Elmira City School District s1

ELMIRA CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT

ELMIRA, NEW YORK

REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION

EFA Community Room September 20, 2006

933 Hoffman Street 6:00 pm Executive Session

Elmira, NY 14905 7:00 pm Meeting

MEETING CALLED TO ORDER / Board President Michael Crimmins called the Regular Meeting of the Board of Education to order at 6:05 p.m. and opened with the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.
ATTENDANCE / Present: Dave Clovsky, Michael Crimmins, Anthony Fisher, Jr. (6:05 p.m.), Barton Graham, Daniel Hurley, (left 6:35 p.m.), Robin Long, Ethel Stroman, Mary Beth Turner (arrived 7:25 p.m.), Robert Woods (arrived 6:15 p.m.)
Absent: Elizabeth Spiro, EFA Student Representative Alexis Lian, Southside High School Representative Alise Farr
Others: Dr. Raymond Bryant, David Gleason (arrived 6:43 p.m.), Joseph Hochreiter, Christine Mecke, Attorney John Ryan, Robert VanKeuren
CALL FOR EXECUTIVE SESSION / Mr. Clovsky moved, seconded by Mr. Fisher that the Board moves into Executive Session for the medical, financial, credit or employment history of a particular person or corporation, or matters leading to the appointment, employment, promotion, demotion, discipline, suspension, dismissal or removal of a particular person or corporation and collective negotiations pursuant to Article 14 of the Civil Service Law, also included for motion Mr. Clovsky moved, seconded by Mr. Fisher that the Board appoint Robin Long as Clerk Pro Tem in the absence of the Clerk. Attorney John Ryan, Joseph Hochreiter, Robert VanKeuren and David Gleason were invited into Executive Session.
Motion Carried:
Yes: Clovsky, Crimmins, Fisher, Hurley, Graham, Long,
Stroman,
No: None
Absent: Turner, Woods
Janet M. Watson
Board Clerk
RETURNED TO OPEN
SESSION / Mr. Woods moved, seconded by Ms. Stroman that the Board returns to open session (7:05 p.m.)
Motion Carried:
Yes: Clovsky, Crimmins, Fisher, Graham, Long, Stroman,
Woods
No: None
Absent: Hurley, Turner
RECONVENE / The Board of Education meeting reconvened at 7:08 p.m.
APPROVAL OF
AGENDA / Mr. Woods moved, seconded by Mr. Fisher that the Board approve the agenda with the following changes:
·  Add Manus Management Contract to item New Business K4
·  Add Personnel Addendum to item “L”
Motion Carried:
Yes: Clovsky, Crimmins, Fisher, Graham, Long, Stroman,
Woods
No: None
Absent: Hurley, Turner
BOARD OF EDUCATION REPORT
Board Members
Associations Representatives
Student Representatives / Mr. Fisher had nothing to report.
Mr. Woods visited teachers, students and administrators for the opening of school and reported that seemed pleased. He commented that teachers are wearing jeans and they need to be held accountable to the dress code.
Mr. Graham had nothing to report.
Mr. Clovsky had nothing to report.
Ms. Stroman attended the annual event of the NAACP at the EOP where Mr. Joseph Covington and Mr. Scott Williams were guest speakers. Ms. Stroman stated it was good to see young people interact about our educational system.
Mrs. Long had nothing to report.
Mr. Crimmins attended the East Side Parents Association meeting and toured some of the school in the district. Mr. Crimmins also visited Broadway Middle School to see first hand the concerns that were brought to the Board in regards to the doors being removed from the boys and girls bathrooms. Mr. Crimmins also stated that he received positive feedback in regards to the opening of school.
ETA President Doug Martin thanked the Board for having the LAP Committee make their presentation at the last Board meeting. He reported that it was a smooth start to another school year and felt that students were adhering to Board Policy and stated that he has seen less cell phones.
CMCW Michael Thomas alerted the Board to a concern he has in regards to the lunch workers not having lunch time. He explained that they are short about 14 employees in the lunch room. Mr. Crimmins asked Mr. Thomas to provide information to the Board as to how many employees his association was short from each school.
ISEA had no representation.
CMCA had no representation.
ESSAC President Tom Howe reported that new officers were elected. They are as follows:
·  Vice President-Madge Larrimore
·  Elementary Representative-Pam Davis-Webb
·  Secondary Representative-Maggie Thurber
·  Secretary-Joyce Carr
·  Treasurer-Candice Kellogg
·  Supervisor Representative-Tom O’Hara
