BOARD OF EDUCATION

MIDDLETOWN, NEW YORK

AUGUST 13, 2003

 

A regular meeting of the Board of Education of the Enlarged City School District of Middletown, New York was held Wednesday, August 13, 2003, at the Board of Education Office, 223 Wisner Avenue, Board President Robin Markovits, presiding.  

Present: Mr. Crescenzo, Mr. Estrada, Mr. McCormack, Mr. Perrino, Mrs. Botti, Mrs. Markovits  – 6.

Absent: Rev. Best, Mrs. Elliott, Mrs. Knapp – 3.

Others  Present: Patricia McLeod, Acting Superintendent

                               Timothy Conway, Deputy Superintendent

                               Patricia Reilly, Acting Asst. Supt. for Curriculum & Instruction

                               Selena Fischer, Director for Pupil Personnel & Special Services

                               Ellen Kaplan, Director for Personnel Services

Mrs. Markovits called the meeting to order at 7:35 p.m. and led the pledge to the flag.

Mrs. McLeod congratulated the 37 Middletown High School summer graduates.  She said that a ceremony was held this evening recognizing their achievement.

Mr. McCormack made a motion, seconded by Mrs. Botti, to approve the minutes of June 12, 26, and July 9, 17, 24, 2003.

Ayes:  Crescenzo, Estrada, McCormack, Perrino, Botti, Markovits – 6.  Noes:  None.  Motion was unanimously approved.

No written communications were read.

Responses to previous questions:

Mrs. McLeod said that each of our schools reports and shares Terra Nova scores with parents.  She noted that the school district receives the results from CTB McGraw Hill and has no control over when the results are sent to the district.

Visitors:

Horace Belton addressed the Staff/Student Relations policy to be considered for adoption by the Board of Education.  He suggested that the policy include definitive items so that incidents will not happen again, and that the policy should be distributed to parents and students to let them know how they are protected.  Mrs. Markovits said that regulations will be developed regarding the reporting process.

Board Member Reports:

Mr. McCormack said that as the Board’s NYSSBA voting delegate, he will be voting on the proposed 2003 NYSSBA by-law changes.  Discussion of these proposals will be held at the Board’s September meeting.

Mr. Perrino said that the summer school program has been very productive for our students.  He complimented the support staff for their contributions in helping make this program successful.  Mr. Perrino also acknowledged the good work done at the Summer Tutorial Program under the direction of Sue Johnson and Stacey Finkelstein.  He concluded by saying that our school buildings are in good shape for school opening.

Mrs. Botti said that the Board norms have been updated and will be provided to Board members.

District Updates:

Mr. Conway reported that the cost for the summer school program is $700,000, plus this year the District received a two-year grant in the amount of $350,000 for the summer tutorial program.  He said that the District is looking at our instructional programs to make sure that the programs are effective and that funding for the programs is being spent wisely.  This summer an effort was initiated to gather data to assess changes in student outcomes.  Mr. Conway said that the curriculum area is being focused on data-driven information.  He said that the District is implementing a data warehouse, a student profile program which will include information about each student’s test scores, strengths and weaknesses, and areas needing improvement.  Mrs. McLeod added that this is the beginning of the analysis of all district programs.  She said that the district will not accept that a program is good until the data indicates that it is a good program.  She said that all of the district’s academic components are geared toward the New York State Assessment program since this is the benchmark by which our students will be judged.

Mr. Conway said that the Regents have put out different strategies that they are promoting that districts use to increase student outcomes.  One of these is to improve classroom instruction through technology.  The Regents have encouraged BOCES to take the lead to ensure that all teachers have access to technology and to participate in training opportunities.  Mr. Conway said that he and Mr. Ancona attended a workshop at BOCES where it was learned that BOCES will be changing its Distance Learning model.  BOCES will now go to a model called distributed education, which will provide more technology access to the district.  The new model will provide access to instructional programs from various school districts around the world, video conferencing, home school instruction, on-line classes, etc.  Mr. Conway said that the district has been assured that BOCES will provide professional development for our staff to integrate this new service into our curriculum.  The district will also need to look at its technology staffing.

