Westport calls it mildew. Other school districts call it mold.  In any case, Westports cost of getting rid of it this fall is at least $124,000 plus a little more than $85,000 in custodial fees for a total of just under $210,000.

Supt. of Schools Elliott Landon presented the preliminary cost estimate to the Board of Education Tuesday night.

Nancy Harris, the schoolҒs assistant superintendent for business, said while all the bills were not in, she did not anticipate much of an increase in the figure.

Both school officials said other school districts in Connecticut had faced similar problems this fall due to wet, humid summer conditions and often had to pay much higher costs to remediate the problem.

Harris praised the cooperation of Judy Nelson, Westport Weston health director, Gary Martin, the schools facilities director, and the districtҒs custodial staff, for their aggressive, cooperative efforts to eliminate the mildew problem.

We acted as SWAT team every morning for a while,Ӕ Harris told the board.

Landon said that one result of the problem was that he did not anticipate any carpets being used in the current $74 million expansion and renovation of Staples High School.

I donӒt think youll see any carpet in the new Staples High School,Ҕ he said. ThatӒs a given.

Board member Mary Parmelee said she was asking the “$124,000” question by asking Harris where the money would come from to pay for the mildew/mold removal.

Landon, Harris and board chair Sandra Urist said they would be in a better position to answer the question when they had the preliminary quarterly school operations cost figures.

Schools Superintendent Elliott Landon today issued a detailed response to the latest criticism by two parents studying a controversial copier contract. He said the allegations were incorrect and showed a lack of understanding of negotiating strategy.

He made the statements in a memo to members of the Board of Education, which he copied to other town officials.

Landon said the latest analysis of the issue by Louis Gagliano and Stanley Alintoff alleging that the district unnecessarily paid $8,000 in interest was wrong.

The allegations are incorrect and demonstrate lack of understanding of a negotiating strategy that was instrumental in saving the Town of Westport $36,500,Ӕ Landon said.

The school official then presented a detailed rebuttal to the charges made by the two parents in a Sept. 24 letter, which they copied to town officials and the news media.

It is unfortunate that Messrs. Gagliano and Alintoff continue to make allegations to our local newspapers that, through their lack of thorough understanding, result in a distortion of the facts, so as to raise issues of credibility involving the school administration and the school board,Ӕ Landon said.

The facts speak for themselves.Ӕ

Superintendent of Schools Elliott Landon pledged Monday night that problems with late buses involving Saugatuck and Kings Highway Elementary Schools would be solved in the next week or 10 days.
Landon spoke in response to a question at a Board of Education meeting that also heard about the new Staples High School technology plan and a revised timetable for occupancy of the new Staples.

Staples physics teacher David Scrofani was named Westport’s teacher of the year. WestportNow.com photo

The meeting at Bedford Middle School followed a reception honoring Staples physics teacher David Scrofani, 32, who had been chosen the districts teacher of the year. He has taught in Westport for nine years and was selected from among eight nominees.
The schools superintendent acknowledged that Saugatuck parents had received a letter from the schoolҒs principal, Robert B. Buckley, saying the bus problem might not be resolved until later in the school year. He said the letter was based on a conversation Buckley had with Peter Isabel, transportation coordinator.
We believe that is not the case and this needs to be corrected,Ӕ Landon said. He said the problem involved dismissal procedures at a school and the need to readjust some routes, including substituting a smaller bus for a larger one for a student living near the Wilton line.
Staples principal John Brady presented the new technology plan and told the board at present his school has a real access problemӔ because there are 1,400 students and only 150 computers.
Students come from an interactive, digital world outside of school, but when they arrive at Staples, they hit a digital divide, he said.
When we solve the access problem, the learning environment will be greatly enhanced,Ӕ Brady said.
Board member Mark Owades expressed some skepticism about the plan, saying most students had computers at home and maybe it wasnt such a bad thing for them to have to spend more time speaking to teachers rather than being on a computer.

Staples principal John Brady explains his school’s technology plan to the Board of Education Monday night. WestportNow.com photo

Steven Halstead, who was board chair when much of the districtҒs technology planning was being done in the 1990s, said he was concerned that not enough money is being allocated to technology, especially at Staples.
He noted the budget for the renovation and expansion of the high school had been reduced from $78 million to $73 million.
Referring to the shortage of computers at Staples, Halstead said, These are the real outcomes of under funding of technology over the years.Ӕ
Board chair Sandra Urist added: We need to recoup those (technology) budgets that we cut.Ӕ Neil Gerhardt, another member, cautioned, however, that funds were not unlimited and needs have to be balanced with available dollars.
Member Linda Merk-Gould asked for a timetable specifying technology goals and the required funding.
Board members heard from the members of the Staples subcommittee overseeing the expansion and renovation project that their timetable now called for first phase occupancy in December 2005 instead of the earlier projected August 2005.
Dan Kail, subcommittee chair, said the move into the new building is now scheduled during the Christmas break of that year. He said the delay will be eased by the availability of new space as the senior center moves from Staples to its new home on Baron’s South.

Staples Principal John Brady arrived early for Monday nights Board of Education meeting at which he presented his schoolҒs technology plan. Good thing that he did.

He told the board later that it took 45 minutes for him to get the Internet link working to his laptop in the Bedford Middle School cafeteria, where the meeting was held.

That kind of problem cannot be allowed to exist if the schools are going to make headway in advancing technology, he said.

ItӒs got to be seamless and ready, Brady said.

The Hour of Norwalk said today it is withdrawing its Freedom of Information (FOI) complaint against Schools Supt. Elliott Landon and the Board of Education over its request for e-mail correspondence.

The newspaper, which filed the complaint Aug. 11 over the controversial school start times issue, notified the FOI Commission in Hartford of its desire to withdraw the complaint by letter. (See WestportNow Aug. 12, 2003).

We have received the information that we had requested and a second request filed for school board e-mails was fulfilled in a more prompt manner,Ӕ said the letter, signed by James Dean, the newspapers editor, and Jennifer Connic, its Westport reporter.

The letter, which was made available to WestportNow, said school officials had established a system for the public to review future e-mails subject to public inspection.

Connecticut’s FOI law provides any communication to a quorum of a public agency is subject to such scrutiny. WestportҒs Representative Town Meeting (RTM) has long had a system in place whereby copies of such e-mails are available in the town clerks office.

ғWe believe the steps the school board has taken will make it easier for future requests for public e-mails to be fulfilled much more promptly than was our experience in July, The Hour journalists said.

Landon did not respond to a request to comment.

The schools superintendent turned over the requested e-mails to the newspaper shortly after receiving a copy of its Aug. 11 complaint. Landon told The Hour at the time that he regretted it did not feel its request was being acted upon in a prompt fashion.

The newspaper said at the time that belated distribution of the e-mails did not make its complaint moot. In its Aug. 11 letter to the commission, The Hour had also asked the commission to rule if school officials had acted promptly under the law.

That request apparently was withdrawn as well by today’s letter.

Editor’s Note: The editor of WestportNow also serves as moderator of the RTM.