By James Lomuscio
 
The grenade was a dud— the kind of curio offered for sale in Army & Navy stores or in novelty shops as cigarette lighters.
Ellliott Landon: principal acted appropriately. Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

But the mere sight of it in the bag of a third grader at Westport’s Coleytown Elementary School Monday at 3:50 p.m. was enough to launch a 911 call, the rapid arrival of Westport Emergency Services and a full building evacuation.

“When the students were being dismissed, a boy claimed he had a hand grenade,” said Schools Superintendent Elliott Landon.

Teachers and administrators looked in the 8-year-old boy’s bag, and that is exactly what they saw. It was not until the police arrived, said Landon, that school officials learned the grenade was harmless.

Janna Bell: no threat or danger to the school. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com
UPDATE The principal of Westport’s Coleytown Elementary School told parents a student brought a deactivated hand grenade to school today that caused the building to be evacuated.

Principal Janna Bell said at no point was there “a threat or danger to the school.”

Police and fire services confirmed there was a call to the school at 3:53 p.m.—well after classes were dismissed—but did not provide details. The school superintendent, Elliott Landon, could not immediately be reached.

“Today a child brought in an instrument that looked like a hand grenade,” Bell said in an e-mail message to Coleytown parents at 5 p.m.

By Jacqueline Rabe

www.ctmirror.org

Saying the stress of the job had become too much, State Education Commissioner Mark McQuillan announced his resignation Tuesday, one day after a public outburst that stunned members of a panel appointed to make recommendations on school financing.
Education Commissioner Mark McQuillan (r) and State Board of Education chairman Allan Taylor. Ctmirror.org photo

“I reached this decision yesterday when I realized that I no longer wanted to do this work and saw all too plainly that the stresses of my job are more than they should be and more than I am willing to accept,” McQuillan, 62, wrote in a letter to state Board of Education members and other education officials.

On Monday a panel composed of representatives of unions, businesses, municipalities and education groups met to begin drafting some of their final recommendations on how schools should be financed by the state. McQuillan opened the meeting by saying he wanted to defer that discussion until January.

As various members of the group objected to the delay, McQuillan showed increasing irritation.

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By James Lomuscio

Is it appropriate for a teacher to “friend” a student or parent on Facebook?
Ellliott Landon: proposed policy intended to protect employees. Dave Matlow / WN file photo

With the popularity of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn and MySpace, Westport Schools Superintendent Elliott Landon asked the Board of Education Monday night to consider a policy regulating employees’ use of social media, even for personal use.

The board, which only had four of its seven members present, will vote on the action at its Jan. 4 meeting.

Landon said that the proposed policy is an extension of the Acceptable Computer Network Use policy requiring all faculty, staff and school board employees to use the school network for emails so that all communication is archived.

The Staples High School newspaper, Inklings, has been named a High School Newspaper Crown Finalist for the 2011 Crown Awards by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA).

Inklings will be awarded either a Gold or Silver Crown Award during CSPA’s 87th Annual Convention in March at Columbia University.

A total of 1,434 newspapers, magazines, and yearbooks published during the 2009-10 school year were eligible in the Awards Program.

Visit Inklings online at www.InklingsNews.com. To subscribe, contact Inklings at 203.341.1994.

By James Lomuscio

Parents eager to thank to their children’s teachers or coaches with gifts this holiday season have received a familiar notice from Schools Superintendent Elliott Landon—$5 is the limit.
Ellliott Landon: personal note makes a great gift. Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

“I send it out every year, and I think the PTA is pleased with it especially in these economic times,” said Landon. “It’s just not fair to ask people to spend a lot of money, and it also it puts stress on teachers.”

How? Some of the gifts from Christmases past were downright excessive.

“I remember a coach was offered a gift of a cruise, he and his wife, in response to the start of the season,” said Landon. “There have been offers of gifts of season’s tickets to concerts and games, to the Metropolitan Opera, the best seat in the house.