Registration 8:30 am 9:00 am - 11:00 am Program Rovins Conference Room, CABE Office, Wethersfield What Is Global Competence?

Children First: Opening Opportunities for All! CABE/CAPSS Convention November 18-19, 2016 Mystic Marriott Hotel, Groton

“The formula for a world-class education is an urgent call for schools to produce students that actually know something about the world—its cultures, languages and how its economic, environmental and social systems work. The concept of global competence articulates the knowledge and skills students need in the 21st Century.” Asia Society

What Is Your Board Doing About It? Learn how one district is preparing its students for success in an interconnected world.

Presenters:

Get Involved | Exceptional Speakers Networking | Informative Sessions Innovative Ideas | State Board Meeting Exhibitors | Talented Student Showcase

Salvatore Menzo, Superintendent, Wallingford Public Schools; Chair, CAPSS International Education Committee Roxane McKay, Chair, Wallingford Board of Education (Invited) Kim Moore, World Language Coordinator, Wallingford Public Schools (Invited)

For more information or to register go to the CABE website www.cabe.org/ page.cfm?p=1141

The Journal â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Connecticut Association of Boards of Education/March 2016

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The Journal – Connecticut Association of Boards of Education/March 2016

CABE: working for YOU Individualized Workshops • Professional Development Opportunities Legal Services • Policy Services • Representing You Statewide and Nationally Below are the highlights of activities that the CABE staff has undertaken on your behalf over the last month. We did this:

•

➤ By representing Connecti-

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•

cut school boards on the state or national level:

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Attended Connecticut Society of Association Executives (CSAE) Annual Conference.

Participated in webinar on Refreshing Your Convention.

Attended the CAPSS Technology Subcommittee meeting.

Attended Birth-to-3 Leaders meeting.

Attended Governor’s press conference on Bloomfield High School success.

Met with Executive Director of AntiDefamation League (ADL).

Attended CREC 50th Anniversary celebration.

Met with Hartford Courant, The Day and Norwich Bulletin editorial boards.

Attended Connecticut State Department of Education Equity Plan Advisory Group.

Participated in Performance Evaluation Advisory Council (PEAC) meeting.

Met with new CREC Executive Director Greg Florio on working together.

Participated in Big 6 (CABE, CAPSS, CAS, CBIA, CCER and ConnCAN) teleconference.

Attended Bridgeport Prospers conference on Collective Impact (see page 1).

Participated in Professional Learning Advisory Committee meeting.

Attended CREC Council meeting.

Attended Legislative discussion with

statewide organizations at CCM. Participated in High School Graduation Committee meeting.

Participated in Mastery Exam Committee meeting.

Participated in WhatWillOurChildren Lose Coalition (CABE, CAPSS, CAS, CASBO) conference call.

➤ By providing opportunities

• • •

•

•

➤ By providing services

to meet members needs:

•

•

for members to learn how to better govern their districts:

•

Facilitated meeting on Roberts Rules and the Freedom of Information Act with the Orange Board of Education.

Staffed CABE/CAPSS Convention Committee meeting.

Sponsored and attended workshop on Creating Positive Engagement with Muslim Families and Students with CAS, CAPSS and ADL. Facilitated Roles and Responsibilities workshops with the Orange, Region #17, Sprague, Stamford and Suffield Boards of Education.

Provided policy information to 30 districts, one newspaper, one out-ofstate school boards’ association and the Connecticut State Department of Education through 44 answered requests for information or sample policies, on 42 topics. Further, districts continue to access CABE’s online Core Policy Reference Manual and/or online manuals posted by CABE for policy samples. The topics of greatest interest included use of social media, food services personnel, graduation issues and sexual abuse protection.

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•

•

•

• • •

Met with East Hartford, Old Saybrook and Waterbury Boards of Education to discuss Legislative issues.

Facilitated Goal Setting workshops with the Brooklyn and Wethersfield Boards of Education.

Facilitated a Board Evaluation workshop with the Bolton Board of Education.

Facilitated a Board Retreat for the Avon Board of Education.

Entered into an agreement to do an audit of the policy manual of the Greenwich public schools.

