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September 2014

CCJEF v. Rell Education Adequacy & Equity NINE YEARS after the Connecticut Coalition for Justice in Education Funding brought suit against the State of Connecticut for its failure to adequately and equitably fund PK-12 public schools in accordance with the Connecticut constitution, the CCJEF v. Rell trial is finally scheduled to get underway at Hartford Superior CVourt in January 2015..

What this case is all about â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the short version: Plaintiffs in the case include CCJEF, a broad-based coalition of municipalities, school districts, parents, and others, and 25 named schoolchildren and their parents from 10 communities.

CCJEF and named plaintiffs are being represented pro bono by Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, the Yale Law School Education Adequacy Project, and David Rosen & Associates PC. Defendants (in their official capacities, as prescribed by Connecticut law) include the Governor, Treasurer, Comptroller, State Board of Education, and the Commissioner of Education, or their successors. All are represented by the Attorney General and his staff.

The complaint alleges that the unsuitability and inequality of educa-

tional opportunities, as well a the subsequent harm suffered by students, is caused by the Stateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s flawed education funding system as evidenced by inadequate and inequitable education inputs and low levels and unconscionable disparities of education outputs.

Originally filed in November 2005, the case now proceeds to trial for CCJEF to prove that the State is not meeting its constitutional obligation to adequately and equitably fund the PK-12 public schools and that the current system of school finance in unconstitutional.

Informing the trial court will be the landmark 2010 Connecticut Supreme Court decision issued in this case regarding plaintiffsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; adequacy claims.

In March 2010, on plaintiffsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; appeal of

East Hartford Public Schools the unfavorable pretrial decision regarding adequacy, the Connecticut Supreme court ruled in CCJEF v. Rell that the State constitution ensures the right of every Connecticut public school student to an effective, meaningful, and quality (ade-

quate) education, and the State must pay for it.

The 2010 CCJEF decision added substance to the ruling in Horton v. Meskill (1977, 1982, and 1985), in which the See CCJEF page 14

Pasi Sahlberg Convention Friday morning speaker

Connecticut Association

The CABE/CAPSS Convention Committee is pleased to announce that Dr. Pasi Sahlberg, Finnish educator and scholar, will be our Friday morning keynote speaker. He received a Master of Science (Mathematics) in 1984 from University of Turku and a PhD from the University of Jyvaskylä in 1996. He also

has a Teacherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Diploma from the University of Helsinki in 1986.

Dr. Sahlberg has a long track record in education and development. His teaching career started in Teacher Training School at the Department of Teacher Education, University of Helsinki in 1986.

He then moved to the Ministry of Education (National Board of Education) in 1991 to serve as Senior Advisor in science education, Head of the School Im-

provement Unit, and later as Counselor to the Deputy Director General on education policy development and education reform.

In 2000 he was invited to take the leadership of the Centre for School Development in the University of Helsinki.

From the beginning of 2003 he worked as Senior Education Specialist in the World Bank in Washington, DC. He was responsible for education projects and analytical work in Europe and Central Asia.

Since June 2007 he worked with the European Training Foundation, in Torino, Italy, as Lead Education Specialist producing intellectual services to governments, schools and leaders to improve

their education policies and practices.

Since December 2009 Dr. Sahlberg served as Director General of Pasi Sahlberg CIMO (Center for International Mobility and Cooperation) at the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture in Finland.

He has worked with governments and educators in Europe, Central Asia, North See Sahlberg page 15

Nutmeg Board

Residency

Policy Corner

CABE Annual Report

Media Message

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of Boards of Education Inc.

Senior Staff Associate for Professional Development

81 Wolcott Hill Road Wethersfield, CT 06109-1242

Lisa Steimer

Periodical Postage PAID Hartford, CT

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The Journal – Connecticut Association of Boards of Education/September 2014 PRESIDENT COMMENTARY

Good luck on new school year Wow, I cannot believe summer is over and schools have opened for the new school year. Didn't summer just start?

Let's hope for a warm autumn season.

With teachers and children back in school across the state our focus should be on improving student learning.

School Boards need to set the tone with a persistent and relentless focus on student learning at our board meetings. High performing districts have an effective board-superintendent leadership team that sets the culture and the expectation that all students can and will learn in their school districts.

The Massachusetts Association of School Committees (MASC) defines a great school board member as one who seeks first to understand – then, to be understood. A great school board member is open minded and keeps learning by attending professional development opportunities that will enable us to increase our knowledge and skills to

become more effective educational leaders throughout our tenure.

Great board members also build strong personal relationships, and we confront issues, not people. To be great school board members we need to continually advocate for our students and their schools and promote the benefits of public schools to our communities.

We also need to collaborate with other boards, through CABE, to advocate at the state and national levels.

Boards of Education need to be more effective communicators if we want to change the perceptions of public education. We need to tell our stories of why and how public education makes a difference in every community.

As the NSBA Booklet, Telling Your Story, says, 'doing a good job is no longer enough. We have to do a good job and tell

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

Richard Murray

parents and the public about it -- on a daily basis.

Good luck with your new school year and I issue all Connecticut board members a challenge: to attend at least one professional development session this year.

Recent People in the News • Elizabeth A. Napolitano, CEOE, was recently installed as the 80th President of the National Association of Educational Office Professionals. Betty has been the Administrative Assistant to the Superintendent of Schools in Wallingford, CT and Clerk of the Board of Education for sixteen years.

• Members of the Connecticut School Attorneys Council recent met in the CABE office to discuss recent legislation passed by the General Assembly and other issues of concern.

• Patrice A. McCarthy, Deputy Director and General Counsel, CABE, recently attended a special press conference on Connecticut’s National Association of Education Placement (NAEP) results. She commented on how school boards, superintendents, educators, the State Board of education, legislators and the Governor have worked hard together, focusing on student achievement.

• Gavin Forrester, III, was recently honored at the Governor’s mansion as the winner of the 2013 CABE Philip S. Fenster Distinguished Service Award.

Richard Murray .................................................. President, Killingly Ann Gruenberg ................................. First Vice President, Hampton Robert Mitchell ................ VP for Government Relations, Montville Elaine Whitney ........... VP for Professional Development, Westport John Prins ......................................... Secretary/Treasurer, Branford Lydia Tedone ............................................ Immediate Past President Donald Harris ........................................................ Member at Large

AREA DIRECTORS Susan Hoffnagle ............................. Area 1 Co-Director, Winchester Mari-Ellen (Mimi) Valyo ............... Area 1 Co-Director, Winchester Daniel Gentile ................................... Area 1 Co-Director, Plymouth Jeffrey Currey ............................. Area 2 Co-Director, East Hartford Susan Karp ................................... Area 2 Co-Director, Glastonbury Donald Harris ................................. Area 2 Co-Director, Bloomfield Laura Bush ................................................. Area 3 Director, Vernon Douglas Smith .................................. Area 4 Co-Director, Plainfield Andrea Veilleux ................................ Area 6 Co-Director, Stratford Elaine Whitney .................................. Area 6 Co-Director, Westport Roxane McKay ............................. Area 7 Co-Director, Wallingford John Prins ......................................... Area 7 Co-Director, Branford Lon Seidman ................................................. Area 8 Director, Essex Aaron Daniels ........................................... Area 9 Director, Norwich

ASSOCIATES Eileen Baker .............................................. Associate, Old Saybrook Sharon Beloin-Saavedra .............................. Associate, New Britain Gary Brochu .......................................................... Associate, Berlin Robert Guthrie .............................................. Associate, West Haven Robert Trefry ........... Associate, CT Technical High School System COMMITTEE CHAIRS Elizabeth Brown ......................... Chair, State Relations, Waterbury Donald Harris ......................... Chair, Federal Relations, Bloomfield Becky Tyrrell ...................................... Chair, Resolutions, Plainville

CITY REPRESENTATIVES Jacqueline Kelleher ....................... City Representative, Bridgeport Matthew Poland ................................ City Representative, Hartford Carlos Torre .................................. City Representative, New Haven Polly Rauh ........................................ City Representative, Stamford Charles Stango ............................... City Representative, Waterbury

STAFF Robert Rader ....................................................................... Executive Director Patrice McCarthy .................................. Deputy Director and General Counsel 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 Kelly Moyher ......................................................................... Sr. Staff Attorney 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 Denise Roberts .................................... Admin. Asst. 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: www.cabe.org/ userlogin.cfm?pp=84&userrequest=true&keyrequest=false& userpage=84

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The Journal – Connecticut Association of Boards of Education/September 2014 EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR COMMENTARY

CABE Affiliate Members BUSINESS AFFILIATES DIAMOND MEMBER Finalsite GOLD MEMBERS

Advanced Corporate Networking dba. Digital BackOffice Berchem, Moses & Devlin Centris Group Guidance Counselors for Senior Teachers Pullman & Comley Shipman & Goodwin Siegel, O'Connor, O’Donnell & Beck, P.C SILVER MEMBERS Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Corporate Cost Control Milliman, Inc. Milone & MacBroom, Inc. The Segal Company BRONZE PLUS MEMBERS Brown & Brown Insurance Friar Associates Goldstein & Peck, P.C. Guidepost Solutions, LLC Lindburg & Ripple O & G Industries The S/L/A/M Collaborative Trane UltiPlay Parks & Playbrounds BRONZE MEMBERS Chinni & Meuser LLC Dattco Inc. Fuller & D’Angelo Architects and Planners JCJ Architecture Kainen, Escalera & McHale, P.C. The Lexington Group Muschell & Simoncelli Ovations Benefits Group Susisman Shapiro Attorneys at Law

EDUCATIONAL AFFILIATES American School for the Deaf Area Cooperative Educational Services Capitol Region Education Council The College Board 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

Have you set your board goals for the year?

Your personal goals?

Now that this anything-but-quiet summer is behind us, school districts have started their 2014-15 school year. How did your Board start the year?

I ask because once school is in full swing, it often becomes harder to find the time to do the deep thinking that is so necessary in order for Boards to examine their vision of what school should be—or even how they can improve the operation of their Board. We hope that this was done over the summer, but with vacations and families away, this is difficult in many districts.

Three Sets of Goals

recognize that the Superintendent serves as the Board of Education’s agent and will, in that role, faithfully apply the policies and contract adopted by the Board.

• Board members adhere to the principle that they shall confine the Board’s role to policy-making, planning and appraisal while the Superintenden shall implement the Board’s policies.

• Board members and Superintendents both recognize that they serve as a part of an educational team with mutual respect, trust, civility and regard for each other’s respective roles and responsibilities.

• Board members are committed to the concept that the strength of the Superintendent is in being the educational leader of the school district.

