BOE Commends School Maintenance Employees

Superintendent Michael Polizzi opened Monday night's Board of Education meeting by recognizing the tremendous effort the maintenance staff put forth in preparing the facilities for Hurricane Irene and the clean up efforts that followed. 

Together with Board President Dan Conner, Polizzi presented a certificate to the head of Buildings and Grounds, Ron Stokes, honoring him for his leadership and for all the work he did before, during and after Hurricane Irene in getting the schools and the fields ready for the start of a new school year. 

Polizzi and Conner also presented certificates of recognition to the maintenance staff and Buildings and Grounds crew for their preparation, prevention, and subsequent clean-up efforts during Hurricane Irene as well. 

The meeting continued as follows:

Superintendent's Report

• Approval was given for a Community Service Advisor for the High School. This advisor will be responsible for building a comprehensive program and managing it. 
• In-kind donations have been received for approximately $13,000 from "donorschoose.org," a charity that hooks people up with schools. New equipment, including musical instruments, have been purchased.
• There is a voluntary heart screening program for all freshman. The cost is $265, which reflects a substantial savings. Local businesses have been contacted to help in raising money for this cause. For every $265 a business donates, a child gets a free screening. The heart screening is open to all students as long as they have their parents consent. 
• Student Ranking: A new "tiered" ranking procedure is being implemented at the high school. A performance based system, the "tiered" ranking system groups students together by G.P.A. For instance there are approximately 26 students in the first tier. Rather than student #26 tell a college that they're 26th in their class, they can say they are in the top tier. Superintendent Polizzi explained that more and more colleges and universities care less about class ranking and more about whether or not a student took full advantage of AP courses and how successful they were.  

Business Administrator Report:

Business Administrator, Michael Sawicz, told the audience that the state awarded New Milford an additional $288,000 in state aid. The money is going to be used towards salaries and related health costs, School Resource Officer salaries, new positions in the academies and bringing back positions that had been cut. 

Board President, Dan Conner, introduced the Student Board Representative, Joseph DeGaetani, who is a member of the NMHS student body and will be attending BOE meetings.

Public Portion

The public portion of the meeting centered upon the flood's damage to the high school field and the general state of the fields.

The BOE liked the idea, suggested at the last Mayor & Council meeting, that an advisory board be formed that consists of representatives from the Mayor & Council, the BOE, and members of the public to explore rehabilitating the fields.