UPDATED TUES JAN.21 7:45 A.M. A winter storm warning is in effect for Stratford and the rest of southwestern Connecticut from noon Tuesday to 6 a.m. Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service.

Hersam Acorn Radio, which can be heard on the StratfordStar.com homepage, will have coverage of how Stratford and the rest of southwestern Connecticut is effected by the storm.

Snow accumulations could be six to 10 inches with winds 10 to 20 mph and gusts up 30 mph.

The temperatures are expected to be in the upper teens to the lower 20s on Tuesday. The wind chills could make it feel like 10-below zero.

The snow could make visibilities as low as a quarter of a mile from late Tuesday afternoon into the night.

“Snowfall is expected to begin late Tuesday morning and continue through the night, tapering off early Wednesday morning,” according to the weather service. “The heaviest snowfall will occur late this afternoon into tonight.”

Stratford and many other area public schools decided early Tuesday to operate on an early-dismissal schedule on Tuesday.

The falling, blowing and drifting snow will cause hazardous travel and walking condition across the area, possibly impacting the late-afternoon and evening commute,” according to the service. “Prolonged exposure to frigid cold and low wind chills could cause frostbite. Dress Appropriately.”

ORIGINAL STORY:
The next winter storm could tangle with Tuesday’s afternoon and evening commutes.

A winter storm watch remains in effect from Tuesday afternoon to Tuesday night, Jan. 21, for Stratford and the rest of southwestern Connecticut, according to the National Weather Service.

The snow storm is expected to bring four to eight inches, according to the weather service.

Temperatures Tuesday are expected to be in the lower-20s during the day and single digits to teens at night, according to forecasts. This cold weather will be accompanied by north winds of 15 to 25 mph, with gusts up to 30 mph.

“An arctic airmass will gradually settle into the region for much of the upcoming week,” according to hazardous weather outlook issued Monday morning. “This will be accentuated Tuesday through Wednesday night. Widespread below-zero wind chills are forecast Tuesday night into early Wednesday.”

The snowfall is expected to begin late Tuesday morning and continue into Tuesday night “with the heaviest snowfall expected Tuesday afternoon and evening,” according to the weather service.

“Falling, blowing and drifting snow will cause hazardous travel and walking conditions across the area,” according to a winter storm watch, “possibly impacting the late afternoon and evening commute. Extreme cold and low wind chills could cause frost bite. Dress appropriately.”

The Youth Committee of the Stratford Youth and Family Advisory Board is taking nominations for Making Extraordinary Differences and Leading Stratford (MEDALS) Awards that will be presented to local youth, adults, businesses, and community organizations that have made a positive impact and demonstrate leadership in Stratford.

The MEDALS Awards will be presented on Monday, May 19, at 7 p.m. at Stratford Town Hall Council Chambers.

Nominations are due by Monday, March 24, and should include a paragraph or two about why the individual, business or organization makes a positive impact on the quality of life in Stratford and demonstrates leadership.

The nominee’s address, telephone number and email along with the nominator’s contact information also should be included.

Nominations may be submitted by mail or email:

Youth Committee-Stratford Youth and Family Advisory Board, c/o Stratford Community Services, 468 Birdseye St., Stratford, CT 06615

For more information or to submit your nomination through email, contact: Tammy Trojanowski, 203-385-4095; ttrojanowski@townofstratford.com.

Stratford Public Schools are closed Wed. Jan. 22 due to the snowstorm.

The following students were named to the fall semester dean’s list at the University of Connecticut, Storrs campus:

Joshua David Andrade, Aaron Winston Bartley, Elizabeth Bezyk, Joseph James Bivona III, Samantha Jeanne Carroll, Alicia Ann Centopanti, Rachel M Chace, Rikita Adia David, Melissa Isabelle De Gant, Indumathi Dhakshinamurthy, Joseph Francisco Docarmo, Jonathan Patrick Gale, Raymond John Gerte, Beata Hlinka, Catie Ho, Daniel Hong, Steven Hong, Julie Anne Klaric, Ryann Haley Leonard, Chao Lin, Samuel Milbin, Brian Christopher Murray, Ryan William Patrick, Leonard Matthew Poplaski, Caleb James Pruzinsky, Ashley Marie Rapice, Angelica Luz Rodriguez, Uliana Rymar, Mohammed Yasin Sarpas, Naomi Adriana Scatliffe, Barbara Sowa, Kristin Mary Tracey, Craig Chappel Wheat, Bianca Lauren Whitaker, David Monroe Wiegand.

