Board of Finance - 6/29/2010

The Board of Finance had a special meeting last night. Most of the meeting was taken up with end of year budget transfers. However, the Board did end up approving the borrowing of up to $10M to refinance some debt that is currently outstanding in order to get a lower interest rate.

Student Records

In the middle of June I heard about some egregious mishandling of student medical records in the Central Office. On June 14th I filed this FOI request with Janice Ball, Tony Serio's Executive Secretary:

***
Hi Jan,

Pursuant to the Connecticut Freedom of Information Act, I am requesting copies of all letters, memoranda, emails or documents concerning the handling of:

1. Student records; or
2. Medical records

at the East Haven High School or Joseph Mellilo Middle School within the past year.

Thanks in advance,
Ed Foley
***

Two days later I received an email from Janice asking for more time to complete the document collection "due to end of year commitments." I had no problem with allowing them more time than is required under the Freedom of Information Act (4 business days) since they are busy with the reorganization.

At the time I filed the FOI request I did not know about the problem with the Maisano records. However, any information about this investigation would fall within the bounds of my request.

Then this morning I see this article in the New Haven Register by Mark Zaretsky.

Yesterday I heard about possible police involvement in a student record case. I was told that the police were at the high school doing the investigation around noon. Thinking it might be a good story, and I had the day off, I took my camera and went up there to get some video for the next edition of EH News. By the time I arrived there were no police in sight. I asked Frank Meoli about my FOI request and he said they had spoken to the attorney and were in the process of putting the records together. I'm guessing it is likely they are busy with the reorganization AND are doing a little stonewalling at this point. From what I learned late yesterday and this morning there are some documents that involve the Maisano case are going to show the someone tried to sweep this entire thing under the rug. This could be interesting and I will keep you informed as I learn more.

Town Hall Closed

A transformer in the vicinity of Town Hall blew out around noon today. Power to Town Hall and portions of the center is out. Town Hall has closed for the remainder of the day.

BOE Meeting - 6/22/2010

I am posting the video from last night's meeting as it gets uploaded.

Part 1:


Part 2:


Part 3:


Finance Subcommittee Meeting:

BOE Confrontation

That string of stories making the BOE and the school administration look bad is going to be happening even sooner than I thought. At the Tuesday BOE meeting Superintendent Serio asked to add an item to the agenda and to go into executive session to discuss that item. The item being added was for the extension of a technology consultant's contract. There is a problem with going into executive session to discuss such a contract. The Freedom of Information Act does not allow executive sessions for that reason. Mark Zaretsky from the New Haven Register attempted to point that out to the BOE Chairman. As you can see by the following clip, Nick Palladino did not take that very well.

Shocked!

To paraphrase Captain Renault, "I am shocked, shocked to find that politics is going on in East Haven!"

Kind of like the NH Register in an editorial this morning. One would think that the East Haven Board of Education would want to stop looking like a pack of rapacious carnivores. With any luck that will happen soon. Until that happens look forward to a string of stories making the BOE and the school administration look bad.

EH News - June 17, 2010

**Update***
After speaking to a member of the Police Commission today, it seems my source on the deputy chief got it wrong. The new Deputy Chief was sworn in yesterday.
***End Update***

Marilyn and I went into the studio last night and recorded the latest edition of EH News. The topics covered include the happenings at the last Police Commission and Board of Finance meetings. After the taping we found out that the new Deputy Chief has stepped down since he does not have the required certifications. Which, you would think, the Police Commission should have determined before hiring him. We also discussed the school reorganization and early retirement plans.

Board of Finance - 6/16/2010

We had a semi-successful test of the system for doing live broadcasting we are ready to move onto phase 2. Look another test later this summer with an upgraded system. With any luck we will have live broadcast of some meetings available by early fall.

Now, without further ado, we move on to the Board of Finance meeting itself. The meeting had some of the normal transfer of funds that occurs with more frequency as the end of the year approaches. Jason Lathrop, the BOE Business Manager, was present and gave a rundown on the BOE's financial position for the current fiscal year and the budgeting process for the upcoming year.

Test Live Video

I'm not sure if this is going to work but I will be testing some live video from the Board of Finance meeting this evening starting around 7:30PM

Shoreline Greenway Trail Presentation - June 7, 2010

A presentation of the design for the new Shoreline Greenway Trail was given at Mariner's Point last week. The funding is still up in the air but the preliminary design was reviewed.

Shoreline Greenway Trail Ribbon Cutting

The Shoreline Greenway Trail had their ribbon cutting ceremony today. The chairwoman of the effort, Barbara Brow, thanked the Boys Scouts who helped with the trail cleanup. Also in attendance was the Mayor and Senator Fasano.