From the Mind of Jason Zandri

By Samaia Hernandez
Record-Journal staff
shernandez@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2266 

As published in the Record Journal Sunday February 7, 2010

Follow all the news directly on the Record Journal Website for the most up to date information. www.myrecordjournal.com

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WALLINGFORD— When Catherine Shortell graduated from Southern Connecti­cut State University last spring, the now 23­year-old was set on becoming a teacher in her hometown.

The recipient of the presidential scholar and Honors College graduate student taught at Sheehan High School last year, and was thrilled to land a job teaching an occupa­tional course, which she helped design through Wallingford Adult Education. With the stimulus funded class coming to a close this spring, and during a time when Walling­ford Public School system is proposing to cut more than 50 teaching positions, Shortell has rethought her short-term career goals.

“I’m scared. It definitely doesn’t look promising in terms of getting a teaching job in Wallingford or anything like that,” said Shortell, who is gearing up for graduate school instead, to focus a long-term goal of becoming a college history professor.

“If things looked more promising and if I felt like there were opportunities in Walling­ford, maybe my decision would be differ­ent,” she said.

Shortell is not alone in mak­ing changes.

Across the state, roughly 1,200 public school teachers were out of jobs in 2009, ac­cording to the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents. This year, districts such as Wallingford are scaling back after surviv­ing for decades without cuts.

However, all is not grim for future educators.

With continuous demand for math and world language teachers, educators nearing retirement, financial aid, na­tional and international op­portunities, those with a pas­sion for education should not be deterred from a fulfilling profession, says town resident Michael Alfano, who runs the Teacher Certification Pro­gram for College Graduates (TCPCG) at the University of Connecticut’s Neag School of Education.

Lyman Hall High School’s Bryanna Ward isn’t waiting until senior year of college to consider job prospects. Given her love for young children, Ward, 17, enrolled in Karin Pyskaty’s child development class where an internship al­lows her to work with stu­dents at E.C. Stevens School every week, learning first hand from first-grade teacher Nancy Maynard.

The experience is invalu­able, Ward said, and it also helped her realize that lesson planning wasn’t what she wants to do. Ward still wants to teach, but has decided it will be in a day care facility, for a variety of reasons.

“I think it’s going to be more of a growing field versus one that’s declining,” said Ward, whose dream has be­come opening a child care center.

On the other hand, Brittany Romano, a senior at Sheehan, has been most inspired by the new and younger teachers who are in jeopardy of losing their jobs. She said she’s still pushing for a future in Wallingford schools.

Prospects of being hired as a guidance counselor at Shee­han would be slim to none in the next fiscal year, but that could change by the time Ro­mano finishes college and graduate school.

“I hope things turn around,” she said. “I’m optimistic that way.”

Traditionally, 90 percent of graduates from UConn’s TCPCG program find employ­ment by fall, Alfano said. That was not the case last year.

“Last year, by far, in a way, was the worst I’ve ever seen in the job landscape for our graduates,” he said.

Still, as people lose jobs in other professions in a state with an unemployment rate of 8.9 percent, many are choos­ing to become teachers.

Both of UConn’s traditional undergraduate and graduate teaching programs have both seen a stark increase in appli­cation numbers, as well as the state-run Alternate Route to Certification program for ca­reer- change teachers, which saw a 44 percent increase in applications last year.

In 1995, when Alfano gradu­ated from Southern Connecti­cut State University, the job market for teachers in Con­necticut was grim, so he fled to Chicago where there was a shortage of teachers, before attending UConn for his doc­torate degree. According to Neag associate dean Marijke Thamm Kehrhahn, teaching out of state is simply one of many options for new teachers, de­spite the state’s job market.

“While school budgets are really being tightened up, there’s a bigger message out there,” Kehrhahn said, “that the teaching workforce is ag­ing.”

