There will be a pancake breakfast on Sunday April 21, 8AM to 11AM at the VFW on Prince Street to benefit the girls and boys lacrosse at Sheehan High School.
Tickets are $5.00 and can be purchased at the door.
For more information please contact Titansboyslacrosse@gmail.com
As published in the Record Journal on Tuesday April 9, 2013
By Eric Vo
Record-Journal staff
evo@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2235
Twitter:@ericvoRJ
WALLINGFORD - If approved by the Board of Education, the town’s Alternative High School program and the school system’s Central Office will switch buildings in a move prompted by security concerns.
The alternative high school, currently located in a building at 43 Hall Ave., would move to a wing of Sheehan High School now occupied by Central Office staff.
Board members and school administrators discussed the idea during the Operations Committee meeting Monday night.
The switch is being considered because of concerns that the level of security offered in a school building can not be provided in the Hall Avenue office building where the alternative high school is located, School Superintendent Salvatore Menzo said. Along with better security at Sheehan, there would be other benefits to students in the alternative program, Menzo said. The high school would provide a variety of services to the students, such as a career center, although alternative students would be separated from Sheehan students with their own entrance, cafeteria, bathrooms and lockers.
“I have complete confidence that the students will acclimate (to their new environment),” said Board of Education Chairwoman Roxane McKay.
Menzo described the process as “picking up a school and dropping it into another school.”
The Central Office staff would occupy the entire building on Hall Avenue, with teachers involved with curriculum taking the lower level; transportation and business departments on the main level; personnel and instruction on the second level; and the Board of Education and superintendent’s office on the third level, according to Menzo.
Assistant Superintendent for Personnel Jan Guarino said the board will vote on the proposal once Menzo receives final cost estimates. Menzo is working on organizing a meeting for parents next week.
There will be a pancake breakfast on Sunday April 21, 8AM to 11AM at the VFW on Prince Street to benefit the girls and boys lacrosse at Sheehan High School.
Tickets are $5.00 and can be purchased at the door.
For more information please contact Titansboyslacrosse@gmail.com
As published in the Record Journal on Sunday April 7, 2013
By Eric Vo
Record-Journal staff
evo@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2235
Twitter:@ericvoRJ
WALLINGFORD - It’s been several years since Mayor William W. Dickinson Jr.’s proposed budget cut such a small amount from the education budget. If the Town Council approves Dickinson’s budget, School Superintendent Salvatore Menzo and the Board of Education would be short $508,319 from what was initially proposed.
“It is by far one of the smallest discrepancies from what we asked for and what we’ve received,” said Board of Education Chairwoman Roxane McKay. “I’m very appreciative and I think it reflects the fact that the mayor recognizes we are doing some interesting and innovative things.”
After going line-by-line through Menzo’s budget, the board proposed an increase of $3,192,193 – or 3.56 percent – to the Town Council.
Dickinson’s proposal of 2.99 percent covers $1,960,606 and includes the allotment of $723,268 from Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority funds for school security upgrades and school code mandates.
Menzo said he was also grateful for what Dickinson proposed and he believes it’s because “he appreciates what we’re trying to do for the students in Wallingford.”
Board members and Menzo said they couldn’t remember the last time the cut was so small, but McKay said she hasn’t seen “a discrepancy this low since I’ve been on the board, and I’ve been through eight budgets.”
Although he would like to see the education budget get more money, board member Michael Votto said he was satisfied with the mayor’s proposal.
“I don’t feel like we ask for an exorbitant amount of money, we’re very careful,” Votto said. “(The mayor) knows we’re pretty sound with what we’re coming up with and that there’s no hidden money anywhere. It’s a legitimate budget.”
The budget the board sent to the Town Council “focused on the needs of our students, rather than arbitrary wants and desires,” Menzo said. Both he and McKay said Dickinson’s proposed budget shows the relationship the Board of Education has with not only the Town Council, but also with the mayor.
If the Town Council does approve Dickinson’s budget and make no further cuts, McKay said it was too early for the board to discuss how they would make up the $508,319 shortfall.
Those discussions will come some time in May or June – when board members know exactly what the Town Council decides on, she said.
No matter what the Town Council decides to do, Menzo said he’s focused on doing what’s best for his staff and the students.
