| Date: | 8/19/98 | ||
| To: | Members, BOE | ||
| From: | Chris Manaseri | ||
| Subject: | Backup for second August meeting | ||
We are scheduled to meet on Tuesday night ( back to normal) and this memo is meant to help prepare you for that event.
NON-AGENDA ITEMS:
1.0 Email addresses were tried out and I’ve heard back from Mike, Rhonda, and Laurie only, so far. We have set up a docushare folder that’s private for BOE members only, and Mike will show you how to access it during the meeting. You’ll even find a copy of this memo there - just to show you how it works. The email addresses will NOT be necessary to use docushare, but internet access will be. It won’t matter whether you access docushare from home, from work, or from Starbucks, but you will need to be able to get to the net.
2.0 EPC. The lending company called yesterday and they STILL haven’t processed our loan for phase two. Not a big problem to us, but Ernie’s got to be sorry he laid that money out a year ago now.
3.0 Capital Project planning: We do have a meeting of whomever is interested from the community facilities committee from the Long Range Planning process on Wednesday night, with the architect present. This will allow us to test the waters and see if the amount of work we’ve scoped out is supportable. A copy of the memo inviting folks to that is attached. Also attached is an interesting survey of Distance Learning in rural schools in New York which just arrived. This may be helpful data in supporting the project proposal.
4.0 South Seneca will appoint a new superintendent at a meeting tonight (Wednesday). Speculation is that it will be Doug Chappel, the current high school principal in Dansville. What impact that decision will have on the formulation of a merger committee or on their interest in joining Waterloo and us in a CBO is yet to be seen. Doug must be pretty good, or he wouldn’t have beaten out Gary Alger. ( Either that or it’s one more mistake in a list they’re making). John Plume was always reticent to go too far on sharing services with us, including Gary’s services in particular. We’ll have to wait to see how receptive the new guy will be. Thursday morning’s news confirms Mr. Chappel’s appointment.
5.0 Drivers’ meeting was held to bid on routes on Monday. All quiet.
6.0 Speaking of shared services- we will host two safety meetings in the next two weeks, put on by our insurer and the county’s. One will be 8/25 for bus drivers and one 9/2 for cafeteria workers. They will stress the importance of safety and the avoidance of injury as part of a common effort to reduce workers’ comp cases. All county, town, village and school employees in these areas will be invited. RCS plays host for three reasons - we’re centrally located, we are the only school with NYSIR and its sister group NYMIR, and we’re the most cooperative people around!
7.0 STAR reimbursement claim went out in today’s mail. We should get some $140,000 in state money that will not come out of the local property taxpayer’s pocket. Also Tax Bills arrived today. Sample enclosed showing STAR savings. It’s REAL!
8.0 Auditors plan to come in sometime next week to get started. This could be a long and arduous process this year. Some of you do not remember what these things used to be like, and with all of our changes this year, it will be reminiscent of the past, I’m sure. I am not worried about that, however, and neither should you be. Next year is the important one - with a full year under her belt, Gloria will be responsible for her own mess then. This year, with three different hands in the till, you can’t expect too much.
9.0 Out of Town Superintendent. I will be in Maine by Friday morning for a Wyeth show, and will not return until Sunday. Emergencies will need to wait until then, or be handled by Terry Mays if they relate to the building. Charlie’s in camp, and there’s no baby yet, so this may be a last fling for a while....
10.0 Moving Up: I was asked to serve on the executive committee of the Board of Directors of the Rural Schools Program just today. Thought that was worth mention.
11.0 BOCES Board seat: Well, I don’t know how you do ( did) it, but you backed the right horse again. Just FYI, the candidate you selected to fill the BOCES Board seat is the same on that most other Boards selected.
12.0 FYI: I enclose for you a copy of the commissioner’s decision related to the use of Native American names, mascots and/or logos. I still haven’t heard or seen anything from SED aside from this, and expect it will get its more than fair share of attention once it does hit, so thought you should know the genesis of the debate.
AGENDA ITEMS:
0.0 Public to be heard: Just in case one of our sports parents wants to ask you to approve their youngster participating in somebody else’s sports teams - read on.
