Gov. Dannel P. Malloy appointed Westport Schools Superintendent Elliott Landon, who is retiring after 17 years at the end of the 2015-16 academic year, to the state Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations (ACIR), Landon learned in a letter today. His term runs though August 2017.

The ACIR is a 24-member agency created in 1985 to study the state and local government issues “and to recommend solutions as appropriate,” according to the state website. Its membership represents state legislative and executive branches, municipalities and other local interests, as well the public.

“I’m very excited, and I hope I can contribute,” said Landon, who added that he was recommended by members of the Connecticut Association of Public Schools Superintendents (CAPSS).

According to state statute,  the ACIR, which is supported by the Office of Policy and Management has four charges: to serve as a forum for consultation between state and local officials; to conduct research on intergovernmental issues; to encourage and coordinate studies of intergovernmental issues by universities and others; and to initiate policy development and make recommendations to all levels of government.

Janna Bell Sirowich, principal of Westport’s Coleytown Elementary School, welcomes a kindergartner today on the first day of school. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

Students at Westport’s Bedford Middle School make their way to classes today as school began on an August day that was crisp and clear, feeling more like fall than summer. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

Students and parents at the Oak Ridge Park at Imperial Avenue school bus stop today as Westport students returned to school.  (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

Scenes as Westport students went back to school today. Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

(Editor’s note: The headline and original story have been clarified to say that this year’s Staples enrollment is 1,900, 100 over capacity, a situation that has existed for several years but this is highest in recent years.)

By James Lomuscio

Elliott Landon: “We’re packing them in (at Staples).” Dave Matlow for WestportNow.comUPDATE The highest Staples enrollment in recent years—1,900, which is 100 over capacity—decreasing student populations in the early grades, and nine new administrators set the stage for the 2015-16 school year that beings Thursday, Westport Schools Superintendent Elliott Landon said today.

“We’re going to have to take a hard look at the increased enrollment at Staples,” said Landon, who has announced his retirement at the end of this school year after 17 years. He said that he has several proposals to address the issue, but declined to release them yet.

“We’re packing them in,” he added. “We’re at 1,900, and it was built for 1,800, even though when was being built, we had asked for enough space for 2,000. We’re using closets, we took away meeting rooms, a classroom in the library.” 

Landon is convinced that the Staples student population, which has been more than 1,800 at least going back to 2012 and is 45 more than last year, will continue to swell, eventually surpassing 2,000.

By James Lomuscio

Despite strong objections from Representative Town Meeting (RTM) members who argued that excess school monies should be returned to the general fund, the Board of Finance tonight unanimously approved a Board of Education (BOE) carryover account.

Board of Finance member Tom Lasersohn (c) makes a point at tonight’s meeting as Lee Caney (l) and Brian Stern listen. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

The unexpended operating funds, whether prior to the end of the fiscal year or prior to Aug. 31, can be used for future schools expenditures subject to an agreement between both boards, the Board of Finance voted.

As soon as the carryover account was approved, the finance board unanimously gave its approval to the schools’ transfer of up to $250,000 not spent during fiscal year 2014-15 to the new education account.

Board of Finance members Tom Lasersohn and Lee Caney, who had been studying the BOE proposal since July 1, described it in detail. Lasersohn said there was a limit on how big the fund can get, 3 percent of the schools’ operating budget, and that withdrawing more than $200,000 from the account would be subject to Board of Finance approval.

Newsweek Magazine today published its annual list of the top 500 U.S. high schools and ranked Westport’s Staples High School No. 2 in Connecticut behind No. 1 Weston High School.

In the national rankings, Weston came in No. 47 and Staples No. 63. (See complete list here) Neither Weston nor Staples appeared on last year’s Newsweek list. (See WestportNow Oct. 24, 2014)

Newsweek said since 2014, it has published two separate lists in an effort to address the complexities of assessing the “best” high schools when students’ socioeconomic backgrounds are taken into account.

It said its lists, done in collaboration with research partner Westat, therefore included the 2015 list of America’s Top High Schools—an “absolute” list that ranks schools solely based on performance—and Beating The Odds, a “relative” list that ranks schools based on performance, while also accounting for student poverty rates.

Westport’s Board of Education has scheduled two community forums in September to discuss the qualities of the next schools superintendent, board member Brett Aronow announced today.

The forums to be conducted by Hazard, Young and Attea (HYA), the search firm engaged by the school board, are set for Tuesday, Sept. 1, at 7:30 p.m. in the Saugatuck Elementary School auditorium and Thursday, Sept. 10, at 10 a.m. in the Town Hall auditorium.

In addition, HYA will conduct an online survey beginning Aug. 31 to discern what the community expects of the educational leader who will replace Schools Superintendent Elliott Landon, who is retiring at the end of the 2015-16 academic year. Details and a link to the survey will be forthcoming, Aronow said. 

“As we have said since the beginning, we are committed to a process that will offer our stakeholders the opportunity to share their views about the needs of the school system and the qualities of the superintendent that will meet those needs,” said Michael Gordon, school board chairman.

By Jacqueline Rabe Thomas

www.ctmirror.org

NEW HAVEN — Every public school in Connecticut will be rated 1 through 5 this winter.

In addition, every high school junior will be required to take the SAT test as opposed to the Smarter Balanced Assessment, a controversial exam aligned to the Common Core State Standards.

And teachers will have another year before student test scores begin being factored into their evaluations.

Those are just a few of the changes that the U.S. Department of Education approved for Connecticut schools today. Connecticut had asked for flexibility to make the changes under the No Child Left Behind Act so it would not be penalized under the law’s rigid requirements.

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