“We’re very thankful and focused on making Wallingford as great of a school district as possible,” Menzo said.
As published in the Record Journal on Thursday April 4, 2013
By Eric Vo
Record-Journal staff
evo@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2235
Twitter:@ericvoRJ
WALLINGFORD - A local parent has started an online petition in the hope of bringing full day kindergarten sessions to the town’s K-2 schools. As of Wednesday, the petition had garnered 30 signatures from residents who support the idea.
School Superintendent Salvatore Menzo didn’t say whether he supports full-day kindergarten, but said he had talked to the parent who started the petition and explained the process involved in putting a full-day program in operation.
“It’s not so easy. Sometimes it gets portrayed as it’s just a matter of taking the half-day (program) and making it a full day,” Menzo said. “Instruction has to be changed, instructional materials have to be acquired ... it’s a multi-faceted approach.” A full-day kindergarten program “provides 900 hours of actual schoolwork for a minimum of 180 days,” according to state Department of Education data on kindergarten enrollment for the 2012-13 school year. According to the data, about 74 percent of Connecticut kindergartners — in 103 school systems, seven charter schools and 11 magnet schools — attend full-day programs. About 21 percent — in 36 school systems, including Wallingford — have half-day programs. Only nine school systems and one charter school — or 5 percent of kindergartners — are enrolled in extended-day programs, which provide more than 450 hours but less than 900 hours of schoolwork for a minimum of 180 days.
Menzo said the petition’s 30 signatures indicate there’s only a small group of parents who support full-day kindergarten. But if the time came, he said, he would discuss it with the Board of Education and see where the program might fit in with the strategic plan.
School Board Chairwoman Roxane McKay said she isn’t sure how she feels about full-day kindergarten because she doesn’t have enough information about it.
“I need to know more about it before deciding if I’m for or against it,” McKay said. “I have no data on the pros and cons specific for Wallingford or the specific nuances as it relates to Wallingford.”
The school board and administrators have been completing other projects “so we can embrace all-day kindergarten, so we don’t do it haphazardly,” board member Michael Votto said.
“We’ve gone where we have to go in terms of academics and new programs for students — we’ve done that and gone over to the other side,” Votto said.
Maintenance projects are being completed, Votto said, and he believes discussions about kindergarten should start soon. But if the town does switch to a full-day program, he said there needs to be time for students to develop socialization skills.
“Children don’t do enough socialization ... teach them how to play and talk to one another (outside the educational setting),” Votto said. “We don’t make them do enough of that, we’re too wound up with making them follow academics. We’re making them little robots.”
Not doing enough?
Some who signed the petition said a half day of school isn’t enough time for teachers to cover required materials, which may result in students falling behind their classmates. Jason Soderberg, who has a daughter and son in the school system, believes his son wasn’t adequately prepared for first grade after going through half day kindergarten.
“I don’t believe half-day kindergarten is enough for these kids, moving forward,” he said. “We’re not doing enough to educate our children with half-day kindergarten.”
Karen Blakeslee, a parent who teaches at Nathan Hale School in Meriden, agreed with Soderberg.
She said she knew her daughter was behind “because in first grade, she wasn’t reading or she had a difficult time reading, initially,” Blakeslee said. “If there was a full-day program, they could have targeted things she needed to work on and she might have been at an advantage.”
With the Common Core State Standards set to roll out for the next school year, some parents said teaching the required material in a half-day program would be difficult. The Common Core standards were adopted by the state Board of Education on July 7, 2010, and “establish what Connecticut’s public school students should know and be able to do as they progress” through the grades, according to the Department of Education website.
In addition, when the Smarter Balance Assessment — a computer-based test in which the difficulty changes depending on how a student answers — is put in effect during the 2014-15 school year, students will be tested from grades 3-8 and in grade 11. Fallon Wagner, a town resident and math facilitator in Meriden schools, said that if students have not been exposed to full-day kindergarten, they won’t be prepared for the new assessment.
“If they’re not getting rigorous curriculum early on, they won’t be prepared,” she said. “The kindergartners now will be the first to go through and take the assessment (in the third grade). And because they’re going through a rigorous curriculum, there won’t be any gaps for them.”