1.0 Routine will be on hold until we have some show and tell.
2.0 Pete Goloski will join us to discuss band and marching in particular. You may recall that there was some interest expressed around our table in the Spring in looking into why we don’t compete in band. At my request, Pete initiated a survey which drew very sparse returns, but which would be hard pressed to support change. Rather than leave it at that, though, and rather than leave it to me to make the editorial comments regarding the survey, the interest and the current program, I thought it would be a good thing for us all to spend some time talking about marching band. I expect this to be upbeat, but guarded, brief, and far from earth-shattering. The tabulation of the surveys returned is below, and copies of the originals plus surveys from 1992 will be available:
4-6 7-12 Total
Compete
Parent /// //// 7
Child / /// 4
Status Quo
Parent ////\ // 7
Child ////\ // / 8
Using my SU gradual student jargon, the data, while mixed, tend to indicate that most people would rather continue with the non-competitive limited program we currently offer than move to a more restrictive and competitive program. Pete will expound.
3.0 Our second presentation of the evening will involve a Board Member’s introduction to docushare. You now all have accounts, and I have passwords for you which you will get at the meeting. Mike Midey will showcase this software marvel and the work we’ve done with it to date in the upstairs lecture room on the large screen. The presentation will allow you to see three key things: (1) the general information about our school which we have posted both on our webpage and its links to docushare; (2) the work which our teachers involved with program networks and the regional curriculum council have done on our curriculum at a glance; and (3) your new digital document center as BOE members. This is one more sample of us continuing to push the envelope of what is available to us currently through EduTech.
4.0 Returning downstairs for the third presentation of the evening, you will hear a report from your clerk about voter registration as an alternative to our current ID method.
5.0 Barb will update you on preparations for school’s start in the elementary.
6.0 Mike will talk with you about the latest addition to our support for students starting the ninth grade - an orientation project coordinated by Joan Barnard and Jeff Felice, and sponsored in part through grant moneys under Barb’s jurisdiction.
7.0 Mike will also don his AD hat and speak with you about combined sports teams. That is if you don’t end up hearing from a parent at the beginning of the meeting as a public to be heard item. Mike has had two requests ( one from a male, one a female) to have individuals from Romulus play on Fall sports teams in sports we do not offer at other schools. One young man wants to play football at DeSales while remaining a student here, one young woman wants to play volleyball in a local public school. Both issues are problematic on at least two levels: first, they require the cooperation of another school ( a commodity not easily secured) - including the support of both the AD and the Superintendent, then the approval of the Section; and second, they would establish a precedent which I’m not sure you want to establish, in allowing youngsters to avoid our own offerings while enhancing those of other schools. Mike and I agree that we do not recommend the establishment of such a precedent, while we are able to offer a full compliment of healthy activities of an extracurricular nature. If we were not offering any sports due to fiscal conservancy, that might be another story. However, we are expanding our own programs this year, there are plenty of opportunities to be involved, and we would rather keep our kids here than send them elsewhere. This is one of the disadvantages of a small school - we do not have a great deal of variety- quality, yes, variety, no. A little like a small restaurant with a limited menu.
We also have had one request to allow a South Seneca youngster to participate on our golf team ( they cut golf two years ago). We have said no to that request informally and it seems to have gone away. To do otherwise would be hypocritical.
8.0 The news of the week is the resignation of one of our key players in Liz Larzelere. Liz called me at home on Tuesday night to inform me she has been offered a similar position -exact same job title as the new one we were giving her- at close to double her salary. As her venture into our business office showed us, she is ready for something new and this is an opportunity she cannot afford to let pass her by. Liz will do our new teacher training and our opening days for staff, but will not be here to open the school year with the kids. We are fortunate in that computer instruction is not mandatory and in that our teachers all have preps other than those provided by the time kids spend in this “special”. Therefore we do not need to hurry to find someone for September 8. Ads have been placed and we will seek someone for September. As you all know well, Liz has done a great job for us and we will miss her.
9.0 We have several other personnel changes that need your approval, including two medical leaves, an appointment of Stanley Beers to a probationary position as a cleaner in replacement of retired custodian Walt Troutman, and replacements for the two support staff positions on leave. Karen Dix did our bank courier much of last year after Pat’s injury and Alice will be busy collecting taxes at 2 o’clock each afternoon.
To my knowledge there is no need for an executive session at this time.
There. Lot’s of show and tell, some routine business items, and we’ve ready to open our doors for a 61st season! See you Tuesday night at 7:30!
CM/CM
8/19/98 CONFIDENTIAL 1
8/19/98 CONFIDENTIAL 3