• Board members and Superintendents practice and promote ethical behavior in the Boardroom as a model for all district employees.

• Board members and Superintendents consider and decide all issues fairly and session or without bias.

Robert Rader CABE staff spends time over the summer with Boards helping set goals.

There are basically three levels of goals too, is accountable and is working on that school districts have. The first are continuous improvement. By attaching a District goals, covering issues elicited in work plan and timelines, there is a much the Strategic Plan, if there is any. These better chance of getting the work done. are usually very broad goals based on Even Board Members should have student achievement, facilities and other their own goals. The following list of items that the whole district will focus ideal Board Member traits comes from upon.

Second, are the Superintendent’s “By developing Board goals in an open goals. These are retreat, a Board shows the public, faculty, students usually written in Right now, CABE conjunction with the and the public that it, too, is accountable and is and CAPSS are Board and are aimed deeply involved in a at implementing working on continuous improvement.” process to update District goals, as our Governance well as specific Statement and Team Assessment docuissues about a superintendent’s perforthe CABE Code of Conduct for Board ments, found on both the CABE and mance. They may also contain some Members and Superintendents. As you CAPSS websites. We are in a time of aspects of the implementation of the read it, think of how you approach your increased accountability and adherence to Board’s goals. The Superintendent roles and responsibilities and whether the best practices and, we hope to give evaluation process usually helps identify there may be opportunities for improveyou some new and higher voluntary some of the Superintendent’s goals. ment: standards. We hope you will think about Third, are the goals established by the • Board members and Superintendents these once you receive them.

Board. They can develop from a Board ensure the opportunity for high In addition, CABE stands ready to Self-Evaluation, including recommendaquality education for every student continue its work in helping Boards tions of the Superintendent, or the and make the well-being of students develop their goals and better understand feelings of Board Members that improvethe fundamental goal of all decisiontheir roles and responsibilities. Do not ment is needed in some area. We encourmaking and actions. hesitate to contact us if we can be of help age Boards to have no more than three-to• Board members and Superintendents to you or your Board. five and they should be, at least in part, are staunch advocates of high aimed at strengthening the functioning of quality free public education for all the Board. Examples might include Connecticut children. increasing Board communication with the • Board members and Superintendents public, having more effective meetings honor all national, state and local and considering how to better understand laws and regulations pertaining to the data that the Board uses to make its education and public agencies. decisions.

• Board members and Superintendents Boards should ensure that their recognize that clear and appropriate agendas are aligned with the goals they communications are key to the have adopted, so that they spend the successful operation of the school If your actions inspire necessary time and effort on them. And, district. there should be regular reporting on the • Board members and Superintendents others to dream more, goals as the year progresses. will always carry out their respective learn more, roles with the highest levels of prodo more and fessionalism, honesty and integrity.

• Board members recognize that they A Good Time to Start become more, represent the entire community and Even if your Board hasn’t developed you are a leader. that they must ensure that the comits own goals, now would be a good time munity remains fully informed on to start. By developing Board goals in an – John Quincy Adams school-related matters. open session or retreat, a Board shows the • Superintendents and Board members faculty, students and the public that it,

CABE BUILDS LEADERS!

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The Journal – Connecticut Association of Boards of Education/September 2014

Education challenges on three continents Patrice A. McCarthy Deputy Director and General Counsel, CABE

What do schools on three different continents have in common? It turns out quite a bit. Over the past several months I have had the honor of serving as a volunteer evaluator for the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) in helping prepare schools in Germany and Nigeria for the NEASC accreditation.

The accreditation process for international schools and American schools abroad is based on the same framework NEASC uses to accredit schools throughout New England. The framework covers

the mission and vision, teaching and learning, governance and leadership, school culture and finances and facilities.

The John F. Kennedy School in Berlin with 1690 students in grades k-12 and the Corona Secondary School in Agbara, a boarding school educating 460 students in grades 7 through 12 from throughout Nigeria share the core value of educating the entire child.

At the JFK School that was evidenced by an outstanding music and arts department, and we had the privilege of listening to some of their performances as part of their tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King.

The Corona School emphasizes academics as well as a host of extracurricular activities, and a focus on integrity.

These schools face the challenges of meeting national and international testing requirements while not compromising the student educational experience. Does that sound familiar?

The Corona School faces the additional infrastructure challenges experi-

Nigerian students learning how to play badminton.

enced throughout Nigeria related to power, water and technology. The school has become self-sufficient in order to address these challenges, utilizing multiple gen-erators and its own water supply.

The JFK School is actually a German public school with two gov-erning bodies – the Berlin department of education, which is responsible for the overall operation of the school, and the ten-member Educa-tional Directorate, which consists of representatives from the US Embassy, the Berlin government, and the parents, which functions as the “board of education”.

Clearly defined roles and responsibilities are key to making this governance structure work.

The experience of visiting these two schools caused me to reflect on the similarity of the challenges Connecticut schools face – but with perspective that only thousands of miles of distance can provide.

While the context is different, the priorities are remarkably similar: • Preparing students to function in a global society

German students out at recess.

• Using achievement data to inform instruction • Engaging the parent community • Creating a safe and supportive school climate and culture • Developing a common understanding of the roles and responsibilities of the governing body and administration.

In all cases, a committed governing body, administration and school staff are key to addressing these priorities.

The Journal – Connecticut Association of Boards of Education/September 2014

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See You in Court – The Nutmeg Board of Education

Did the Nutmeg Board’s Policy Committee Chair oversteps his authority?

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.

Mal Content has been a member of the Nutmeg Board of Education for three years. For most of that time, Mal was the outsider looking in. That all changed this year, however, when Mr. Chairperson appointed Mal to serve as Chairperson of the Board Policy Committee.

Suddenly, Mal saw himself as a player, and he embraced his new responsibilities enthusiastically, perhaps too much so.

Mal promptly got on the telephone with Mr. Board Attorney and asked him to review and revise all Board policies “to make them perfect.”

Moreover, Mal quickly decided on his own that the Board needs new policies on student safety, religious celebrations in the schools, and the assignment and return of homework. Mal sent a courtesy email to the other members of the Policy Committee, informing them that he was writing some new policies, and then Mal got to work.

For the student safety policy he was drafting, Mal followed his heart. He recalled how he had been bullied in middle school, and so he included in the draft policy he was writing that students would never be permitted to be in the school setting without adult supervision.

His draft policy also provided that the Board directs the Administration “to take all possible measures to assure student safety.”

On religious celebrations in the school, Mal’s draft policy provided that teachers are prohibited from mentioning in class any holiday with religious significance, including Easter and Christmas. Indeed, to make sure that students are comfortable in school, Mal’s draft policy also prohibited students from talking among themselves in school about religious holidays.

Finally, Mal’s draft policy on homework was quite simple: Teachers will be required to return homework assignments to students within twenty-four hours.

Period.

Mal sent his draft policies to the other members of the Policy Committee by email, asking for their input. At the Board meeting last week, Mal proudly described his efforts to the full Board in public session, and he explained that he was simply waiting for the other Committee members to respond before presenting the new policies to the Board for adoption.

Veteran reporter Nancy Newshound of the Nutmeg Bugle, the local newspaper, was in the audience, and she asked Mal to send her copies of the draft policies. Mal chided Nancy, asking rhetorically if she knows what the word “draft” means.

“When we are done with the policies and Similarly, the draft policy on homeThere are of course other problems present them to the full Board, Nancy, work may result in an unfair labor practice with how Mal went about fulfilling his you will be one of the first to know,” Mal charge. While boards of education have new responsibilities. The draft policies assured her. the right to that Mal prepared would not be considMeanwhile, Mr. adopt policies ered “drafts” exempt from disclosure “. . . when a draft is Board Attorney was governing under the Freedom of Information Act. busy at work, and a district prac“Preliminary drafts and notes” are indeed circulated as ‘part of the few days later, he sent tices, any generally exempt from disclosure under Mal thirty pages of process by which significant the FOIA. recommendations on changes in However, when a draft is circulated as governmental decisions the policies on expectations “part of the process by which governmenstudents. “Personnel (such as the tal decisions and policies are formulated,” and policies are is next,” he wrote in requirement it is no longer considered “preliminary,” his cover memoranformulated,’ it is no here that and it is subject to public disclosure. dum. homework Thus, Nancy Newshound had a right to longer considered “By the end of the always be see the drafts that Mal circulated. year, we should have returned within ‘preliminary,’ and it is Finally, Mal’s email asking for recommendations on twenty-four comments from the other members of the how the Board can subject to public hours) may Policy Committee may have violated the make all of its trigger a duty to FOIA. The Policy Committee is itself a policies perfect, as disclosure.” negotiate over public agency, and its meetings must be you requested,” changes in posted. concluded Mr. Board working conditions.

By asking for comments before Attorney.

Given the legal implications, it is often submitting the policies to the Board of Did Mal get carried away here? If so, advisable to seek legal review before how?

Education for adoption, Mal was essenadopting a significant new policy. tially conducting Committee business Policies regulate the affairs of a school However, it is important to be clear on without posting the “meeting.” who has the authority to assign legal work district, and writing and adopting policies Any substantive discussion about is one of the key responsibilities of boards to counsel.

Committee responsibilities should occur Here, Mal’s request to Mr. Board of education. In writing policies, howonly at a posted meeting.

Attorney that the board policies be made ever, boards of education must keep in Attorney Thomas B. Mooney is a part“perfect” involves an extensive legal mind that the drafting and adoption of ner in the Hartford law firm of Shipman & review, a potential expense that the Board Goodwin who works frequently with board policies can raise significant legal as a whole would appropriately consider issues. Here, there are problems with boards of education. Mooney is a regular and decide upon. what Mal wrote and how he did so. contributor to the CABE Journal.

Policies create legally-binding commitments, and therefore it is important that board policies be realistic in establishing rules to govern district affairs.

The policy on student safety, for example, provides that students will never be left without adult supervision. Moreover, what does it mean to take “all possible measures to assure student safety”?

Such grandiose language may well invite liability claims. School districts can be liable for harm that comes to students if (1) school officials have a duty of care, (2) they breach that duty by acting unreasonably, (3) that unreasonable action causes an injury (4) that was foreseeable. When boards of education adopt policies, they define reasonable action, and a failure to follow board policy will be deemed unreasonable per

by Thomas B. Mooney, Esq. se.

Shipman & Goodwin Thus, if and when a board of education adopts a policy that includes an unrealistic expectation that school officials may not always be able to meet, it may be setting the district up for liability.