Alfano agrees, adding that labor data suggests that the nation is preparing less peo­ple than those leaving the pro­fession. Training programs continue to maintain an em­phasis on filling critical short­age areas published annually by the state including science and high school English. Fed­eral student aid for shortage areas, minority teachers and college scholarships also help draw students into the profes­sion, Kehrhahn said.

These days, it may take longer to find the ideal posi­tion, but people who want to teach shouldn’t be discour­aged, Alfano said. “You shouldn’t let the climate stop you if that’s what you’ve got a passion for.”

By Samaia Hernandez
Record-Journal staff
shernandez@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2266 

As published in the Record Journal Sunday February 7, 2010

Follow all the news directly on the Record Journal Website for the most up to date information. www.myrecordjournal.com

Write a letter to the editor letters@record-journal.com

WALLINGFORD— By proposing to reconfigure elementary schools in his first year as superinten­dent in Wallingford, Salvatore Menzo was heeding the advice of Board of Education members who stated, last year, that retaining class sizes would be a top priority of the 2010-11 budget. Now, with the re­configuration plan tabled, the board has tossed aside its guiding principle as it eyes potential savings associated with raising class sizes. E.C. Stevens School parent Mariefi O’ Malley was­n’t alone in her support of the proposal over reconfiguration or doing away with K-5 schools for a K-2, 3-5 structure. When board members discussed the idea at last Monday’s Operations Committee meet­ing, cheers rang out in Sheehan High School’s drama lecture room from parents and educators who see raising class sizes as a better way for the district to go.

Growing up in New York, O’ Malley said she made by just fine when her elementary school raised class sizes.

“I was in a combined fourth and fifth grade,” she said. “But the teacher made it work for that class.”

Looking to cut 51.3 teacher positions and 59.5 non­certified positions, Wallingford wouldn’t be alone in its move toward raising class sizes. According to a survey of 90 of the 169 public school districts in the state, the greatest impact of budget constraints has been on class sizes, said Joseph Cirasuolo, executive director of the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents.

Thirty-four percent of districts sampled increased class sizes at the elementary school level, which is what Wallingford will discuss Monday night when it looks to cut 18.6 teaching positions in the elemen­tary school systems or the financial equivalent of $838,860. And with total enrollment projected to de­cline by 8.5 percent from 2009 to 2019, the district could be preparing for additional cuts in the coming years.

By raising class sizes, disparities in class sizes wouldn’t go away. For example, where Cook Hill School would have three first-grade classes of 16 students, Pond Hill would have one class of 22 and another with 21 pupils, as stated on the district’s Web site.

Such numbers are far from static. Where the aver­age class size for second grade across the state was 19.3 last year, for instance, there are no guidelines beyond local decision making and fire codes that could prevent a district from raising classes beyond a certain level. In Wallingford, fire inspectors don’t assign occupancy codes to class rooms, only assem­bly halls.

“The easy solution to this problem is what we’re now moving towards, which is to raise class sizes. Now easy doesn’t always mean better,” Menzo said.

The board will weigh several options that raise class sizes across the board, but nothing that goes up to 30 students in elementary school rooms, Menzo said. Some middle and high school classes already reach 30. Next week the school board will also look at an option to both reconfigure and increase class sizes.

“From my overview, I’d have to say a lot of the board members don’t want the added classes,” Board Chair­man Thomas Hennessey said. “I just think larger class sizes, whatever time frame you want to use, is detrimental to the learning experience. The phi­losophy is a good teacher is go­ing to be able to teach what­ever class size they have, it just makes it more difficult.”

Both Hennessey and Menzo feel that increasing class sizes would be a double-edged sword as far as savings be­cause cutting teachers would mean retaining more parapro­fessionals.

And with a reconfiguration plan, total savings this budget cycle would be $1.17 million, but could be realized annually as closer to $2 million in sav­ings after one-time moving and unemployment fees have been paid. Costs for a property lease for People Personnel Services, which would move into Cook Hill under reconfig­uration, would be an addi­tional realized savings. Recon­figuration was originally estimated to save $1.4 million in the first year before unem­ployment costs were consid­ered and several teaching posi­tions were put back in the budget.

