Special Election to be Held- Executive Union Representative, Ed Lang has announced his intention to resign his position on November 12, 2008. A special election must be held to fill the position for the remainder of the term (until Aug. 24, 2010). SVFT President, Rick Tanasi will discuss the resignation at the Executive Council Meeting on Wednesday, 9/10 and ask for the council's approval to hold the special election within 30 days as outlined in the SVFT Constitution & By-Laws. The nomination period will run from 9/10 10/10. Members interested in running for this position must contact Andrew Taddei at Wilcox Tech by 10/10 at 3:00 p.m.
Wright Tech - Rick and Pat attended the State Board of Education meeting on Wednesday, 9/3 at which the proposal to partner Wright Tech with Norwalk Community College in the formation of an early college was adopted by the board. This school year will be a planning/transition year. The SVFT will be part of an oversight committee as the new model develops. The recruitment efforts will be enhanced and the principal of Bullard-Havens, Joe LaVorgna has been transferred to Wright to lead the transition efforts.
Political Action Committee- met for the first time this year on Wednesday, 9/3 at the SVFT office to review the surveys that were completed and returned by the candidates. Teri Merisotis and Jennifer Berigan from AFT-CT reviewed the recent changes in the campaign contribution laws with the committee. Very few of the 58 surveys that were sent out in early July have been returned. Efforts will be made to contact those legislators and get their responses before endorsements and/or contributions are decided upon and brought to the Executive Council and membership for approval.
Off to a good Start- The 2008-2009 school year appears to be off to a smooth start. In spite of the ongoing construction at many of our schools, we have no incidents reported and no significant disruptions. According to Superintendent Hughes and Assistant Superintendent Bob Lombardi (in an informal meeting with SVFT leadership on 9/4) enrollment is up and an exact count of no-shows will be taken on Monday, 9/8 and schools will be given the "go-ahead" to accept freshmen off the wait list to fill spots of no-shows and keep enrollment figures up. This is great news for us. Hopefully it will mean fewer low enrollment plans at the end of exploratory.