ELMIRA CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT

ELMIRA, NEW YORK

EFA Community Room February 15, 2006

933 Hoffman Street 5:30 pm Executive Session

Elmira, New York 14905 6:15 pm Regular Meeting

REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION

MEETING CALLED TO ORDER / Board President Michael Crimmins called the Regular Meeting of the Board of Education to order at 5:33 p.m. and opened with the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.
ATTENDANCE / Present: David Clovsky (arr. 5:37), Michael Crimmins, Daniel Hurley, Barton Graham, Robin Long, Betsy Mattoon (arr. 5:40), Ethel Stroman, Mary Beth Turner, Robert Woods
Absent: Aaron Bacome, Alternative High School Representative, Robert Gosden, Elizabeth Spiro
Others: Dr. Raymond Bryant, Christine Mecke, John Ryan (left 6:55), Robert Van Keuren
EXECUTIVE SESSION / Ms. Stroman moved, seconded by Mrs. Long, that the Board of Education move into Executive Session for the purpose of discussions about proposed, pending or current litigation. Also included for motion for executive session Ms. Stroman moved, seconded by Mrs. Long that the Board appoint Mrs. Long as Clerk Prom Tem in the absence of the Clerk.
Also invited to attend were Attorney Donald Thompson, Attorney John Ryan. (5:35 p.m.)
Motion Carried
Yes: Crimmins, Graham, Hurley, Long, Stroman, Turner,
Woods
No: None
Not Present at time of vote: Clovsky, Mattoon
Janet M. Watson
Board Clerk
RETURN TO OPEN SESSION / Mr. Woods moved, seconded by Ms. Stroman, that the Board return to open session. (6:30 p.m.)
Motion Carried
Yes: Clovsky, Crimmins, Graham, Hurley, Long, Mattoon,
Stroman, Turner, Woods
No: None
Robin Long
Clerk Pro Tem
BOARD CLERK / Board Clerk Janet Watson resumed her duties. (6:33 p.m.)
APPROVAL OF AGENDA / Ms. Stroman moved, seconded by Mr. Woods to approve the agenda as is with the addition of a Personnel Addendum.
Motion Carried
Yes: Clovsky, Crimmins, Graham, Hurley, Long, Mattoon,
Stroman, Turner, Woods
No: None
RECOGNITIONS
Beecher Elementary Student / Michael Lanning, Principal of Beecher Elementary School and Mr. Crimmins presented a Board certificate to Jacob Ferriter for contributing his allowance to the Peterson family of Horseheads who recently lost their home in an explosion. Mr. Lanning explained that Beecher School always lives by the “Golden Rule” and Jacob was a perfect example of that rule.
EFA Student / Mrs. Nancy Beebe, math teacher at Elmira Free Academy presented a Board certificate to student Nathan Jacobson for scoring a perfect 100% on the Math B Regents exam. This is the first time in the history of EFA that a student has achieved this accomplishment.
Scholastic Art Awards
Southside High School
Broadway Middle School
Elmira Free Academy / Deb VanDelinder presented the following students from Southside High School the 2006 Scholastic Art Awards:
Joshua Berman received the American Vision award, Jordan Coons received the Gold Key award, Colin Crowley received an honorable mention, Ashley Dickinson received the Gold Key and an American Vision award, Kelly Eagen received the Gold Key award, Jeffrey Gibson received an honorable mention, Alyssa Grover received a Gold Key and Silver Key awards, Emily Jamison received the Portfolio and Silver Key awards, Rob Moss received an honorable mention, Joe Terry received an honorable mention, Alyssa Vary received an honorable mention.
Hayley Merritt from Broadway Middle School received the Silver Key award.
Caitlin Turner from Elmira Free Academy received an honorable mention.
Board Members / Mr. Clovsky attended basketball games and Mrs. Winner’s class at Washington Elementary School and described how excited the students were to donate money to the new carousel at Eldridge Park.
Ms. Stroman participated in a budget workshop and attended the girl’s basketball game. She will be the Board representative for the committee to write the District’s Wellness Policy. She reported that the Eastside parent group is continuing to meet and work towards finding resolutions to various issues. She stated that there were a lot of funds coming back into this community from tax refunds. She also invited anyone that was interested to have their taxes done for free at the Cornell Cooperative Extension.
Mrs. Turner attended Ernie Davis “Creates A Lot” function where a lot of students and parents brought their art work, quilts, etc. and it was followed by a Pops Concert. She stated that every performance was wonderful and they had a nice evening.
