MEET THE BAUMANN SCHOOL BUS DRIVERS
SCHOOLS
OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION
WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 13, 1995
ADMINISTRATION BUILDING
Present were: Ms. Deborah Ellis Timberlake, Vice-President; Mr. Robert Frisch; Ms. Betsy Hauck; Mr. James Markowski; Dr. Herbert Nieburg; Mr. Burt Solomon.
Also present were: Dr. Bruce L. Dennis, Superintendent of Schools; Dr. Susanne Abbott, Director of Special Services; Mr. Mark Betz, Assistant Superintendent for Business; Dr. Marjorie Castro, Assistant superintendent for Curriculum & Instruction; Mrs. Verna Carr, Clerk.
The Executive Session was called to order by Mrs. Schecter at 7:02 P.M.. All those noted above were present.
Respectfully subiitted, Verna Carr, Clerk
Mrs. Schecter greeted the audience and welcomed them back. She said that it feels good to be back - at least she thinks that it does. And after a few months away from the Board room, a few months during which she has done a lot of thinking about Bedford and the issues in this district, she had a few thoughts that she would like to share.
Everyone in this room - everyone in this community - has an enormous stake in the continued excellence of Bedford's schools and staff. And the key word in that phrase is CONTINUED - BEDFORD IS an excellent school district, and she believes anyone would be hard put to argue the contrary.
Nevertheless, as with any institution, no matter how excellent one might believe things are, our schools, our administration, our faculty and staff, and the Board of Education, can continue to improve.
These have not been easy times in Bedford. Much criticism has been leveled against us. Some of the criticism is unfounded, but some is legitimate or, at the least, reveals a level of frustration in parents, taxpayers and other members of the community that can only find an outlet in negative criticism. And the dialogue has become so polarized that people no longer discuss issues and find common ground and consensus, but we get pushed into corners from which there can be no comprise. The problem with this result is that children - the very people we are here for - lose out, and very real issues get lost in the personal agenda column.
We need to change the impact and nature of the criticism that has been leveled against us. We need to change the tone in this district. We all need to communicate more positively. Instead of allowing the criticism to bring down our morale and push us in a corner, instead of treating the criticism, as mean spirited as it might sometimes be, as a negative, let us, as professionals and others who care deeply about our children, treat the criticism as a challenge to do that much better for our children. This is, after all, all about children, and it is up to us to ensure that the dialogue remains focused on what is best for children. We need to talk constructively. We need to continue to do well that which we do best, to admit to and improve that which we do not. Most importantly, we must inspire our children always to grasp at a higher rung on the ladder, always to strive to improve and challenge themselves - and we must give them the skills to do so. Moreover, we must set the highest standards for ourselves, so that we can inspire others to do the same.
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As Chairperson of theses meetings, she will try to set a positive , upbeat tone. As welcome partners in the process of educating our children and doing for them what is best, she asked for your help in staying focused on the re 1 issue before us - what is best for children. THANK YOU. (Applauds) Y
BOARD ANNOUNCEMENTS AND COMMENTS:
Mrs. Schecter announced that on Monday, September 18th, at 7:30 P.M., at the Westchester County Courthouse, there will be a program sponsored by the Westchester County's District attorney's Office, in conjunction with the U.S. Holocaust Museum. The program is entitled "What You Need To Know About Hate Crimes". It is directed primarily toward middle and high school students.
Mr. Markowski commented that opening day of school at BYES, went off extremely well. The usually "glitches" did not happen. He mentioned that the picnic, chaired by his wife, Wendy, went off very well also. He thanked his wife and the staff.
He commented that the WPES Book of Rules of Behavior is a fine piece of work and suspects that it will become the standard guide post for all the other schools.
Dr. Nieburg thanked Mrs. Schecter and Dr. Dennis for the opening day assembly on September 5th. He said that they did a top notch job.
Mr. Frisch said that the community is going through a tough time, with all the recent publicity. He made a special plea that the police department could use the community's support. There are some 20+ police officers that do work in the Bedford police department. It is a difficult time for them and they need the community's encouragement.
Ms. Timberlake added that in light of the recent incident, the community should know that the Board continues to have concern for our students in our schools. It is important for the students to know that they are entitled to be safe in school and in the community. We as a Board have the responsibility to ensure their safety.
SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT:
Dr. Dennis said that he is pleased to report that we had a very smooth opening and first week of school, thanks to the preparation and work of our principals, teachers, and support staff. Teachers have been in throughout the summer, on their own time, readying their rooms for the start of school, which looked, after only one week, as if they had been in operation for months. We have been ironing out a few transportation problems, some typical of the start of any new year and others which are a function of using a new vendor, such as some vehicles which do not have two-way radios installed on the first day. We have been speaking with
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parents who have concerns, and Cheryl and her staff have been doing an excellent job addressing any issues that have arisen.
Our enrollments are certainly up from last school year, having grown by 100 pupils at the elementary level alone since the start of school last September. Of our 5 elementary schools, only PRES has not experienced enrollment growth, and is actually down by 17 pupils since last fall (although our kindergarten this year is 49 children, compared to last year's kindergarten of 44. But BHES is up by 37 students, BVES also by 37, WPES by 41, and MKES by 2. FLMS has grown by 24 youngsters, and the high school by 21, for a total district enrollment of 3,266 children, excluding those who are in out-of-district special education placements.
On the topic of enrollment, he has arranged with our demographer to present the completed demographic report to the Board and the community at our next meeting on Wednesday, September 27th. To accommodate what we hope and expect will be a large audience, he has moved the meeting to the larger and more central location of the FLHS cafeteria, rather than the PRES, the site at which it was originally scheduled. To accommodate this switch and a scheduling conflict at MKES, he announced 3 other site changes for upcoming Board meetings: October 25th meeting will be at PRES, not MKES; December 13th meeting will be at BHES, not here in the Board Conference Room; and our February 28th meeting will be at MKES, not BHES.