In addition, policies can raise other The Guide comes with a CD which provides legal issues. The draft policy on religious hyperlinks to many cases and statutes celebrations in the schools, for example, purports to prohibit students from and will permit word searches discussing their own religious celebraas a supplement to the Index. tions, a clear violation of their First Amendment rights.

Eighth Edition coming in October

A Practical Guide to Connecticut School Law

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The Journal – Connecticut Association of Boards of Education/September 2014

Residency and “illegal alien status”: do’s and don’ts Mark J. Sommaruga and Adam S. Mocciolo Pullman & Comley, LLC

It is worth remembering that when determining if someone is a resident of your school district, the fact that someone may not actually be a legal resident of this nation is irrelevant.

In order to underscore this fact, the United States Department of Justice and the United States Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights recently joined forces to issue a “Dear Colleague Letter” [“DCL”] to provide guidance to school districts as to what is and is not permissible in terms of assessing the residency of students.

The DCL reminds school districts that barring students from enrolling in the public schools based upon their (or their parents’) citizenship or immigration status could also violate the numerous laws that prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin, since citizenship/immigration-based criteria may have the effect of discriminating against persons based upon racial or ethnic status.

The DCL follows well-established United States Supreme Court precedent.

In Plyler v. Doe, 457 U.S. 202 (1982), the Supreme Court held that a state may not deny access to public education to any child residing in the state, regardless of whether the child is present in this country legally; this holding is cited in the DCL, which further notes: "[A]s Plyler makes clear, the undocumented or non-citizen

status of a student (or his or her parent or guardian) is irrelevant to that student’s entitlement to an elementary and secondary public education.”

A year after Plyler, the Supreme Court held in Martinez v. Bynum, 461 U.S. 321 (1983), that residency within a school district for school accommodation purposes is usually based upon both physical presence and an intention to remain, and it is evident that one can reside within a town

For example, a school district may not bar a student from enrolling in its schools because the student lacks a birth certificate or has records that indicate a foreign place of birth, such as a foreign birth certificate.

While the U. S. Department of Education requires districts to collect and report data regarding the race and ethnicity of their student population, districts cannot use the acquired data to discriminate against students, nor should a parent’s or

“A district should never refuse enrollment because the documents it receives suggest foreign birth or lack of valid immigration status.” for school accommodation purposes without being a citizen or legal resident of the United States.

Consistent with Martinez, the DCL provides that “in order to ensure that its educational services are enjoyed only by residents of the district, a district may require students or their parents to provide proof of residency within the district.”

For example, a district may require copies of phone and water bills or a lease agreement to establish district residency.

Consistent with Plyler, however, the DCL warns that inquiring into students’ citizenship or immigration status (or that of their parents or guardians) is not permissible, as it is not relevant to establishing actual residency within the district.

guardian’s refusal to respond to a request for this data lead to a denial of his or her child’s enrollment.

Based upon federal privacy laws, the DCL affirms that a school district may not deny enrollment if a student (or parent or guardian) chooses not to provide a social security number.

If a district chooses to request a social security number, it must inform the individual that the disclosure is voluntary, provide the statutory or other basis upon which it is seeking the number, and explain what uses will be made of it.

Moreover, the guidance prohibits not only policies that actually bar enrollment based on immigration status, but also those that “discourage a student who is

CABE-Meeting CABE-Meeting is a user-friendly online service offered by CABE specifically for school boards.

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undocumented or whose parents are undocumented from enrolling in or attending school.”

When collecting and reviewing information, any request must be uniformly applied to all students and not applied in a selective manner to specific groups of students, nor should a district request information with the purpose or result of denying access to public schools on the basis of race, color, or national origin.

The DCL further suggests that even a documentation requirement undertaken without immigration status in mind may be prohibited if it has the effect of barring students on the basis of their immigration status.

Somewhat ominously, the DCL warns school districts with respect to demographic shifts in a district’s student enrollment: “Precipitous drops in the enrollment of any group of students in a district or school may signal that there are barriers to their attendance that you should further investigate.”

Thus, in the eyes of the federal government, disparate outcomes in enrollment may be viewed to be indicative of inappropriate – and perhaps illegal -- barriers, regardless of intent.

So What Should School Districts Do Now? School districts should review their policies (and the list of documents used to establish district residency) and ensure that any required documents would not unlawfully bar or discourage a student who is undocumented or whose parents are undocumented from enrolling in or attending school, or would not otherwise have a “chilling effect” on a student’s enrollment in school.

For example, if a parent can furnish commonly accepted documents like utility bills or a lease to establish her residence address, a district should avoid demanding an alternate document that may be suggestive of her immigration status, such as a driver’s license (unless it has some legitimate, non-immigration related concern about the authenticity or accuracy of the other documents).

A district should never refuse enrollment because the documents it receives suggest foreign birth or lack of valid immigration status. In addition to a child’s foreign birth certificate, this same principle would generally apply to a parent’s foreign passport offered as proof of his or her identity, or a decree of a foreign court offered as proof of custody.

If foreign-issued documents are otherwise sufficient to demonstrate the fact under question, they generally should be accepted. Finally, even school districts fairly certain of the otherwise nondiscriminatory effects of their policies may wish to consider explicit disclaimers in their enrollment documents making clear that enrollment does not depend on immigration status.

Attorney Sommaruga is a member of the law firm of Pullman & Comley, LLC, which represents numerous school districts in Connecticut. Attorney Mocciolo is an associate with that same firm; he has significant experience in immigration law matters and wrote about the above subject for the firm’s blog, “Education Law Notes.”

7

The Journal – Connecticut Association of Boards of Education/September 2014

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

Student dress codes As a new school year begins, it is appropriate to review a reoccurring concern, namely student dress codes. The United States Supreme Court in the 1969 landmark Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District decision established broad student rights to selfexpression through appearance and attire.

Background Information The Tinker decision gives students the right to freedom of speech and expression within the schools. Over time, lower court rulings have curtailed those rights with regard to students’ self-expression in the form of certain types of attire.

Today, school districts may regulate the dress of students if the attire is not designed to communicate a particular message or if the attire interferes with legitimate educational concerns. However, the First Amendment rights of students within the schools remain a complex area of the law that continues to develop.

Courts, in assessing local dress codes will generally focus on two issues. First, the courts must find that the provisions of the code promote legitimate educational interests. Such interests include the need to avoid disruption of the educational process, student safety or the maintenance of the physical plant.

Rules that reasonably relate to such educational interests include prohibitions against sexually provocative clothing,

dangerous jewelry, such as multi-finger rings, or the infamous black-soled shoes (which leave black marks on the floor).

When issues of health, safety and/or po-tential material disruptions of the educational environment are the basis for a dis-trict’s dress code, courts appear more willing to rule in favor of the district if the dress code is challenged.

A two-pronged test is used in order to determine whether particular student attire possesses sufficient communicative elements to implicate First Amendment protections.

Affirmative answers to the following questions are necessary to conclude that the attire warrants First Amendment protection: (1) Is there an intent to convey a particularized message, and (2) Is the likelihood great that the message will be understood by the people who view it?

Then, after it has been determined that the student’s attire possesses sufficient communicative elements to implicate First Amendment protections, the school district may restrict the student’s right to wear the attire, as if it were any other type of speech; if it (a) has caused, or is likely to cause, a substantial disruption of or a material interference with school activities, or (b) has interfered with the school district’s educational mission.

Student Attire as Protected Speech Black armbands, addressed in the

Search Services Call CABE for your recruiting needs For an update or more information on vacancies go to our website: www.cabe.org For more information contact, CABE Search Services, 860-539-7594 Jacqueline V. Jacoby, Senior Search Consultant Mary Broderick, Associate Consultant Paul Gagliarducci, Associate Consultant Bob King, Associate Consultant P.O. Box 290252, Wethersfield, CT 06129-0252 www.cabe.org/support

Tinker ruling, worn in protest of war are viewed easily by the courts as attire possessing sufficient communicative elements to implicate First Amendment protections.

Likewise, clothing supporting a position on abortion, or a political figure, would also likely be found to be sufficiently communicative. However, most cases are not as clear. Often, courts must determine whether there is truly a message in the clothing choices of students.

Many court cases demonstrate that it is important to determine whether there is a message intended by the student’s attire before a school district may prohibit a student from wearing the attire. Furthermore, where articles of clothing or jewelry may have several meanings, it is advisable to investigate the student’s reasons for wearing the attire before banning it.

To curb violence, school districts have adopted dress codes prohibiting students from wearing certain types of apparel to school which have resulted in numerous First Amendment challenges. Due to the special characteristics and unique nature of the public school environment, the First Amendment affords less protection to students.

However, school officials do not have unlimited discretion in determining what types of expression to prohibit. For example, if intended as a means of political or religious expression, a student’s choice of clothing is protected by the First Amendment. Additionally, school officials may not prohibit speech merely because they dislike the message.

Student’s Attire as Substantially Disruptive The school may restrict the student’s right to wear certain attire if the school can demonstrate that the student’s attire has caused, or is likely to cause, a substantial disruption of or a material interference with school activities.

Establishing that a disruption has been caused, or is likely to result, can be difficult in certain circumstances.

Rules regulating a student’s appearance are generally lawful when they are shown to have an effective relationship to the education process, rather than being merely representative of the stylistic preference of the school.

Where a student’s attire has caused other students to file complaints, the school district may use these complaints as evidence of a disruption. Where no disruption has occurred, a school district may still restrict a student’s ability to wear attire where “there are substantial facts which reasonably support a forecast of likely disruption, [such that] the judgment of school authorities in denying permission and in exercising restraint will normally be sustained.” This is because in many circumstances, school authorities may have a duty to prevent the occurrence of disturbances or respond quickly to disruptions once they occur.

Many court rulings demonstrate that it is important to be able to identify the link between the potential disruption and the student’s attire at issue. Without an

obvious connection, a court may not find the school district’s anticipation of disruption reasonable, which will interfere with the district’s defense in a First Amendment claim regarding student attire.

Interference with the Educational Mission of the School School districts have more latitude when banning clothing because it interferes with the school’s educational mission. The U.S. Supreme Court has held that school boards have the authority to determine “what manner of speech in the classroom or in the school is inappropriate” and that a “school need not tolerate student speech that is inconsistent with the basic educational mission even though the government could not censor similar speech outside of the school.” School districts have used this authority to prohibit students from wearing attire with lewd, offensive, and vulgar messages in the schools.

Dress Code Policies Most school districts have a dress code policy to regulate student school attire. It is advisable to review that policy to verify that, when applied, it will withstand legal challenges. When reviewing student dress code policies, keep the following in mind: 1. Protect Students’ Religious Expression. Dress codes must accommodate students whose legitimate religious beliefs require or encourage certain types of dress or accessories.

