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School
Readiness Council
Actions
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JUNE 8, 2005
ATTENDANCE: Betsy Bain, Chairwoman; Gerri Degnan; JennyLynn Carey; Carlin Hill; Linda Wilock; Victoria Schilling; Curtis Law; Patricia Balaban; Lauriston Avery; Mary Peniston; Marie Ange Nicolas; Rev. Janet Hodge; Lynn Sadlon Moritz, Ed Schmidt, Assistant to Mayor.
STAFF: Mary Budrawich; Barbara Smart
OTHER: Sally Grose
CALL TO ORDER
Chairwoman Bain called the meeting to order at 9:40 a.m.
APPROVAL OF THE MAY 11, 2005 MINUTES
** MS. BALABAN MOVED TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE MAY 11, 2005 MEETING.
The following corrections were made to the minutes:
On page 1, under attendance, it should be Lynn Sadlon Moritz.
On page 2, middle paragraph, the 10th sentence should read “there is a requirement
of a 10% match on the city’s side.”
On page 3, under Kids Start Smart Workplan, the third sentence should read “It
has joined forces with the United Way on a national media campaign”.
On page 4, under Executive Committee, the second sentence should read “Another
area of discussion is monitoring the programs and determining the proper procedure
for reporting back the results to the committee”.
On page 4, under informal care, the second sentence should read “She said she
has attended 3 Graustein meetings,…”
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
UPDATES
A. School Readiness Grant, Programs and Issues
1. CHEFA
Ms. Bain handed out a letter sent to Jeff Asher from Mayor Knopp stating the City’s position on the possibility of NEON and the Federal Department taking away the Head Start program from NEON as the administrator. That is in appeal. The City is supporting that. The Executive Board has met and has been in contact with the State Department of Education to inform them. The Council will continue to monitor the situation to ensure that all the requirements of the school readiness grant are met.
Ms. Wilock said that the budget is approved, and the Council will be notified of the final allocation sometime in July. There is likely to be an increase in rates to providers for the full day/full year slots, but there is not a lot of expansion. Ms. Mary Wenn, of Under One Roof, asked how much of an increase there will be, and has there been any discussion of cutting money? Ms. Bain replied that money wouldn’t be cut from school readiness.
B. Quality Enhancement
Ms. Budrawich said a revision was done of the quality enhancement budget, taking money that was allocated for professional development to make it available for three purposes.
One was to reimburse early care and education teachers who had taken courses on the approved state list anytime between last July 1 and this June 30. The deadline for the application is Friday, June 10. There has been a minimal amount of requests for reimbursement.
The second was for administrators or supervisors to attend the administrator workshops conducted by ECETI (Early Childhood Education Training Institute). There have been a number of requests for reimbursement.
The third was to pay for Ms. Lori No to provide technical assistance on the new accreditation criteria that all of the school readiness providers will have to meet. She has appointments scheduled with all involved and will be using the full allocation for her services.
Mr. Schmidt joined the meeting at 9:55 a.m.
C. Kids Start Smart: The Norwalk Discovery Initiative
1. KSS Workplan
Ms. Peniston said that at last night’s Board of Education meeting, a job description was posted for the early childhood specialist position. This position will do a lot of liaison work with the community and will work closely with the kindergarten teachers. She mentioned that Ms. Rosemary Scullane will be retiring June 30. Ms. Bain said that there was an article in the Norwalk Hour today that highlighted the great work that Ms. Scullane has done. The position will be formally approved at next week’s board meeting.
Ms. Peniston wanted to congratulate everyone involved with the recent Outreach Workers Meeting. It was co-sponsored by Norwalk Healthy Families Collaborative, Help Me Grow, NEON Head Start, with Kids Start Smart. 60 outreach workers attended.
Ms. Peniston said that last year the Kids Start Smart developed an extensive strategy plan called a Theory of Change. They had been invited to participate in the United Way National Conference. Ms. Peniston’s colleagues have come up with an excellent first draft. There is a meeting on July 13 from 1-3 p.m., and the purpose is to review last years plan.
Ms. Peniston said that the United Way had their annual breakfast this morning. Ms. Janice Udell, an early childhood education guru, spoke at the meeting. More information on the meeting will be sent out. Ms. Bain said in that Graustein’s annual report, Norwalk is one of four highlighted communities. She said this was good publicity.
Ms. Peniston passed around a copy of the United Way annual report.
The Connecticut Center for School Change, which is an offshoot foundation of Graustein, recently published their Spring issue on the importance of transition. Ms. Rosemary Scullane was interviewed.