If most of the district's administrators were to write compositions entitled "How I Spent My Summer Vacation", he suspect'a great deal of what we wrote would center around the interviewing of staff to meet our needs for the start of this new school year. What with increased numbers of elementary sections, changing staff needs based on student scheduling at the high school, filling vacancies created by teachers on leave, and staffing up the new Hillside Program at FLHS, returning special education students to a district-run program from more restrictive and expensive out-of-district placements, we hired 36 new staff members, as well as rehired about 10 who were serving in temporary capacities or as instructional assistants, and have now moved into full-time teaching roles. He is very proud of the caliber of new staff members we have hired this year, and expects that they will make a decidedly positive impact on our school district in the years to come. Many of them are being appointed by the Board this evening, and several were able to join us. He welcomed them, calling their names and those that were present, stood. (Applauds)
He said that he is delighted to announce that 4 FLHS seniors have been named as National Merit Scholarship semifinalists, and one student as a semifinalist in the 1996 National Achievement Scholarship Program for Outstanding Negro Students. Those student are: Leigh F. Greenwood; Elizabeth A. Houck; Loretta G. Pontillo; and Kevin W. Schlottman; and
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Leea K. Nash. Of the more than one million high school juniors who completed the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude test last year, those students are among only 15,000 nation-wide to have achieved this honor and recognition. They now become eligible to compete for approximately 6,500 merit scholarships available for the entire U.S.. On behalf of the entire school district, he congratulated those 5 students on their outstanding accomplishment and on the honor they have brought to themselves, their families, and their school. Since students do not reach this level of success in isolation, he added congratulations to their parents and the staff members from throughout the district who have worked with them for the past 12 years. (Applauds)
Dr. Dennis also shared with the Board, a book of original student poetry that Amy Unger, a new 5th grade teacher at MKES, completed with her students last June. He is sure that the Board will be impressed, as he was with the quality of the students' work.
He called to the Board's attention, a request by the "Association Against the Seduction of Children" to use the FLHS auditorium on the evening of Thursday, September 28th. He said that he had approved the request for use of the facility, but had indicted that the organization must pay the auditorium use fee, custodial overtime, and provide us with a certificate of insurance, since they are not named as one of the school-related and school-sponsored activities to be exempted from both building use fees and custodial overtime (including parent organizations, Friends of Music, and Sports Booster Club) nor one of the organizations for whom the use fee is waived, but not custodial overtime (including youth sports serving BCSD, town recreation programs, New Youth Performing Theater, and Scouting Activities). Mrs. DiNozzi, representing this organization, believes that the Board should permit them to use the facility at no cost, and he indicated to her that he would have the Board review that request at this meeting, but that he did not believe this group qualified for a fee waiver and was not prepared to do so on the Board's behalf.
Mr. Markowski asked what criteria or written policy has been applied for making decisions to waive fees for the groups that were mentioned and does the criteria apply to this group or any other groups that makes a request.
Dr. Dennis replied that there is no written policy with names of specific organizations. Those are the ones approved at the Reorganization Meeting. The test is the general benefit to the school community and the organization's status as a non-profit organization and is a service and activity provider.
Mr. Frisch asked if this organization fits into that group of organizations.
Ms. Timberlake said that she is not sure what the organization is and we would need additional information about the organization. You can not tell from the name what the organization is about or what it does.
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Mr. Markowski said that for the other groups, we only waive use fees and not custodial fees. It is not appropriate to waive custodial fees, unless it is the absolute minimum.
Mrs. Schecter said that this is a specific interest group and if we open it up to them, we will be opening it up to every interest group in the community. The facility should be open for use, but we can not afford to subsidize them.
Ms. Hauck said that she does not believe that the group qualifies for any waiver of any fees under the guidelines that we have used, nor is it appropriate in this case. Mr. Markowski said that this is an ad hoc determination about who we are going to waive fees for, especially when dealing with issues that people feel very emotional about. You can get into a "noddy" morass of making judgements we are not equipped to make. Dr. Nieburg said that the decision being make at this meeting, is being made based on the content of what the group believes. He made it clear, that this is not the issue, as far as he is concerned. The issue is strictly what is on the table.
Mr. Markowski said that any group has the right to be represented and say their piece. The part is that, if we are waiving the fee, we are subsidizing the activity and then we become associated with that activity.
Mr. Frisch commented that if this is for the benefit of children, and this is our criteria, therefore we waive our fees. This organization seems to be involving children. Dr. Nieburg added and what happens if next month, the "Association for the Seduction of Children comes along and asks for a waiver of fees. What do we do then? Mr. Solomon said that we do not know if this organization is non-profit.
Phil Christe spoke on behalf of Mrs. DiNozzi, who was not present at the meeting. Mr. Christe said that the organization has applied for nonprofit status, their application is in process; the organization is a provider of information and they have collected a series of speakers to address the community on issues that affect school age children; there is no admission fee; and it is hard to be put on a group approved list, if there is no procedure to apply for exemption. He asked the Board to use common sense and waive the rental fee, but not the custodial fee. Mr. Christe passed out flyers to the Board members and the audience about the organization's program scheduled for September 28th.
Dr. Dennis said that to be approved by the Board, the organization has to indicate that they wish to be recognized as a user of the facility.
Myles Leeds commented that if you listen to the names on the approved list, it is apparent that those organizations booster the school districts programs. This organization is against something. It is obvious that the criteria of who the Board approves is who the Board allows to help the Board in their job. The Board has not allowed anyone who is against something. You have to own up to the fact that this is the
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Board's criteria.
Tom San Germano asked the Board for their discretion and waive the rental fee. He said that this organization is a positive thing, they generating information to the community and knowledge to be aware of. He also said that if the Board did not know what this group is about, the Board should not allow, even on a fee basis, a group into our school district that is in someway inappropriate.
