By Sarah Opdahl

New Fairfield’s Board of Education (BOE) met on Thursday, August 17 to kick off the new school year. Superintendent Dr. Ken Craw reflected, “every year we get to start with a fresh new school year and that is always very exciting, and you can feel the pace, with each day, starting to increase wit h preparations.”  The new high school is at the center of excitement for many New Fairfield students and staff. At the meeting, Principal Mr. James D’Amico gave board members a virtual walkthrough of new school highlights, touching on major gathering areas, classrooms, and breakout spaces for group work.

The first day of school for students is Tuesday, September 5. While the middle and elementary schools will have full days, the high school will be on an abbreviated schedule to allow all students and staff to acclimate to the new environment. Enthused about the year, D’Amico stressed, “this building is filled with opportunity and really designed to create opportunities.”

Craw was happy to introduce the BOE to the district’s new Pupil Personnel Services Director Ms. Maria Kennedy. She comes to the district from East Hartford Public Schools where she was a special education supervisor and a school psychologist. Craw explained, after a rigorous interview process she “came through as someone who is warm, kind. She under stands that every child can and should be able to meet with success.” Kennedy replied that she is, “Looking forward to working…to ensure students are coming to school, that they are receiving a wonderful educational experience, that they are coming to school in a place where they feel supported and, in a place, where they feel cared about.”

Continuing the topic of hiring, Craw said, “the most important thing that we are doing over the course of the summer is ensuring that we have high-quality staff in place in all positions for the start of the year. We feel very fortunate that we’re very close to being fully staffed up. We are in the process with a few positions, our eighth-grade counseling position, our seventh-grade science position, and a middle school special education resource position we’re currently looking to fill as well.” Craw encouraged anyone who may be interested to apply for a paraprofessional position.

The district’s administrative team had a summer retreat to discuss overarching goals.  “We focused on a couple of key areas,” Craw said, going on to say, “One of those is in the area of attendance…our messaging from the district and the schools this year is going to be that we want to see all of our students in school as much as possible. We had seen a high rate of absenteeism, larger than it was pre-COVID, so that is something we’ re going to be working on with families to address any barriers that may be getting in the way…secondly, our code of responsibility and respect for students. We have taken a good look at that, and we’ll be partnering with our families and students to ensure that the learning environment is the best possible experience so that all students feel comfortable, and they are free of distraction in classrooms.” A large amount of information will be sent to parents in support of the goals.

In addition, strategic planning will be a focus for Craw later this year. He emphasized, “strategic planning is critically important for a district. I’m not aware of the last time that the district has had a highly focused set of priorities that the community, all of the stakeholders, have rallied around.” The plan will aid in developing the district’s priorities and goal setting. Craw will create a group of “forward-minded, forward-thinking individuals” to contribute that will welcome all stakeholders, including students.

In his chairman’s report, Mr. Dominic Cipollone echoed Craw’s goals and expressed enthusiasm and hope for the year ahead. “I just really look forward to this school year,” he said, going on to say, “there is a brand new sparkling high school that awaits our young people and I am hoping for a few things: I am hoping for real improvements in our academic performance; I am hoping for a real cohesive K [through] 12 curriculum; I am hoping for shared accountability regarding our young people, and cohesiveness surrounding a code of discipline.”

In an enrollment update, Craw explained, the district is trending “comparable to last year.” Kindergarten is a bit higher than originally predicted and third grade has dipped, but the class sizes are “similar to how we had budgeted or projected during the budget season.”

In a budget update, Craw explained, with the additional funds that were approved for the school following the third referendum, the district chose to restore two paraprofessional positions, curriculum instruction funding, and professional learning for staff. In addition, a school psychologist position was added, as Craw pointed out, “we had several challenges over the course of last school year in terms of mental health, we had increased need for evaluations and supporting students from the counseling standpoint.”

Mr. Ed Sbordone reported for the Business Operations Resource Management Subcommittee that the budget ended the year flat. One of the areas “we went over budget on was payroll, probably around $400,000 or so,” though the numbers are not final. The district was awarded three grants for special education purposes. He said, “we did not use any of our two-year grants to make up for any deficits in the budget, so that was good.” In the past, “we had to delve into some of those two-year grants ahead of time, but we didn’t have to do that this time.” In other news, Sbordone reported that the school will be offering free breakfast to all students and free lunch for those who qualify.  Information regarding these programs will be sent to parents.

The BOE approved a policy change for tuition for students and staff members. In addition to adding the ability to include the school resource officer as an eligible position, the policy will stipulate “that we will not pay any additional programming or educational costs such as transportation, or if a child requires the ancillary support services or special education services. All those expenses would have to be borne by the family,” Ms. Samantha Mannion explained.

The next regular Board of Education meeting is scheduled for Thursday, September 7, 7:00 p.m.