Cynthia Fries, a special edu­cation teacher at Moran Mid­dle School, who currently has a case load of about 15 students with special needs, finds that she has to adjust her efforts de­pending on the group and not the number.

“I don’t find that the number itself is anything impacting, it’s the needs of the students,” Fries said.

“There are always the times when I’ve had really small numbers and had the need be really high. I’ve also had larger groups where the needs are not as high.”

The school board will meet Monday night in Sheehan’s drama lecture room and dis­cuss what the impact of raising class sizes.

“It’s a community decision,” Menzo said. “We’ll make what­ever work.”

By Samaia Hernandez
Record-Journal staff
shernandez@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2266 

As published in the Record Journal Friday February 5, 2010

Follow all the news directly on the Record Journal Website for the most up to date information. www.myrecordjournal.com

Write a letter to the editor letters@record-journal.com

WALLINGFORD — Par­ents and teachers might not agree on all aspects of the school budget proposal, but when it comes to Sheehan and Lyman Hall high schools, both are having a hard time coming to grips with operating next school year with 17.4 fewer teaching positions.

“We’re all really scared about how these cuts are going to be implemented,” said Beth Raccio, a Moran Middle School parent and chair­woman of the town-wide Par­ent- Teacher Advisory Council, which met Thursday at Shee­han for a special meeting on the budget.

In order to maintain a 4.5 percent increase in the latest $88.9 million budget proposal, an additional 18.6 teaching po­sitions, the equivalent of $838,860, must still be elimi­nated. School Superintendent Salvatore Menzo said those positions will most likely come from the elementary schools because the high schools are already grappling with signifi­cant cuts. The result would be increased class sizes in ele­mentary schools and or re­duced paraprofessional posi­tions, Menzo said. Sheehan Principal Rose­mary Duthie and David Bryant, principal of Lyman Hall, said class scheduling would proceed the usual way, with classes planned around enrollment and teacher loads. Some classes may increase in size, but neither school is plan­ning to cut courses, both said.

The school board is also weighing a pay-for-play fee for student athletes against raising class dues from $25 to $35. A proposal to charge for student parking was also considered, but quickly tabled.

The initial budget proposal called for the elimination of high school department chair­man positions, which was crit­icized by educators and resi­dents. The Board of Education will review several proposals to return the chairman or cur­riculum resource positions at Monday’s Operations Commit­tee meeting.

In her third year as chair­woman, Raccio opened the meeting, surrounded by repre­sentatives from Sheehan and Lyman Hall, asking members to observe rules of conduct that began with former Superintendent Dale Wilson.

“It’s not appropriate in the PTAC meeting to talk about anything related to contracts or unions,” Raccio advised.

However, one parent wanted to know, if teachers made con­cessions, whether positions would be saved. Board secre­tary Michael Votto called the question valid, and said it has come up many times during all four focus groups. Exactly where the savings would be applied would be up to the su­perintendent and school board, Menzo said.

By Samaia Hernandez
Record-Journal staff
shernandez@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2266 

As published in the Record Journal Wednesday February 3, 2010

Follow all the news directly on the Record Journal Website for the most up to date information. www.myrecordjournal.com

Write a letter to the editor letters@record-journal.com

WALLINGFORD — When Denise Zukowski learned that her son, Ethan, now a first ­grader at E.C. Stevens School, could be attending Pond Hill School next year, she made a point of touring the two-story building tucked away on Pond Hill Road, some 1.6 miles away from her neighborhood ele­mentary school. The mother of three liked what she saw at the new build­ing, and so did Ethan, who grew excited about the possi­bility of riding the bus for the first time, instead of walking to school, and making new friends.

