Graduation Date Change, Bullying Up For Discussion At Board Of Ed Meeting

Montville Seniors will walk in cap and gown on Friday, June 17, four days earlier than planned. 

The Montville Board of Education voted on Tuesday to move graduation date from June 21 , in order to accommodate celebration plans and visiting family members.

A parent of a current senior, Mary Chapman came to the meeting with a handful of other parents. According to Chapman, about $15,000 worth of entertainment was already in place for a graduation party.

With three children already through the Montville school system, this would be the fourth graduation party she had helped host. Though there was some concern about holding the graduation party of a Friday night, Chapman told the board that the event would be “a completely safe party.”

Safety measures would include supervisors keeping students at the event for the designated time, as well as the presence of state police and two registered nurses. The final location would be kept secret so as to discourage outsiders from attending—students would arrive and leave by bus.

Other notable events included Montville’s robotics team winning first in the state ()  and leaving for the world championship at Disney world during the next couple of days.

At Tyl Middle School, parents will be able to access their children’s grades, homework assignments and other records through the new web portal between the schools and homes. Montville High School parents will get the expanded access in the fall.

Meanwhile, the Board of Education was awaiting final word on what the budget for the next school year would look like. Aubin said that the mayor had recommended a zero percent increase in the budget, but Kathy Lamoreaux who had delivered the budget projection, interrupted. “I think he’s still working on it,” she told Aubin.

The mayor presents his budget and capital plan to the Town Council tonight at 6 p.m. in the town council chamber.

Currently, the Board has not renewed the contracts of several teachers based upon the expectation that the town would not pass the full budget.

March 30 was Anti-Bullying day, an event partly sponsored by Montville High School’s Gay-Straight Alliance, which will be participating in the day of silence on Friday.

One parent and two students stepped up to express frustration with the state of bullying in the Montville School System.

The student said he had been relentlessly bullied by a student who had threatened to stab him more than once. The offender had faced a five-day suspension, and according to the parent and came back to school before the sentence was up. The parent was frustrated he had not been arrested for his actions and that complaints to the assistant principal had not reached the principal’s attention.

“I don’t understand why it takes so long for the board to do anything,” the parent said.

The student also said that administrators haven’t done enough to stop fights when given warning by students. “All those fights could’ve been prevented,” the student said, referring to past incidents.

“I have a lot of friends who do get bullied,” said another student who also claimed that “nothing was done at all,” about an incident allegedly involving sexual harassment.

Because of the privacy issues, board members were unable to offer specific comments on what steps they have been taking.

Editor's note: The first Moms Talk Q&A was on bullying. To read that story, and add you comments, please click .