By James Lomuscio

Members of Westport’s Board of Finance tonight advised the Board of Education to keep its 2012-13 operating budget as flat as possible and to seeks consolidations wherever possible with the town government to cut costs.

The finance board and several members of the Representative Town Meeting had been invited to the meeting to get a clearer picture of expenses the school board will face over the next five years. The general consensus was that the quality of instruction and the maintenance of facilities not be sacrificed with fiscal belt tightening.

The preliminary budget discussions came on the heels of enrollment projections that student population would drop over the next five years by between 200 and 300 from the current 5,700.

The finance board also remained to hear a five-year capital forecast given by Assistant Superintendent of Business Nancy Harris. The forecast shows approximately $10 million in projects over that time period.

Students in two lesser known areas of study at Westport’s Staples High School—child development and financial literacy—have recently won first place honors.

Staples students work with children in the child development course. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Contributed photo

The awards were earned in the 2011 Connecticut Statewide Career and Technical Educational Assessment competition. Staples scored first in the state – as a group – on both the Early Childhood Education and Services, and Personal Finance, exams.

The wide-ranging tests – taken by computer – last 90 minutes. The school will be honored at the annual Career and Technical Education (CTE) Annual Conference on Dec. 14, in Farmington, an announcement said.

The CTE’s mission is to prepare students for both college and careers.

By Robert A. Frahm

www.ctmirror.org

Fairfield—In affluent, high-achieving school districts like this one, the state’s top education official thinks the best strategy might be for the state education department to step aside and do less, not more.

State Education Commissioner Stefan Pryor asked Fairfield officials how the state could ease the burden of regulations, annual reports and other bureaucratic mandates that often lead to a mountain of paperwork.

“We’re interested in hearing about regulatory barriers, anything that might be a hindrance … We want to know how to get out of your way,” Pryor told the Fairfield Board of Education this week.

Fairfield was the latest stop on what Pryor calls a “listening tour” to visit schools, meet educators and assess the needs of the state’s public education system as he completes his second month on the job.

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The Westport public schools will start on time Monday, the Westport schools told parents in an e-mail

“For Monday, October 31, the Westport Public Schools will be OPENING ON TIME and all buses will be running on or close to their normal times,” the email said.

“This message also is applicable to the Stepping Stones Preschool.”

By Dave Matlow

Westport Schools Superintendent Elliott Landon told the Westport Rotary Club today that reading, writing and math are no longer the sufficient skills for students preparing for survival in the 21st century.

Schools Superintendent Elliott Landon at today’s Westport Rotary Club meeting. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

He said that today’s world and the future require thinking skills that integrate business, finance, education, politics and arts. 

In wide ranging remarks about the future of Westport schools and education in general, the man who has headed Westport’s school system since 1999 said students especially must be prepared to master the elements of critical thinking.

They must also learn to attain leadership by influence, develop the capability to be agile and adaptable, demonstrate entrepreneurial-ship, achieve effective communication skills, master the ability to analyze information and to have a curiosity drive, Landon said.