Mrs. Schecter asked for each Board member's opinion:
Mr. Markowski - no, do not waive the fees; need more information;
Ms. Timberlake - no, do not waive anything
Mrs. Schecter - no, do not waive the fees
PRESENTATION/DISCUSSION:
SUMMER READING PROGRAM
The Summer Reading Teachers, Marsha Savino, Linda Stubblefield, Leona Ozols and Barbara Shein, accompanied by student tutors, Melissa Sandavol and Lindsay Kerrigan reported on the Summer Reading Program. Linda Stubblefield said that the purpose of the program is to reinforce and expand the Language Arts skills by providing direct instruction and learning activities, which involves the process of reading, writing, speaking and listening. The program also provides a community service and tutorial experience for entering 6th graders and other middle and high school volunteers. It provides the opportunity to develop friendships, self-esteem and a positive working relationship for young students, peers and adults. The elementary students who have completed 1st and 2nd grade, from all 5 of the elementary schools, are selected by their teachers to participate in the program. Those students are a diverse mixture of regular education, special education and ESL participants.
Barbara Shein, Marsha Savino and Leona Ozols gave a brief overview and showed slides of what a typical day is like. Melissa Sandavol, 7th grade, and her second year tutoring and Lindsay Kerrigan, 6th grade, and her first year tutoring, talked about their experiences as tutors in the program. (Applauds)
One of the teachers also read 2 letters from parents, whose children attended the program, expressing their thoughts and complementing the program.
Dr. Dennis thanked the teachers and the student tutors for their
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presentation. (Applauds)
Dr. Castro said that the program is open to private and public school students and that the new teachers hired this year, have also taught in the program this Summer. Elizabeth Wagner, who was present at the meeting was one of them.
Mr. Solomon said that all the participants should be commended, especially the young students. He clarified that "whole class" Language Arts was taught at the Summer Reading Program. He did not want anyone to think that a "language" was taught in this program. Ms. Timberlake also commended the teachers and tutors for the work that are doing. She said that it is one of the most productive programs that the district offers for the money that is spent. It is very important to have this transition for the students during the Summer.
Mrs. Schecter asked the teachers if they have trouble getting students to tutors. Mrs. Stubblefield said yes, there is a significant decrease in the number of students tutors applications. It maybe because they are asked to commit for the entire month of July. Also the teachers are not in the middle school, where the tutors are, so there is no communication. They plan to put posters in each house this spring. Roberta Markowitz commented that her 2 sons had participated as tutors and it was a marvelous experience for them.
Mrs. Schecter thanked the 2 tutors that spoke. She said that they do our district a good service. (Applauds)
TABULATION OF BUDGET VOTE EXIT POLL
Linda deMenocal and Dawn Sangrey reported on the tabulation results of the Exit Poll conducted at the time of the June 7, 1995 Budget Vote. Dr. Dennis introduced them and established their credibility to perform this task.
He said that Linda deMenocal has been a parent volunteer for 5 years and had previously worked in the marketing research field for 10 years, 5 of those years were with a public opinion polling firm; Dawn Sangrey has been a parent volunteer for 11 years, a teacher and author of a book about surveys that she has designed and tabulated.
Mrs. Sangrey said that she and Mrs. deMenocal applauded the Board for taking the exit poll survey and thanked the administration for giving them a totally independent hand in doing the tabulation. She began by explaining why it took 100 hours for them to complete the tabulation. She said that there were 5 large boxes, 1 from each election district that had been sealed since the budget vote. There were 10 surveys that were mailed in. There was a total of 1,741 survey sheets. They separated them by districts and numbered each sheet. That took 5 hours. They counted the check marks, added them up, converted them to percentages and made charts. There were 3 places to make comments, some people wrote whole essays. They divided the comments by the "yes" and "no" votes and coded all the information. The raw numbers were circulated amongst the
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Board members. Only a few of the categories were collapsed, but they left it pretty rich and detailed for the Board to see. They determined the response rate, consulted with polling experts for the reliability of limitations and proofed the results many times. She said that there were some inconsistences, what they did was not perfect. But they worked very hard, carefully and collaborative to produce this document. They both thanked each other and said that they had an open process with each other, the administration and were supported and helped by Mark Betz. They always worked together and non-political in judgement. The report represents every voters comment. This is their first attempt at doing this and they hope to do it again.
Mrs. deMenocal discussed the results of the survey. She said that two kinds of information were given to the Board, what was predetermined as a response and what else people had to say.
She mentioned a limitation with the questionnaire. They discovered that people did know which "yes" or "no" to circle. They just circled the top and put in their answers on the top and left. There were quite a few of those. They decided that since they showed up on the day of the second vote, that response is for the second vote and not the first vote. So they cleaned the data and put those responses in the bottom category, not in the top category and threw out 34 questionnaires because of inconsistences. She recommended that demographic information be kept in a different portion of the survey (have no children in the schools and send children to private schools). They assured the Board that the people who responded were reputable and the response rate was broken out by districts (page 3 of the report). She also recommended that people read the report and talk about it at some later date.
She showed two (2) charts, why people voted "yes" or "no" by categories and the percentages by election districts and their comments for both. There were six (6) categories for the "yes" votes and the category that received the highest percentage by election district was "did not want the Board of Education to cut programs". There were 7 categories for the "no" votes and the category that received the highest percentage by election districts was "school taxes are too high".
There were 11 write-in comments categories for both "yes" and "no" voters and were displayed in raw numbers for each comment. The comment with the highest number of responses from people who voted "yes" was "satisfied/happy with district" and the comment with the highest number of responses from people that voted "no" was "money not commensurate with quality of education". She said that they felt confident that they have reported accurately what people tried to say in their written comments.
Man in the audience said that he noticed that a lot of people had said the same thing, whether they voted "yes" or "no". He asked if those responses were combined somewhere else in the report. They said no, there was no refinement of the numbers. They kept them separate because they only had two (2) categories to distinguish among the group as a whole.
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The magnitude of the responses were not reputable.
Mr. Markowski commented that a lot of people voted "yes", but in reading the comments, you would think that they had voted "no". They said that the most important point that they got out of this was the passion in which people spoke and the variety of topics that they spoke about.
Those were very thoughtful comments on what they thought the issues were. They read a few of the comment from both the "yes" and "no" voters and the "switch" voters.
They said in closing, that the survey produced a lot of very useful information and they know a little bit more than before about what the "message" is. The results of the survey should be disseminated as widely as possible, make clear that the Board has heard the voices of the community, create an opportunity for commentary, discussion and take action on the issues that have been raised in the survey. They also recommended that the survey be refined and do another exit poll in 1996.
