Here’s what you may want to know, and links to what you may need to know as classes resume for students in West Hartford Public Schools on Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2017.
By Ronni Newton
Close to 9,600 children will begin the 2017-18 academic year in West Hartford Public Schools on Wednesday morning, and Superintendent Tom Moore said that it’s more important than ever for schools to be a place where students feel safe and secure.
“Education happens best when people aren’t worried,” Moore said in an interview Friday. “I believe in stability and our schools need to be places of calm.”
While there is plenty happening – both locally and worldwide – that could have both students and teachers concerned, Moore said he’s planning his message to teachers for Monday morning’s convocation ceremony to be a positive one.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s latest executive order, which will take effect Oct. 1 if a budget hasn’t been passed, will cut nearly $21 million in Educational Cost Sharing funds to West Hartford. Moore said he has been asked by many people how many teachers he plans to lay off.
“I’m not,” he said. There are no plans for layoffs, even if the worst happens.
“We make a commitment to families, to the 9,500-9,600 kids who are walking through the doors. Those kids need stability, they need a welcoming environment. We’re going to open, we’ve sent out our class schedules,” Moore said.
Class schedules and assignments were sent out slightly later than usual (Aug. 10 rather than Aug. 1) so that the number of sections needed could be more precisely determined after late registrations, but Moore said that plan had already been announced to families in May and wasn’t a reaction to the latest state budget impasse.
There have continued to be late registrations – including 32 one day last week – which Moore said were luckily fairly well balanced between schools. The biggest surprise is that Hall High School’s freshman class appears to be much larger than expected, as is Sedgwick’s eighth grade.
“We are still below our class size guidelines in every elementary school in the district,” Moore said.
Moore said that the budget approved by the Board of Education and Town Council last spring cut 17.5 positions and about $2.7 million from what would have been the roll-forward education budget. Each million dollars in cuts, if accomplished through staff layoffs, would require the elimination of 16 teachers, Moore said, and that would just not be possible.
“We can’t mess with children’s lives in education,” Moore said. “This year I want to be talking about kid problems, not adult problems because they’re depending on us,” he said.
“It’s an exciting time, and that’s what I don’t want to lose because of the budget,” Moore said. The start of a new school year is an opportunity to start fresh, to prove oneself and improve oneself.
“It should be about the possibilities – the good ones,” Moore said.
He said he can’t stop thinking about the school year under the backdrop of the recent events in Charlottesville.
“I want to be sure we are educating kids in a way so they can use reason to understand the folly of hate. We can’t afford, at this moment in history, to have a second-rate education,” said Moore.
Administratively, there have been many fewer changes this year than in the past several years, and only one school has a new principal.
Scott Dunn, who was the resounding choice of the entire committee, was named principal of Wolcott Elementary School in June, and he has spent all summer meeting with families and other stakeholders, Moore said. “He is one energetic person,” Moore said.
The only other administrative change is the hiring of Melissa Caballero as special education supervisor, replacing Mary-Anne Sullivan who retired.
Aiken Principal Shannon Mlodzinski is out on maternity leave for the first part of the year, but Moore is confident that Curriculum Specialist Amy Schmelder, serving as interim principal, will ensure a smooth start to the year.
About 40 new staff members have been hired for the year, replacing those who have retired or moved.
There have been some changes to the physical plant, most notably the relocation of Sedgwick’s main office which is still in progress and should be completed in October. Moore said that when the school was last renovated, the intent was for the area on the west side of the building, where the “S” is located, to be the main entrance, and the office will be moving to that area, in space that was formerly the multi-purpose room. Because that space is being lost to the office, Sedgwick’s cafeteria, which will now be used for additional activities, is getting some modifications to the acoustics.
Another major change will take place this fall, when the STRIVE/Steps and post-secondary programs, which serve a total of about 100 students, relocate from 11 Wampanoag Dr. to the Cogswell Building on the campus of the American School for the Deaf on North Main Street.
Assistant Superintendent for Administration Andy Morrow said that the renovation to the Cogswell Building should be complete by mid to late September. “We will probably transition over Columbus Day weekend,” Morrow said.
The Wampanoag Drive building has been leased from Northwest Catholic High School, and that lease is expiring, Moore said. The new space also has a commercial kitchen, which will be an asset to occupational education programs.
Flooring updates and painting, as well as the first phase of renovating Norfeldt’s auditorium, are some of the other projects that took place over the summer, Morrow said. Morley’s roof has been redone, the Duffy parking lot has been paved, Bugbee’s steps have been redone, Webster Hill had some doors replaced.
The road in front of King Philip has been repaved. Morrow said that to further enhance safety a drop-off/pick-up circle may be added, but not until at least next summer.
At the high schools, Hall’s track was replaced this summer and the school’s logo was added to the gym floor.
Conard’s track was replaced last summer, and this summer the stadium turf was replaced, prompting questions about equity from the Hall community about their field.
“It was in way worse shape,” Moore said of Conard’s turf. The Conard stadium gets heavier use, with a chief factor being that it’s the home of the town’s boys lacrosse league while the girls use Hall, Moore said, and the nature of the boy’s game is harder on the surface.
“We try to stagger it, and Hall’s will be replaced when it’s needed,” Moore said. “We can’t have both schools shut down at once either.”
Morrow said that Hall’s building will be completely shut down next summer because of work on the new science labs.
There haven’t been any changes to transportation and about 4,900 students, roughly half of the population, are transported by bus, Morrow said.
Teachers begin the academic year with Monday morning’s convocation, and students begin class on Wednesday.
“We’re going forward, full steam ahead,” Moore said. “It’s going to be great.”
Other important information
Click on the terms below to access:
2017-2018 Elementary Testing Calendar and Secondary Testing Calendar
Elementary School August/September Lunch Menu
Middle School August/September Lunch Menu
Conard High School August/September Lunch Menu
Hall High School August/Septmber Lunch Menu
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[…] final words of the day were from Moore, who said he honestly struggled this year as he considered his message to the teachers in the shadow of budget crises and events like […]
[…] Morrow provided an update on plant and facilities, information technology, and transportation. As he and Moore had noted in an interview with We-Ha.com prior to the start of school, Morrow said in his report that many small and several large capital improvement projects, as well […]