New London - The State Department of Education is not interested in running the New London school system, but it does want the Board of Education to concentrate on policies and procedures, rather than politics and micromanaging the superintendent.

"Our intent is not to do the business of the local board but to say to the local board, 'Are you sure you're focused on what your role really is?" Lol Fearon, bureau chief of Accountability and Improvement at the state Department of Education, said last week during a telephone interview.

Fearon attended a New London school board meeting in September after a representative of the state department monitoring the school district asked him to talk to the board about its priorities.

"It seemed to me, as an observer, the process that some members were employing was getting in the way of focusing on the real issues,'' he said. "You want boards to be transparent and holding the system accountable … but there's a fine line between asking questions and getting clarification and becoming too involved."

As example, he said, the school board violated its own policy when it overturned a decision made by the superintendent, and it also spent about 30 minutes approving the "consent agenda,'' a parliamentary procedure in which routine business is approved with a single vote. For most boards and committees, the item takes just minutes.

During last Thursday's school board meeting, the board spent about 20 minutes on a job description for a new cafeteria system coordinator for the Child Nutrition Program.

The position would be funded with grants and no educational money would be used.

Much of discussion centered around the cafeteria food, including whether hotdogs were wrapped in rolls or bread and whether or not children were offered seconds.

New London is one of 18 partner districts with the state education department - a designation bestowed on districts for poor student performance in math and reading three years in a row.

A three-year district improvement plan has been in place in New London and is about to be updated and revised. The state has sent specialists and consultants to New London and meets regularly with representatives of the administration, teachers and other personnel to discuss strategies and policies.

Fearon said New London is doing things to improve student achievement and during the last two years has focused on changes in the classroom including instruction and supervision. The board also adopted a literacy standard, which requires students to be proficient in reading and writing before graduating.

"To have literacy standards to graduate, says, "our focus is on improving achievement,'' he said, adding that the board now has work with the administration to make the policy successful.

The school board also, earlier this year, voluntarily agreed to participate in the state-sponsored "Lighthouse Project.'' Board members meet regularly with state representatives and experts for special training.

"But there has been concern during the past six months that the Board of Education was losing its focus,'' Fearon said.

Three school board members who are not running for re-election, president Alvin Kinsall, and members Susan Connolly and Louise Hanrahan, all Democrats, said the board is dysfunctional, and accused other members of being rude and micromanaging the district.

Ronna Stuller, a member of the Green Party who is running for re-election, said it is ironic the board is being accused of being dysfunctional when it has voluntarily participated in the Lighthouse Project.

"It's been told to us that we're a good board to work with,'' Stuller wrote in an email to The Day. "It make me believe that the current actions were initiated by people in New London, whose motives (in my opinion) were every bit as political as we "dissidents' are accused of being. I do wonder who is reporting what to the state."

Bill Morse, a Democrat who is running for re-election, said he is optimistic about the state stepping in to help.

"The state has no interest in taking over. But it is interested in giving us a helping hand,'' he said Thursday, after he was criticized by the teachers' union president for saying he was "optimistic" about state intervention.

"I appreciate the help,'' he said. "There's a long learning curve for what we are doing as volunteers. I appreciate a helping hand from the state Department of Education."

With an election coming up, Fearon said the state will wait until after the vote before moving forward. He said the state would like to see the new board develop an "action plan" that will outline how it will monitor and support the district improvement plan.

Under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, the state can intervene in a failing district but must first get authorization through the state legislature to allow the state to replace a board or take it over.

In Bridgeport, Fearon said, a majority of the school board voted last spring to bring in the state to help. The state's education department replaced the board but there is a lawsuit pending on the Constitutional legality of that action, he said.

New London, one of the smallest cities on the state's failing schools watch list, has the same issues as larger urban areas, such as lack of resources, diverse demographics, a transient population and differing sets of expectations.

Without consistent leadership, he said, there will be no improvement in student achievement. The focus needs to be on raising standards, expectations and changes in instruction.

k.edgecomb@theday.com