The following Stratford students were named to the fall semester dean’s list at Bryant University:

Joseph Colagrossi, sophomore, management; Anthony Ferraro, sophomore, entrepreneurship; Stephen Gorton, sophomore, entrepreneurship; Jana Kmec, junior, applied psychology.

The following Stratford students were named to the fall semester dean’s list:

Wesleyan University: Margaret Rohrs.

King’s College: Lauren Dereinzi.

Western New England University: Melanie Cordero, accounting and finance; Terrence N’Dabian, marketing communication/advertising; Ryan C. Shultz, mechanical engineering. Sarah A. Stevens was named to the president’s list.

Stratford students who are studying engineering or medicine may now apply for scholarships being offered by The Orazio DiMauro Foundation.

For the 33rd year of the foundation’s scholarship program, the following awards will be made: A maximum of $2,500 each will be awarded to engineering students and a maximum of $3,500 each will be awarded to medical students.

To be eligible for an engineering scholarship, a student must be graduating from high school or currently a full-time student in an engineering major at a four-year college. To be eligible for a medical scholarship, the student must be attending medical school or graduated from a four-year college and planning to attend medical school. All scholarships are based on academic achievement and financial need.

All scholarship recipients must be residents of Stratford, Bridgeport, Fairfield, Easton, Monroe, Milford, and Trumbull, and the Valley towns of Ansonia, Derby, Seymour, Oxford and Shelton.

Applications for the DiMauro scholarships can be secured from the Orazio DiMauro Foundation web site OrazioDiMauroFoundations.org, or 11 Greenacres Lane, Trumbull, CT 06611 or e-mail ifidi@aol.com.

The deadline for all applications is March 31, 2015, and the deadline for supporting materials is May 15, 2015.

Announcements and notification of scholarship awards will be made in July.

Registration is being accepted for the after school program held at Franklin School from 3:35-4:30. The free program is for children in grades 3-6.

Grades 5 and 6 meet Monday and Wednesday; grades 3 and 4 meet Tuesday and Thursday. Program does close on school half days, holidays and weather related closings.

Register at townofstratford.com/recreation or at the Rec. Office at Short Beach. Program ends March 28.

The Stratford Public Schools special education program, which serves students with disabilities, was found to be lacking in many areas — including educational benefit for the students — according to a report submitted to the Board of Education in late November 2013 by Capitol Region Education Council (CREC), an outside auditing company hired by the district.

Lack of specialized instruction, inefficient staffing, and inadequate in-district resources, including staff, professional development, and instructional materials, “negatively impact educational benefit,” according to the report. In addition, the auditors concluded that special education processes are not well defined or consistently applied.

On top of that, the report states that financial “resources are not allocated in a manner that would support development and maintenance of quality in-district programs and services.”

“The by-product of dealing with the challenges has been student academic progress that has not met CMT and CAPT state target in any grade level or subject area [in any of the last five years], and Individualized Education Programs (IEP) objectives and progress reports that show limited mastery,” according to the report.
In its study, Capitol Region Education Council looked at the Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) of 30 students, along with documents, reports, in-class observations, parent and staff interviews, and a parent survey.
Along with many suggestions for improvement, the auditors’ report also points to personnel who are working hard and demonstrating impressive care for all students.

Budget implications
Mayor John Harkins’ administration recommended to the Board of Education in mid-2013 that it look for potential cost savings with the help of an outside audit. Now with the auditors’ findings and recommendations in hand, the superintendent of schools, the schools’ chief operating officer and the schools’ director of pupil personnel services all believe that the work called for in the report may result in a request for increases in spending for special education, at least in the short term.

“Without question, there will be some sort of increase [in the budget request for next year],” said Chief Operating Officer Clarence Zachery. “In the long run, we could save.”

Superintendent Dr. Janet Robinson agrees. “You have to spend up front as you develop responsible programs.”

The CREC report shows for the 2013-14 school year that the district’s total special education budget is $21.7 million, which is 23% of the district’s total budget of $95.5 million.