Trending legal topics were: Per pupil tuition reimbursements for regular education out-of-district students, revision of meeting minutes, reasonable requirements for public comments at board meetings, motion for reconsideration of previous board action, action of the full board after subcommittee votes, school records and police video recordings in schools, and requirements for tenure for teachers in our state.

As part of the Customized Policy Update Service materials were sent to East Hampton, East Windsor, Gilbert School, Marlborough, New Fairfield, New Hartford, Newington, Region 6 and Windham Boards of Education.

Worked with Bridgeport School Governance Council.

Met with Bristol Board Chair regarding pending litigation.

Met with East Hampton counsel regarding pending litigation.

➤ By ensuring members

State Board of Education Update Sheila McKay Senior Staff Associate for Government Relations, CABE

Due to the Governor’s budget address, the State Board of Education did not have a lengthy agenda this month. The Board approved designated certified shortage areas after they received results from their annual survey of districts and approved private special education programs. The survey asks: The number of certified staff actively employed, the number of teaching and administrative vacancies as of October 1, 2015 and the quantity and quality and of applications received for those vacancies.

Since the survey last year, Teaching English to Speakers of other Languages (TESOL) was not identified as a shortage area and School Psychologist was added this year. The list includes:

• Bilingual Education, PK-12; • Comprehensive Special Education, K-12; • Intermediate Administrator; • Mathematics, 7-12; • School Library and Media Specialist; • Science, 7-12; • Speech and Language Pathologist; • Technology Education, PK-12; and • World Languages, 7-12.

Recent work to lessen vacancies has included meeting with education majors and the Connecticut Councils of Teacher and Administrator Professional Standards.

Those present learned that how students choose their major was influenced by what they knew of vacancies and how was it communicated to them. The State Department of Education has reached out to UTEACH and 100K in 10, specifically to assist in the STEM shortage areas.

receive the most up-todate communications:

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Advocacy Highlights have begun

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again with the start of the legislative session.

As part of the development of new policy manuals utilizing the Custom Policy Service, materials were prepared for Avon, Derby, Fairfield, New Canaan, New London, Portland, Region #14, Stratford, Thomaston and Wethersfield Boards of Education.

➤ By helping school boards to increase student achievement

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Met with Desi Nesmith, new State Department of Education Chief Turnaround Officer.

Participated in Lighthouse training with the Region #1, Suffield, Waterbury and Winchester Boards of Education.

Sent out two issues of Policy Highlights via email listserv covering topics that affect student achievement. This included code of conduct for food services personnel, requirements for paraprofessionals under the new ESSA, the parent’s right to know provision under the new ESSA, professional standards for personnel in school nutrition programs, political activities on school board property, professional development and chronic absenteeism of kindergarten students.

➤ By promoting public education

• • •

Met with Office Depot representative on becoming a business affiliate.

Arranged and participated in Legislative breakfasts in CABE Areas.

Met with representative of Nellie Mae Foundation and CAPSS on school initiatives.

McCarthy Interviewed

by Fox TV

CABE Deputy Director and General Counsel Patrice A. McCarthy being interviewed by Fox News regarding a school district’s recent sexting issue.

The Journal – Connecticut Association of Boards of Education/March 2016 Bridgeport Uses Collective Impact to Address Challenges: Shouldn’t You? (continued from page 1) • Common Agenda – all participants have a shared vision for change, one that includes “a common understanding of the problem and a joint approach to solving it through agreed upon actions.

• Shared Measurement Systems – there must be shared agreement on how success will be measured and reported.

• Mutually Reinforcing Activities – the power of collective action comes not from the sheer number of participants or the uniformity of their efforts, but from the coordination of their differentiated activities” through these actions.

• Continuous Communication – developing trust takes much time together and, with Strive, skipping meetings is not acceptable. And, there is much communication between meetings, using technology.

• Backbone Support Organizations – there is a need for an infrastructure in support of all of this work, with a dedicated staff, which can manage and support the work.

So, what exactly, is happening in Bridgeport?