This year, Meriden schools made the transition from half day to full-day kindergarten, and both Wagner and Blakeslee said they have already seen the benefits, with students learning material they would typically learn a year later.
“Kids are capable of doing so much more than they used to,” Wagner said. “What kindergartners are doing today is what (teachers) used to be doing in first and second grade.”
The goal of the petition is to bring the discussion of a full day program to the school board, but McKay said a petition doesn’t have to be created for that to happen.
“I don’t need a list of signatures,” she said. “If a parent wants anything discussed, I would encourage them to come to any one of the three meetings during the month and talk to us.”
As published in the Record Journal on Wednesday April 3, 2013
By Eric Vo
Record-Journal staff
evo@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2235
Twitter:@ericvoRJ
WALLINGFORD - School administrators are looking to hire a technologist to manage a student information system that “keeps track of schedules, demographics, report cards, transcripts,” said Randy Backus, director of information technology services for the town’s schools. Right now, the system is being managed by a number of people and is no one’s full-time responsibility.
In posting the full-time position, which will have a salary of about $53,000, Backus cited a “growing demand” for someone to manage the data. The job will also entail responsibility for teaching staff members about the system and keeping the school system’s website updated, Backus said.
The position was originally posted in the fall, with administrators hoping to make a hire in January, said Assistant Superintendent for Personnel Jan Guarino, but the original requirements — which included a bachelor’s degree and at least three years of education experience — limited the pool of candidates, Guarino said.
Backus said one qualified candidate was found, but she didn’t want a full-time job.
The Town Council approved a change to the application during its meeting on March 12.
“We are looking for someone that has some experience with educational software in particular, which is a hard job to fill,” Guarino said.
The application now states a bachelor’s degree is desired, and the education experience was increased to four years.
“Between a bachelor’s degree and experience, experience is much more important because it’s unique to the school system,” Backus said.
Both Guarino and Backus said they hope, with the changes to the application, that more candidates will apply.
As published in the Record Journal Monday April 1, 2013
From the Editorial Pages
In academic years with classes canceled repeatedly because of extraordinary, adverse atmospheric conditions, state Education Commission officials should grant exceptions to the 180-school-day requirement. Having lost much time to Superstorm Sandy and Blizzard Nemo, Wallingford’s education district applied for such leniency. Connecticut officials denied the request.
Summer make-up days are depleted. Wallingford School Superintendent Salvatore Menzo will now have to find hours elsewhere. Possibilities include shortening April vacation, holding classes on Memorial Day and converting the last professional development date, May 24, into a regular day.
Opening schools on Memorial Day, as Menzo persuasively opined in our March 28 news story, is to be considered only after exhaustion of other alternatives. On this holiday, kids should not be in classes but attending remembrance parades and services.
Another method for offsetting the unusual number of cancelations in the 2012-2013 academic year could be adding on time to the end or beginning of school days. This concept is also flawed. Complications abound. Which classes get extra minutes? How would contracted busing companies react? How would this affect workers if they’re paid hourly? And this would impede upon personal schedules, such as after- hours commitments, clubs and sports programs.
Instead, Menzo should curtail April vacation and change that professional development day. Even these options have downsides. Regular training is an essential manner of keeping Wallingford employees highly skilled and up-to-date with best practices, to the benefit of pupils. And April is an opportune period for some respite. After many days of schoolwork, with important end-of-year exams imminent, and, for some high-school seniors, facing final collegiate decisions, students need a break before the last push of the education year. Many Wallingford families with kids, and academic staff, likely have already scheduled April vacations.
State officials could solve these issues by granting well-reasoned exceptions to the 180-day stipulation. Education Commission representatives told Menzo that they were wary of setting a precedent of abridged school years, and that he hadn’t yet used up substitute options. Although the latter may be valid, the former is a needless concern.
In typical years, Connecticut’s Education Commission has no reason to alter the requirement. Not wanting to truncate the 2012-2013 academic calendar at this point is understandable. However, lowering class-attendance obligations due to rashes of cancelations amidst series of severe storms would not establish a troublesome standard. In future years significantly affected by weather, permitting up-to five fewer mandated days to help time-squeezed school districts statewide would only set precedent for logical leniency.