Mrs. Schecter thanked Mrs. deMenocal and Mrs. Sangrey for their hard work. She said that it is the integrity of the tabulation process that is going to make this a useful document and a working tool for the Board.
Dr. Nieburg said that they are a wonderful role model for children and the Board, for the rest of the school year and for years to come. We all know that there are different political views represented between the two of them, and yet to spend that kind of time to do this kind of work is uplifting to him.
Mrs. Schecter opened the subject up for discussion, to figure out a way to disseminate it and put on the agenda again.
Dr. Nieburg suggested that a meeting should be devote to this subject. Mr. Markowski suggested that the Board should read each and every survey, as he did.
Mr. Carbone said that if everyone worked as hard as those two ladies did, our troubles would be over.
Mrs. Schecter said that the first step is to let people know that this report is available. She suggested using the newsletter and asked Joe Sachs if the report can be put on the electronic bulletin board. He said yes.
Dr. Dennis suggested that copies be distributed to the schools; school and public libraries; churches; temples; post notices of where copies are available and press releases.
Ms. Hauck suggested that an insert be put in the next newsletter. Dr. Dennis said that would be a problem, they are not stapled before mailing. Dr. Nieburg suggested that a special newsletter be mailed. Mrs. Schecter asked Mrs. deMenocal and Mrs. Sangrey if they could summarize the report and bring it down to two pages. They said that it would be tough, the volunteered comments would go on forever. Dr. Dennis
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said that the next newsletter will go out the first in November, so the summary will have to be ready by the first week in October. Mr. Solomon encouraged people to read the whole report. He also suggested that Mrs. deMenocal and Mrs. Sangrey go on Mike Sarnoff's show and let people know where copies are available and also use the cable bulletin board, if it is still in access. Dr. Dennis said that he can get them on VIP RADIO. Mr. Markowski suggested putting copies in the coffee shop in Bedford Hills, the deli in Pound Ridge and the post offices, if they are willing. Mr. Frisch said that if we do make an addendum to the newsletter, we also have to tell the public what the next steps are. Dr. Dennis commented that we first have to tell them where copies are available, what the Board intends to do with the information, then set a date for discussion. He said that we can do it on December 6th, 8:00 P.M., at the high school. People will have the newsletter by then. Mrs Schecter asked Mrs. deMenocal and Mrs. Sangrey if they would come back on that night to help the Board with the report/discussion. They said yes. Ms. Hauck thanked them both for an excellent job. (Applauds)
CONSENT AGENDA:
Dr. Nieburg moved and Mr. Frisch seconded the motion that the items in the Consent Agenda be approved as recommended by the Superintendent of Schools.
Mr. Carbone asked Mrs. Schecter if a change can be made in the format of the Consent Agenda, to allow the public to add their input. Mrs. Schecter said that the only thing a Board member can do that a resident can not do, is to say that they want a specific item voted on separately. As far as comments, the public can comment on any matter within the Consent Agenda.
Dr. Dennis said that there were two correction to be made: Constance Evelyn is assigned to the FLMS and not BHES; delete the appointment of Lucille Subbiondo from the Changes in Civil Service Staff.
Mr. Markowski requested that Item #7, the lease agreement with St. Francis church be removed from the Consent Agenda for a separate vote.
1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Approved the Minutes of the Executive Sessions of June 28 and July 5, 1995, and the Annual Reorganization and Regular Meetings of July 5, 1995.
2. APPROVAL OF TREASURER'S AND FISCAL REPORT
Accepted the Treasurer's and Fiscal Reports for June and July, 1995.
3. APPROVAL OF WARRANT REPORTS
Approved and ordered paid the Warrant Reports for June, 1995, in the amount of $6,770,866.18, and July/August, 1995, in the amount of $3,231,227.75.
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4. PERSONNEL
Resignation:.
Accepted the resignation of Henrietta Cohn, for the purpose of retirement, effective June 30,• 1995.
Accepted the resignation of Rebecca Tsurumi, part-time teacher in the academic tenure area of foreign language, effective June 30, 1995.
Accepted the resignation, for the purpose of retirement, of Laszlo Nemessanyi, effective November 1, 1995.
Elimination of Positions:
Eliminated the position of part-time art teacher at PRES because of declining program enrollment. Terminated the services of Angela Ashley Holland, least senior part-time teacher in the special subject tenure area of art, effective June 30, 1995.
Eliminated the position of part-time art teacher at FLHS because of declining program enrollment. Terminated the services of Quincy Egginton, least senior part-time teacher in the special subject area of art, effective June 30, 1995.
Leave Of Absence:
Granted a leave of absence under Article 12A.1 of the Teacher's Agreement, without pay, to Dorothy Dabacher, teacher in the academic tenure area of mathematics, for the period beginning October 6, 1995 and ending June 30, 1996.
Appointments.:
Appointed Krista Acard-Geiser, who holds NYS provisional certification in speech and hearing handicapped, (MA, Step 2, $42,310) teacher in the special subject tenure area of speech and hearing handicapped for a probationary period beginning September 1, 1995 and ending August 31, 1998.
Appointed Christen Brennan, who holds NYS provisional certification in ESL, (BA, Step 1, $38,973), leave replacement substitute teacher in the special subject tenure area of ESL, beginning September 1, 1995 and continuing so long as her services are satisfactory, but not later than January 25, 1996.
Appointed Loretta Burke, who holds NYS permanent certification in special education, (MA, Step 3, $44,179) teacher in the special subject tenure area of special education for a three year probationary period beginning September 1, 1995 and ending August 31, 1998.
Appointed Daniel Caffrey, whose NYS certification for grades K-6 is pending, (MA, Step 1, $41,100) leave replacement teacher in the
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elementary tenure area, beginning September 1, 1995 and continuing so long as his services are satisfactory, but not later than January 26, 1996.
Appointed Celestine Campbell, who holds NYS provisional certification in Nursey-6th, (MA, Step 1, $41,100) leave replacement teacher in the elementary tenure area beginning September 1, 1995 and continuing so long as her services are satisfactory, but no later than June 30, 1996.
