Board of Education

Police Chief: We Will Restart Effort To Allow Drug-Sniffing Dog in New Canaan Schools

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The chief of police said Tuesday that officials plan to re-start their efforts to work with the district on a plan to allow a trained drug-sniffing dog into New Canaan schools as part of a wider effort to prevent use and abuse of narcotics. 

Responding to a question from Selectman Kit Devereaux while presenting the New Canaan Police Department’s proposed budget, Chief Leon Krolikowski said effort had “stalled” though “we are going to try and restart that movement, to try to do something reasonable and balanced.”

“Because I don’t think anyone wants drugs in school and we want to do our best to try to prevent it from happening and use every tool we have to stop that,” Krolikowski said during a regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen, held at Town Hall. “And we are going to do our best to restart that process and get that discussion going again. Certainly the biggest drug of choice in New Canaan is alcohol and close to that is prescription drug use, misuse of it. Xanax, that’s a big drug. That is being used, and that is from a fairly recent investigation and we see that, a substantial use of Xanax, especially younger people using and abusing it along with other drugs and substances.

Board of Education

District To Pursue Refurbishment of NCHS Planetarium

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Though it’s not part of his $4.1 million capital request for next fiscal year, the superintendent of schools said last week that the district is planning in the future to ask for money to refurbish the planetarium at New Canaan High School. The projector at the planetarium is original, and whenever it needs work, the district needs to fly in the repair person to get it done, Dr. Bryan Luizzi told members of the Board of Education at their Jan. 7 meeting. “It is the same person has been working on it for a long time and it’s time for an upgrade,” Luizzi said at the meeting, held in the Wagner Room at NCHS. “The possibilities in that space have really exponentially changed based on changes in technology.

News

‘It Has Started To Fail’: $2.2 Million South School Roof Replacement Drives Board of Ed’s Capital Budget Request 

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The estimated $2.2 million replacement of the roof at South School is driving the superintendent of schools’ overall $4.1 million capital request for next fiscal year. 

The project had been scheduled three years ago, yet the Board of Finance at the time asked whether the district could defer it, “so we did,” according to the Dr. Bryan Luizzi. “We really feel you cannot defer it any more,” he told members of the Board of Education during their regular meeting Monday night, in the Wagner Room at New Canaan High School. “We are spending a lot of time with rain problems after storms and water incursion is an issue. And so we need to keep up with it, or other problems happen and we want to avoid those.”

The comments came as Luizzi proposed an approximately $92 million operating budget for fiscal year 2020, a 2.55 percent increase over current spending. The Board of Ed is to vote on the proposed budgets next week, at which point it goes to municipal bodies for discussion and approval, with a final vote in April. 

The South School roof replacement should be able to get done in a single summer starting when school lets out, Luizzi said.

News

School Start Times: Superintendent Floats Proposal To Start Elementary Schools Earlier, Followed by High School and Saxe

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Local elementary schools could start as early as 7:30 a.m., with New Canaan High School starting later in the morning and all of Saxe Middle School starting last, under a new proposal that Superintendent of Schools Dr. Bryan Luizzi unveiled Monday night. Citing anecdotal evidence that younger children tend to tire in the afternoon, Luizzi said the proposed new system—suggested by New Canaan Public Schools Transportation Coordinator Roy Walder—could largely preserve the current and cost-effective three-tier busing system, though it also comes with tradeoffs. “I’m not going to say this is the scenario I am recommending yet, because there is more work to be done,” Luizzi told members of the Board of Education at their regular meeting, held in the Wagner Room at New Canaan High School and attended by about 25 parents. “But I want to share it with you because work is being done and continues to be done. The magnitude of the change—it moves everybody.

News

Superintendent of Schools Proposes 2.55 Percent Spending Increase

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The superintendent of schools on Monday night proposed a $92 million budget for New Canaan Public Schools next year, a 2.55 percent increase over current spending. Of the approximately $2.3 million projected spending increase over this fiscal year, more than $1.6 million is due to employee salaries, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Bryan Luizzi told members of the Board of Education during their regular meeting. The budget also anticipates spending less money in areas that include contracted services ($94,554), property services ($440,302), supplies ($58,707) and equipment ($56,016), he said. The salary figure of $1.6 million represents an increase of about 2.8 percent over current spending, Luizzi said. The increase is driven mainly by contractual increases with unions representing district employees ($1.4 million), as well as “grid progressions” for teachers advancing on the salary schedule ($189,410), he said.