Education

Board of Ed Chairman: Spending Increase Due to Personnel, Training, Tech

Some of What the Draft Town Plan Recommends for Darien in the Next 10 Years

Schools Dismissed Early, Events Cancelled Due to Expected Snow [Continual Updates]

Five from Darien High School Nominated for Presidential Scholars Program

Darien’s National Merit Scholarship Finalists Named

Darien High School Students Work with Chinese Students at Model UN

School Budget Change: It Looks Like Freshmen Will Get New Team Uniforms

Education Budget Increase of 3.44% Approved by Board of Ed

Middlesex Has a New Mascot: Blue, a Dragon

On School Spending, PART 5: Statements on the Early Learning Program from Budget Hearing

On School Spending, PART 4: Statements from Budget Hearing

On School Spending, PART 3: Statements from Budget Hearing

On School Spending, PART 2: What Parent Groups Said About Special Ed at Feb 2 Hearing

On School Spending, PART 1: Statements at Feb 2 Budget Hearing

Mother of Autistic Child Explains How Early Learning Program Changed His Life [VIDEO]

Education

By David Gurliacci | March 6, 2016

Around Town

By David Gurliacci | February 29, 2016

Darien YMCA

By David Gurliacci | February 23, 2016

Education

By David Gurliacci | February 21, 2016

Education

By David Gurliacci | February 21, 2016

Education

By David Gurliacci | February 15, 2016

Education

By David Gurliacci | February 10, 2016

Education

By David Gurliacci | February 10, 2016

Education

By David Gurliacci | February 6, 2016

Education

By David Gurliacci | February 4, 2016

Education

By David Gurliacci | February 3, 2016

Education

By David Gurliacci | February 3, 2016

Education

By David Gurliacci | February 3, 2016

Education

By David Gurliacci | February 3, 2016

Education

By David Gurliacci | February 3, 2016

Schools and educational activities

Higher personnel costs, together with more teacher training and the introduction of more technology into classrooms accounts for three quarters of the 3.44 percent increase in proposed school spending, according to the chairman of the Board of Education. Michael Harman, chairperson of the Board of Education, spoke early last week to the Board of Finance, as did First Selectman Jayme Stevenson at the official hand-off of their budget proposals for the 2016-2017 fiscal year. The Board of Finance will gather more information this month and later decide whether to cut or increase the budgets before sending them both to the Representative Town Meeting for final approval. The next 12-month fiscal year starts July 1. __________

See also:

2016-17 Budget Proposals Presented to Darien Board of Finance
Stevenson Presents Selectmen’s Budget with New Proposals, New Cost Savings

Budget document: Board of Selectmen’s proposed 2016-2017 budget
Budget document: Board of Education’s proposed 2016-2017 budgetRevised school district Capital Projects Plan description

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The Board of Education’s budget request of $93,847,816 is an increase of 3.44 percent over the 2015-2016 budget approved last year by the Representative Town Meeting.

Buy land as it becomes available near public schools; consider building a public indoor swimming pool; consider digging a tunnel under the railroad tracks to connect Old Kings Highway South with Old Kings Highway North; “investigate parking options for the library.” These are some of the ideas for what the town government could do in the next 10 years in the draft of a plan to guide local decision-makers for the next decade. The document, called the Town Plan of Conservation and Development, is mandated by state government. The plan doesn’t mandate what the town necessarily will do over the next 10 years, but it does influence town decision-makers. The town Planning and Zoning Commission wants to know what you think of the draft plan before they adopt it as a guideline. You can email your reactions and ideas to pocd@darienct.gov.

“A plan of conservation and development is an advisory document — it’s not something that dictates what the community has to do,” said Glenn Chalders with Planmetrics, the consulting firm hired by the town to help devise the plan.

Darien Public Schools will close early Tuesday because of expected snow. The Board of Education is also canceling its meeting scheduled for tonight, and some Darien YMCA events are cancelled, others are still scheduled. This article will be updated as more information comes in. Stamford and Norwalk schools are also closing early, according to the WFSB-TV website, which has the most extensive list of weather closings from around the state. Darien Public Schools announcement
Here’s the school district’s announcement:

Due to a recent change in the weather forecast, a decision has been made for an early afternoon dismissal for today, February 23, 2016.

Darien High School Presidential Scholars 2016

Five Darien High School seniors have been selected as candidates for the United States Presidential Scholars Program. The five are, Sarishka Desai, Christopher Drake, James Garijo-Garde, Katie Tsui and Chloe Zhou. These students have been identified based on broad academic achievement and having scored exceptionally well on the SAT or ACT. The United States Presidential Scholars Program was established in 1964, by Executive Order of the President, to recognize and honor some of our Nation’s most distinguished graduating high school seniors. Each year up to 141 students are named as a U.S. Presidential Scholar, one of the Nation’s highest honors for high school students.

National Merit Scholarship finalists 2016

Ellen Dunn, Principal of Darien High School, announced that the following five seniors have been named as Finalists in the 2016 National Merit Scholarship Program:

Sarishka Desai, Kristen Moran, Claire O’Leary, Katie Tsui, and Chloe Zhou. The selection of approximately 8,000 Merit Scholarship winners from the group of more than 15,000 Finalists is now in progress; the scholarship winners will be notified in March. — an announcement from Darien High School

Darien High School students crossed language and culture barriers recently to work on human rights issues at the United Nations headquarters in New York City. The US-Chinese collaboration was part of the Model United Nations program, which is a simulation of the actual United Nations. This year, the theme was around respect, understanding, and cooperation. “This particular conference was special because DHS students worked with Chinese students. While playing the role of delegates, they sat in the same seats that UN delegates sit at to discuss the issues,” said DHS History teacher Dennis Cabrera.

