By James Lomuscio

With laurels of praise for the Board of Education, Westport’s Board of Finance tonight unanimously approved a $111,471,756 proposed school operating budget, a 2.08 percent increase, for the 2015-16 academic year.

Finance board member after finance board member lauded the school board and the administration, plus the entire budget process. Each said the school board had incorporated Board of Finance input making it fiscally sound and transparent.

“This is the best of the four budgets I’ve seen in my time on the board,’ said John Pincavage, finance board chairman.

“A lot of lessons were learned and learned well,” he added, referring to last year’s budget bungles on health insurance benefits. “So, I feel very good about this.’

The Westport Public Schools and the Westport PTA Council have scheduled a “Community Conversation” on education, featuring representatives from Columbia University’s Teachers’ College, for Wednesday, March 25, at 7 p.m. at Staples High School.

“Our hope is that a cross section of all members of the Westport community will come together to discuss the role of schools, parents and the community as a whole in creating ethical, social and civic-minded students,” said Michael Gordon, Board of Education chairman.

“Our Community Conversation is the next step in Westport’s 2025 initiative, which has focused on providing students with the skills they will need to succeed in this new world in which they must compete,” he added.

Representatives from Teachers’ College will begin the evening, giving a short presentation on research from high performing school districts around the world that “are working to embed characteristics such as respect, integrity, harmony, resilience and care in their day to day curriculum,” Gordon said.

By James Lomuscio

With the favorite candidate of the two finalists bowing out for principal of Staples High School for another job, the Westport school system has rebooted its search and is even considering an interim principal to fill outgoing Principal John Dodig’s shoes, according to school officials.

“The Staples principal’s job is one of the most important in the district, and we will only recruit and hire a star for that position,” Michael Gordon, chairman of the Board of Education, said today. “If that means choosing an interim for one year, we will make that choice.”

Gordon pointed out that Dodig, who is retiring in June after 14 years at the helm, began as an one-year interim at Staples.

“And it was a very good experience, and he had a very good tenure,” Gordon said.

Louis B. Moore, principal at Ramapo High School in Franklin Lakes, N.J, met with Staples High School parents today in the school cafeteria. He is the second candidate to meet parents in the selection process to succeed John Dodig, who announced his retirement in December effective in June. Moore, who holds a doctorate in history from Rutgers, was asked why he wants to leave Ramapo. “The pull is Westport,” he said. “I love my school, but this is an extraordinary place.” On Monday, parents met with the other candidate, Frank Costanzo, principal of Cooperative Arts & Humanities High School in New Haven. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

By James Lomuscio

Westport’s Representative Town Meeting (RTM) voted 30 to 1 tonight to approve a $743,114 Board of Education appropriation request for mass notification and two-way radio systems as part of a system wide security initiative for the town’s eight schools.

Elio Longo, school business director, said the mass communication system, which would broadcast word of emergencies through the fire alarm systems, including interior and exterior speakers, as well as have emergency lockdown buttons, has a cost of $480,000 to be offset by an $86,982 state grant.

He said the two-way radio system, a highly complex setup involving digital walkie-talkies, 190 hand sets, and Motorola repeaters that allow communications between schools, carries a cost $262,484 offset by a $54,360 grant.

RTM member Peter Knight of District 8 was the lone dissenter, arguing that the town will have spent more than $1 million on security in the wake of the 2012 Newtown shootings, instead of less costly intervention efforts to prevent internal threats.

Westport’s Staples High School Wreckers Robotics Team 577 was among teams competing today for the state championship at the Connecticut FIRST Tech Challenge, a robotics competition at Westport’s Greens Farms Academy. Pictured are some of the Wreckers team: Dylan Gleicher, 16, junior; Arjun Dhindsa, 16, sophomore; Kees Chang, 17, junior; Xiastian Zhang, 16, junior, and Phoebe Spear, 15, sophomore. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Phyllis Groner for WestportNow.com