Stratford’s special education budget, as a percent of the total budget, increased from 20% in 2006. The increase and the percent of budget are in line with state averages, according to CREC.

The number of students in the special education program was 760 during the audit period, which is about 10% of the total district student population of roughly 7,500. Ninety-two of the 760 special education students are placed out of district for services at a cost of $6.5 million, or about $70,000 per student per year. The remaining $15.2 million in the special education budget covers the remaining 668 students who are served in-district. That cost per in-district student is approximately $23,000.

More students in district
The audit report notes that Stratford recently reduced its spending for out-of-district placements by about $600,000, but CREC says that even “less reliance on out-of-district placements and outsourcing behavior services is recommended.”
“We recommend these funds be used to work with the increasing mental health needs of the students, increased social work and psychological services, consultation services to support the development and implementation of the strategic plan, to purchase equipment, assistive technology and instructional materials that promote specially designed instruction, and to provide transition staff and special education central office support staff,” the report states.

Robin Marino, pupil personnel services director for Stratford Schools, said she is already looking into bringing more students back in-district. One of the considerations is the number of students with the same group of challenges. If there is only one student with particular needs, it probably does not make sense to have an entire program in-district, but of there are five students in a cluster, it may make sense.

Marino, Zachery and Robinson all point out that when you bring more students in district you need to develop programs, dedicate space, and have the right teachers and paraprofessionals, so it is not all cost savings. Still, Robinson believes there will be a net savings by bringing some of the students currently placed out-of-district back into the district.

Programs and processes
The report states that “training on how to design IEP and deliver specially designed instruction, paired with observations and frequent feedback from both building and central office administrators, is recommended as the most important first step to improve student success. Instructional materials that are different in design and less reliance on Certified Instructional Assistants’ (CIA) support and more planning time for co-teachers is needed.”

Marino, who started working in the district last July, said the administration is working now on IEP development and a new orientation for CIAs who give support but not instruction to help students toward independence. She acknowledges that students can become very dependent on teachers.

In response to the findings “that most processes are not well defined or consistently applied,” Marino said, “We have the processes, but not in writing.”
“We are working on referral packets” for when students transition from a program or from a building, then move buildings, she said, and “we have brought in an outside consultant to help with setting up processes and behavior plans.”

Robinson said, “Plans need to be overseen. There is lots of oversight needed that is not there right now.”

Caseloads and efficiencies
The report also recommends that the special education office “continue their analysis of staffing ratios, caseloads, assignments, hours of service and make necessary adjustments to ensure that services throughout the district are efficient and consistent.”

Marino said the analysis of caseloads and hours of staffing is under way.
Robinson, who also came to the district in July, said, “The right services need to be provided for the kids with the right staff. In Stratford we have hard-working people, but their caseload is very high.”

She also gave an example of inefficiency. “What we do a lot of is have one person shared between schools, so they travel,” she said. “That is not an efficient way to go.” That also requires pulling students out from other learning at the convenience of the traveling teacher, which, Robinson agreed, is not ideal for the education process.

One of the challenges in coming to grips with this audit report, Robinson said, is that there are so many new people in the school administration, including herself, Marino, Zachery, and the director of human resources. However, she considers the CREC audit a “road map for improvement. It shows where we need to improve, and it shortcuts our learning curve.”

“All districts struggle helping children [with learning disabilities] meet target,” said the superintendent. “Meeting target is achievable. We did achieve it in Newtown, and we can achieve it here.”

The full CREC report is available at StratfordK12.org.

Curriculum changes and health insurance costs were leading business items at the Stratford Board of Education monthly meeting held Jan. 27 at the district’s administrative center.

The board approved two adjustments to Bunnell and Stratford high schools’ curricula and heard a forecast that the school district’s health insurance premium for the fiscal year starting July 1, 2014, would not increase by more than 10% over the current year’s premium.

Employee benefits consultant Scott May, of Milliman company, who negotiates the health benefits with insurance carriers on behalf of Stratford Public Schools, told the board that the district’s provider, ConnectiCare, agreed to lower the maximum premium increase for next year to 10%. It was scheduled to have a maximum increase between 12% and 15%.