Mr. Howe was pleased to announce that EFA was taken off the CINNI list. He has encouraged all principals to come to Board meetings and they are looking at Block Scheduling at EFA. Negotiations will begin for ETA in February.
There were no reports from student representatives.
VISITORS WISHING TO ADDRESS THE BOARD / CMCW President Michael Thomas is concerned about the upcoming Capital Project Proposition vote in October. He is upset in regards to using taxpayer’s money to redo work that has already been completed. He feels we are paying these companies to do work and he wants to know who is being held accountable. Mr. Crimmins asked Mr. Thomas to set up a meeting with Dr. Bryant to voice his concerns. Mr. Graham asked Mr. Thomas to summit to the Board a list of his concerns.
BOARD COMMITTEE
REPORTS
Advocacy/Community Relations
Audit Committee
Internal Audit Update
Policy Committee / Chairperson Robin Long had nothing to report.
Chairperson Barton Graham addressed the Board in regards to high risk areas such as purchasing and contracts and his concerns as to how they have been handled. He has questions and concerns about Water Investigations, Manus Management and the R.O.C.K. Program. He stated that the Board needs to be alert and ask the correct questions and use caution not to show favoritism.
Board Member Mary Beth Turner arrived at 7:25 p.m.
Board Member Daniel Hurley returned to the meeting at
7:30 p.m.
Internal Auditor Jessica Lawrence reported to the Board that the Risk Assessment Business Units has been completed. She presented a chart to the Board showing tentative residual risk ratings. The general presentation to the Audit Committee explaining the Risk Assessment process plans was held on September 13, 2006. Mrs. Lawrence attended an OSC Advanced Local Government Accounting Workshop May 23, 2006. The State Education Department has provided more information in regards to the Five Point Plan. Target dates of completion for risk assessment will be by the end of the year. She will put an audit plan together for 2007. Mrs. Lawrence went on to say that the audits are determined by the amount of risk there is with a particular item. For example low risk areas will be covered one time in five or six years; high risk areas would be audited yearly. October 15th is the date that all the reports have to be submitted to the State and she plans to work with the external auditor. She stated that capital assets and inventory are large items. A question was raised in regards to the PFO and if they were covered by petty cash. Mrs. Turner stated that she didn’t feel that PFO’s should be under the district and that they were a private entity. She went on to say that if there is a problem with the PFO’s than the district should provide what the PFO’s provide for the students.
Chairperson Ethel Stroman spoke about the sexual harassment policy. She also spoke about the first reading regarding the minimum grade of 50 and talked about magazine subscriptions and school publications.
SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT
EFA School Safety/Security Critique
Enrollment Figures / EFA Assistant Principal Tom Howe was asked by Dr. Bryant to sit in for Scott Williams while Mr. Williams attended Open House at EFA. Officer Holmes, SRO Officer at EFA and Kristen Grabowski, a Graduate with a Master’s Degree in Criminology presented a power point presentation to the Board in regards to school safety and security. Two immediate concerns regarding the safety and security of EFA are based on observations made by Officer Holmes. They are as follows:
1.)  Failure to secure the buildings entrances/exits during
school hours-Too many entrances and not enough staff to
cover these entrances.
Recommendations are:
·  Placing of staffed kiosks, or desks, at the main office lobby and the student lobby entranceway.
·  Assignment of college interns at other critical points, i.e. the pool entrance/exit hallway, the south library entranceway. One rover to constantly cover the other entrance/exits, or monitor the security camera system.
·  Staff assigned to cover the Main Office entranceway after normal school hours.
2.)  Student flow throughout the building during school hours.
Recommendations are:
·  Standardized hall/lavatory classroom passes.
·  Standardizing Hall Monitor dress and training.
·  Suggest all Hall Monitors receive Red Cross/CPR certification training.
·  Review the possibility of employing a retired law-Enforcement Officer as an Administrative “Student Safety Officer”.
·  Recommend removing all mirrors from students bathrooms