2. Protect Students’ Rights of Expression. Dress codes must not interfere with students’ rights to make political or philosophical statements about the world, as long as that expression does not cause a substantial disruption of or a material interference with school activities, or interfere with the school district’s educational mission.

3. React to Actual, Not Perceived Threats. Before banning specific items of apparel because of gang activity or other violence, the school district must have evidence to support such a ban.

4. Consistent and Reasonable Application. The school district must ensure that there is reasonableness and consistency in the application of a student dress code.

A student dress code that is applied in a manner that holds different groups of students to different standards will not be upheld by the courts.

Dress code policies, #5132, must be made available to all students and parents within the school district. Additionally, the written dress code should encourage parents and students to bring any questions regarding the dress code to school district administrators. It is recommended that boards of education include a dress code policy for students in the district’s policy manual.

8

The Journal – Connecticut Association of Boards of Education/September 2014 Richard L. Schwab to address A Portrait of the Teaching Profession in the Era of Reform at CTCEF’s Annual Conference on September 30 Liz Stokes President, CTCEF

Richard L. Schwab, Dean of the Neag School of Education and Professor of Educational Leadership at the University of Connecticut, will speak at the Connecticut Consortium of Education Foundations’ (CTCEF) 15th annual conference on Tuesday, September 30, from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., at the Crowne Plaza Cromwell Hotel.

Dr. Schwab’s topic will be A Portrait of the Teaching Profession in the Era of Reform. He will share current research surrounding the teaching profession and national and international trends in policy-making that have targeted raising standards in the teaching profession.

He will conclude with suggestions for the role that community-based education foundations can play in helping to enhance the profession in meaningful ways.

The eight conference workshops will cover a variety of topics. Dianna Roberge-Wentzell’s topic is College and Career Readiness Across the

Curriculum. She will discuss the Common Core State Standards, including the new Arts, Social Studies, and Science Standards. Collective impact offers a compelling way for communities to address social issues.

Branding: Positioning Your Foundation for Maximum Impact; and Helping People Answer the question: Why Should I Give?

In What Every Superintendent Needs to Know…About Partnering with their

“Our philosophy is based on the proven principle that community engagement is a key factor in improving schools and that local education foundations can play a lead role.”

Anthony Allison will discuss how education foundations can help to develop the conversation and actions necessary to move from isolated impact to collective impact.

Fundraising topics include Bid Higher: Donor-Centered Auctions, presented by Kathy Kingston, a benefit auction strategist and professional auctioneer, and Bob Serow’s Maximizing Your Fundraising Event by Applying the Principles of Return on Investment.

Other topics include Legal Check-Up: Bylaws and Other Organizational Matters;

Local Foundation, Newtown superintendent and CTCEF board member Joe Erardi will moderate a panel of superintendents who will share the optimal working relationship with education foundations and the role that each must take in order to maximize the opportunities for students.

CTCEF will present its annual Foundation Celebration Award during lunch.

Luncheon Discussion Groups will cover a variety of topics.

CTCEF is a statewide non-profit organization whose mission is to facilitate

the creation, growth, and effectiveness of local education foundations in CT. CTCEF encourages education founations to share and collaborate with each other and with other communitybased organizations.

Our philosophy is based on the proven principle that community engagement is a key factor in improving schools and that local education foundations can play a lead role. CTCEF is the only organization that focuses on bringing the 90 Connecticut education foundations together with local school districts, caring communities, and each other.

Register now for this important conference and take advantage of our Early Bird Special (four or more people from the same organization register at the same time with a check, purchase order, or PayPal payment that must be received by September 8).

Visit our Web site at www.ctcef.org and click on Events/Annual Conference. For more information, contact CTCEF president, Liz Stokes, at 203227-9323.

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The Journal â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Connecticut Association of Boards of Education/September 2014

2013- 2014 CABE Staff Administration

Robert Rader Executive Director rrader@cabe.org

Teresa Costa Coordinator of Finance and Administration tcosta@cabe.org

Cory Ucci Receptionist/ Assistant to the Executive Director cucci@cabe.org

2013- 2014 CABE Board of Directors Executive Committee

Richard Murray President Killingly (h) 860-774-4165

Ann Gruenberg First Vice Predsident Hampton (h) 860-455-1211 (b) 860-465-5268

Government Relations

Robert R. Mitchell VP for Government Relations Montville (h) 860-447-8882 (b) 860-443-7441

Elaine Whitney VP for Professional Development Westport (h) 203-221-7335

John Prins Secretay/Treasurer Branford (h) 203-481-6279 (c) 203-623-6191

Lydia Tedone, Immediate Past President Simsbury (h) 860-658-1173 (b) 860-653-5524

Donald Harris Member at Large Bloomfield (h) 860-243-3611 (b) 860-878-1403

Jeffrey Currey Area 2 Co-Director East Hartford (h) 860-528-8822

Donald Harris Area 2 Co-Director Bloomfield (h) 860-243-3611 (b) 860-878-1403

Susan Karp Area 2 C0-Director Glastonbury 860-633-5603 (b)

Laura Bush Area 3 Director Vernon (h) 860-872-2420 (b) 860-798-1693

Roxane McKay Area 7 Co-Director Wallingford (h) 203-269-5404

John Prins Secretay/Treasurer Branford (h) 203-481-6279 (c) 203-623-6191

Lon Seidman Area 8 Director Essex (h) 860-577-0566

Aaron Daniels Area 9 Director Norwich (h) 860-887-4408 (c) 860-710-0199

Area Directors No Photo Available Daniel Gentile Area 1 Co-Director Plymouth (w) 860-314-8004 Patrice A. McCarthy Deputy Director/ General Counsel pmccarthy@cabe.org

Sheila McKay Senior Staff Associate for Government Relations smckay@cabe.org

Gail Heath Administrative Associate for Government Relations gheath@cabe.org

Policy Service

Vincent A. Mustaro Senior Staff Associate for Policy Service vmustaro@cabe.org

Pamela Brooks Sr. Administrative Associate for Policy Service and Search Services pbrooks@cabe.org

Terry DeMars, Administrative Associate for Policy Service tdemars@cabe.org

Labor Relations

Susan Hoffnagle Area 1 Co-Director Winchester (h) 860-379-1249

Mari-Ellen Valyo Area 1 Co-Director Winchester (h) 860-379-4054 (c) 860-480-1515

Douglas Smith Area 4 Director Plainfield (h) 860-564-8339

Andrea Veilleux Area 6 Co-Director Stratford (h) 203-380-1938

Elaine Whitney Area 6 Co-Director Westport (h) 203-221-7335

Committee Chairs

Associate Directors

Kelly B. Moyher Senior Staff Attorney kmoyher@cabe.org

Wilmarie Newton Administrative Associate for Labor Relations wnewton@cabe.org

Membership Services

Eileen Baker Associate Director Old Saybrook (h) 860-388-2761

Sharon Beloin-Saavedra, Associate Director New Britain (h) 860-827-0136 (w) 860-827-0136

Becky Tyrrell Resolutions Plainville (h) 860-793-0615

Gary Brochu Associate Director Berlin (h) 860-828-1579 (b) 860-251-5705

Donald Harris Federal Relations Bloomfield (h) 860-243-3611 (b) 860-878-1403

Elizabeth Brown State Relations Waterbury (h) 203-754-7163 (c) 203-560-7028

Polly Rauh City Representaitive Stamford (h) 203-325-9379 (b) 203-325-9379

Charles Stango City Representative Waterbury (h) 203-575-0411

City Representatives Bonnie B. Carney Senior Staff Associate for Publications bcarney@cabe.org

Nicholas Caruso Senior Staff Associate for Field Services and Coordinator of Technology ncaruso@cabe.org

Denise Roberts Administrative Assistant for Membership Services droberts@cabe.org

Lisa Steimer Senior Staff Associate for Professional Development lsteimer@cabe.org

Robert Guthrie Associate Director West Haven (h) 203-934-7565 (c) 203-996-2382

Robert Trefy Associate Director CT Technical High School System (h) 203-521-8371 (w) 860-807-2182

Jacqueline Kelleher City Representative Bridgeport (b) 203-365-4472

Richard Wareing City Representative Hartford (b) 860-695-8000

Carlos Torre City Representative New Haven (h) 203-387-1277 (c) 203-668-9940

10

The Journal – Connecticut Association of Boards of Education/September 2014

Report to the Membership 2013-2014 Mission: To assist local and regional boards of education in providing high quality education for all Connecticut children through effective leadership.

Over the last year CABE continued its progress in helping Boards become more efficient and effective. This is due to both to the hard work of our CABE Board of Directors and Staff, working to address the needs of our member boards and those equally hard-working member boards which support this relationship.

Our aim is always to continuously strengthen these relationships, which translates into more success at the State, regional and local levels.

We continue to work closely with the whatwillourchildrenlose Coalition, which is comprised of CABE, CAPSS, CAS (representing principals) and CASBO (school business officials) as we focus primarily on resource issues for our members.

We also continued to build on initiatives that have been started over the last few years. We continued our work with five other organizations including CAPSS, CAS and business and reform groups. This “Big Six Partnership” is especially helpful as we

focused on the reform agenda and possible changes to it. Our partnership also resulted in more access to legislators and the Governor’s staff and greater visibility, both at the Capitol and in the media.

We also continued our partnership with the State Department of Education, particularly with our emphasis on the need for student growth, through the Lighthouse Project, our work with school governance councils and workshops which highlighted each board’s critical role in increasing student achievement. As our members began to implement the new Common Core State Standards, we published articles on the issues facing districts and spoke about the Standards at a number of forums.

We also worked hard on the Performance Evaluation Advisory Council (PEAC) as it wrestled with issues of timing of the use of Smarter Balance testing and other concerns around professional educators’ evaluations. We worked hard to ensure that the concerns of school boards,

together with superintendents and principals were taken into account.

We were also actively involved with the National School Boards Association, including presenting workshops at its Annual Conference, serving on the Council of School Attorneys’ Board of Directors and developing a paper representing all states’ executive directors on the Future of School Boards. Connecticut is well-represented in your national association.

We again urge all board members to be involved with the work we do. Don’t wait for someone else to take the lead—we need every board members to be involved with school board’s one statewide association!

Communications and Technology The Association continues to work on improving communications with our membership.