Appointed Nikki Caspare, who holds NYS provisional certification in elementary N-6, (MA 12, Step 3, $44,719) to the position of teacher in the elementary tenure area for a three year probationary period, retroactive to October 25, 1993 and ending October 24, 1996.
Appointed John DelFavero, who holds NYS certificate of qualification in physical education, (Ba, Step 1, $38,973, 70%=$27,281) part-time (70%) teacher in the special subject tenure area of physical education, effective September 1, 1995.
Appointed Carin DeNat, who holds NYS provisional certification in ESL K12, (MA, Step 1, $41,100) teacher in the special subject tenure area of ESL for a three year probationary period, beginning September 1, 1995 and ending August 31, 1998.
Appointed James Doller, who holds NYS provisional certification in physics 7-12, (BA, Step 1, $38,973) to the position of teacher in the academic tenure area of science for a three year probationary period, beginning September 1, 1995 and ending August 31, 1998.
Appointed Constance Evelyn, who holds NYS certification in special education, (MA, Step 1, $41,100, actual 60% $24,600) to the position of part-time teacher in the special subject tenure area of special education, effective September 5, 1995.
Appointed Kelly Gavin, Whose NYS certification in elementary N-6 is pending, (MA, Step 4, $45,233) probationary teacher in the elementary tenure area, beginning September 1, 1995 and ending August 31, 1998.
Appointed Jennifer Gliedman, who holds NYS provisional certification in elementary education, (MA 30, Step 1, $43,084) leave replacement substitute teacher in the elementary tenure area beginning September 1, 1995 and continuing so long as her services are satisfactory, but not later than June 30, 1996.
Appointed Patricia Haaga, who holds NYS permanent certification in mathematics 7-12, (MA, Step 1, $41,100, actual $10,275) part-time (25%) teacher in the academic tenure area of mathematics, effective September 1, 1995.
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Appointed Lisa Iodice, who holds NYS certificate of qualification in elementary N-6, (BA, Step 1, $38,973) leave replacement substitute teacher in the elementary tenure area, beginning September 1, 1995 and continuing so as her services are satisfactory, but not later than June 30, 1996.
Appointed Elizabeth R. Jordan, who holds NYS certificate of qualification in pre-kindergarten-6, (MA, Step 1, $41,100) teacher in the elementary tenure area for a three year probationary period, beginning September 1, 1995 and ending August 31, 1998.
Appointed Robin S. Kalder, who holds NYS permanent certification in mathematics, (MA, Step 12, $67,870, includes differential) to the position of Mathematics Coordinator 6-12 (teaching 60%, coordinator 40%), for a two year probationary period, beginning September 1, 1995 and ending August 31, 1997.
Appointed Douglas McLellan, whose NYS certification is pending, (BA, Step 1, $38,973, actual 80% $31,178.40) to the position of part-time teacher in the academic tenure area of foreign language, effective September 5, 1995.
Appointed Heather Murphy, whose NYS certification is pending, (MA, Step 2, $42,310) to the position of leave replacement teacher in the special tenure area of special education, beginning September 1, 1995 and continuing so long as her services are satisfactory, but no later than June 30, 1996.
Appointed Corinne M. Pinello, who holds NYS provisional certification in special education, (BA, Step 2, $40,184) leave replacement substitute teacher in the special subject tenure area of special education, beginning September 1, 1995 and continuing so long as her services are satisfactory, but no later than June 30, 1996.
Appointed Mary Polanco, who holds NYS provisional certification in elementary N-6, (MA, Step 2, $42, 310) teacher in the elementary tenure area for a three year probationary period, beginning September 1, 1995 and ending August 31, 1998.
Appointed Dina K. Pomeranz, who holds NYS permanent certification in elementary N-6, (MA, Step 9, $57,785, includes differential) to the position of elementary consulting teacher in the elementary tenure area
for a two year probationary period, beginning September 1, 1995 and ending August 31, 1997.
Appointed Deborah Ryan, who holds NYS provisional certification in mathematics 7-12, (MA, Step 4, $45,233) teacher in the Academic tenure area of mathematics, for a three year probationary period, beginning
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September 1, 1995 and ending August 31, 1998.
Appointed Janine Slachmuylder, who holds NYS permanent certification in special education, (MA, Step 3, $44,179) teacher in the special subject tenure area of special education for a three year probationary period, beginning September 1, 1995 and ending august 31, 1998.
Appointed Elizabeth Wagner, who holds NYS provisional certification in Nursey-6, (BA, Step 2, $40,184) for a three year probationary period in the elementary tenure area, beginning September 1, 1995 and ending August
| 31, 1998. | |||
| Fall Coaching Assignments: | |||
| Approved the | following | fall coaching assignments: | |
| Football | Head | Rich Paladino | $7,210 |
| Asst. | Art Bonifati | 4,503 | |
| Asst. | Ricky Paladino | 4,048 | |
| Asst. | Greg Vaughn | 4,608 | |
| Asst. | John DelFavero | 3,873 | |
| Asst. | Ed Ostendorf | 4,153 | |
| Asst. | Kevin Downes | 3,978 | |
| Soccer | B/V | Danny Simpson | 4,782 |
| B/JV | Dick Langeloh | 4,354 | |
| Field Hockey | B/Fr G/V |
(to be
announced) Beth Staropoli |
4,732 |
| G/JV | Joanne St. George | 4,634 | |
| G/Fr | Kristie Herlighy | 2,789 | |
| Cross Country | B/Head | Jon Fiorella | 5,187 |
| G/Head | Terry Shanley | 4,592 | |
| Swimming | G/Head | David Ellinghaus | 1,844.50 |
| Asst. | Mark Davey | 1,774.50 | |
| Tennis | G/Head | Barry Lieberman | 3,217 |
| Volleyball | G/Head | Mike Galu | 4,872 |
| G/JV | Allison Chiappinelli | 3,619 | |
| G/Fr | Tom Powis | 3,280 | |
Changes In Civil Service Staff:
Approved the resignations, terminations, and reassignments/reclassifications.