The tour didn’t mean Zukowski was comfortable with the idea of the town’s eight elementary schools be­ing converted from kinder­garten- through-fifth-grade schools into pairs of schools with classes for only grades K- 2 or 3-5. Nor did it mean she didn’t have any questions about the idea, which has since been taken out of the board’s $88.8 million budget proposal. And while she and dozens of other residents shuffled from one room to the next Tuesday evening at Pond Hill, hearing brief presentations on how a school reconfiguration might play out between Pond Hill and Stevens, Zukowski was not alone in her thoughts. If the Board of Education should de­cide to place the reconfigura­tion proposal back in the budget before the end of the month, she asked, would it mean that the process of dis­cussing, learning and asking questions would start all over? In workshops led by school officials, board members and behavioral health experts, resi­dents have listened and chimed in on topics including class size, bus routes, student transitions and the educational benefits of reconfiguration. This was the third of four such focus groups; the final session will be held tonight at 6 at Moses Y. Beach School.

The most recent budget pro­posal, which doesn’t include reconfiguration, is 4.5 percent above this year’s budget and will continue to be modified until Feb. 22, when the board adopts a budget.

“This may just be for noth­ing,” Zukowski said, “because (reconfiguration) could be completely gone.”

Minutes after the focus group ended, several parents posted comments on a Face­book page devoted to the budget changes, with one par­ent calling the workshop a “waste of time.”

Unlike the first focus group, for Parker Farms and Cook Hill schools last month, rather than leading a workshop, School Superintendent Salva­tore Menzo sat in the front lobby with parents and educa­tors.

Discussions Tuesday were more hypothetical than in pre­vious focus groups, at which some parents feared the plan was a done deal. Still, some speculative questions were left unanswered.

“What if it doesn’t work? What if it’s not the right solu­tion and we can’t undo it?” asked Wendy Brunetto, a Stevens parent, in a workshop on the extolled benefits of the plan, such as equalized class sizes and schools focused on a specific curriculum.

“We’re really kind of weighing pros and cons of reconfiguration against raising class sizes,” said Martin Taylor, assistant superin­tendent for instruction. With re­configuration, classes at K-2 schools would be kept around 18 and classes at 3-5 schools would be about 22 — both below rec­ommended maximums. Without reconfiguration, classes might exceed those recommendations. The proposal would save an estimated $1.1 million.

Board member Chet Miller told one group he doesn’t be­lieve the reconfiguration plan will make it into the budget presented to the mayor.

“Then why are we here?” sev­eral parents asked in unison.

They’re not sold on reconfiguration

By Samaia Hernandez
Record-Journal staff
shernandez@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2266

As published in the Record Journal Tuesday February 2, 2010

Follow all the news directly on the Record Journal Website for the most up to date information. www.myrecordjournal.com

Write a letter to the editor letters@record-journal.com

WALLINGFORD — Comparing grade configurations across school districts is not like comparing apples to apples — it’s much more complex and deserves a reasoned and well-rounded look.

That’s the conclusion reached by parents actively opposed to Superin­tendent Salvatore Menzo’s reconfig­uration plan. They are part of an or­ganized and exhaustive effort to search deeper into the supposed benefits of doing away with the ex­isting K-5 elementary structure in fa­vor of separate grades K-2 and 3-5 schools.

The conversation began online among parents concerned about Menzo’s controversial $88.6 million budget proposal for 2010-11, which was unveiled at the start of last month. To date, more than 750 peo­ple have joined the Facebook group “Concerned Parents Wallingford CT Board of Educ. Budget.”

Some 85 parents gathered at Yalesville School three weeks ago, splitting up into committees to tackle topics including research, pe­titions and a letter-writing campaign. Now, with more than 2,000 signa­tures collected, the core group of about a dozen parents say they want the best for their children and are not being unreasonable about pro­jected cuts and layoffs. There will be layoffs regardless of whether the dis­trict reconfigures.

What they are asking from school officials is to see the whole pie— not just a slice pointing out the benefits, which they say is what they’ve been shown.

After spending hours researching online, calling other districts and sorting through journals and test score data, these parents remain con­vinced that there’s more to the story than what school officials have hith­erto revealed.