Mrs. McLeod reported that one of this year’s summer projects has been an English Language Arts Study Skills update from our middle school teachers.  The name of the course has been changed to ELA Skills and Practice to emphasize the additional focus and practice in reading comprehension and writing skills particular to other content areas.

Mrs. McLeod said that the administrators’ retreat will be held on August 20 and 21.  The focus will be on quality leadership and teamwork.

Mr. Perrino made a motion, seconded by Mr. Estrada, to adopt the attached policy on Executive Misconduct      .

Ayes:  Crescenzo, Estrada, McCormack, Perrino, Botti, Markovits – 6.  Noes:  None.  Motion was unanimously approved.

Mrs. Markovits presented the policy on Staff-Student Relations for adoption by the Board.  She thanked the ad hoc committee and the Board for their work on framing this policy.  Mr. Crescenzo noted that the policy should read that the Superintendent of Schools will be notified if the Principal and/or Personnel Director are the subject of the investigation.

With this change duly noted, Mr. McCormack made a motion, seconded by Mrs. Botti, to adopt the attached policy on Staff/Student Relations.

Ayes:  Crescenzo, Estrada, McCormack, Perrino, Botti, Markovits – 6.  Noes:  None.  Motion was unanimously approved.

Mrs. Markovits said that the Board will be receiving a suggested policy entitled Reporting Child Abuse in an Educational Setting for a first reading at the September meeting.

Mr. McCormack made a motion, seconded by Mrs. Botti, to amend the agenda to consider an additional resolution.

Ayes:  Crescenzo, Estrada, McCormack, Perrino, Botti, Markovits – 6.  Noes:  None.  Motion was unanimously approved.

Mrs. Botti made a motion, seconded by Mr. McCormack, to approve the following resolution:

Resolved, that the contract with Dr. Vincent Coppola be approved subject to the following modifications:

1)      1)      that the contract be re-drafted to include appropriate due diligence requirements for background checks on any candidates brought to the Board of Education, and

 2)      2)      that the contract be amended to include appropriate timelines for the various stages of the process

Ayes:  Crescenzo, Estrada, McCormack, Perrino, Botti, Markovits – 6.  Noes:  None.  Motion was unanimously approved.

Mr. McCormack made a motion, seconded by Mrs. Botti, to approve Financial Memorandum #3, copy attached.

Ayes:  Crescenzo, Estrada, McCormack, Perrino, Botti, Markovits – 6.  Noes:  None.  Motion was unanimously approved.

Mr. McCormack made a motion, seconded by Mr. Estrada, to approve Personnel Memorandum #2, copy attached.

Ayes:  Crescenzo, Estrada, McCormack, Perrino, Botti, Markovits – 6.  Noes:  None.  Motion was unanimously approved.

Mr. Perrino noted the employees who will be leaving the District and wished them well in their new endeavors.

Mrs. McLeod congratulated Selena Fischer on her tenure appointment as Director for Pupil Personnel & Special Services.  She said that Mrs. Fischer has been with the District more than twenty-two years in a variety of roles and capacities.  Mrs. Fischer reviewed her history with the district, saying that she has received tenure in three different areas.  She thanked the staff she works with for their support and encouragement.

Mr. McMormack made a motion, seconded by Mrs. Botti, to table the request for personnel folders for the purpose of conducting personnel business in executive session.

Ayes:  Crescenzo, Estrada, McCormack, Perrino, Botti, Markovits – 6.  Noes:  None.  Motion was unanimously approved.

Mr. McCormack made a motion, seconded by Mr. Estrada to approve the 3rd Grade Social Studies Curriculum, as presented at a prior meeting of the Board.

Ayes:  Crescenzo, Estrada, McCormack, Perrino, Botti, Markovits – 6.  Noes:  None.  Motion was unanimously approved.

Mr. McCormack made a motion, seconded by Mrs. Botti, to approve the Annual Professional Performance Review (APPR), as presented at the July 9, 2003, meeting of the Board.

Ayes:  Crescenzo, Estrada, McCormack, Perrino, Botti, Markovits – 6.  Noes:  None.  Motion was unanimously approved.                  

 

Respectfully submitted,

Alicia E. Olsen          

School District Clerk