5. BID AWARDS
#2 Heating Oil:
Awarded the bid for #2 Heating oil to Castle Oil Corporation, 500 Mamaroneck Ave., Harrison, N.Y. 10528-1620, in the amount of $.0303 over New York Barge Reseller, for the period September 1, 1995 to June 30, 1996.
Refuse And Recycling Collection:
15
Awarded the bid for Refuse and Recycling Collection to A-1 Compaction, Inc., 325 Yonkers Ave., N.Y., in the amount of $35,750, commencing September 1, 1995 and ending August 31, 1996.
6. Memorandum Of Understanding - School Bus Maintenance
Approved the memorandum of Understanding between the BCSD and Byram Hills Central School authorizing a one year pilot cooperative effort for sharing facilities for repair and maintenance of school buses.
8. Appropriation Transfers:
Approved the following 1994-95 budget appropriation transfers, effective
| June 30,
1995: Transfer From |
Amount | Transfer To |
| 1621.45 | $20,780.01 | 1620.45 |
| 1620.4 | 60,353.71 | 1621.4 |
| 1620.16 | 14,518.49 | 1680.16 |
| 9760.7 | 10,975.00 | 1010.49 |
| 9060.8 | 15,551.76 | 1964.4 |
| 2020.4 | 21,570.89 | 2020.15 |
| 2110.4 | 13,966.71 | 2070.4 |
| 1420.4 | 11,191.09 | 1060.4 |
| 2110.12 | 51,534.43 | 2110.14 |
| 2110.4 | 12,515.67 | 2110.49 |
| 2250.47 | 14,583.53 | 2250.16 |
| 2250.47 | 14,217.59 | 2250.4 |
| 2110.47 | 14,361.12 | 2250.16 |
| 2250.15 | 19,140.14 | 225016 |
| 2610.16 | 36,884.01 | 2630.16 |
| 2110.2 | 11,155.20 | 2630.2 |
| 2020.2 | 10,882.66 | 2630.2 |
| 2815.15 | 12,705.10 | 2810.15 |
| 2815.4 | 29,287.25 | 2815.16 |
| 5510.45 | 17,894.42 | 5510.16 |
| 5510.45 | 11,520.10 | 5510.4 |
| 5510.45 | 32,725.88 | 5540.4 |
| 5510.4 | 13,066.39 | 5540.4 |
| 9030.8 | 18,779.71 | 5540.4 |
| 9030.8 | 20,377.00 | 9010.8 |
| 9030.8 | 33,928.93 | 9020.8 |
| 1420.400 | 281.41 | 1964.400 |
| 1620.160 | 39,244.69 |
n |
| 1620.200 | 862.88 |
n |
| 1620.400 | 129,191.23 |
n |
| 1621.450 | 17,223.79 |
n |
| 1621.450 | 9,712.21 | 9020.800 |
| 2020.200 | 4,896.37 |
n |
| 2020.400 | 8,904.57 |
it |
| 2020.450 | 3,146.06 |
n |
16
9010.800 54,367.00 "
9030.800 29,724.79 "
9045.800 22,564.00 "
9050.800 10,357.00 9020.800
9055.800 9,909.00 "
9060.800 46,419.00 "
9055.800 15,122.00 9901.950
1994-95 Tax Certiorari Reserve And Appropriation Transfers:
Established a 1994-95 certiorari reserve fund from 1994-95 fund balance, in the amount of $813,626, effective June 30, 1995.
9. Membership Dues:
National School Board Association:
Approved and ordered paid dues, in the amount of $2,200, for membership in the National School Boards Association National Affiliate Program for the period October 1, 1995 to September 30, 1996.
Westchester-Putnam School Boards Association:
Approved and ordered paid dues, in the amount of $2,500, for membership in the Westchester-Putnam School Boards Association for the year 1995-96.
Flat Grant School Districts:
Approved and ordered paid dues, in the amount of $400, for membership in the Association of Flat Grant School Districts of NYS for the year 199596.
10. Acceptance Of Gift:
Accepted the donation of 16 IBM PS/2 Diskiess Workstations, including CPU, Color Displays and Keyboards, from RICH Worldwide Travel, Inc., 500 Mamaroneck Ave., Harrison, N.Y. 10538
11. BOCES Service Contract:
Approved the final amended 1994-95 BOCES Service Contract with BCSD.
12. Committee On Special Education:
Approved the recommendations from the CSE for children whose identification numbers are listed.
Approved Arthur A. Riegel, Impartial Hearing Officer, as available for appointment as Impartial Hearing Officer, when needed.
Mr. Frisch asked what is a consulting teacher. Dr. Dennis said that the Language Arts teacher's title was changed to "elementary helping teacher" to redefine the expansion of the role. When we advertised for a "helping teacher", as part of our recruitment, the people who responded, took the title to mean someone who would serve in a teacher's assistant capacity, as opposed to someone who would serve in a more professional role. We
17
then renamed the position "lead teacher", some teachers took exception to that. If they were the "lead teachers", then they must be the "following teachers". So tentatively, it is now "consulting teachers".
Mr. Markowski said that the amounts for the coaching assignments may not be accurate and he asked if someone could check the math.
Mr. Solomon asked Dr. Dennis to explains what happens to the Art programs at the high school and PRES. Dr. Dennis said that what we did as a result of the enrollment in the high school was eliminate two part-time teaching positions and move the personnel. They became teachers in the elementary school, in the areas which are served by K-12 tenure areas. There will be Art in those schools.
Mr. Markowski commented about the transfer appropriations, that there is a lot of money moving around from one thing to another, but the movement is very slight in most of the codes. Mr. Betz said that the Superintendent has the authority to transfer appropriations between function and object codes within a budget up to $10,000. At year end, as we are closing out the budget, we zero out a lot of the funds that are left over on the right hand side of the column that says balance fund, make sure there are no negatives on that side and he asked the Board to make the transfers. A lot of those go between the same function, but different object codes.