This initiative has come together over the last five years. United Way of Coastal Fairfield County stepped forward in 2011 and committed to “becoming a leading catalyst for social change, scale systemchanging platforms and align with collective impact movements [in other states] to improve community conditions.” United Way became the strong backbone of Collective Impact in Bridgeport.

Over time, it, working with hundreds of other stakeholders and developed a public-private partnership to support the work. Not long after, using broad community input, the movement picked a new name: Bridgeport Prospers Cradle to Career initiative.

Last fall, it identified the “indicators and common measures needed to improve outcomes along the cradle to career continuum”, baseline data was collected and a “data narrative” was developed so that all stakeholders could quickly know where the city was starting from across the “nine outcome areas selected for intense focus.”

What are the nine outcome areas in Bridgeport’s initiative?

• Infant Health: All Bridgeport infants will be healthy • Kindergarten Readiness: All Bridgeport children will be ready for kindergarten

• Early Grade Reading: All Bridgeport children will be reading on grade level • Middle Grade Math: All Bridgeport students will master middle grade math • High School Graduation: All Bridgeport youth will graduate from high school, college and be career ready • Youth Safe from Violent Crime: All Bridgeport youth are safe from violent crime and other at risk activities • Post-secondary Enrollment: All Bridgeport young adults will enroll in college, apprenticeship or career training • Post-secondary Completion: All Bridgeport young adults will

achieve post-secondary degrees or credentials • Youth Employment/Jobs: All Bridgeport young adults will be prepared to enter the labor market Other cities are also using the Collective Impact framework. The backbone of Waterbury’s Bridge to Success is United Way of Greater Waterbury. Norwalk has a collective impact movement called Norwalk ACTS. The backbone is the Stepping Stones Museum.

Collective Impact is not without its difficulties. Getting funders to remain true to a long-range plan without any particular solution in advance, is not easy.

But, certainly the idea of going big, with multiple groups agreeing on a common agenda can be a game-changer.

Of course, not every community has the resources and focus to do what the largest city in Connecticut is attempting.

Only time will tell how successful this Bridgeport’s initiative will be. But, surely, an initiative like this is worth

13 considering in many of our cities and towns.

To learn more about Collective Impact, see www.strivetogether.org/.

Copies of Bridgeport Prospers, which describes the city’s work in this area is available at www.bridgeportprospers.org.

CABE will hold a Hot Topic workshop on Collective Impact on April 19, 2016, CABE Office, Wethersfield. To register or for more information go to www.cabe.org/ page.cfm?p=1141

“Time is neutral and does not change things.

With courage and initiative, leaders change things.”

– Jesse Jackson

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The Journal – Connecticut Association of Boards of Education/March 2016

The Policy Corner Vincent A. Mustaro, Senior Staff Associate for Policy Service, CABE

Policy Revision Required for Reporting of Child Abuse and Neglect Recent legislation, P.A. 15-205, “An Act Protecting School Children,” substantially modified the General Statutes regarding the mandated reporting of child abuse and neglect by school employees.

The new legislation, effective October 1, 2015, with some provisions effective July 1, 2015, made significant changes in the areas of penalties for failure to report by mandated reporters, increased reporting requirements for suspected sexual abuse by a school employee, extended Department of Children and Families (DCF) responsibilities, board of education policy, creation of rapid response teams in school districts, hiring of convicted former employees and violators of the mandated reporting requirement. These areas will be reviewed in the balance of this article.

Mandated Reporting The Act expands the reporting requirements for school employees and subjects violators to increased penalties.

It requires a school employee to report to DCF if he or she, in the ordinary course of his or her employment or profession, has reasonable cause to suspect or believe that a student enrolled in a technical high school or a school under the board of education’s jurisdiction (other than in adult education) is a victim of any of the

following crimes by a school employee: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th degree sexual assault; 1st degree aggravated sexual assault; or 3rd degree sexual assault with a firearm. The reporter must notify DCF in the same manner and with-in the same timeframes required of man-dated reporters of child abuse and neglect under previous law.

The new legislation indicates that a mandated reporter’s suspicion or belief does not require certainty or probable cause and may be based on observations; allegations; facts; or statements by a child, victim, or third party.