CABE has a Facebook page. If you have

a Facebook account you can join CABE www.facebook.com/ConnecticutAssociationBoardsEducation. We also have a Twitter account you can follow us @CTAssocBdsofEd. We are posting national news from the National School Boards Association (NSBA), photo highlights from workshops and conferences, Communications Tips, some Journal articles, upcoming meeting announcements, and much more.

Finance and Support The Association ended the fiscal year in a positive financial situation. CABE has continued to ensure its resources are consistent with the needs of our members.

We want to remind you, if you would like to use the Rovins Conference Room, please let us know. We don’t charge for use of the room and it’s a great place for a meeting or a retreat. We want our building to be seen by board members as your building!

Activities we have undertaken to serve you better this past year Providing opportunities for members to learn how to better govern their district.

Board Member Academy Throughout the past year, CABE has continued its commitment to be the NUMBER ONE Connecticut provider school board of professional development, by providing high quality training for local and regional school board members across Connecticut.

By offering workshops, hot topic workshops, an annual Convention, area meetings, individual workshops, the CABE Journal and other publications, CABE presents board members and administrators with many ways to increase their knowledge and skills.

Board Member Academy Certification To encourage board members’ participation in professional development, CABE’s Board Member Academy provides points for service, leading to two awards: Certificated Board of Education Member (CBEM), which requires 20 credits and Master Board of Education Member (MBEM), which requires 20 additional credits.

The Academy addresses the continuing educational needs of school board members by focusing on core areas of board responsibilities.

Individual Board Workshops CABE staff continues to regularly meet with boards of education as they desire to provide professional development. Staff continues to facilitate customized workshops from basic roles and responsibilities, the superintendent search process, goal setting and full-day board retreats.

Statewide Workshops Attendance at our workshops in 201314 was approximately 745.

Workshop topics included: candidate briefings, new board member, negotiations, legal issues, leadership, policy, and an update on what happened at the 2014 Connecticut General Assembly. Several of these workshops were sponsored in part by the State Department of Education.

CABE/CAPSS Convention The Convention, Keeping Focus on Student Growth in a Time of Rapid Change was held on November 15 and 16, 2013.

• Attendance at the Convention was 609 board members, superintendents, business managers, administrators, education officials and invited guests • General session speakers included Anne L. Bryant, Azure Antoinette, Senator Richard Blumenthal, Governor Dannel Malloy, Connecticut Education Commissioner Stefan Pryor, Gautam Mukunda and David Nee. • Workshops included: Legal Implications of the CT State Board of Education Guidelines: Teacher Evaluation Update; Real CT Case Studies in Crisis Communications; Preventive Mental Health in Our Schools; Administrator Professional Development in a Time of Teacher Evaluation Reform; Increasing Student Achievement: Growing from an “Underperforming School District” to a “High Performing School District”; Harassment and Bullying Complaints: Prevention, Response and Investigation; and Using Digital Learning Environments to Support Student Growth and Success.

• Members of the State Board of Edu-

cation participated in a lively discussion with the attendees • Approximately 56 exhibitors of education-related goods and services participated in the exhibit hall.

was sent out either through the mail or electronically or both.

The Journal’s primary audience is school board members, superintendents and district administrators throughout the state. The Journal is also sent to state and federal legislators, other education organizations (local and national) and others who have an

Leadership Institute CABE’s Leadership Institute graduated its ninth class, having now served over 85 participants. The participants were very enthusiastic about their experiences and urged CABE to continue this program, as well as incorporate opportunities for graduates to continue to develop their leadership skills. It is jointly sponsored by 2014 CABE Leadership Institute Graduates CABE and the State Department of Education. Participants interest in keeping up-to-date with education met for five four-hour sessions, including a issues in our state.

The Model Student Parent/Guardian webinar. Through facilitated discussion and outside presenters, they had the Handbook was revised to reflect current opportunity to discuss in depth a variety of issues and legislative changes.

This year we published a new book, education issues.

Understanding the Connecticut Freedom of Information Act and Access to Public Publications Meetings and Records, written by Mark J. The CABE Journal was published eleven Sommaruga, Esq. of Pullman & Comley. times this year. Last August, the CABE We also reprinted and updated the CABE Communications Committee recommended Board Meeting Guide. that we survey the membership and see if they would rather receive the Journal Policy Highlights through the mail (paper copy) or Twenty-six issues of the email newsletter, electronically via email. We surveyed Policy Highlights, were distributed on an members and they selected which option every-other-week basis to board members they preferred. The July/August 2013 and superintendents, highlighting current Journal was only sent out electronically to (continued on page 11) our members and subscribers after that it

The Journal

– Connecticut Association of Boards of Education • September 2014

11

Report to the Membership 2013-2014 (continued from page 10) educational topics with policy implications.

Throughout, the major focus remained on issues pertaining to student achievement.

Policy Requests and/or Samples Approximately 600 requests for policy information and/or sample policies from member districts were addressed, usually on the same day the request was received.

The website-based Core Policy Manual continues to receive a large number of “hits” for sample policies in addition to the district manuals that have been placed on line through the CABE Connecticut Online Policy Service (C.O.P.S.). In addition, 27 districts were under contract for Customized Policy Services during the year for the review and development of new district policy manuals or updates to selected portions of the manual.

Lighthouse Project Our partnership with the Connecticut State Department of Education (SDE) continues to be highly successful. Funded by a grant from SDE; CABE and SDE personnel have helped a number of districts improve student achievement through more effective board leadership. Lighthouse trainers have been working with a cohort involving four other states and ten Connecticut school districts.

Most of the original Lighthouse districts have completed the foundation work and may receive follow-up training and facilitation as necessary. This past year the team has worked to streamline the process and we look forward to serving more boards with Lighthouse II - a shorter timeline and fewer meetings while retaining the foundations of Lighthouse training. We anticipate training several new boards this year.

Ensuring Members Receive the Most Up-to-Date Communications Board Chair Listserv CABE has seen a very successful continuation of the Board Chair listserv. This listserv began in the late spring of 2009 and has provided board chairs with a new means of communicating ideas and concerns with each other and CABE. Topics of discussion and sometimes friendly debate have included special education and board budget process.

We also use it to track budget developments from around the state on an ongoing basis during budget season and provide districts with a spreadsheet of budget information. CABE looks forward to continuing this excellent means of fostering communications between member board chairs and CABE. Customized Policy Manuals Six districts entered into contracts for customized policy manual development. A new manual was completed for one district.

Four additional districts have new manuals close to completion.

Students, board members, and administrators marched to the State Capitol in support of public education.

Policy Update Service One hundred and three districts subscribed to the Policy Update Service publication. Subscribing districts received four mailings which reflected current and timely policy issues, including the need for new and/or revised policy topics based upon legislative action or judicial rulings or contemporary policy issues, especially in the areas of technology, health, student discipline and personnel issues. Seventy-four districts also received this publication electronically to facilitate local district usage of the sample material.

CABE Policy Reference Core Manual The CABE Policy Reference Core Manual, containing approximately 600 sample policies and regulations, was continuously revised throughout the year. Moreover, new policy topics were added. It is easily “searchable” and remains accessible for CABE members on the CABE website in a multi-searchable user-friendly format.

Policy Audit Service Eight districts had audits completed of their existing policy manuals. This service provides the district with a report on the strengths and weaknesses of their existing manual with recommendations to update the manual. Six of the audit districts then engaged CABE to update their manual based upon the audit findings.

Custom Policy Update Service Twenty districts subscribed to the Custom Policy Update Service. In this service, CABE assumes the responsibility for updating the district’s existing policy manual.

Major focus was placed on providing needed policies, administrative regulations and information. Some of the topics pertained safety and security, bullying, technology, student health issues, student-staff relationships, graduation requirements, school calendar, student discipline and various personnel issues.

Connecticut Online Policy Service (C.O.P.S.) Thirty-six districts subscribed to the Connecticut Online Policy Service (C.O.P.S.). Districts appreciate that their manuals are easily accessible and searchable online and are kept current through CABE.

Education Affiliates – This program helps provide education-related organizations with a closer relationship with CABE. In 2013-2014, we had 12 Education Affiliates.

A current list of Business and Education Affiliate members can be found on page 3.

Providing Services to Meet Member Needs

Promoting Public Education Awards CABE Board Recognition Awards are presented to boards of education which exhibit the most effective leadership, characterized by their ability to work together as a “team.”

CABE Board Leadership Award Level One – In 2013, 12 boards of education received the Board Leadership Award for their continued work on their leadership skills. Boards need to fulfill 22 of 34 Level One criteria to earn this Award.

CABE Board of Distinction Award Level Two – In 2013, 13 boards of education received the Board of Distinction Award.

This Award was granted to boards who have achieved Level One at least twice in the prior four years and meet the eligibility criteria.

Student Leadership Awards – The CABE Student Leadership Awards program continues to be very popular, with 374 students from 96 CABE member school districts earning the award. This program enables each high school and middle school in member districts to nominate a boy and a girl to be honored for their leadership qualities.

Awards of Excellence for Educational Communications – This year CABE presented 31 Awards of Excellence in Educational Communications and 56 Honorable Mentions. Effective communications with parents and taxpayers are extremely important in school district operations.

Affiliate Membership Program — Business Affiliates – CABE invites private sector companies, institutions and firms with an interest in public education, to become our partners and to show their support. The program grew to 28 partners in 2012-2013.

Membership consisted of: 1 Diamond, 7 Gold, 5 Silver, 9 Bronze Plus and 9 Bronze Members.

Advocacy: Supporting School Boards at the Legislature, State Board and Congress CABE’s positions on a broad range of local, state and federal issues are adopted each year at the Delegate Assembly. The State Relations Committee then develops CABE’s Legislative Priorities, and board members and staff implement the advocacy agenda. CABE was involved in an unprecedented number of discussions with legislative leaders and the Governor’s office, and partnered with numerous other organizations to promote public education. Highlights of CABE’s advocacy efforts were: • Relentless efforts to maintain current levels of education funding, including maintaining the student transportation grants; • Participation in meetings with legislators around the state. Board members were able to give legislators factual and anecdotal information on issues to be debated in the General Assembly.

• CABE staff reviewed all pending legislation, and monitored, provided testimony and lobbied those with an impact on education. The focus of CABE’s legislative efforts centered on increasing flexibility for school districts, defeating numerous new mandates, and working with other organizations on issues of mutual interest.

• A successful Day on the Hill program, which included the participation of many high school students and school business officials.

• The Advocacy Action Center, which makes it easier for board members to communicate with their legislators and (please see page 12)

12

The Journal

– Connecticut Association of Boards of Education • September 2014

Report to the Membership 2013-2014 (continued from page 11) to access more information on pending legislation. During the Session emails were sent out on a regular basis to all members who requested the most current legislative information.

cedure Common Core and teacher evaluation. CABE also participates as amicus curiae in cases of statewide impact.