ConnectiCare will not finalize Stratford’s health insurance premium for another couple of months, and Stratford Public Schools’ chief operating officer, Clarence Zachery, told the board that he will be budgeting for the full 10% increase so as not to underestimate the expense in the budget request that is expected to be completed by the end of February.

A 10% increase in the health insurance premium would add roughly $1.1 million to that part of the next Board of Education budget, according to board Vice Chairman Robert Chaloux.

May also explained to the board that a requirement of the new national Affordable Care Act will be to offer benefits to all employees who work 30 hours per week or more. If the board were not to offer that benefit to those people, the district could face a penalty of $2,000 for the every employee who is eligible for coverage, May said. Estimating 1,100 eligible employees, the potential penalty could be more than $2 million.

It is possible that with the 30-hour threshold for health benefit eligibility, more substitute teachers and paraprofessionals, for example, could become eligible, according to May.

In a related matter, Zachery said he will be requesting money in the next budget for an electronic time clock system to replace the current paper timesheets that are used throughout the school system, especially because of the now greater importance of properly tracking employees’ work hours. He said he expects to show related savings that would offset the cost of a new time clock system.

Zachery said the district can ill afford to have administrators signing paper timesheets anyway, because they have other, new demands on their time with increased in-class teacher evaluations.

Regarding the curricula changes, the board voted unanimously to support the two recommendations of its curriculum committee. The first change splits the Grade 12 Advanced Placement/Early College Experience (AP/ECE) English Language and Literature course, so that the language portion will be offered in 11th grade and the literature portion in 12th grade.

In mathematics, three courses that are “no longer aligned with state expectations and the new Common Core standards” — Intro to Algebra and Geometry, Intensive Math 9 and Intensive Math 10 — will be replaced with Integrated Mathematics, Common Core Math Support, Math Modeling, and College Aptitude Readiness in Math, according to K-12 mathematics coordinator Harold Geist.

Stratford Board of Education Chairwoman Andrea Veilleux, Vice Chairman Robert Chaloux and Superintendent of Schools Dr. Janet Robinson just before the monthly board meeting began Jan. 27. Greg Reilly photo

The plan between the town of Stratford and Stratford Public Schools to renovate Stratford High School was put on hold on Jan. 30 as Superintendent of Schools Dr. Janet Robinson found that some questions normally covered in a project’s due diligence phase could not be answered.

Tentative renovation plans began to form in 2011 but never got to the stage of final plans and drawings.

Robinson, who came to the Stratford district last July, said the project was not on its original timeline, so when she met with town officials, it was asked if all options had been explored and if there were any other sites available for a new high school.

Those questions could not be answered, so a new subcommittee is being formed to explore those questions and more, she said.

Joe Crudo, who continues to serve on the Board of Education’s plant and planning committee and who was a four-year board member until December, when his term expired, attended the Jan. 30 meeting and said that a number of officials are concerned that the renovation plan does not address the desire of some to have more of a campus around Stratford High School.

He said other sites will be looked at, including the town’s 14-acre Shakespeare Theatre property.

Board of Education Chairman Andrea Veilleux said that she, too, wonders if the renovation plan is still the best approach. “We found that due diligence was not done,” Veilleux said, so now an analysis will be done, including enrollment, square footage, the current reimbursement rates from the state, and what other land is available.

“I am pleased to have the board work with town on shared vision,” said Veilleux. “We want to be in alignment with the town. This is a positive move.”

It was not immediately clear why the “due diligence” apparently was not completed. Gavin Forrester, who served as Board of Education chairman until December, when his term expired, said, “The project is under the purview of the Town Council and the mayor’s office, as capital projects are not authorized by the BOE.”

The mayor’s chief of staff, Marc Dillon, said he could not answer who had the responsibility for the due diligence and referred the question back to the Board of Education.
Through Dillon, Mayor John Harkins made this statement:

“It is important that the Board of Education be comfortable with any renovation at Stratford High School, especially from a design and programming point of view. If the board wishes to look deeper into their options before moving forward, they have my support to do so.”

Supporters of Shakespeare and theater education in Stratford came together Jan. 30 at Knapp’s Landing restaurant to celebrate the launch of the Mighty Quinn Foundation’s new summer academic and theatrical program for college students, which is expected to be held on the town’s Shakespeare Theatre property.