Mrs. Schecter asked Mr. Betz why the tax certiorari reserve transfer for $800,000 considered a 1994-95 reserve and not added to the other balance for 1993-94. Mr. Betz said that a tax certiorari reserve is reserved from the funds that have been left over, so you setting up a 1994-95 reserve.
Mr. Frisch asked what checks and balances are there in the system. Mr. Betz said that the Board gets a monthly report during the school year from the Business Office that shows function and object codes and tells you what the budget is, if there were any adjustments, what was spent so far, what was encumbered and what is left. He also provides memos to show where money is being moved, in regards to appropriations.
Mr. Christe asked how much time does a consulting teacher spend in front of children, what special groups is she addressing and what was the net increase of new teachers hired. Dr. Dennis said that the time is very flexible, it is based on the needs of the individual schools and controlled by the principals. The consulting teacher maybe addressing children who have remedial needs, working in a teacher's classroom providing support or doing a demonstration lesson to enhance a teacher's skills. He said that there were 11 teachers re-hired and 35 new teachers hired.
Mr. Carbone commented that there were a lot more teachers hired than
18
there were leaving the school district. He assumed that was because of the student population. He also noted that there were a couple of outstanding salaries, beyond what he would like to see. He asked what is the criteria for hiring a teacher at $40,000 and one at $70,000.
Mrs. Schecter said that our net increase was within what we budgeted for. There were increases, decreases and this is what the net fallout was. We have a policy in place to bring in teachers at the lowest possible step. There are certain areas where we can not find teachers who are just out of college or their Master's and if we have to pay more money, that is what we have to do.
Mr. Markowski said that we had people who retired late into the Summer and we did not have a lot of lead time to hire new teachers. Mr. Carbone felt that this was unfair to the students and teachers.
ITEM #7 IN THE CONSENT AGENDA - Lease Agreement With St. Francis Church Mr. Markowski had 3 specific problems with the lease agreement.
1. He is extremely uncomfortable by providing an indemnification without
Mrs. Schecter said that she absolutely agreed with him. Mr. Markowski said that this is a "red letter" day. Dr. Dennis said to put a "star" in the minutes. Mrs. Schecter said that this will be put on the next agenda with the appropriate language regarding the liability.
Mr. Markowski moved and Mr. Frisch seconded the motion to table the vote on the lease agreement for St. Francis Church and proposed modification of the language to address the indemnification clause.
PUBLIC FORUM:
Joe Giardina asked how many classrooms are there at St. Francis; how many students will be attending, who will the check be made out to, have all the religious artifacts been removed from the classrooms and who requested it. Mr. Markowski said that there are 18 students; 3 classrooms and the check will be made out to St. Francis Church of Mount Kisco. Mr. Betz said that he requested that the religious artifacts be removed from the classrooms.
Mr. Carbone assumed that none of the Board members had time to access the instrument furnished by the Citizens' Advisory Committee about the space evaluation in the schools. Mrs. Schecter said that this a unique program
19
and not about space evaluation. It was budgeted in the budget process as part of the educational philosophy and well being of these children, their ability to learn and be brought back into this environment. They need to have their own secluded space. Dr. Nieburg added that there were multiple sites looked at by a committee before a decision was made.
Alan Raphael, whose son plays on the FLHS soccer team, submitted a petition, signed by the member of the team to the Board that said that they request the members of the Board order the FLHS Varsity Boys and Girls Soccer teams play their home games on the playing field directly adjacent to the high school building known as the "football field". He cited four reasons why:
2. Neighboring school districts use their best field as a "varsity field" for various sports and not exclusively for football.
3. The soccer team has 7 home games this season, a total of 10.5 hours.
Mr. Markowski asked if there is any good reason why the soccer team can not use the football field. He asked Mr. Raphael what reason was he given. Mr. Raphael said that the only one that he heard was the abuse to the field.
Mr. Solomon asked Mr. Betz and Mr. Kraemer what is the reason. Mr. Betz said that soccer is an abusive sport and it will "wears" sections of the football. Mrs. Schecter asked is the soccer field unsafe. Mr. Betz said that last year, the soccer field was extremely wet and yes, dangerous. This year, there are conditions that can cause problems. The ground is dry with clumps of grass. The football field has been renovated and has a sprinkler system, where the soccer field does not. Dr. Dennis said that the soccer field is playable, but marginally, per Rod Mergardt. It is not Mr. Mergardt's recommendation to use the football field for soccer because the fine condition the field is in now will no longer prevail. Dr. Dennis asked Mr. Mergardt to explore BHES as an alternative.
Dr. Nieburg said that a team is only as good as its field and a field make a lot of difference. It is also a matter of pride, equality and dignity. Mr. Markowski said that he failed to see how much more damage 10.5 hours, spread over several months can do to a football field, as opposed to the damage done by playing football. Football is also a rough sport.
Beverly Card, whose son is a member of the soccer team said that her son
20
come home from the soccer field sick because of the dust that is kicked up. His feet ache because the field is so hard. The field is also "rutty" and dangerous to play on. The other teams make fun of them. They see the fields that the other team have and then they look at their own.
Mrs. Schecter said that something needs to change. Her only concern is that it is very much like the locker rooms and the stairs up to the soccer field. The Board can not keep responding. We have to figure out what has to be done and how to do it. Tonight we are going to respond.
Mr. Markowski moved and Dr. Nieburg seconded the motion that the varsity soccer team play its official games against other teams on the football field.
Dr. Dennis said that he has no interest in seeing the soccer team denied the right to use the football field, but he urged the Board not to act on this at this meeting, on the eve of the team's first game without having the opportunity to hear this issue out because you have football parents and soccer parents projecting very different views of this activity and use.
Mrs. Schecter asked Mr. Betz what type of extra maintenance is required to maintain the football field in the condition it is in now, if the soccer team uses it. Mr. Betz said that he can not answer that. Dr. Nieburg said that we should look at an interim decision and then re-look at the situation, making it a priority.
Mr. Solomon believed that the team should not be playing on the football field for their first game. He said that we have to get some expert advice to tell us how to manage a natural grass field.
