April 1, 2005

April 1, 2005

“Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.”

- - Martin Luther King, Jr.

Greetings from Wayne Central. Below are a few items of interest.

BOARD LETTER

BOARD LETTER

1. Three Boards Meeting: I am sending you an email on this. The meeting begins at 7:00 in the Lodge at Casey Park. The Lodge is the new building on the right where we had our Board retreat. You will have the opportunity to meet the candidate I am recommending to you to fill Don’s position, Robert Miller. Most of you know Bob as he is a life-long resident and has worked as the assistant director for a number of years. He is someone who is more comfortable in a work shirt and jeans than a suit so you know he is the kind of person I like. I think you would be very happy with his work and I heartily recommend him for the position. His salary would be $61,357 for the first year.

2. Trips: This morning our German Club students left for Germany where they will be living with German host families as part of GAPP (German American Partnership Program). Our sister city is Weil der Stadt which is located in Southern Germany. Our Science Olympic Team will be competing at States the weekend of April 30^th. We are hoping for a repeat performance from last year’s great achievement. Our TSA (technology) team will be competing regionally that same weekend. Finally, our Senior class leaves for New York City on April 12. As you can see, our students have many opportunities to learn about the outside world.

3. Trip Chaperones: As noted above, we have many student trips coming up. As you know, we have been discussing chaperone responsibilities and obligations. There will be guidelines provided to participants to clarify the expectations.

4. State Budget: They actually did it! Enclosed are the estimated state aid runs. We won’t know exactly what we are getting until the BEDS forms are filed in October but it appears it will be more than we had estimated earlier. This makes it easier to fund the Public Relations and Grant Writer positions that the Board requested be added to the budget. Depending on the final numbers, it could also help us with the funding of one of our reserves.

5. Negotiations Update: We came close to settling the CSEA contract on Thursday but ran into a snag. I am optimistic that we will settle within the next couple weeks. This contract negotiation has been very different from previous ones. I am quite pleased with how they have responded to the process. Our next session is on Tuesday.

6. Board Meeting Responses: I have enclosed responses to the questions raised by two residents who attended our last board meeting.

7. Wayne County All Hazard Meeting: I attended a meeting at the Ontario Town Hall at the invitation of Supervisor Molino, regarding local and county preparedness for all means of hazards that could present themselves. Several entities were represented. Mr. Atseff, Mr. Prince and Mr. Miller attended this meeting with me.

8. Football Boosters: Mr. Blankenberg took a considerable amount of time discussing the football booster situation with several of the involved parties. He prepared a report on what he deemed to be areas of concern and recommended responses or actions. As we said previously, this may take some time to move past hard feelings and philosophical differences.

9. Four County Meeting: The April 6 Four County Meeting will be a General Session with the guest speaker being Regent Cofield. Please let Lori know if you are interested in attending.

10. Grant Writer: Enclosed in a draft job description for the grant writer position. Please review it and email me any modifications you would like to suggest. This position and the Public Relations position will be posted after the budget vote.

11. RIT Meeting: Mrs. Armitage and myself recently attended a meeting with one of the deans from RIT to discuss bringing some college level technology courses to our students. We currently offer some FLCC courses. I’d like to add some courses from a four year university such as RIT (Jackie, I know what you are thinking!) Also, part of our Model Schools Plan is to offer a college level computer applications course to every student.

12. Basketball Games: The annual high school vs. middle school staff basketball game will be this Wednesday. This event is held for staff to raise money for their Scholarship Fund and Weisenreder Fund. The money is given to students at graduation and throughout the year to needy families via the Weisenreder Fund. The HS Yearbook club brings the Donkey Basketball game to the high school each year as a fundraiser to offset the cost of the yearbook. Sometimes past FE students challenge OE students, or grade level challenges, and sometimes there are staff riders. If you find yourself with a few free hours, these are a couple of fun activities for a good cause.

13. Events:
April 2 – Four County Workshop
April 3 – Daylight Savings Time Begins – TURN CLOCKS FORWARD
April 2 & 3 – Wayne Wings Soccer Tournament at HS (all day both days)
April 4 – OP/OE PTA Meeting @OE – 7 p.m.
April 4 – Three Boards Meeting – Casey Park – 7:30 p.m.
April 5 & 7 – Parent/Teacher Conferences (grades K-8) - student half days
April 6 – HS vs. MS Basketball Game – HS Gym – 7:30 p.m.
April 6 – Four County Meeting @ Geneva Country Club – 5:30 p.m.
April 8 - Donkey Basketball Game – HS Gym – 7:00 p.m.
April 12 – Friends of Music Meeting @ MS – 7 p.m.
April 12 – MS PTA Meeting @ MS Media Center – 7 p.m.
April 12-15 – Senior Trip to NYC
April 15 – Tax Returns Due
April 18-22 – Spring Recess – Schools Closed

Athletics:

Athletics:
4/4 – Boys’ J.V. Tennis vs. NRW & Geneva – 4:15
4/7 - V. Softball vs. Canandaigua – 4:15
4/7 – V. Baseball vs. Canandaigua – 4:15
4/8 – Boys’ V. Tennis vs. Waterloo – 4:15
4/9 – V. Softball vs. Victor – 11:00
4/9 – V. Baseball vs. Victor – 11:00
4/11 – J.V. Softball vs. Newark – 4:15
4/11 – J.V. Baseball vs. Newark – 4:15
4/11 – Boys’ J.V. Tennis vs. Bloomfield – 4:15
4/13 – V. Softball vs. Geneva – 4:15
4/13 – V. Baseball vs. Geneva – 4:15
4/13 – Boys’ V. Tennis vs. Midlakes – 4:15