Mighty Quinn founders Sue and Chris Rooney of Stratford introduced program director Colleen Sullivan, a “master of Shakespeare performance” who was recently hired from 25 applicants from all over the country, according to Sue Rooney.
Sullivan is a freelance director in New York City and has been a theater teacher at American Shakespeare Center, James Madison University and Mary Baldwin College.

The program Sullivan is putting together, called Shakespeare Academy @ Stratford, will gather on the grounds of the former American Shakespeare Festival Theatre from July 1 to Aug. 11 and include workshops in Shakespeare study and performance, master classes with working artists and academics, and ensemble theater training.

Students will also produce and perform two Shakespeare plays in repertory, Sullivan told the gathering. Cymbeline and Hamlet were selected because Quinn Rooney, the namesake of the foundation, loved those plays.

The program’s “hallmark is a unique combination of three curricular areas: Shakespeare study, contemporary ensemble training, and repertory performance,” according to the website description Sullivan has been developing at MightyQuinnFoundation.org.

Sullivan’s experience includes producing a show on a loading dock at college, demonstrating that she can make theater in unusual places. On Stratford’s Shakespeare Theatre property she will be running the summer program in the outdoors, in the lobby of the theater, and in rooms of the historic Nicholl-Benjamin house.

It’s about Quinn Rooney
While some have expressed hope that the theater education program will help boost efforts to re-open the long-closed Shakespeare Theatre on Elm Street, Chris Rooney told supporters that his foundation is “very narrowly focused. We could be part of a renaissance in a small way, but we are not leading a theater revitalization effort,” he said.

Quinn Rooney died of brain cancer at age 19 in December 2012, after battling the disease for five years.

The foundation and the new theater education program is “about Quinn’s spirit,” his mother, Sue Rooney, said. “It’s all about educating the kids,” she said. “We have no political agenda.”

“This is in honor of Quinn,” she said. “He loved to learn. He was an entertainer, performer and had an incredible spirit. He was animated and warm. Quinn was a joy.”

Also, Sue Rooney said, Quinn “always gave back. He chose to serve. He would help anybody.”

Next steps
Chris Rooney said the next step for Shakespeare Academy @ Stratford is recruiting students. He ask the supporters assembled to assist in that effort, and he also told them he would need their help “to get building in shape. Cleanup is on us,” he said.

A tenant agreement between Mighty Quinn Foundation and the town of Stratford had not been reached as of Feb. 1, and negotiations were continuing, according to Chris Rooney and Town Attorney Tim Bishop.

When asked why the tenant would be responsible for cleanup, as Rooney indicated, Mayor John Harkins, who attended the kickoff event, told The Star that his hope was to have “a partnership arrangement,” where the foundation would take some responsibilities and the town could offer the space at less than market rent.

In an earlier statement, Harkins said, “The Mighty Quinn Foundation’s mission is one that certainly should be embraced. While there are obvious limits to what the town can do to help make this a reality, we remain committed to assisting the foundation in its efforts.”

Chris Rooney, in his remarks at the event, expressed gratitude to the mayor, Town Council, Liz Davis, Stratford Arts Commission Chairman Ed Goodrich, Councilman Matt Catalano, and others for their support.

Other attendees included Stratford theater director Bruce Hirsch, Meredith Gatschet, who is working on a collaborative effort to get the theater reopened, and Stratford High School drama and music director Jeff Leinen.
More information: MightQuinnFoundation.org and ShakespeareAcademyStratford.org.

The late Quinn Rooney, in whose honor The Mighty Quinn Foundation is launching Shakespeare Academy @ Stratford for college students.

Officer Alec Vocolla, Early Childhood Educator Ariana Flores and young Honey Bear children engage with Stranger Danger DVD.

Honey Bear Learning Center teachers created a two-week Early Learning Experience Plan (ELEP) implementing a unit of study on Stranger Danger and Safe/Unsafe Touch, which started Jan. 27.

Stratford Police Officer Alec Voccola, Wooster School Resource Officer, spoke with the children, and they viewed together an age appropriate “Stranger Safety” DVD. (For more information, visit www.TheSafeSide.com).