“The big overarching thing is, the research is inconclusive if this is a good thing or bad,” said Chris Stra­howski, E.C. Stevens school parent and an educator in Manchester, between highlighting pages of research in a recent meeting between seven parents and a reporter.

For Strahowski, the first cause for alarm came when he followed links referenced in the budget presenta­tion as places to find additional data, only to learn that the Massachusetts and California school systems refer­enced had not actually reconfigured. Another red flag came straight from the state Department of Educa­tion’s Web site, where they learned that of the roughly 12 percent of school districts in the state that offer split elementary schools, none is of comparable size to Wallingford. Most are in smaller and more afflu­ent districts, and none operate four K-2 schools and four partnering grades 3-5 schools, as Wallingford would.

Additionally, of the 14 towns that run a K-2 setup— excluding regional districts — half saw declining read­ing, writing or math scores on the Connecticut Mastery Test in grade 3, the first year of transi­tion. During the same period, the state overall saw minor gains in reading and writing scores and a 6.7-percent gain in math scores.

“From a buyer’s standpoint, it’s risky to do this,” said Frank Stellato, parent of 6-year-old twins at Cook Hill School.

Several parents called atten­tion to Ansonia, where schools were reconfigured into K-2 and 3-5 in 2001 and then switched back this school year. The most recent reconfigura­tion in Ansonia was due in part to sanctions by the education department for being listed as In Need of Improvement un­der federal No Child Left Be­hind requirements four years in a row.

For Stephanie Robertson, a Highland School parent, the assumption isn’t that reconfig­uration doesn’t work, but if it does work, she wants to know how. “You don’t make this big of a decision based on a slideshow— what are you basing it on?” she asked.

What bothers some parents more than the idea of altering neighborhood K-5 schools is the rushed timeline in which it must all take place before next school year. Several residents have asked school officials to balance the budget elsewhere, noting options such as offering early teacher retirement in­centives or launching a pilot program at one or two schools next year, rather than all eight. In Ridgefield, where offi­cials considered moving to a similar model, a 22-member committee made up of parents, district officials and commu­nity members was established to look into the pros and cons of the structure a year before the change would have taken place.

The study found just about the same number of benefits and drawbacks, and its school board decided not to reconfig­ure schools for the next year. Instead, it will take on a slow redistricting process.

In Wallingford, however, re­districting could prove a costly option — upwards of $2 mil­lion if a school needed to be closed, officials said.

In Ridgefield, the committee found benefits similar to those touted by Wallingford school officials, including: consis­tency in class size, reduced staffing costs, a more focused atmosphere and greater con­sistency in delivery of instruction and curriculum. However, the document also pointed out cons such as less involvement in one school, increased transi­tions, less role modeling be­tween grades and increased transportation costs.

“It would have never come up if there wasn’t a budget problem,” said Carolyn Hall, a Yalesville School teacher and parent, who is unhappy with the prospect of uprooting her twin first-graders for one year and then bringing them back to Yalesville.

Longstanding board mem­ber Valerie Ford said she has received stacks and stacks of letters from parents, pointing out alleged holes in the pro­posal, but the correspondence hasn’t changed the way she feels about it “Keeping K-5 and increasing class size — they’re not going to like that either. Redistricting and closing schools; they’re not going to like that either,” said Ford, a Democrat. “Going to K-8, you know what? They’re not going to like that either. Bottom line, it’s a public school system and we’re trying to do the best with what we have to work with.”

Other board members said they have received messages from parents who support the plan but say they are afraid to speak up at meetings.

With less than three weeks left until the school board adopts a budget for the Town Council and mayor’s approval, the opposition group said it will continue to refine its ef­forts, reach out to school offi­cials and hopes to encourage other parents to look deeper than the initial slideshow pres­entation.

And whatever the next three weeks bring, they hope to be ready.

“We’re taking a fluid and dy­namic approach,” said Jonathan Chappell, a Yalesville parent and co-administrator of the Facebook group.