________________________________________________________________________
The Webutuck Board
of Education held their December 12, 2011
meeting at 7:30 p.m. in the Webutuck High School Library.
The following
Board members were present:
Dale Culver, President
Joanne Boyd
William McGhee
Judy Moran
Kristen Panzer
John Perotti
Robert Trotta
Also Present:
James Gratto Jr., Superintendent
Mary Grden, School Business Manager
Therese Trotter, District Clerk
Katy McEnroe, WES Principal
Jay Curtis, EBIS Principal
John Zenz, Athletic Director
Stefanie Giglio, Millerton News
Al Barros
CALL TO
ORDER
President Culver called the business meeting of December 12, 2011 to order at 7:39 p.m.
PRINCIPALS’
REPORT
Jay
Curtis, Intermediate Principal – EBIS BET
Jay Curtis reported that his building has established two focus areas of the
Building for Excellence Team (BET).
There is an area that is focusing on establishing a community feeling in
the building. He noted several events
that have helped build community spirit such as movie night, the assembly with
Jessie Saperstein who spoke on autism and bullying, and a few assemblies held
by Mr. Curtis. He also noted that the
annual Holiday Breakfast will be happening soon. Mr. Curtis did comment that it was hard to
find a movie for that age range that appeals to everyone but they are working
on it. The second area of focus of the
BET this year is academic. He explained
the teachers are shifting their focus to what children are learning not what we
are teaching. They have broken it down
into two parts, Math and ELA. He noted
with the Common Core Standards next year that there will be much more emphasis
on informational text not just literary text. They are beginning to introduce more
informational text into the ELA classrooms.
In the Math area the focus is on questions looking for mastery. He cited
different examples of math problems and what teachers would look for. He gave an example of information text and
what students would have to do. President
Culver briefed Mr. Curtis on the Rachel’s Challenge presentation that took
place a couple
of years ago. It seemed to have
lost steam and he hopes that that can be revived. Mrs. Moran asked if the parents, who had
concerns at a previous meeting about what was ______________________________________________________________________
happening in the classroom, have been communicating with Mr. Curtis about
how classes are now going. Mr. Curtis
stated that they are moving in the right direction and that parents are coming
to him with their concerns and he is pleased they feel comfortable enough to
come directly to him. Board members had
questions about getting more afterschool clubs for students in grades 4-8. Mr. Curtis noted a few of the programs that
are happening in his building and he will be adding more in the future. Discussion ensued.
PUBLIC COMMENT
The following are comments from the audience:
-Mr. Barros asked about the water problem that happened today in EBIS. Mr. Barros expressed concern about how the
Board members interact.
CONSENSUS AGENDA VOTE
Mr. Trotta made and Ms. Moran seconded the following motion to approve the Consent Agenda (as amended). The amendment by Mr. Trotta called for removing A under Personnel, and President Culver pulled all items off the consent agenda except the Minutes and Financial Reports for further discussion in Executive Session.
A consent agenda is a single vote, which approves all asterisked items. Board policy (#008a) prohibits discussion of consent agenda items. Asterisked* items can be pulled from the consent agenda for discussion by any one Board member.
Ayes 7 Nays 0 The motion carried.
DISTRICT CLERK’S REPORT
*A. Approval of Minutes for December 5, 2011 Board meeting.
Mr. Trotta made and Ms. Moran seconded a motion to accept the minutes as submitted:
Ayes 7 Nays 0 The motion carried.
*B.
Acceptance of Financial Reports
as submitted:
Mr. Trotta made and Ms. Moran seconded a motion to accept the Financial Reports as submitted:
Warrants 24-31
Ayes 7 Nays 0 The motion carried.
C. Delegations - None
PERSONNEL
A. Support
Staff Amendment
This item was removed from
the consent agenda for further discussion.
Upon the recommendation
of the Superintendent of Schools, BE IT RESOLVED that the Board of Education
hereby approves the following support staff amendment to correct salary:
Raymond Rivard Custodial
Worker (.5 FTE)
Effective: December 6, 2011 Salary: $13.43/hr, Step 1 per CSEA
_ ______________________________________________________________________
B. Substitute Instructional Appointments
This item was removed
from the consent agenda for further discussion.
Upon the recommendation of the Superintendent
of Schools, BE IT RESOLVED that the Board of Education hereby approves the
following substitute instructional appointments:
Michelle Petryszyn Substitute
Teacher
Effective:
December 13, 2011 Salary:
$90/day
Lisa Kellman Substitute
Teacher
Effective:
December 13, 2011 Salary:
$90/day
Danielle Zizzo Substitute
Teacher
Effective:
December 13, 2011 Salary:
$90/day
C. Substitute Support Staff Appointments
This item was removed
from the consent agenda for further discussion.
Upon the recommendation
of the Superintendent of Schools, BE IT RESOLVED that the Board of Education hereby approves the following
substitute support staff appointments:
Michelle Petryszyn Substitute
Teacher Aide/Assistant
Effective: December 13, 2011 Salary:
$11.96/hour
Lisa Kellman Substitute
Teacher Aide/Assistant
Effective: December 13, 2011 Salary:
$11.96/hour
Danielle Zizzo Substitute
Teacher Aide/Assistant
Effective: December 13, 2011 Salary:
$11.96/hour
SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT
A. Client Survey Discussion
The Superintendent asked the Board members what direction they would like to go for the Survey. Several Board members agreed there was still much to discuss about the survey questions and decided to finalize the survey by the first meeting in January. Discussion ensued about who the survey should be sent to.