The DVD was a laugh-out-loud journey on teaching child safety and how families can avoid potentially dangerous situations with strangers. Officer Voccola also gave each child a Stratford Police Department child safety tips booklet. “I enjoy going out into the community to support children. We (School Resource Officers) are involved in numerous community programs and events all throughout the year. Being here at Honey Bear brings back memories for me of when I helped my dad, Ray Voccola, Sr., and brother, Ray Voccola, Jr., install the original heating and plumbing here, when your parents were building the school almost 30 years ago,” said, Officer Voccola to Catherine Vanicky, Honey Bear Director.

In the evening on Jan. 30, Gina LeVon Simpson, Outreach Worker for the Bridgeport BOE Parent Center visited and presented “Safe/Unsafe Touch” to Honey Bear parents and teachers. Then, on Feb. 3, Simpson presented this curriculum to the students. Also that day, the heat was cranked up as the children wore their bathing suits in school. “An easy teaching method for young children is that their bathing suits cover their personal body parts,” said Catherine Vanicky. “The combination of these two programs empowered our students to understand they are in charge of their bodies and how to effectively communicate their personal boundaries.

Having the Safe/Unsafe Touch adult workshop prior to the children’s presentation gave families and teachers the education and insight on this topic to better assist our children. ”

Honey Bear is a NAEYC Accredited Early Care and Education Center, open year-round, Monday through Friday from 7-5:30 p.m., with open enrollment at any time for full and part time slots for three to five year olds. The location at 1498 North Avenue Stratford is set on 1.3 acres with two fully-equipped oversized playgrounds across from Nichols Elementary School. The school also offers before and after care for school-aged children.

Stratford students who were named to the fall dean’s list at the following colleges are:

Curry College: Brianna Sumple.

Ithaca College: Tara Trigonis, freshman, business administration.

Quinnipiac University: David Crosby, Matthew Fazekas, Albert Ferraro, Kathleen Martin, Taylor Wilcox, Kathryn Williams, Marissa Wuennemann, Justin Zimnoch.

University of Hartford: Landle Cheng, Sereina Colon, Matthew Kavulich, Michael Kowalsky, Ebony Claxton, Roney Polynice.

Bentley University: Alisyn Rowe, sophomore.

Stonehill College: Catherine F. Grasso, class of 2014 and Kayla M. Hanish, class of 2016.

University of Vermont: Colby Cayton, sophomore, sociology.

Merrimack College: Myriam Philitas, Kelli Readey, Hannah Williams.

Iona College: Alyssa Jones, senior, education major.

Coastal Carolina University: Ashley Andruski and Sara Ayala were named to the dean’s list; Nicholas Giammattei, finance pre-major was named to the president’s list.

James Madison University: Haylie Lynn O’Day, sophomore accounting – BBA.

University of New Hampshire: Mathew Finley earned high honors.

UMass Dartmouth: Alyssa Labraga.

Roger Williams University: Kaitlene D’Amico, accounting; Kelly Fitzpatrick, finance.

Western Connecticut State University: Kristin Altemose, Amanda Bird, Tasha Edmonds, Kathleen Kelly, Brodey Ott, Jacquelyn Temelsiz, Carley Altemose, Matthew Bizak, Casey Halliwell, Kathryn Hima, Jamie Matarazzo, Paisley Rearden, Karla Sansone, Heather Braxton, Michael Gloss, Brittney Pecor.

Hofstra University: Nicole Marolda,  junior, political science; Nicole Melita, senior, psychology; Meredith Nadeau, senior, marketing.

The Stratford Historical Society will offer college scholarships in the amount of $2,000 to students who reside in Stratford. The students may go to schools outside the town, but must be a town resident.

The scholarship packets are available in school guidance departments or they may be obtained at the Society Office at 967 Academy Hill.

For more information, call 203-378-0630.

The Stratford Board of Education Finance Committee will hold meetings open to the public Monday, Feb. 10 and Tuesday Feb. 11 at 6:30 p.m. in the board room at the Administration Center to review, discuss and possibly take action in regard to the 2014 – 2015 Itemized Estimate of Expenditures (budget). The address is 1000 East Broadway in Stratford.

The following Stratford students were named to the fall semester dean’s list:

Wesleyan University: Margaret Rohrs.