It is a class D felony to intentionally and unreasonably interfere with or prevent a mandated reporter from reporting abuse or neglect a class D felony is punishable by imprisonment for up to five years, a fine of up to $5,000, or both.

The DCF Commissioner must promptly notify the chief state’s attorney if she believes that a mandated reporter failed to make a report.

Expanded Penalties/ Expanded Reporting Requirement The Act increased, from misdemeanor to a felony, the penalty for a mandated reporter who fails to report suspected child abuse or neglect to DCF. The Act

Available from the CABE Bookstore!

Excellent book for Board Members Understanding the Connecticut Freedom of Information Act and Access to Public Meetings and Records | Fourth Edition

requires school employees to report to DCF suspected sexual assault of any student, who is not enrolled in adult education, by a school employee.

The Act establishes that it is a class D felony for anyone, other than a child or a student who is not enrolled in adult education, to intentionally and unreasonably interfere with or prevent such reporting or conspire or attempt to do so. The criminal penalties involve time in prison, fines or both.

DCF Requirements DCF is required to make available educational and refresher training for all mandated reporters of child abuse and neglect. School employees must participate in the training course when hired and complete refresher training every three years. The school principal must annually certify to the superintendent that school employees have completed such training.

The superintendent must certify compliance to the State Board of Education (SBE).

The Act extended DCF’s investigation and notification requirements under existing law in reported child abuse or neglect cases to include cases of reported sexual assault of students by school employees.

DCF Investigation Previous legislation required that after completion of an investigation of a report of child abuse or neglect by a school employee, the DCF Commissioner notify the superintendent and the Commissioner of Education of the results and provide them with any investigation records. This requirement has been extended for the DCF Commissioner to do the same after completing an investigation of a report of sexual assault. The DCF Commissioner must do so whether or not the child or the victim is a student in the employing school or school district. If the DCF Commissioner has reasonable cause to believe that a student is a victim as described above, the superintendent must suspend the reported school employee.

Written by:

Mark J. Sommaruga, Esq. Pullman & Comley, LLC to order the FOIA book go to the CABE Online Bookstore at: www.cabe.org/page.cfm?p=1256

Policy Requirements Boards of education were required to update their written policy, by February 1, 2016, to include the new school employee reporting requirements. Boards of education are required to have a written policy regarding school employees reporting

suspected child abuse. The Act required the policy, by February 1, 2016, to also address the reporting of suspected child neglect; sexual assault; aggravated sexual assault; or sexual assault with a firearm of a student by a school employee.

The policy must annually be distributed to all school employees with documentation required that all school employees have received it and completed the required training and refresher training programs.

District Rapid Response Team The new legislation required boards of education, by January 1, 2016, to establish a confidential rapid response team to coordinate with DCF to ensure prompt reporting of suspected child abuse or neglect, or sexual assault and to provide immediate access to information and individuals relevant to DCF’s investigation of such cases.

The confidential rapid response team, by statute, must consist of a local teacher, the superintendent, a local police officer, and any other person the board of education deems appropriate.

The Act requires DCF, along with a multidisciplinary team, to take immediate action to investigate and address each report of child abuse or neglect in any school.

Hiring Prohibitions Boards are prohibited from hiring noncompliant individuals or those convicted of child abuse, neglect or sexual assault and employees who were terminated or who resigned due to the DCF investigation.

Boards are also prohibited from employing a school employee who was terminated or resigned, if he or she failed to report the suspicion of such crimes when required to do so or intentionally and unreasonably interfered with or prevented a mandated reporter from carrying out this obligation or conspired or attempted to do so. This applies regardless of whether an allegation of abuse, neglect, or sexual assault has been substantiated.

Policy Implications The new legislation impacted mandated policy #5141.4, “Reporting of Child Abuse and Neglect.” The new legislation requires a policy revision by local districts.

The Journal – Connecticut Association of Boards of Education/March 2016

Center for Public Education Focuses on Equity At a time when CJEFF v Rell continues in Hartford on the definition of educational adequacy in Connecticut, NSBA’s Center for Public Education has published a research brief, entitled, Educational Equity: What Does It Mean?