B. Robert Meade is coming to the January 9 meeting to discuss the BOCES Board of Education Report.
C. Head Injury/Concussion Management Report
Cathy
Christofel, the 4-12 school nurse submitted information for the Board
concerning the IMPACT test and head injury policies and practices. Mrs. Panzer had several questions on wording
for the concussion survey about more clarity and she suggested that the area
physicians know this is our procedures for determining concussions. Superintendent Gratto stated the issue that
Mrs. Christofel brings up, besides procedure in determining concussions, is
whether the Board want to implement the impact test and ________________________________________________________________________
guidelines for concussions for the District. The IMPACT test is a computerized neurocognitive assessment test that will be given to every athlete and help assess an athlete’s ability to return to play after suffering a concussion. There was much discussion about who has the final say in if an athlete returns to play. It was stated the attending physican would have the final say, not the school district.
The Superintendent stated that the K-9 unit will be coming to the School District sometime in the future. The State Police officer wanted to be clear that Board members should understand if anything substance is found; arrests will be made. Mr. Trotta disagreed with the students being arrested and said in those circumstances, they usually issue an appearance ticket. He explained that the process of taking a student down and processing through a county jail can be a traumatic experience while a student is still presumed innocent. Board members disagreed between what the word “arrest” means with the police if they found illegal substance. Mrs. Boyd requested the Superintendent ask the police what they mean by “arrest” if illegal substance was found in school and report back to the Board. Discussion ensued.
D. The Superintendent stated that the SAT enrollment is nine students at this time. He also noted that the District employee contracts are now on the website under the District menu.
Mr. Gratto updated the Board on the flooding that took place earlier in the day at EBIS. The flooding came from the leaking pipe that was replaced weeks ago by Taylor Oil. It came in by the 7th grade classrooms and many classrooms were affected. The company Westfair Restoration Service was here by 11:30 pm to assess the damage and begin remediation.
Mr. McGhee asked about the agreement between the District and Kildonian with salt and if any has been ordered. Mrs. Grden stated an order has been placed. Discussion ensued.
CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTION
A. None
BUSINESS AND OPERATIONS
A. None
BOARD OF EDUCATION
A. None
PUBLIC COMMENT
-Stefanie Giglio commented that two Webutuck alumni were in the paper recently.
They both were arrested for possession of heroin in separated instances. She is in favor of making arrests to prevent
worse choices down the road.
________________________________________________________________________
EXECUTIVE
SESSION
Mr. McGhee made and Mr. Trotter seconded a motion to adjourn to executive session at 8:47 pm for the
purpose of discussing the employment history of a particular person or persons.
Ayes 7 Nays 0 The motion carried.
RECONVENE
PUBLIC SESSION
Mr. Perotti made and Ms. Moran seconded a motion
to adjourn the executive session and to reconvene the public session at 10:13
pm.
Ayes 7 Nays 0 The motion carried.
A. Support
Staff Amendment
Ms. Moran made and Mrs.
Boyd seconded the following motion:
Upon the recommendation
of the Superintendent of Schools, BE IT RESOLVED that the Board of Education
hereby approves the following support staff amendment to correct salary:
Raymond Rivard Custodial
Worker (.5 FTE)
Effective: December 6, 2011 Salary: $13.43/hr, Step 1 per CSEA
Ayes 6 Nays 0 The motion carried.
Mr. Trotta abstained from voting.
B. Substitute Instructional Appointments
Ms. Moran made and Mrs.
Boyd seconded the following motion:
Upon the recommendation of the Superintendent
of Schools, BE IT RESOLVED that the Board of Education hereby approves the
following substitute instructional appointments:
Michelle Petryszyn Substitute
Teacher
Effective:
December 13, 2011 Salary:
$90/day
Lisa Kellman Substitute
Teacher
Effective: December
13, 2011 Salary:
$90/day
Danielle Zizzo Substitute
Teacher
Effective:
December 13, 2011 Salary:
$90/day
Ayes 7 Nays 0 The motion carried.
________________________________________________________________________
C. Substitute Support Staff Appointments
Ms. Moran made and Mrs.
Boyd seconded the following motion:
Upon the recommendation
of the Superintendent of Schools, BE IT RESOLVED that the Board of Education hereby approves the following
substitute support staff appointments:
Michelle Petryszyn Substitute
Teacher Aide/Assistant
Effective: December 13, 2011 Salary:
$11.96/hour
Lisa Kellman Substitute
Teacher Aide/Assistant
Effective: December 13, 2011 Salary:
$11.96/hour
Danielle Zizzo Substitute
Teacher Aide/Assistant
Effective: December 13, 2011 Salary:
$11.96/hour
Ayes 7 Nays 0 The motion carried.
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business, Mr. Perotti made and Mr. McGhee seconded
a motion to adjourn the meeting of December 12, 2011 at 10:18 pm.
Ayes 7 Nays 0 The motion carried.
Respectfully submitted,
Therese M. Trotter
District Clerk