By James Lomuscio

The Westport Board of Education voted 4-3 tonight to ask for full restoration of the $1 million cut from its 2010-2011 budget when it goes before the Board of Finance Wednesday night.
Board of Education Chairman Don O’Day and Schools Superintendent Elliott Landon listen to the budget restoration debate tonight. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

The request had been urged by School Superintendent Elliott Landon put forth by Donald G. O’Day, school board chairman. But it got some resistance from board members who felt the school system would be better off asking for less considering lean times for taxpayers footing the bill.

“We can’t look at the schools in a vacuum,” said Michael McGovern, school board member who asked to seek only a $750,000 restoration.

While she acknowledged that the school board did a fine job in keeping the proposed budget as lean as possible for next year, Faith Taylor agreed with McGovern, arguing that with the town facing tough economic times, “We can’t stick our heads in the sand.”

By Dave Matlow

Staples High School Principal John Dodig held up his iPhone before a Westport Sunrise Rotary Club audience today and said it symbolized the challenges of educating the iPhone generation.
John Dodig: “what information is needed?” (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

The educational goal now is not only finding information but determining how to use it to solve problems better than someone else’s solution, he said.  “We need to equip our students to solve problems,” he said. 

Dodig said learning has changed over the years. No longer do students attend classes to acquire information, he said.

Today, the information is readily available, but the questions are “what information is needed” and “how accurate is the information,” he said. 

By Robert A. Frahm

A key legislative committee Thursday approved several major education bills designed to reshape Connecticut’s public schools and improve the state’s chances to win millions of dollars in federal school reform money.

The General Assembly’s Appropriations Committee approved bills that would expand high school graduation requirements, remove enrollment limits on charter schools, link teacher evaluations to student performance, and give parents a greater voice in school operations.

The bills are aligned with goals of Race to the Top, the Obama administration’s incentive program to support innovative reforms in the nation’s public schools.

Connecticut put in an initial reform proposal earlier this year requesting $193 million of the federal stimulus money, but finished well out of the running when the U.S. Department of Education announced winners of the first round of grants this week.

By James Lomuscio

Westport Schools Superintendent Elliott Landon is recommending the Board of Education seek full restoration of the $1 million cut by the Board of Finance from its 2010-11 budget.
Elliott Landon: “No low hanging fruit.” Dave Matlow/WN file photo

But he has prepared a series of staff and program reductions in case the request is denied and not reversed by the Representative Town Meeting (RTM).

Landon outlined his reasons for the restoration request as well as details of the reductions in letters to the Board of Education in advance of its Monday meeting.

“The reductions that I will be recommending to you are not easy ones to make,” Landon said.

The Westport school calendar has been adjusted because of three missed days of school caused by last week’s storm.

The changes, approved Monday night by the Board of Education, provide that Thursday, April 1 will be a full instructional day for all students and teachers.

It had previously been scheduled as a staff development day with no students in school.

The last day of school for students will be Wednesday, June 23, and a professional development day for all teachers and administrators will be held on Thursday, June 24.

The winning team members in the Staples Spectacular Challenge (See WestportNow Feb. 9, 2010) were awarded a $5,000 check at Monday night’s Westport Board of Education meeting. They came up with the top entry to the question “How do we make Westport a greener place to live?” Their solution included adding solar panels at Staples and Bedford Middle School, community-supported agriculture, and endorsement of a Brazilian initiative urging residents to urinate in the shower, estimating that if every Westporter did that once a day, it would save 11 million gallons of water a year. Pictured are Kat Krieger, Nick Cion, Lena Ziskin, Lexa Koenig and Annie Harnick. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Contributed photo

Graduating seniors from Westport and area towns planning to enroll in an accredited two- or four-year college or post-high school vocational or technical school are eligible to apply for scholarships from the Fairfield County Community Foundation.

The Foundation’s Greater Bridgeport Area (GBA) Scholarship Program is designed to provide financial support to students in pursuit of a post-high school education.

The program offers multiple awards from the general GBA Scholarship Fund in addition to 34 separate scholarships funds within the program, giving students the opportunity to apply for up to four different scholarships. A separate application is required for each scholarship.

Last year, the Foundation and its donors awarded more than $500,000 in scholarship aid throughout Fairfield County.

By James Lomuscio

Even the Staples High School Tuition Grants Program, the single largest donor of college financial aid in Westport and a community mainstay since 1943, is feeling the squeeze of the recession.
A Staples Tuition Grants recipient receives a check at a previous ceremony. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

Application are up, and donations are down, only 50 percent of what the organization plans to award in June.

The STG Committee, which relies on contributions from PTAs, civic organizations, local businesses, trusts and more than 100 individuals, has raised only $100,000 of the $200,000 it hopes to give away, a shortfall that does not bode well as applications continue to rise.

“In 2009, we saw a 35 percent increase in applications, many from kids who had not even applied for grants as graduating seniors who then needed funding once they were in college due to new family situations or decreased funding from schools,” said Peggy Kamins, committee chairwoman. “We expect applications to be up again this year based on increased unemployment and the economy.”

By Robert A. Frahm

Just 16, and off to college?

That could become an option for high school sophomores in Connecticut, one of eight states named Wednesday to pilot test a rigorous new system, including board examinations, that would mark a dramatic shift in the traditional notion of high school education.

By fall of 2011, those states will begin testing a system of coursework and tests that has been widely used in other nations to bolster academic standards and prepare students for college, the National Center on Education and the Economy (NCEE) announced.

The Board Examination system has been used in places such as Australia, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, Scotland, Singapore, and parts of Canada and Germany but has been missing from U.S. schools, the NCEE said.

Westport’s Coleytown Elementary School PTA has presented a check to Save the Children for $13,617.04 for its Haiti relief efforts as a result of a two-week in-school Read-a-Thon. The check was presented to the Westport-based charity’s director of development—and Coleytown Elementary parent—Ann Marie Fox. Teachers were instrumental in engaging students for the cause, setting aside classroom time every day so that every student could read, giving the Read-a-Thon for Haiti a class participation rate of 100 percent. “We are so proud of the effort of our students to help the children of Haiti in their time of need,” said Principal Melissa Paolini-Kay. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Contributed photo