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Teacher Speaks OutTestimony Closes; CommunityAwaits BOE DecisionBy Pam JohnsonSound Senior Staff Writer

Embattled Branford teach-er Denise Farina spoke onher own behalf during the

last of a series of public hearingsto determine whether BranfordPublic Schools (BPS) should fireher from a 28-year, tenured posi-tion. On Oct. 28, Farina’s testimo-ny was included as the last pieceof information to help a Board ofEducation (BOE) hearing sub-committee bring its findings tothe BOE for a final teacher termi-nation decision in November.

The final day wrapped weeksof testimony from Branfordschool officials and Farina’s edu-cational peers regarding whatthey discerned as Farina’s failureto improve as a teacher, despitebeing placed in recent years onBPS professional practices plansincluding Teacher Improvement(TIP) and then Intensive TeacherImprovement (ITIP) plans.

Farina elected to take the un-usual measure of requesting apublic hearing for the teacher ter-mination proceedings. Ten publichearings were scheduled betweenAugust and October.

Farina, currently on admin-istrative leave, most recentlytaught second grade at Mary T.Murphy School, after two yearsteaching fourth grade there and acareer spent teaching kindergar-ten prior to that. She was diag-nosed with thyroid cancer in 2005

and also with insomnia/sleepdisorder in 2007.

Farina’s alleged failed teachingpractices became the subject ofBPS attention during her secondyear of teaching fourth grade andcontinued for two years until shewas notified in July 2009 by Su-perintendent of Schools KathleenHalligan, Ph.D., that she wouldbe facing possible termination.The reasons stated were inef-ficiency and incompetence andinability or unwillingness to im-prove professional practices

Farina hired attorney EugeneAxlerod of Woodbridge and seniorparalegal Mica Notz to fight thetermination. Her legal team hasattempted to show Farina as acompetent teacher unfairly tar-geted as a liability since 2007.

BPS administration is repre-sented in the case by attorneyMichael Rose of Hartford. BPStestimony heard in Septemberfrom both Halligan and Farina’sschool principal, Anthony Buono,characterized Farina as disor-ganized and unwilling to learnor change practices and outlinedfailings such uncompleted stu-dent assessments and consistentlateness to school.

During her Oct. 28 testimony,Farina’s legal team attempted toprove that Farina was not giventhe support BPS claimed to pro-vide to help her meet TIP and

See TEACHER page 15

denise Farina (far right) spoke on her own behalf at last week’s final public hear-ing to help determine whether the town should fire her from a 28-year, tenuredposition. here, she answers a question from boe hearing subcommittee membermichael Kraus, left. Photo by Pam Johnson/The Sound

November 12, 2009Branford, North Branford,& NorthfordVol. XIII Iss. 46

Meet Lisa Sterling, second-generationproprietor of North Branford’s flagshipllama farm........................................ 2OUNDSTHE

Committee Calls for Teacher’s TerminationFull Board of Ed Vote Nov. 18By Pam JohnsonSound Senior Staff Writer

Evidence of incompetency and “other dueand sufficient cause,” including failing toimprove teaching as directed, are the rea-

sons a three-person Board of Education (BOE)subcommittee will recommend the BOE vote onWednesday, Nov. 18 to terminate 27-year tenured

teacher Denise Farina. If the BOE agrees, Farinawill become the first tenured teacher to be firedby Branford Public Schools (BPS).

Farina, 49, most recently taught 2nd grade atMary T. Murphy School (2008 to 2009). Farinataught 4th grade for two years prior to that andwas a kindergarten teacher for 25 years. Shewas put on Teacher Improvement Plans (TIP)

during her last years of teaching and was noti-fied in July 2009 by Superintendent of SchoolsKathleen Halligan that she was facing termina-tion due to incompetency and failure to improveteaching professional practices.

Farina, encumbered by medical problemssince being diagnosed with thyroid cancer in

See COMMITTEE CALLS page 13

Good dayfor PlayThe weekend brought perfect fall weatherto those who needed to catch up onchores like raking leaves and hauling theboat or just basking in the crisp air likeJustin Infantino and his daughter Bryce,2 ½, who enjoyed some quality time onthe swings down in Stony Creek.Photo by Adam Coppola/The Sound

This stunning Northford homecomes complete with a hot tub,a pool, and a magnificent, two-sidedfireplace ......................................36

Fantastic FinaleThe Branford girls’ soccer teamcelebrates after closing its seasonwith a 1-0 home victory versusGuilford.......................................24

Braising the BarTry your hand at this week’sÀ la Carte delight—braised beefshort ribs in red wine gravy ........29

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It’s Not OverTeacher to Appeal TerminationBy Pam JohnsonSound Senior Staff Writer

It’s not over. Denise Farina said she and her legal team are preparing to go to court to

appeal the Board of Education’s (BOE) unanimous Nov. 18 vote to fire her from her tenured teach-ing position. It was the BOE’s fi-nal act in a months-long termina-tion hearing and findings process, all done in full view of the public.

Now, said Farina, “We are plan-ning on an appeal. There is so much evidence we couldn’t bring into the hearing.”

She said one example was evidence showing low test score results for all 4th-grade classes, not just hers, at Murphy Elementary School.

“The tests scores were there in black and white, taken right off my database. How much more conclusive could it be?” Farina asked.

Farina spoke to The Sound on Nov. 19, shortly after visiting the BOE office, where she said she’d been called to sign a docu-ment concerning the decision. Farina said she didn’t attend the Nov. 18 meeting on advice of her legal team, attorney Eugene Axel-rod and senior paralegal Mica Notz (also not in attendance). The team will continue to represent Farina in the appeal process.

Farina, now 50, was diagnosed in 2005 with thyroid cancer and later with sleep disorder/insom-nia. That’s the crux of her sepa-rate, pending federal lawsuit charging defendants including Murphy School Principal Antho-ny Buono and former assistant principal Monica Briggs with vio-lating the Federal Age Discrimi-nation in Employment Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act, Connecticut Fair Employ-ment Practices, and state law.

During the termination hear-ing process, attorney for the administration Michael J. Rose pointed out more than once he felt evidence being presented by Farina’s legal team was an attempt to have items entered into the record to help build a case for the federal lawsuit.

The Nov. 18 termination deci-sion was made by the full board just minutes after the hearing’s procedural advisor, attorney William Connon, delivered the two-part recommendation of the BOE sub-committee hearing the

case. The three-person commit-tee included newly reelected BOE Chair Frank Carrano and newly reelected BOE members Michael Krause and David Squires.

The recommendation called for Farina’s termination for “in-efficiency or incompetence based on evaluations of her, using the Branford Public Schools Teacher Evaluation Instrument, known as the Professional Growth and Assessment Process.” It also named “other due and sufficient cause, namely her inability or un-willingness to improve her profes-sional practices, as directed.”

After the recommendation was read, Carrano commented, “Based on all the testimony, the evidence, [and] our own careful deliberation, we have come to the conclusion that this action is necessary.”

The decision marks an unusual chapter in Branford history; be-lieved to be the first termination of a tenured teacher. Farina was 22 when she became a kinder-garten teacher at Murphy, con-tinuing at the post and receiving satisfactory performance evalua-tions until her final three years of teaching, when she taught 4th grade (two years), and 2nd grade.

Farina was put on Teacher Improvement Plans (TIP) and In-tensive TIP during her last three years. In July 2009, notice of in-tent to terminate was delivered to Farina from Superintendent of Schools Kathleen Halligan. At that point, Farina took the un-usual step of requesting a public hearing process.

What followed were a series

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See it’S not over page 14