In the last year, we’ve conducted several workshops on teacher evaluation and student achievement, including CABE’s annual Collective Bargaining workshop. The Legal Issues workshops included Teacher Evaluation, Bullying All members of a board of education and School Cliare invited to attend ALL CABE mate, freedom of information, reliworkshops, and advocacy efforts! gion in the public schools and the annual NegotiaIt’s important for ALL board members tions Workshop to take advantage of the at the CABE Convention. professional development In addition to opportunities that we offer. legal issues, CABE has also It is equally important for board been collecting members to get involved in our and distributing information on advocacy effort to show a unified front district budgets at the state and national levels. each season. This past season marks the 4rd year CABE has been collect• Participation in and monitoring of ing data and sharing districts’ budget infornumerous task forces, including those mation on our Board Chair Listerv. addressing school security, the achievement gap, the Education Cost Negotiations and Labor Issues Sharing formula, implementation of CABE redesigned its surveys for collechigh school reform, and teacher and tion of the salary and benefit information of administrator evaluation. superintendents, administrators, teachers, paraprofessionals, and custodians. CABE Federal Relations Program has now started the redesign of its database Our Federal Relations Committee lobbied file system to enhance the organization of the Connecticut Congressional delegation the data and promote efficiency. The report on several key issues: the reauthorization of formats are designed to be more userESEA, school safety and security, modify- friendly. Many individual data reports were ing federal special education requirements, also provided upon request to assist indiand limiting the US Department of Education vidual boards with their negotiations. Data authority and recognizing the respon- and surveys are also available online to sibilities of local school board governance. members at the CABE website.

Attention Board Members

Legal Issues Over the last year, CABE’s attorneys have responded to hundreds of requests from board members and superintendents asking for individual assistance on legal issues involving student discipline, teacher tenure, contract issues, personnel practices, freedom of information, parliamentary procedure, meeting procedures, grievances, referenda, special education and other issues.

Other legal services to school districts included: workshops for board members and other organizations on such issues as referenda, freedom of information, collective bargaining, student discipline, board roles and responsibilities and parliamentary pro-

CABE e-Services CABE Website — (www.cabe.org) – The CABE website, “powered” by finalsite keeps board of education members and the general public up-to-date about various services and information provided by the Association. Through our website, members have access to: policies and regulations from the CABE Core Policy Manual; The CABE Journal; superintendent/administrator data; a NCLB Resource Page; and much more.

Webinars – CABE has continued using webinars to provide timely information to more people. Some of these are presented live and others are recorded and placed on the CABE website for review at our members convenience. To see our growing selection

of Webinars, visit our website and click on Podcast/webinars from our Education tab.

CABE Email Service – We provide CABE Email Services as a way for our members to receive information on areas of interest with no additional membership fee. By providing us with an email address members receive: Advocacy, Policy, Program and Labor Relations Highlights and the weekly (biweekly during July and August) e-newsletter, What’s Going on at CABE. CABE-Meeting – This program allows your central office to create and deliver board packets in a paperless environment.

This program saves districts time and money, and allows board members easier access to data before and during meetings. As of August 15, we have 18 school districts enrolled in this program. We demonstrated CABE-Meeting to a number of additional districts that inquired about the product but have not yet made a decision about using CABE-Meeting.

School Governance Councils CABE continues to provide training for those School Governance Councils that request our support. We view this collaboration between local boards of education and Councils as a way to help transform schools, as well as galvanizing the community on education issues. We provided training for School Governance Councils in two districts and are glad to help out when other members desire the training for their councils.

perintendent), Watertown (Superintendent), ACES (Executive Director), Windham (Superintendent), Southington (Superintendent), Portland (Superintendent), Tolland (Superintendent), and Oxford (Superintendent).

Unemployment Cost Control Our Unemployment Cost Control Program membership totaled 21 districts in 201213. This program, which is administered by CCC, offers consultation, claims processing and full administration of all unemployment compensation claims for a district.

Business Travel Insurance CABE contracts to provide Business Travel Insurance to all school board members whose boards are CABE members. This policy provides $25,000 of Accidental Death coverage and is free of charge to CABE members.

Coverage is for any school board member traveling on school board business, whether it is local commuting to school board meetings, meetings sponsored by CABE, or any state or national meeting related to being on the board.

Media Assistance for Member Districts CABE continues to offer this ervice to members who need the services of a comunications experts: • To improve internal communcations with political leaders, parents, students and taxpayers.

• For member boards to get help in times of crisis communications.

• To learn about timing your message to rally support for your budget.

• To help member boards get the message out on the good programs in their district.

This work, in conjunction with Baldwin Media, will continue over the next year.

CABE Search Services As part of CABE’s ongoing effort to provide local boards of education with the resources they need to carry out their most important responsibilities, we continue to strengthen our Search Services program.

Jacqueline Jacoby, Senior Search Consultant and Associate Consultants Paul Gagliarducci, Mary Broderick, and Robert King are uniquely qualified to assist boards in recruiting and retaining key personnel such as superintendents, principals and other critical members of your district staff.

CABE Search Services has performed 11 successful searches or is conducting searches for the following Boards of Education: Preston (Business Manager), Newtown (Superintendent and Principal), Donald Harris (Bloomfield) receives Columbia (Su- Baldwin Media Marketing.

media training from Ann Baldwin,

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

The Journal

– Connecticut Association of Boards of Education • September 2014

13

14

The Journal

– Connecticut Association of Boards of Education • September 2014

2014 CABE Summer Leadership Conference sponsored in part by a grant from the Connecticut State Department of Education CABE Leadership Conference

CABE Leadership Institute Alumni Luncheon

Alumni of the CABE Leadership Insititute met at the Annual Luncheon before the Leadership Conference. In a discussion facilitated by Mary Broderick, they identified leadership challenges and brainstormed strategies to address the challenges.

CABE Executive Director Robert Rader welcomed everyone to the Leadership Conference and served as emcee.

Kate Carter, Superintendent, South Windsor Public Schools, talked about the importance of ensuring that the district goals are reflected in the budget.

Richard Carmelich, Director of Finance and Operations, Region 7 Public Schools, talked about board members role in the budget process.

Discussing how the board leads the district and community in a time of great change were: l. to r., Donald Harris, Chair, Bloomfield Board of Education; Manny Rivera, Superintendent, Norwalk Public Schools; and Nancy Vaughan, School/ Community Relations coordinator, Waterbury.

Rounding out the day with a networking dinner on the patio of the Saybrook Point Inn allowed participants one more opportunity to discuss the day and talk with fellow board members.

Mary Borderick, Past President of CABE and NSBA facilitated a discussion on the elements of board leadership. Participants discussed what is working and the keys to working as an effective team.

CCJEF v. Rell (continued from page 1) Connecticut Supreme Court affirmed that the State constitution provides a fundamental right to “substantially equal educational opportunity” for all school children and that the reliance on local property taxes to fund education without regard to wealth disparities, was a violation of the constitution.

The Sheff v. O’Neill (1989) decision further affirmed the precept of equal education opportunity. Thus the 2010 CCCJEF education adequacy ruling added to long-established foundations of equity.

Adequacy Standards In a 4-3 decision for the plaintiffs, the Supreme Court remanded the case back to the Hartford Superior Court for trial on the merits of plaintiffs’ adequacy and equity claims. Key elements of the plurality decision are described in the following paragraphs.

Citing economic and sociological public policy considerations, the Court noted that “education has a fundamental role in maintaining the fabric of our society.” The Court reaffirmed its Horton I decision, that “the fundamental right to an education is not an empty linguistic shell.”

That right must meet modern educational standards, standards that are

dynamic and dependent on “demands of an evolving world.”

The Supreme Court specified that a suitable education is one that prepares school children to . . .

• “participate fully in democratic institutions, such as jury service and voting.”

• “progress to institutions of higher education.”

• “attain productive employment.”

• “contribute to the State’s economy” Drawing on standards articulated in the Campaign for Fiscal Equity v. State of New York (2006) and other state court decisions, the Connecticut Supreme Court called for . . .

• “minimally adequate physical facilities and classrooms which provide enough light, space, heat, and air to permit children to learn” • “minimally adequate instrumentalities of learning such as desks, chairs, pencils, and reasonable current textbooks” • “minimally adequate teaching of reasonably up-to-date basic curricula such as reading, writing, mathematics, science, and social studies” • “sufficient personnel adequately trained to teach those subject areas”

The Journal

– Connecticut Association of Boards of Education • September 2014

CABE and Baldwin Media: Partners in Managing Communications

The

Media Message

from Ann Baldwin, Baldwin Media Marketing, LLC

Connecticut Public Schools Offering Service With a Smile Ann Baldwin President, Baldwin Media Marketing

In advance of the start of the new school year, I was recently invited by a Connecticut Public School system to provide professional development training for their front office and secretarial staff. The theme was, “Schools Offering Service with a Smile.”

As we all know, it is often the office staff and the secretaries who are on the front line when it comes to dealing with parents, students and the general public.

Therefore these individuals should not be overlooked when it comes to professional development and how they can positively impact the image of your district.

With more and more competition brought on by school choice, good “customer service” needs to be addressed. While this was a very comprehensive, two-hour training session, these are some of the topics that we covered:

Pasi Sahlberg Convention Friday morning speaker (continued from page 1) America, Africa and Asia-Pacific region to help them in improving education policies and implementing system-wide education reforms.

In his current job as a visiting Professor of Practice at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education in Cambridge, MA Dr. Sahlberg works with graduate and doctoral students to better understand educational change and how education policies and reforms can improve and also harm school systems, teachers and students in schools.

Dr. Sahlberg his an active figure in promoting educational changes in Finland and beyond. He has published several books, such as Cooperative Learning Handbook (with Shlomo Sharan in 2002) and Small Group Learning in Mathematics (with John Berry in 2003) and more than one hundred articles in journals, research periodicals and magazines around the world.

His book “Finnish Lessons: What can the world learn from educational change in Finland?” (2011) won the 2013 Grawemeyer Award and he received the 2012 Education Award in Finland and the 2011 Upton Sinclair Award in the United States.

In 2013 he received First Class Knight of the White Rose of Finland from the President.

Dr. Sahlberg will be signing “Finnish Lessons: What can the world learn from educational change in Finland” immediately following the Friday morning General Session.

· Eye contact and hello It often is that simple.

Should a parent walk into the office, they are there for a reason and deserve to have someone look at them and say hello.