Mr. Frisch said that it is "elitist" to think that only the football team is allowed to have a field that works. It is distressing to hear that we have a field that may propose actual hazards to a player. If we have a field that works and is available, we need to put them on it. Mr. Markowski said that it is a little "sloppy" to send a varsity high school team to the elementary school to play a varsity soccer game, when we have a field and facilities here.
Ms. Hauck said that this is the third time that she has heard about this problem with the soccer field, so this should be made a priority to look into this and get it fix. She has no objections to the soccer team playing on the football field. She asked the only member of the soccer team, who was present at the meeting to speak.
The player said that the team plays Somers, Yorktown and Greeley and all three have nice soccer fields, Greeley has the best. Our field is very unsafe. There were players that had to leave at the beginning of the season because of shin splints and some players have sprained their ankles because of the ruts. Moving to BHES is unfair, we would like to play at home, in front of our school.
Mr. Frisch said that all of the teams represent the school. It is very distressing to hear that there is a field that is barely playable for one
21
team and one that is the best field that has hit the earth. He asked if the Board can schedule their "walk through" as soon as possible, so we can look at these fields.
Mrs. Schecter moved and Ms. Hauck seconded to amend Mr. Markowski's motion and to allow the soccer team to play on the football field for any home games between now and the next Board meeting on 9/27/95 and at the next Board meeting, have a publicized agenda item of where the soccer team should be playing and what the benefits and detriments are.
She said that this is a bigger issue and if we pass a motion saying the
soccer team is going to be using the football field for the rest of the
semester without an opportunity for discussion, we would never hear the
end of it.
Dr. Dennis said that he has no bias in favor of football, but he did not
know if the Board would make this decision, if they had the opportunity
to confer with people who have more expertise than he. The Board's
decision might be different. He questioned whether we would have a
football field to play on if the Board permits it for misuse. But Mrs.
Schecter is right, "we ain't heard the last of this".
Mr. Solomon - abstained because he is not unsympathetic to the
Dr. Nieburg - abstained because he would have liked to have had
this two weeks ago to look at, think about and ask around. He said
 | Ms. Hauck - yes |
| Mr. Frisch - yes |
| Mr. Markowski yes |
| Ms. Timberlake yes |
| Mrs. Schecter yes |
Mr. Christe brought up the subject of the extension of the teachers' contract and the way the memorandum was worded. He passed out copies of the minutes of 4/6/94 Board meeting, where Dr. Dennis announced that the agreement proposed by the BTA and CSEA, to give back a portion of their salary increases. Then there was a motion, where Mrs. Schecter and Mr. Solomon motioned to approve the agreement, according to the terms outlined. Then Dr. Dennis outlines the agreement, which limits the increases to the median or CPI and 1/2%, chosing districts that we compare ourselves and the only piece affected by this, is the salary schedule. At the 7/5 Board meeting, the Board produced the actual memorandum, where the CPI formula and the districts were approved. He
22
sees two problems.
1. The increase in paragraph 2 is to apply to all forms of compensation,
when the public record, which was approved in the minutes indicated
2. We do not usually compare ourselves to 45 districts.
He asked the Board to make a motion to correct the memorandum to reflect what was actually agreed upon, to have the increase apply to the salary schedule.
Mrs. Schecter said that as far as she is concerned, this was covered under the original agreement. Mr. Christe said that in the minutes that were approved, only the salaries were affected and not anything else. He thinks that it was an error or oversight in the minutes and it merits attention.
Dr. Dennis said that the nature of what was said in the minutes does not supersede the nature of what was understood as being agreed upon. The minutes did not fully capture that, in terms of referring as they clearly do to salary schedules. What was meant by that, was all aspects of salaries, unless an exception is made to that, the percentage of increase are applied to stipends and other things. When they are not, it is noted. Mr. Markowski said that the only documentation were the minutes for 1 year and 3 months.
Mr. Christe said that if the minutes were mistaken and the Board implied that everything is included, why would you make the. statement that the only piece affected by the extension is salaries.
Mrs. Schecter said that salaries are talking about all the monetary aspects of the contract.
Mr. Markowski said that it is his assumption that it was just the step schedule, that is all we focused on and talked about. We have never talked about anything other than that. Mrs. Schecter said that this was the deal that we had reached and there were no assumption for her. Mr. Betz clarified "oversight", in the sense that we are covering our rear ends. That is not what we are doing. Mr. Christe clarified "oversight" as to whoever typed the minutes. The Board overlooked it and he missed it. Regarding the 45 districts, the public record clearly indicated that we would chose the districts to which we usually compare ourselves at a future date. Mrs. Schecter said that we have discussed and voted on this.
Ms. Hauck said that she believes that this reflects what we voted on and the minutes are inaccurate. This unfortunate, they are usually very accurate.
Mr. Frisch said that this is distressing to see what we agreed to is different to what we agreed to one year ago. He would be curious to see what the Board can do about the situation.
Mrs. Schecter said that what was announced in public session, in terms of the agreement, was the summary of the agreement. Nothing had been reduced to writing at that point. The use of the words "salary schedule", that were the only words picked up, in that discussion or were the only words
that were used or maybe not. But the agreement in her mind, is the agreement as is in the minutes. Therefore, there is nothing that she is, at this is willing to do about it. This is what we voted on last July or August and is in fact the agreement she believes the Board reached and is not willing do anything at this point.
Mr. Christe requested that for the public record, that a Board member make a motion that we look at it and vote it down, so that it is in the public record and brought to everyone's attention. Mrs. Schecter said that she would not act upon his request. He then asked the Board to make a motion to do nothing on this. Mrs. Schecter said that we only need a motion to take action and we are not going to take any action. It has been made clear to him by everyone, that has responded to him, that there is no action. We have made it very clear what our positions are and it will be reflected in the records that way.
Respectfully submitted, Verna Carr, Clerk
The Executive Session was called to order at 11:25 P.M., by Mrs. Schecter, President.
All those noted above were present, with the exception of the Mrs. Carr, Clerk.
In the absence of the Clerk, minutes were taken by Dr. Dennis.
The Board discussed specific personnel matters. No action was taken.
Respectfully submitted,
Dr. Bruce L. Dennis, Acting Clerk