How Do We Know When We Reach It? While examining the issues of equity and equality, the Center’s Director Patte Barth, who wrote the brief, uses national information to explain what is meant by each. She uses changing demographics across the country and compares the education received by children of different races in terms of funding, highlevel curriculum, good teachers, and discipline policies.

While, as Barth states, this is “not an exhaustive list” of issues that could be used to show differences, they are the “most impact on student learning and therefore deserve close attention when developing equity plans”. She names “extra academic supports for lowperforming students; access to technology both in school and at home; comprehensive family services; mentorships and trained counselors” as examples of other issues that can be considered.

Barth also asked questions which any district might consider when examining equity in their schools, including: • What is our performance by school and by student group?

• Do all schools have adequate funding? Do funds flow to schools according to need?

• Do we provide high-level curriculum in all of our schools? Do our high schools offer course sequences in high-level math from Algebra I to calculus, and science from biology to physics? Do we offer AP courses and is access open to all?

PercentofofU.S. U.S. High Schools Percent Schools Offering Offfering the the Following Courses 2011-12 Following Courses - 2011-12 100 90 80 70 60 50 40

89

87

85

81

75 63 50

30 20 10 0 1 Algebra

2

3 Geometry

Biology

4

5 Chemistry

Algebra II

6

7 Calculus

Physics

We are happy to announce that Nancy Propfe joined the CABE staff on February 8 as the Administrative Assistant in the Membership Services Department. She will provide support to our professional development and publications areas. Nancy has many years of experience in the publications field.

What will the Connecticut Online Policy Service (C.O.P.S.) provide YOUR district?

Source: OCR 2014

• What are the qualifications of our teaching staff? Is teacher quality distributed equitably among schools as well as within the school building? Do all student groups have fair access to the best teachers? Are teachers well-supported? Do we reward teachers who serve the neediest students?

• How do our overall discipline rates compare to other districts? Do we have enough school counselors and trained mentors to support students

and work in partnership with families?

• Finally, do we monitor our progress? Do we make adjustments when needed? Are all of our students learning, engaged and on track to graduate college- and career-ready?

The brief can be found at www.centerfor publiceducation.org/educationalequity.

Robert Rader Executive Director, CABE

• A policy manual updated within days of a board meeting.

Understanding Cultural Differences: Critical Skills for Superintendents’ Secretaries, Administrative Assistants and Executive Assistants April 5, 2016 | 12:30 Registration

Join Us in Welcoming Nancy Propfe

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Community Center, 30 Greenfield Street, Wethersfield Cultural Competency

Legal Q&A

Central Office staff are often the first to welcome new families to our schools. Over the next ten years, Connecticut students will be even more diverse than today and a better understanding of cultural differences is critical.

Central Office staff must be prepared to appropriately engage with new families in a respectful way. This session will focus on key skills involved with sensitivity to cultural competency, using cultural competence in positive and effective problem-solving, and learning about resources available to school boards and districts.

This session will address a number of legal issues that are of importance in the day-to-day work of superintendents’ secretaries, administrative assistants and executive assistants.

Presenter: Marji Lipshez-Shapiro, CT Anti-Defamation League (ADL)

For more information or to register go to the CABE website: www.cabe.org/ page.cfm?p=1141

Presenters:Patrice A. McCarthy, Deputy Director and General Counsel, CABE; Rebecca Adams, Senior Staff Attorney, CABE

So where do we go from here?

Discussion facilitated by Lisa Steimer, Senior Staff Associate for Professional Development.

• Access to your policy manual 24/7 anywhere with Internet capability.

• Timesaving links to legal and cross references.

• A search engine specifically designed for board policy manuals.

• The ability to search other online districts for similar policies or language.

• A happier staff that will have less paper to deal with.

If you would like additional information on CABE’s Connecticut Online Policy Service (C.O.P.S.), call Vincent Mustaro at 860-571-7446 or email vmustaro@cabe.org for full details.

Let the CABE staff make your policy life easier.

16 The Journal â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Connecticut Association of Boards of Education/March 2016