BOE Reinstates Housemasters, West Rocks Assistant Principal

Norwalk High School and Brien McMahon High School will each keep all four of their housemasters next year. In addition, West Rocks Middle School will retain its second assistant principal.

The Norwalk Board of Education decided Thursday night to overturn decisions made a week earlier to cut one housemaster position at each school. Also, all of the housemasters, as well as both assistant principals at West Rocks and Ponus Ridge middle schools were made 12-month employees. Last week, those four positions had been cut to 10 months.

“I am so happy for the kids and so proud of our Board of Education,” Brien McMahon principal Suzanne Koroshetz said after the board's unanimous vote. Koroshetz advocated for the restoration of four 12-month housemasters with the help of several Brien McMahon administrators, parents and teachers, who cheered and hugged after the vote.

At the meeting's start, Chief Operating Officer Craig Drezek told the board that $500,000 had become available for next year’s budget after changes in the district’s health insurance projections — mostly because of revised estimates because of employee contract changes.
Another $100,000 became available because of cuts in repairs and maintenances. “We budget some money for a rainy day fund. Well, it’s raining,” said Drezek.

As part of her budget reinstatement plan, Superintendent Susan Marks had initially put forth a proposal to reinstate the Central Office’s grants instructional specialist at $162,000. But school board members Steve Colarossi and Artie Kassimis resisted the proposal. “I suggest this position be a lower-level position,” said Colarossi, who advocated for the reorganizing of the Central Office.

Marks, Board Chairman Jack Chiaramonte and board member Jodi Bishop-Pullan all spoke on behalf of the Central Office. “The Central Office is being devastated In order to improve processes, you need people,” said Marks. Bishop-Pullan spoke about the complexities of federal grants and reporting that required expertise.

After a lengthy conversation, Marks suggested she would take the grants position off the table. She insisted, however, that she be allowed to reorganize the Central Office with the $80,000 budget surplus that remained after the restoration of the high school and middle school administrators, as well as any other funds that become available in the coming months.
“We have to give the superintendent latitude to come up with a plan and not have the board micromanage her,” said board member Glenn Iannacone.

The board also discussed elementary teachers and class sizes. Last week, the board voted to cut nine elementary teachers. That number stands. However, the board decided to add four reserve teachers to next year’s budget. Drezek said the funds budgeted for unemployment benefits would fund the reserve positions because no teachers will be let go. All positions are being eliminated through attrition. One reserve teacher has already been slated for Cranbury Elementary School.

After a review of class sizes by Drezek and Bruce Mellion, president of Norwalk’s teacher union, Drezek said only a few classrooms hovered near the limit of 24 students per class, the teacher’s contractual limit. “We’ll be monitoring the situation very carefully, week by week,” said Marks.