A warm greeting can go a long way. It has been proven that the degree to which a school is welcoming influences the extent to which parents become involved. · Let visitors know what to expect Perhaps one may be in the middle of something else when a visitor walks in, but to briefly stand, introduce yourself and let them know they are important and that you will be right with them can go a long way in reducing the anxiety of someone pacing around the front desk, or sitting in a chair.

of the day can get very hectic. It is up to office staff to make sure that the chaos doesn’t get out of hand and if it does, to slow it down. An angry parent is on the phone, other lines are ringing, kids are looking for a hall pass, and a parent has shown up to bring their child back to school from a dentist appointment.

· Keep a check on the environment Making schools more welcoming can be as simple as taking a second look at an environment that you may see every day from a different perspective.

What that parent sees, hears and believe it or not smells, has a huge impact on them and their impression of their kid’s school.

Whatever the approach to “Service with a Smile”, good customer service is in everyone’s best interest: teachers, administrators, and office staff!

Everyone is the face of the school and remember the saying; “First impressions have a lasting impact.”

While schools are more cautious about visitors now, they can still be welcoming without compromising security.

Front offices are the nerve center for a lot of activity and during certain times

15

State Board of Education Action Sheila McKay Sr. Staff Assoc. for Government Relations, CABE

Board members had a presentation by the Achievement Gap Task Force and the discussion afterwards focused on chronic absenteeism, teacher absenteeism, and mental health. The complexity of the issue was also mentioned as a detriment in moving forward.

Miguel Cardona, chair of the task force and on performance and evaluation specialist in the Meriden school system and Steve Hernandez, on staff at the Commission on Children both mentioned in their presentation the multiple lenses that the issues are being looked through.

The report’s table of contents breaks the subject down by outside the schoolhouse, inside the schoolhouse, inside higher education and inside state government.

In terms of inside the schoolhouse, the issue is broken down as: • Principal and Teacher Hiring and Retention for Schools that Demonstrate Persistent Gaps • English Language Learners • Use of Curriculum in Closing Achievement Gaps in Low Performing Schools • Role of Time in Closing Achievement Gap • Creativity and Innovation and the Achievement Gap Synopsis • Chronic Absence • Reading • School Climate and the Achievement Gap • Narrow the High-End Opportunity Gap-Find the Missing Advanced Placement Students There were numerous board members (please see STATE page 17)

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The Journal

– Connecticut Association of Boards of Education • September 2014

The Legal Issues Corner Kelly B. Moyher, Senior Staff Attorney, CABE

Board of Labor Relations rules A bargaining committee that fails to support and to vote for a tentative collective bargaining contract can fail to bargain in good faith, pursuant to Connecticut General Statutes §7-470(a)(4).

At a roll call vote, one of the nine members of the Bristol Board of Education, Commissioner Larry Amara, who apparently was a member of the negotiating committee, voted against a tentative contract that the board had reached with the union to subcontract out cafeteria work.

A tentative contract was not approved.

Previously, the parties tentatively had agreed that “The Board shall have the right to subcontract or outsource food service operations if and when it deems it to be in the best interest of the Bristol Public Schools.”

The union filed a complaint and alleged that although both parties signed a written document that indicated tentative meeting of the minds, Amara then express-ed opposition to and voted against ratification.

The union maintained that the board of education violated the Municipal Employee Relations Act, because it failed to ratify the tentative collective bargaining contract.

Absent ground rules to the contrary, individual members of a negotiating committee can express opposition to a tentative collective bargaining contract during the ratification process.

The Board of Labor Relations concluded that the board of education’s bargaining committee possessed a statutory obligation to recommend the approval of the tentative collective bargaining contract, pursuant to the parties’ ground rules.

Although Amara was allowed to publicly express opposition to the tentative

contract, he was not permitted to vote, “No.” The board of education violated the Municipal Employee Relations Act, because Amara voted against approval, the tentative contract was not approved and the ground rules required that Amara, as a member of the negotiating committee, vote to approve.

“We find,” wrote the Board of Labor Relations, “that the School Board failed to honor its statutory obligation to bargain in good faith.”

Connecticut Law Tribune, 8/4/14

Federal district court rules on First and Fourteenth Amendment suits A federal district court for the Eastern District of New York has ruled that New York state’s compulsory inoculation law, similar to that in Connecticut, did not violate the students’ First Amendment free exercise of religion rights or their Fourteenth Amendment substantive due process or equal protection rights when their school excluded them from attendance each time a schoolmate reported a case of a “vaccine preventable disease”.

The district court concluded that precedent from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which has jurisdiction over New York, Connecticut and Vermont, holds that the U.S. Constitution does not provide a constitutional right to religious objectors to be exempt from New York’s compulsory inoculation law.

The district court also found that case precedent defeated the students’ substantive due process claims, because the state’s vaccination program is well within the state’s police power.

Finally, the court dismissed the students’ equal protection claim because the students had failed to present any evi-

Advocacy at work

CABE President Richard Murray (Killingly); Patrice A. McCarthy, Deputy Director and General Counsel, CABE; Senator Christopher Murphy; and Sheila McKay, Senior Staff Associate for Government Relations, CABE, met to discuss civic engagement and student internet use policies.

dence that the Defendants favored one religion over another or that the students are members of a protected class.

Two of the families who had received religious exemptions challenged the varying degrees of exclusion of their children from school, claiming that it amounted to a violation of their First Amendment right to free exercise of religion and their Fourteenth Amendment right to substantive due process and equal protection, among other state claims.

Their children had been barred from attending school, on the basis of New York City (NYC) and New York City Depart of Education (NYCDE) policy, when other students were reported to have a vaccine-preventable disease.

The third family raised somewhat different grounds, saying that the city had improperly revoked her child’s religious exemption. She said the city rejected her religious exemption after it had previously denied her student a medical exemption.

The defendants, NYC and NYCDE, filed motions for summary judgment or, in the alternative, dismissal of the families’ causes of action.

The district court granted the defendants’ motions to dismiss all claims. In regard to the First Amendment free exercise claim, it upheld NYC/NYCDE’s policy of excluding unvaccinated students exempted from the state’s compulsory inoculation law when a schoolmate

reports a “vaccination preventable disease.”

The district court, relying on the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Jacobson v. Commonwealth of Mass., 197 U.S. 11 (1905) “that strongly suggested that religious objectors are not constitutionally exempt from vaccinations, and the Second Circuit’s holding in Caviezel v. Great Neck Public Schools, 500 F. App’x 16 (2d Cir. 2012),133 S. Ct. 1997 (U.S. 2013) that “the free exercise clause of the First Amendment does not provide a right for religious objectors to be exempt from New York’s compulsory inoculation law,” concluded, as had Northport-East Northport Union Free School District, 672 F. Supp. 81 (E.D.N.Y. 1987) , that “no constitutional right to religious exemptions exists” and “… the statutory exemption New York provides, goes beyond what the Supreme Court has declared the First Amendment to require.”

Turning to the substantive due process claim, the district court stated the Second Circuit in Caviezel found that Jacobson “flatly defeats any such claims.”

It disposed of the equal protection claim, finding that the families had presented no evidence showing that NYC or NYCDE favored any religion over another, or that the students are part of any protected class.

NSBA Legal Clips, 7/17/14

The Journal

– Connecticut Association of Boards of Education • September 2014

17

The Professional Governance Board Gary Brochu, Chair, Berlin Board of Education

Learning to develop a board’s collective intelligence One of the most important aspects to understand about operating as a professional governance board is that it functions as a collective body. In fact, it only functions as a collective body, and individual board members do not possess autonomous authority unless authorized by the board.

Given that a board of education can only act collectively, it is of paramount importance that boards learn to think collectively. The advantage, and the challenge, of having seven or nine or eleven unique, intelligent individuals serving on a governance board is that a properly functioning board has the potential to be more insightful and more intelligent than any individual member of that board.

Unfortunately, and far too often, governance boards function with a collective intelligence that is less than it can be.

There are numerous steps that a board of education can take to foster a sense of collective identity and operate with a collective intelligence. Board retreats, professional development, joint readings, are all techniques that boards can use to help create a collective mindset. But in order to truly encourage, create and sustain a functioning collective board intelligence, let me suggest that a board start with where the work of the board takes place, at its scheduled meetings.

As a collective body, a board of education’s decision-making process generally takes place at a public meeting. A presentation is given, a proposal is advanced, a motion made.

At this point discussion among board members takes place before a vote is taken. This discussion often serves to frame and shape a board’s final action.

And the quality of this dis-cussion directly and dramatically influences the quality of a board’s collective decision.

The issue that every governing board needs to address concerns the nature of its discussions. Will this discussion be in the form of debate, where each participant presents arguments as to why his view should prevail; or will it be in the form of dialogue, where participants engage in a shared conversation in an effort to achieve a deeper and richer understanding of an issue?

The word dialogue comes from the Greek dialogos, which combines the words “dia”, meaning “through,” and the word “logos”, defined as “word” or “meaning.” Thus dialogue is meaning passing or moving through each of the discussion’s participants; with the participants seeking a deeper meaning or understanding of a subject, as opposed to working to convince the other participants that she is right and they, alterna-

tively, are wrong.

If the portion of a board’s meeting that is dedicated to discussion, or dialogue, among members is to function with a high level of collective intelligence, collectively seeking to discover the best possible solutions, then board members need to be open to the views, experience and intelligence of other members. Open to the possibility that another member might have a better idea or approach, and open to the concept that collectively the board’s intelligence can transcend the intelligence of any individual member. But collective board intelligence is only possible if individuals are willing to suspend their assumptions, are willing to hold their own ideas open for scrutiny, and equally willing to consider and scrutinize the ideas of others.

To function collectively at a high level intelligence, board members need to see and treat each other as colleagues in a shared quest for deeper insight and understanding. Instead of seeing other members as adversaries, view them as colleagues with different, and potentially useful, ideas. Rather than seeking to subtract or minimize their views and contributions, seek instead to add and combine their insights with your own.

In order to facilitate this process, boards of education should look to estab-

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 and a half. We did this: ➤By helping school boards to increase student achievement: • Discussed superintendent evaluation and goal setting with the Mansfield Board.

• Provided Lighthouse training for the Shelton Board. ➤By providing opportunities for members to learn how to better govern their districts: • Facilitated a retreat with Woodbridge Board on roles and responsibilities and goals.

• Presented new board member training with the New Haven Board.

• Facilitated board evaluation workshop with the East Hampton Board.

• Planned and implemented successful 4th Annual CABE Summer Leadership Conference.

• Planned and implemented successful annual meeting for CABE-Meeting Meeting Managers.