12. Attachments:
a) Three Boards Agenda
b) Craig Litt Letter
c) Susan Brown Letter
d) Grant Writer Job Description
e) State Aid Budget Run

AGENDA

THREE BOARD’S MEETING

THREE BOARD’S MEETING
Recreation Building, Casey Park
Ontario, NY
Date: April 4, 2005 @ 7:30 PM

Superintendent of Schools - Michael Havens

1. School Building Projects

2. School Budget

Town of Ontario - Supervisor Joe Molino

Town of Ontario - Supervisor Joe Molino

1. Library Addition Update

Other Items

Other Items

1. Next Meeting? (Ontario hosted April 2005; Wayne hosted October 2004)
Next meeting date would likely be in October, 2005 – hosted by Walworth

Office of the Superintendent phone 315/524-1001
fax 315/524-1049
March 30, 2005

Mr. Craig Litt
1042 Ridge Road
Ontario, NY 14519

Dear Mr. Litt,

Thank you for your questions at the March 24^th Board of Education meeting. I hope you will find my responses to your questions satisfactory to your needs.

1. What are our students and community getting for our increases?
Answer: Some of the increases are due to program improvements while others are due to increased expenses. Program improvements include such things as the ninth grade transition program, a part time grants writer (to reduce costs), a social worker, an indoor track team and a JV golf team. Cost increases are coming from such areas as New York State Retirement System ($400,000), Social Security ($47,000), health insurance ($275,000), fuel ($35,000) and students with special needs ($115,000).

2. What are we doing to keep costs down?
Answer: The Eagle Ventures program you saw at the Board meeting was one example of how we are keeping costs down. As explained, this program saves many hundreds of thousands of dollars. The grant writer will seek private money to fund (in whole or in part) some of our programs. If you compare the costs of educating a student in New York State you will find that we are below the New York State average in costs and are lower than most schools in this area. Comparatively, we actually do a very good job of containing costs.

3. Have we explored the benefits of consolidating?
Answer: I have done some preliminary work on consolidation but for the Wayne School District, it does not look financially advisable at this time. Wayne Central appears to be in a much better fiscal position than our neighbors. Combining their students, buildings, debt and lack of industrial base with Wayne might help them, but it does not appear to be beneficial to us.

I hope you find this information helpful. Please feel free to contact me should you have any additional questions.
Sincerely,

Michael Havens
Superintendent of Schools

Mh/les
Xc: Board of Ed.

� Students First - Excellence for All �

Office of the Superintendent phone 315/524-1001
fax 315/524-1049

March 30, 2005

Mrs. Susan Brown
7518 Knickerbocker Road
Ontario, NY 14519

Dear Mrs. Brown,

Thank you for your questions at our recent Board meeting. Listed below are both the questions you asked and hopefully some satisfactory answers.

1. Is the reading coach position of Mr. Adamo going to continue?
Answer: As you heard at the Board meeting that position was particularly successful due to the expertise of Mr. Adamo. Mr. Adamo will retire at the end of this year so it cannot continue in exactly the same form. We have been discussing options with him but have not yet made any final decisions.

2. Does the school know the fundraisers the booster clubs do?
Answer: Our athletic director, Mr. Blankenberg, charts all fundraisers including those done by the booster club.

3. Why do the school pictures come back so late?
Answer: Mr. Siracuse tells me that the student pictures were delivered to parents quite a long time ago. What were distributed recently were the composite class pictures that are given to everyone including those who do not purchase school pictures.

I hope this helps answer your questions. Please feel free to contact me should you desire any additional information.

Sincerely,

Michael Havens
Superintendent of Schools

Mh/les
Xc: Board of Ed.

� Students First - Excellence for All �

Educational Grant Writer (.5 Position)

Summary:

Summary:
The Grants Writer identifies, writes and successfully obtains grants that help the Wayne Central School District meet its district goals while reducing the tax burden on the community.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Duties and Responsibilities:

1. Identify appropriate grant funding sources that meet the goals of the school district.
2. Write and submit competitive federal, state and private/corporate foundation grant proposals on behalf of the school district.
3. Develop relationships with school district administrators and staff to facilitate meaningful program development as part of the grant-writing process.
4. Consult with grant recipients on program implementation, evaluation and long-term sustainability.
5. Prepare quarterly and annual reports for the district and as required by granting agencies.
6. Perform other duties as assigned.

Required Skills, Knowledge and Abilities:

Required Skills, Knowledge and Abilities:
1. Knowledge of grant application process and writing of applications.
2. Knowledge of various grants programs available to school districts.
3. Excellent organization skills.
4. Excellent creative and technical writing skills.
5. Effective oral communication skills and ability to maintain positive relationships at all organizational levels.
6. Ability to work under pressure to meet deadlines, complete multiple projects, meet strict deadlines, and pay attention to detail for grant opportunities.
7. Ability to take initiative and utilize innovative techniques and ingenuity in preparing grant/loan applications.
8. Ability to research available grant opportunities.
9. Ability to work flexible hours for research.
10. Ability to travel when required for research and training.
11. Ability to participate as a team player to coordinate grant projects.
12. Ability to read, interpret and apply laws, rules and regulations.
13. Ability to gather, analyze, and evaluate a variety of data.
14. Understanding of and experience in the field of education are considered further assets.

Conditions:
The Grant Writer Specialist reports to the Superintendent. He or she is a 1/2 time, 12-month, exempt employee.

Educational requirements:
Minimum of Bachelors degree – a degree in humanities or a field requiring extensive writing is considered an asset.

Starting Salary: Salary will be commensurate with level of experience and qualifications.