King’s College: Lauren Dereinzi.

Western New England University: Melanie Cordero, accounting and finance; Terrence N’Dabian, marketing communication/advertising; Ryan C. Shultz, mechanical engineering. Sarah A. Stevens was named to the president’s list.

Stratford Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Janet Robinson and Chief Operating Officer Clarence Zachery proposed an education budget to the Board of Education finance committee on Feb. 10 that calls for increasing spending by $4.3 million over the current year budget of $95.5 million, a 4.5% boost.

The budget is to “enable the schools to have the resources needed to raise student achievement,” said Robinson in her presentation.

At the same time, the budget proposes spending $926 less than the average per-pupil expenditure among 14 other towns in Connecticut with similar socio-economic status and $1,416 less than the average per-pupil expense across the state.
‘Rebuilding,’ not ‘all at once’

Robinson said she began her first budgeting process here since joining the district in July by asking the principals to present “their needs” for a strong educational program and what recent program cuts they would like to have restored.

Zachery said that all of the principals’ needs and cut restorations added up to a 7% increase over the current year, or $6.6 million.

Robinson said her budget would “begin rebuilding the school district, but we can’t do it all at once.”

She showed the committee that budget increases in the period 2009 to 2012 averaged 1.6%. “We have some making up to do,” Robinson said. The current 2013-14 budget increased by 3.1% over 2012-13.

The budget accounts for “reallocation of funds for greater efficiency” and “funds critical” for implementing Common Core standards, developing curriculum and improving instruction, according to the superintendent.

Budget drivers
The proposed budget, which will be considered by the full Board of Education in the next few weeks, includes a net increase of $778,000 for special education. That area was recently reviewed by an outside auditor that found weaknesses through the program that “negatively” impacted students achievement.

Part of the plan for improving special education, Robinson explained, is bringing more students who have been served by out-of-district programs back into the district. The net increase in special education is after accounting for a reduction of out-of-district fees of about $700,000.

“We need to build capacity so we can serve the students in district,” Robinson said. “We are not looking at bringing them back as a budget measure. We are bringing them back because, as a parent, you want them here.”

Transportation accounts for $4.7 million in the budget, with an increase of $135,000. “That is a lot of money,” Robinson said. She and Zachery have ordered an audit of the transportation service, which is about to begin, in hope of finding potential savings.

Health benefits are budgeted for $12.4 million. The $1.1 million increase in this area is a quarter of the overall proposed budget increase.

Technology and kindergarten
Spending for technology is proposed at $562,000, which includes an increase of $202,000. Two-thirds of this budget area would go for replacing computers in the two middle schools.

The budget presentation indicated that among the items that are desired but not included in the proposed spending plan is $185,000 for computer replacements at Lordship and Franklin elementary schools, where the leaders say the computers are nine years old. Zachery said the town’s schedule would replace those computers next year.

Robinson called the current picture of technology in the district “not pretty.”
Years ago, Stratford was seen throughout the state as “in the forefront of technology,” Robinson said. “It was a wake-up call that that has not been maintained.”

Two committee members who are also full board members, James Feehan and Len Petruccelli, suggested to the superintendent that she consider putting those computer replacements in this budget, and she said, “We can add that.”

A major concern of the superintendent, which she is addressing in her budget proposal, is that kindergarten classes average 21 or 22 students with one teacher. That is one teacher to help the students remove their boots, hang up their coats, get into their reading groups, and everything else all day, she said. “This is not good practice and not what other districts are doing.”
“I am concerned about getting kindergartners and first graders up to speed,” Robinson said.

The budget addresses this concern by adding a certified educator as a tutor in each of the district’s 24 kindergarten classes at a cost of $733,000, before the costs for benefits are added. “We don’t have rooms” to add classes in order to cut down the student-teacher ratio, Robinson said, so she is choosing to add tutors instead.

Other items Robinson said she would like to have but did not propose in her budget in an effort to contain costs are another $265,000 for technology, $527,000 for reading tutors (she worries about students’ reading achievement), and “numerous requests for additional staff in teaching, fine arts, world languages, and administration.”

Superintendent of Schools Dr. Janet Robinson. Greg Reilly photo.