Mrs. Long visited Beecher and Diven Elementary Schools. She welcomed Michael Lanning back from his leave of absence. She attended a Reading First Grants meeting, the purpose of this meeting is to try to receive grant money to help young students become more literate. She also attended Dixie Lanes bowling party for the PAL program. Students were able to bowl for two hours and also have pizza. It was a nice afternoon and she enjoyed teaching the kids.
Mr. Woods visited Parley Coburn “Water Works Night.” He commented on how interesting it was to see all the activities that could be done with water. They had a good turn out. He thanked the staff for advertising the Wizard’s basketball game for Southside High School project graduation.
Mrs. Mattoon stated she was happy to be back and had no report.
Mr. Hurley attended the Beecher PFO meeting. He stated that there were more teachers there than parents. He reported that the frozen food sale that was held at Beecher raised $10,000. He attended the Harlem Wizard’s basketball game at Southside High School. He also attended the fundraiser hockey game held at the First Arena to benefit the Peterson family that Dr. Bryant participated in, they raised $6,500 dollars. He also reported that the health care bid proposals have been received and are being reviewed.
Mr. Crimmins also attended the hockey game. He also visited Beecher and Diven Elementary Schools.
Associations Representatives / ETA President, Douglas Martin passed out a newsletter to the Board. He also attended the fundraiser hockey game and was the score board keeper. He hopes that this event will continue annually. He said that the 2006-07 District calendar was aligned with Corning and other BOCES districts and ETA is in support of this calendar.
Michael Thomas, CMCW President had a question on the Personnel packet regarding Peter Lotocky being a temporary replacement for Scott Kay. Robert Van Keuren will get back to him on this matter. He also questioned the AV tech stipends as to different monetary amounts for different years of service. He asked Mr. Van Keuren if the numbers were incorrect. He also questioned why the letter in regards to health care for retirees hasn’t gone out yet. CMCW contract negotiations begin on Feb. 27th.
ISEA-no representative present
ESSAC member Lisa Kelly commented on how fast the school year was moving along. ESSAC members are planning six months ahead, working on student progress, personal plans for success, and summer school to name a few. She commented on the District calendar and her opinion was that having a week off in February would not be good for the students.
CWA-no representative present
Student Representatives / EFA Student Representative, Alexis Lian explained the Youth Summit, she went on to say that EFA, Edison, Horseheads and Southside High School had a survey of 20 questions relating to major issues such as drugs, alcohol, where their schools were headed, and issues happening at their schools. After the survey is completed students will get together to form focus groups. Alise Farr’s survey will be given out by March 1st and data by April 1st. The Youth Summit will be in May and anyone that would like to attend is welcome. Alexis passed out a copy of the survey of the questions that will be used at the Summit. She stated that each school has a different survey. The students will get together and compile all their questions and determine what issues will be discussed. Mr. Graham questioned if there will be a cost to the Board after the decisions are made at the Summit. Mary Jane Belinky spoke on behalf of the students and said they didn’t know what the outcome would be. Dr. Bryant discussed the opportunity for students to come to speak at the Board meetings. Alexis had a concern in regards to I pods and MP3 players and what the district policy is concerning the use of them. Some teachers don’t mind and other teachers do. She also asked about students tutoring students for a small fee. She was also concerned about weighted grades. Her opinion was that it isn’t fair to have an AP honors class weighted the same as a no honors class. She stated that it was unfair to be working twice as hard and getting the same weight.
Southside High School Representative, Alise Farr reported on the problem with the guidance departments. Her opinion is that they don’t do much guiding. She stated that students need to be motivated, driven and guided. She read a report on the importance of the guidance department in schools. Mr. Graham recommended that she put something in writing to the policy committee and Dr. Bryant invited students to the policy committee meetings.
VISITORS WISHING TO ADDRESS THE BOARD / There were no visitors wishing to address the Board.
BOARD COMMITTEE REPORTS
