New Elementary Math Program Part of School Budget
WETHERSFIELD - A new math program will roll out over the course of a six-year period, for a $320,000 cost upfront.

       That was preferable to purchasing the program for fewer years at higher costs, Superintendent of Schools Michael Emmett told members of the Town Council at a special budget meeting held several weeks ago.

       The district is saving around $500,000 through its six-year commitment, according to Curriculum Director Sally Dastoli.

       The district has already been piloting the program, entitled â€"Go Math,” within some of its elementary school classrooms. It is a major initiative in this year’s Board of Education budget.

       A committee of more than 20 teachers from grades Kindergarten through six reviewed 10 programs then piloted two simultaneously, Dastoli said. Each teacher tested both programs for a balanced assessment.

       â€"If you teach Program A, you like A, because you know A,” she said.

       â€"It has been successful and continues to have successful implementation because of the hard work of our teachers,” Dastoli said.

       Those who took part in the pilot will be conducting professional development sessions during the summer to show other teachers the ropes, Dastoli said.

       The Committee chose the program due to its technology utilization and emphasis on applying mathematical concepts in real world scenarios, she said.

       â€"It’s not just memorizing, but understanding number sense,” Dastoli said. â€"They can see math in action. It’s not math in isolation.”

       While the emphasis will shift further toward implementing technology, students will start with paper workbooks with online lessons to compliment the material, according to Dastoli. The plan is to make the program completely digital in the future, she said.

       â€"Six, seven years down the road, things are going to look different than they do now,” Dastoli said.

       The Go Math program--a major initiative in the Board of Education’s $56.3 million budget--was made possible by some other reductions made during the weeks prior to the hearing.

       The board is spending less in areas such as furniture replacements and instructional supplies. A lower health insurance increase than what was originally anticipated also helped, Wethersfield Superintendent of Schools Michael Emmett said a few weeks ago. When the budget process began the board expected to pay around $795,000 more in that area, but ended up with $457,000 in costs.

       Other reductions were due to staff retirement-for a loss of four positions-and $2,000 worth of utilities-related savings, according to Emmett.

       During budget hearings, a number of parents spoke out in support of the new program--pointing to students’ experiences with the pilot--while others expressed concerns regarding yearly tax increases.

       Emmett has described the budget as â€"lean,” saying that it â€"moves the school forward, but is also responsible,” with most of the increase coming from contract-mandated salary and benefit bumps.

       Salaries make up more than $35.2 million--1.8 percent more than the last fiscal year--of the proposed 2015-16 budget. The most dramatic jump in this area is custodial overtime. Emmett has a 29.6 percent increase budgeted as of now. This, according to the budget presentation, is being driven up by the ongoing high school renovation-related construction.
MORE WETHERSFIELD NEWS  |  STORY BY MARK DIPAOLA  |  May 20 2015  |  COMMENTS?