It looks like Robbie Gaaserud, captain of the freshman soccer team at Darien High School, will get the school district to buy new uniforms for the team, along with two other underclassmen sports teams at the school. Although the budget wasn’t changed to reflect it, the school district will spend money in the next fiscal year to provide new uniforms for the boys soccer team, Schools Superintendent Dan Brenner said Tuesday night at Tuesday night’s Board of Education meeting. Two other, unidentified freshmen teams also will get uniforms, he said. A week before, on Tuesday, Feb. 2, the 14-year-old ninth grader was one of the members of the public who spoke to the Board of Education about next year’s schools budget at a public hearing in Town Hall.

The Board of Education on Tuesday passed a $93.8 million schools budget raising spending by 3.44 percent, an increase of $3,125,290.

Before the board voted on any budget adjustments, Superintendent Dan Brenner suggested a collection of various budget cuts and changes that amounted to an overall reduction of $365,527. The board unanimously approved the change (board member Christa McNamara was absent). The largest of Brenner’s cuts came from $237,953 in lower spending on the district retirement fund. The Board of Education’s proposed budget for 2016-2017 is $93,847,816 — at 3.44 percent, a smaller increase over the budget passed a year ago than Brenner’s original proposal for a 3.85 percent increase. Much of the change in spending comes from previously negotiated wage increases as part of union and employment contracts.

Middlesex Middle School (MMS) has a new, true “Blue” champion wandering the halls of the Hollow Tree Ridge Road campus. The school’s mascot — the dragon — has gotten a makeover this school year courtesy of members of the MMS Student Council. Alongside the move from a green dragon to a blue one, the student council sponsored a Mascot Design Contest. Aqua team student Keely O’Shea had the winning design (pictured in Blue’s hands above [editor’s note: The district website, where we found this announcement, cuts the bottom part of the picture off]) which will be used on advertisements and T-shirts. “Middlesex has always had a dragon mascot.

Here are statements advocating support of the Early Learning Program, all from the Board of Education’s Feb. 2 public hearing on the school budget. Darienite.com will publish the full text of every statement from the public hearing that we receive by email If you didn’t give your statement to the CDSP, please email it to us at dave@darienite.com; we encourage readers to send in letters to the editor on this or any other topic by emailing to the same address. _______________

See also:

Superintendent Proposes 3.85% Increase in Darien Education Budget (Jan. 8)
Support for Early Learning Program, Teacher Training at Board of Ed Budget Hearing (main article, Feb.

Here are statements on improving teaching, teaching the gifted and supporting Schools Superintendent Dan Brenner, all from the Board of Education’s Feb. 2 public hearing on the school budget. Darienite.com will publish the full text of every statement from the public hearing that we receive by email If you didn’t give your statement to the CDSP, please email it to us at dave@darienite.com; we encourage readers to send in letters to the editor on this or any other topic by emailing to the same address. _______________

See also:

Superintendent Proposes 3.85% Increase in Darien Education Budget (Jan. 8)
Support for Early Learning Program, Teacher Training at Board of Ed Budget Hearing (main article, Feb.

Here are several more statements from the Board of Education’s Feb. 2 public hearing on the school budget. All three of these statements were made on behalf of the Council of Darien School Parents. They were presented by Wendy Ward (on technology), Tara Ochman (on the capital budget) and Karen Wilber and Beth Lane on the World Language Program. Darienite.com will publish the full text of every statement from the public hearing that we receive by email If you didn’t give your statement to the CDSP, please email it to us at dave@darienite.com; we encourage readers to send in letters to the editor on this or any other topic by emailing to the same address.

Here are more statements from parents and parent-teacher organizations about Darien special education spending, from the Feb. 2 Board of Education public hearing. These statements are from co-chairs of the Darien Special Education Parent Advisory Committee (SEPAC) and from the Council of Darien School Parents special education subcommittee. Darienite.com will publish the full text of every statement from the public hearing that we receive by email If you didn’t give your statement to the CDSP, please email it to us at dave@darienite.com; we encourage readers to send in letters to the editor on this or any other topic by emailing to the same address. _______________

See also:

Superintendent Proposes 3.85% Increase in Darien Education Budget (Jan.

You can get some insight into the priorities and concerns of Darien parents and parent-teacher organizations from these statements made at the Feb. 2 public hearing on the superintendent’s proposed budget. Here are statements from Cathy Butcher, budget chair for the Council of Darien School Parents (CDSP); Jill McCammon and Shelly Skoglund, co-chairs of the CDSP; and Peter Orphanos, speaking for the Darien High School Parents Association. Darienite.com will publish every statement from the public hearing that we receive by email (if you didn’t give your statement to the CDSP, please email it to us at dave@darienite.com; we encourage readers to send in letters to the editor on this or any other topic by emailing to the same address; statements may not necessarily be published on the home page). ____________

See also:

Support for Early Learning Program, Teacher Training at Board of Ed Budget Hearing (main article, Feb.

« September 2022 »

At Tuesday evening’s Board of Education public hearing on the proposed school district budget, Sivan Hong gave a brief, particularly moving account about how important the Early Learning Program was to her autistic child, and she urged the board to keep it well funded. Here’s part of what she said in words, and, on video, nearly her entire statement:

“ELP has played a critical role in shifting the trajectory of my child’s life,” said the woman, whose name Darienite.com could not find out before publishing this article (although we don’t think you need to know her name). “And if my emotional thanks is not enough to convince you to strengthen your support of ELP, then think about this: Without ELP, Benjamin would have likely had to go to a private school for children with autism, costing the district far more over the next 12 years than the two years that he’s had in ELP, and it would have resulted in an even greater expense on society to have to support him long-term. “Early intervention works. […] He will grow up to be a productive member of society, thanks to ELP.