Officer Holmes also suggests removing the brush and shrub on the other side of the bridge and replacing it with inexpensive wire extensions. This will defer students from going under the bridge. Officer Holmes also suggested that someone be assigned to check on schools during the week-ends. Mr. Crimmins asked Dr. Bryant how he plans to use the information that was proved this evening. Dr. Bryant stated that Mr. Williams and Mr. Gleason will get together and come up with a plan.
Dr. Bryant discussed the safety issue at Southside High School regarding the trains that travel at high speed behind the high school. The issue is that football players are going to practice and are crossing over these railroad tracks. The police department will be issuing tickets to those students who walk on the tracks.
Dr. Bryant passed out the following information to the Board:
·  Opening Attendance Summary
·  ECSD Parent Partners for School Year 2006-2007
·  Parent Guide to understanding the Elementary School Standards-Based Report Card
·  District Dress Code
·  Honoring Promises Brochure-A plan to address facility needs in the District which will be sent home to parents
·  RESULTS NOW book by Mike Schmoker which will be distributed to each assistant principal, principal and instructional support teacher in the district. This book is about how we can achieve unprecedented improvements in teaching and learning.
Dr. Bryant reported that there are 7,320 students enrolled in the Elmira City School District.
CAPITAL PROJECT
PLANNING & UPDATE / Jeff Robbins from Hunt Engineering Associates presented a Schematic Design of Riverside Elementary School. Mr. Robbins explained page by page the renovations to Riverside. The timeline is to get this plan to SED over the winter and then it will have to sit for 100 days. He stated that if the Board approved this tonight he could start the process tomorrow. If the referendum did not pass; money would be used from Capital Funds to cover this project. The total cost for the Riverside project is 13 million going with the revised plan. He also stated that modifications can be made to this plan.
The following is the result of a straw poll in regards to voting for option I for Riverside Elementary School.
Yes: Clovsky, Crimmins, Fisher, Graham, Hurley, Long,
Stroman, Turner, Woods
No: None
Absent: None
Mr. Crimmins polled the Board to proceed with the design for voter approval on October 19, 2006. This means if the voters do not approve the Capital Project referendum the district will have to absorb the cost of the project.
Results were as follows:
Yes: Clovsky, Crimmins, Fisher, Graham, Hurley, Long,
Stroman, Turner, Woods
No: None
Absent: None
OLD BUSINESS
Approval of Bernier & Carr Associate Contract
65/35 Meeting
Update on Social Workers / Ms. Stroman moved, seconded by Mr. Woods to table the approval of Bernier & Carr Associates Contract.
Mr. Graham is concerned that error and omissions were left out of the contract.
Mr. Fischer moved, seconded by Mr. Woods to reaffirm motion to approve the Bernier & Carr Associates Contract.
Mr. Graham asked if references were checked. Mr. Crimmins stated that they were not. Mr. Fisher agreed with Mr. Graham that references for Bernier & Carr Associates be checked before the Board votes on this contract.
Mr. Graham moved, seconded by Mr. Fisher that the Board postpones the Bernier & Carr Contract until references have been checked.
Motion Carried:
Yes: Clovsky, Crimmins, Fisher, Graham, Hurley, Long,
Stroman, Turner, Woods
No: None
Absent: None
Attorney John Ryan along with Dr. Bryant, Mr. Gleason and Chris Mecke attended a meeting in regards to the County Contract Agreement. Attorney Ryan presented an overview of the contract under 65/35. (Copy Available in Clerk’s Supplemental File). He stated that he and Mr. Gleason will work to define this document and that the district is looking at a multi year contract with the County. Mr. Ryan will keep the Board updated relative to these conversations.
Mrs. Mecke stated that services have begun in all the building and the Counselors have been very well received. Principals have accommodated the counselors in the schools and the counselors are in the process of meeting with students and families. They are cross referencing with the counselors from Family Services to see if they have updated information. Counselors will be providing services according to what is on the student’s IEP. Children Integrated Service Counselors have been assigned to each of the buildings.