• Planned and implemented webinar for CABE-Meeting Meeting Managers on several CABE-Meeting features.

• Facilitated annual Montville goalsetting discussion. ➤By promoting public education: • Staffed CABE Resolutions and Govern-

ment Relations Committee Meetings.

• Answered questions about the current legal issues facing boards of education. “HOT” topics this month were: School security, surveillance cameras, timely posting of meeting agenda, committee meeting minutes, and records retention. ➤ By ensuring members receive the most up-to-date communications: • Participated in CSAE webinar on Google Apps Management. ➤By providing services to meet members needs: • Met with the Redding Board to discuss school consolidation.

• Facilitated school consolidation process for the Milford Board.

• Assisted on retreat planning for the Windsor Board. ➤By representing Connecticut school boards on the state and national level: • Attended 2014 National School Boards Association (NSBA) Summer Institute for State School Boards Associations and presented a white paper on the Future of Boards of Education, developed by executive directors. It was sent unanimously to the NSBA Board of Directors for its review. It also will be used for training in a number of states, including Connecticut.

• Participated in meeting of the Board of the Executive Directors’ Liaison Committee, which represents the executive directors nationwide.

• Met with a representative of the Sallie Mae Foundation on work we are doing to help Boards increase student achievement and growth.

• Participated in several conference calls on issues of importance to Boards.

• Met with Anti-Defamation League representatives on issues of mutual interest.

• Met with U.S. Senator Christopher Murphy.

• Attended Connecticut Congressional Delegation Grants Fair.

• Met with Department of Administrative Services staff to discuss school construction.

• Met with Program Review and Investigation Committee staff to discuss paraprofessionals.

• Attended special State Board of Education meeting.

• Attended PreK-2 meeting.

• Participated in NSBA Council of School Attorneys Officers and State Association Counsel conference calls.

• Met with State Department of Education staff to discuss Charter Schools.

• Attended meeting on Children’s Behavioral Health Plan.

• Attended retirement event for New York School Boards Association Deputy Director.

lish expectations and guidelines for discussion at board meetings. Encourage members to approach meetings as a place to explore ideas and solutions in an intelligent manner, as opposed to the more common and expected contest for control.

As an example of these guidelines, the Berlin Board of Education member handbook sets forth in writing the Board’s expectation of its members for discussion at meetings. It reads, in part, “during discussion Board members will listen attentively, consider all points of view, support their positions with facts when possible, be prepared to answer questions from other Board members, focus on the issue at hand, avoid negative and personal comments, and be prepared to compromise, understanding that the goal of debate among Board members is not to prevail but to arrive at the best possible decision for the school district.”

Operating in this manner does not guarantee that a governance board will make good decisions, be united in its decisions or function with a high degree of intelligence. No procedural change can guarantee that. But designing your board meetings to facilitate and encourage a collective approach to seeking the best solutions is an excellent first step to having a board that is more, not less, intelligent than its individual members.

State Board of Education actions (continued from page15) who mentioned working on the issue in small meaningful ways in order to make some progress. Hernandez mentioned the opportunity to work in partnership with the Aspen Institute and the Schott Foundation to broadly implement change.

To further the State Board’s efforts in raising reading proficiency, the K-3 Universal Screening Reading assessments were approved by the board. Legislative action required the replacement of the DRA2, the Developmental Reading Assessment.

The presentation by Ellen Cohn from the department, was detailed in the many types of assessments from recognizing letters, comprehending sentences and computer based assessments.

Cohn emphasized the need for not only the mechanics of learning to read but the comprehension skills necessary. Many of the assessments, she went on to say, were early indicators for teachers and parents, and necessary to help get the right reading interventions to the particular student.

It is important, says Cohn, to be able to be on grade level by grade 3 because after that is exponentially harder to catch up.

Using scientifically based research interventions can, week by week, increase the number of words per minute a student can recognize.

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The Journal

– Connecticut Association of Boards of Education • September 2014

Impressions of South Africa I have written several times in the CABE Journal about my experiences in South Africa. My last was an article about the death of Nelson Mandela, the revolutionary who came out of decades of incarceration on Robben Island to lead an apartheid country to democracy and to a type of humane future that few foresaw when he was finally released.

My final thought in that editorial (Mandela’s Life Holds Important Lessons on Education, January, 2014) was that, for most people, creating a legacy like Mandela did, is rarely within reach. But, even accomplishing a piece of such a legacy, whether through our daily lives, our service to others or our willingness to live up to our dreams, we can help make this a better world for those who come after us.

That legacy is still so strong that while I was in South Africa as a tourist in July, there was a celebration of his birthday, Mandela Day. But, listen to this: rather than the big sales or skiing days we have to “honor” our revered presidents Washington and Lincoln around their birthdays, everyone in South Africa on that day is asked to contribute 67 minutes doing something for their communities or the nation. Why 67? Because Mandela spent that many years working for the emancipation of South Africa.

Today, he remains just as revered as when alive—both for people of color and whites. It was as if Washington (Liberator of the Nation) and Lincoln (Liberator of the Slaves) had only died last year and their peers still walked among us.

But, beyond the Mandela legacy, where is South Africa at this point?

For me, as a tourist who has been back approximately five times since my initial trip in 1980 to marry my wife Megan before her South African family, much has changed. Mostly for the better…

But South Africa still struggles.

It has moved forward since the days of aparthied with better housing, more oppor-tunity for minorities and an economy that continues to grow. Certainly, the majority population has done mcuh better.

Corruption and crime seem to be everywhere and people live behind fences topped with barbed wire. I heard familiar complaints about red tape and the difficulty of the regulatory environment.

The nation continues to endure strident and violent union strikes, with apparent tacit support of the African National Congress, the ruling party ever since Mandela was in power. There remain segments of the population that are dissatisfied with the progress already made and who call for radical solutions such as nationalization of all industry.

This reminded me of 1900-1930s in the US – destruction of property, beating of nonunion employees and intimidation of other employees. Massing at the gates of factories, with sticks and other weapons and then breaking in, seems accepted.

Construction Everywhere One thing I noticed is that there is construction everywhere – roads, malls, houses. The large national roads are in

good shape, but, other aspects of infrastructure, such as electricity are not as modern.

There is still very high unemployment.

It is estimated at 2535% and higher for some segments of the population.

Capetown from Table Mountain

There are beggars on the streets and others trying to eke out a liv-ing selling sunglasses and fruit at street corners, in the middle of traffic.

Overall, I had a feeling of a nation on the rise. While not the biggest economy in Africa (Nigeria is first), the nation’s resources, its expertise and skills, together with its ready availability of labor looking for a better life, provides an expectation of better things ahead. Lives are better for most South Africans than they were.

There remains a real tug over issues like affirmative action. My friend who works in a bank, said that she had been told that no more whites can be hired.

However, people of color getting more skilled jobs will help the nation become more equal over time.

But, in some cases, there are losers, as well as winners. As in the U.S., sometimes well-intentioned laws or regulations go overboard.

Education Issues Education remains a center of attention and a great need. While I was there a few

Book Review Leaders of Their Own Learning: Transforming Schools Through Student-Engaged Assessment

by Ron Berger Leaders of Their Own Learning by Ron Berger provides tools to develop student-engaged assessment practices which include case studies, protocols and videos to support educator implementation of these practices in their classrooms.

Through a series of case studies, the author illustrates how student-engaged assessments develop student ownership of learning. One of the case studies describes the process used to prepare students to make successful presentations.

Karen MacDonald, language arts and social studies teacher at King Middle School in Portland, Maine – Maine’s 2014 Teacher of the Year (and my college friend) and her colleagues create an atmosphere where students feel safe, supported in taking risks, and prepared to participate in a presentation of their work.

When students are engaged in assessing their growth in learning, they gain a deeper sense of their progress, become more independent learners, set academic goals and monitor progress, identify

strength and weaknesses, and become self-advocates.

The author views the skills embedded in student-engaged assessment, including reflection and self-assessment, use of feedback, goal setting, revision and presentation, as integral to meeting the rigorous demands of the Common Core State Standards.

The book outlines eight practices to engage students in making academic progress, which include: • Development of learning targets, which are written for and owned by students, and begin with the stem “I can…”

• Checking for understanding during daily lessons, which embeds assessment into instructional practices.

• Using data with students, which helps students learn to use their classwork and interim assessments to help them analyze their strengths, weaknesses, and ways to improve their work.

• Models, critique, and descriptive feedback, which provide students with good examples of quality work.

• Student led conferences, which gives students a leadership role in communicating their progress to their families.

• Celebrations of learning, which have student exhibitions of high quality work in a culminating grade level event.

• Passage presentations with portfolios, which require students to document and communicate evidence of their learning.

• Standards based grading in which grades are determined through evidence based assessments of the student learning targets.

These practices would serve to support the efforts in Connecticut to move to a personalized learning system.

Patrice A. McCarthy, Deputy Director and General Counsel, CABE

years ago, we had the chance to visit two schools in the suburbs of Johannesburg.

In a private school, the children had easy access to computers, the rooms had all the supplies the teachers needed and there was a feeling of optimism among those we talked to.

The public schools are dependent on federal funding, which just covers the basics. There was no music, art or athletics in the school we visited, because these are paid for by the community. The school was 100 percent black, and though there were caring administrators, there were no supplies in the laboratories and little else that we would take for granted in our country.

Education continues to get great attention from leaders of the nation.

There is an understanding of its importance and discussion of how to best use technology, integrate it into classrooms and help teachers.

According to Basic Education Deputy Minister Enver Surty, the country must help teachers “develop the professional skills to teach learners in a different paradigm because I think the pedagogical skills education has today would differ significantly from… those of the past.”

Certainly comments like that could very well come from any of our education or government leaders today.

I am always sad to leave South Africa not only because I have close family and friends there, but because it is a physically beautiful, fascinating and “moving” place.

After all these years, there are still game parks, natural wonders and historical sites we haven’t visited. There is so much to do and see!

A Final Thought As I left this time, thinking about the future for the country and even for my South African family, I hoped for stable times and a continuing march to democracy, equality and prosperity.

I thought of the beginnings of our own nation, where, on the final day of the Second Constitutional Convention, Benjamin Franklin was asked by a group of citizens what kind of government that we would have. His reply, “a republic, if you can keep it.”

My hope is that the Republic of South Africa can keep and strengthen its form of democratic government and continues the progress it has made since Madiba was released from prison and a new “rainbow” constitution and government were formed.

Robert Rader, Executive Director, CABE

20

The Journal

– Connecticut Association of Boards of Education • September 2014

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