Former Town Councilman John Dempsey took exception to Board of Education Chairman Andrea Veilleux and schools Superintendent Dr. Janet Robinson saying that due diligence was lacking related to the Stratford High School renovation project, as reported in The Star Feb. 7.

“Due diligence was done, and I take great offense to that,” said Dempsey, who served on the council’s Building Needs Committee that was involved in the building project.
Dempsey said that when the question arose around 2009 and 2010, shortly after the country entered a deep economic recession, about possibly building a new school, he and his committee were told that was out of the question. School leaders and the Board of Education at the time did not ask for Dempsey’s committee to explore other potential sites for Stratford High School, he said.

Town Engineer John Casey agreed that due diligence was conducted for renovation and for education specs and accreditation. Tai Soo Kim architects completed a feasibility study for the town on the high school renovations with recommended improvements.

Due diligence was not done exploring other potential sites for a school, Casey said, because that was not the project specified from the Board of Education at the time.
Veilleux and Robinson agree that, with the renovation project delayed from its original timeline, questions from board members and school parents have recently been circulating around town about whether there is any alternative site in town suitable for a new school.

Veilleux said the decision to establish a new subcommittee to look at questions including potential other sites for a school was a collaborative one made on Jan. 30 between the Board of Education representatives and the town.

Editor’s note and correction: In last week’s report about the Stratford High School renovations (Feb. 7, page 1), comments attributed to Board of Education committee member Joe Crudo were deemed to be accurate, but Crudo was not at the Jan. 30 meeting between school officials and town officials as The Star reported.

Three months after the Stratford town attorney was authorized to negotiate a lease-type agreement with the Mighty Quinn Foundation that would allow the group to operate a summer academic and theatrical program for college students on the Shakespeare Theatre property, the foundation’s president has made public a major reason for the lack of agreement so far.

Susan Wright, president of the Quinn foundation, a Stratford resident and herself a lawyer, told the Town Council at its public forum on Feb. 10 that a clause in the agreement proposed by the town is “unconstitutional.”

According to Wright, the clause stipulates that the foundation “shall not … permit any of its officers, employees, representatives, volunteers or participants to issue any communication which would cause embarrassment or humiliation” to the town.

In her address to the council that ultimately has the power to accept or deny the negotiated agreement, Wright quotes Town Attorney Tim Bishop as telling her that the provision is in the agreement “to allow [the Town] to terminate agreements with people who make them look bad. … You have to agree that in return for giving you the property, etc., you will not make them look bad for entrusting it to you.”
Bishop was unavailable for direct comment.

Wright told the council that this is “‘prior restraint’ of free speech because it restrains an individual from even exercising his or her right to free speech for fear of being penalized.”

She asked the council members to overrule Bishop and have him remove the clause from the proposed agreement.

In her written arguments to Bishop, Wright cites other agreements where Stratford has not included the clause about not permitting communication that is embarrassing to the town. Her primary argument, however, is that the U.S. Constitution prohibits the government from banning free speech. Stratford is a government entity.

Bishop’s responses to Wright, which she released, are not about a constitutional issue but are concerned with the town’s wish to protect by way of a contract what it considers its interests. Bishop did mention in his response to Wright that the Quinn foundation would “by its very nature … work with people you know nothing about,” and that the foundation would be “restricting drug use and a variety of other activities.”

Assistant Town Attorney John Florek attended the council meeting on behalf of Bishop, who was out of town. Bishop has been the negotiator of the Quinn agreement for Stratford. Florek told The Star on Feb. 11 that he himself had not researched the specifics of the case, but in his opinion “this type of situation does not fit into the areas of prior restraint of free speech.”

“This is a negotiated contract that the town is offering with conditions,” Florek said. The town is not duty-bound to make the offer of the lease-type agreement, he said, and the foundation is not duty-bound to accept it.

Wright’s message to the council also said, “I do not want to do anything to either jeopardize the program’s success or interfere with our ability to work out an agreement with the town.

On Jan. 30, the Mighty Quinn Foundation introduced its just-hired summer program director and an outline of how the education and theater production academy will operate specifically on the town’s theater property.

When asked a couple of weeks ago to explain what was holding up an agreement with the Quinn foundation, Bishop declined, saying, “I usually never discuss the specifics while we’re still negotiating.”