Advocacy/Community Relations / Board Vice-President and Chairperson, Robin Long, reported that she attended a STEG breakfast with Dr. Bryant and members of our community. She also attended a Chamber of Commerce dinner, a breakfast at Riverside Elementary School where they recognized students for being good community members and was also invited to Hendy Avenue’s “Conflict Managers Buddies” event.
Audit Committee / Chairperson, Barton Graham reported that the committee was working on the Comptroller’s Five Point Plan. They had to hire an internal auditor and an internal claims auditor and that the next audit committee meeting was opened to the community. He explained that we are on the list to be examined by the State.
Policy Committee / Chairperson, David Clovsky reported that the next meeting will be March 17, 2006 from 11:30-1:00 in the board room. He stated that the New York State School Board attaches the administrative regulation to the board policy. They will be discussing our role as a committee, policy #8291 animals in school; should they be kept in school or not, also policy #5720 bus policy. Another issue is school uniforms and should we look at this on a trial basis. The more feedback he gets the easier it is to discuss such items. He stressed the importance of being proactive by giving information to Dr. Bryant and in turn Dr. Bryant will give it to the Policy Committee. Mr. Crimmins suggested to Dr. Bryant that the policy committee meetings be put on the District calendar.
SUPERINTENDENT’S
REPORT
Vision 2014 Update / Retired Associate Superintendent for Instruction, Donald Keddell started his Vision 2014 report by stating that the time-line should be extended for the final report by a year and a half. He went on to say that Phase II of 2009 initial work should be done now and then the next step of the 5 year plan is to spend quality time gathering community input on high school renovations. He also stated that the group needs to get focused on people who can make a level of commitment. They are looking at schools being opened for 12 months a year and if this is the case air conditioning may be needed, long range plans regarding technology have to be looked at, sound field enhancement for classrooms will be needed and also how classrooms will be set up. Dr. Bryant met with two consultants along with ETA and ESSAC to come in and look at the curriculum, technology and instruction. Student representatives asked questions in regards of the 9th grade academy. Mr. Crimmins went to a symposium in regards to this topic. This academy would be unique to just 9th grade students to be used as a stepping stone before entering high school. Mr. Keddell stated that the Board should look at health and safety issues at each building.
Status of Current Projects / Dr. Bryant started his report by stating that the school readiness grant is written and has been received and will be funded in March. The Reading First Grant is all ready to go. There are some grants still pending and he feels that a lot has been accomplished. Dr. Bryant spoke to Harriet Sweet in regards to elementary summer school and what grades will be offered. Tom O’Hara is revising the technology plan. Elizabeth Spiro is working on staff development and professional development. He stated that he is working on an honors committee, transition committee and mentoring committee. He has also started to work on the budget meetings that will begin in March.
District Uniform Set of Core Principles / Dr. Bryant started his discussion in regards to I pods, MP3 players, closed campuses/getting lunch off campus and stated that guidelines need to be in place for every school; elementary and middle school alike. When the policies were written I pods and MP3 players were not invented. He also stated that we need to be consistent and support our principals. We need to look at what needs to be changed and what we need to embrace. He went on to say that it is also very important to have respect for students as we would want them to have respect for us. We need a core set of beliefs that everyone understands. He suggested that five or six core principles are needed to make a viable building and that we should start with the Student Council. Mr. Crimmins asked each Board Member and they all agreed with Dr. Bryant that this should be done.
CONSENT ITEMS / Mrs. Long moved, seconded by Mr. Woods that the Board approve the following consent items. Mr. Clovsky noted that on page 183 of the December 21, 2005 meeting minutes should reflect the STAR program instead of the Alternative High School. Board Clerk, Janet Watson will make the change to the December 21, 2005 Board Minutes.