Ms. Aida Frese is putting out a newsletter for KSS and is setting up a mailing list.
Ms. Peniston said that the networking meetings that Graustein sponsors are open to everyone. The Parent Leader Training Institute will have meetings starting in early October, and it is open to all parents. The meetings are held in West Rocks Middle School from 6-9 p.m. at night.
D. Fairfield County Community Foundation Grant
Ms. Budrawich said that they have received permission from the foundation to continue to expend out all of the funds to have mental health support services. She noted the Walter Gilliam study from Yale on the number of students expelled from a pre-school program. The rate is higher for boys and African American children. The likelihood of expulsion reduces with mental health support. . Services are available to all providers in Norwalk and should be expanded beyond the Council. Ms. Sadlon Moritz said a home visitation program is offered. The Family Resource Centers offer ways of reaching parents. Ms. Schilling said that there is a 23 week parenting plan offered in Spanish and English. Ms. Tiffany McCarthy, of FCA, at 149 Water Street, is the contact person. Her phone number is 604-1230. Ms. Schilling said that on September 12 at the Help Me Grow, Norwalk Healthy Families Collaboratives, Kids Start Smart Collaborative networking meeting, there will be a panel of child behavioral health specialists. This is open to everyone, and Ms. Schilling thought that they should extend an invitation to all professional providers. It will be at the Stepping Stones Museum, and more information will follow. On June 14, there will be a meeting in Hartford from 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. hosted by the Parents as Partners in Public Policy, Stronger Families, Stronger Communities. Mr. Schmidt said that the expulsion rate is higher in Connecticut than the nation and is the 7th worst state.
E. Regional/State Update
The State budget has been passed, but the details are unknown. At the last meeting, the Executive Committee was going to send a letter to the Legislators. Mr. Bob Duff has notified them that he has received the letter and is in support of the program. Ms. Lynn Sadlon Moritz said that $6.1M in funding for the 61 centers has been received. Last year they had received an additional $2,000. The amount of $100,000 was requested in the grant.
SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS
A. Executive Committee
Ms. Bain said that the Executive Committee meets monthly as part of their compliance review, and the issue from this month’s meeting was the monitoring procedures. Who does them and how are they reported back? Ms. Budrawich handed out the draft report. Comments will be accepted on this at the next meeting.
B. Informal Care
Ms. Sadlon Moritz said the home visitation program is winding down. There will be more information in the Fall.
C. Provider Network
Ms. Degnan said that they have a waiting list and they would need more spots.
D. Review and Selection
Ms. Bain said that Ms. Budrawich is working on a draft plan of how the additional
funding would be allocated, if they became available.
E. Program
Ms. Budrawich said that the administrator workshops are going on, and there was a recent training session on multi-cultural diversity. The training on June 1 was attended by 60 providers. She thanked Ms. Scullane for her training on science. Ms. Peniston said that it was an inkind contribution by Muriel Gearheart.
There will be a Holly Bruno Building Bridges event this Thursday evening at the Shore and Country Club. She will speak on the power of one.
Ms. Bain read Ms. Scullane’s letter of resignation as kindergarten position coordinator for the Norwalk Public Schools.
** MS. SCHILLING MOVED TO THANK MS. ROSEMARY SCULLANE FOR HER SERVICE ON BEHALF
OF THE COUNCIL.
** MS. PENISTON SECONDED.
F. Nominating Committee
Ms. Bain said that on the first page of the hand out listing the Council Members. The first column shows the members whose terms are up. The people that are continuing on will be submitted to the Mayor and Superintendent for reappointment.
On page two, there are two new people that are being recommended to be appointed
to the Council. To maintain balance, it is recommended that members be appointed
to a one-year term. Ms. Susan Bonk, the Education Manager for Stepping Stones
Museum, and Ms. Donna Rogers-Jones, a representative from the Parent Leadership
Training Institute.
OTHER
The next meeting of the School Readiness Council will be on September 14, 2005.
There will be a strategic planning meeting for Kids Start Smart on July 13, 2005.
Ms. Sadlon Moritz said she had received a small grant for an inclusion playgroup. It will start in the fall, and they are looking at various sites in the SONO area. It was suggested to look at Norwalk Reads for a possible location.
ADJOURNMENT
** MR. LAW MOVED TO ADJOURN.
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
The meeting was adjourned at 11:05 a.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Carolyn Marr
Telesco Secretarial Services
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