| I heard the bells on Christmas Day | ||
| Their old, familiar carols play, | ||
| And wild and sweet, The words repeat | ||
| Of peace on earth, good-will to men! | ||
| - - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow | ||
| 1. | School Closing due to Illnesss - I am certain many of you have heard the news of Penn Yan closing due to illness. In speaking with Gene Spanneut, Penn Yan Superintendent, he stated that they were at a district-wide 19% student absenteeism, with their middle school at 26% and high school at 22%. On Wed (12/10) district-wide absenteeism was 4.5%, 6% on Friday (12/12), 17% on Monday (12/15) and 19% on Wed. (12/17). A deciding factor was the steady accelerated increase in the student absentee numbers. They have initiated a district wide closing – including all school activities from December 18-January 5. | |
| In researching this issue, we find there is no “quota” that is used as a guideline by the State Education Department or the State Health Department. Dr. Devore, school physician, is in contact with our school nurses to keep abreast of the situation at Wayne. We are tracking overall attendance percentages in each building (see attachment a). At this time, we have no concerns over our absenteeism as it has been steady and at a normal level for this time of year. As you will notice from the chart, the only real increase we have seen is at Freewill on Thursday. | |
| We have asked the nurses in each building to keep us informed of abnormal jumps in absenteeism in their buildings. | |
| 2. | Water Loss at HS/MS – On Wednesday evening the water was shut off to the high school and middle school by the town. There was a problem with a water main on Ridge Road at Ontario Center. Unfortunately, this occurred on the evening of the MS Band Concert. I believe the duration of the water outage was less than two hours, so it did not cause any significant hardship for those at the concert. Our maintenance staff placed signs notifying the public of the situation. | |
| 3. | Full Day Kindergarten and Redistricting Meetings – Over Christmas recess we will be putting together a timeline for meetings and activities to roll out our redistricting and full day kindergarten program. I hope to have that plan to you for the January meeting. |
| 4. | Sales Tax Issue- We are safe from a take back of the County Sales tax for the 2004 school year, however the following year will be a difficult battle. The county is experiencing some difficult budgeting issues and have been forced to make some cuts including our popular DARE program. I met with the incoming Town of Ontario Supervisor, Joe Molino. I explained the joint projects we are working on and the importance of the sales tax money. He assured me he would not support taking the money from the schools. He will face intense pressure from his county colleagues to do so, so if you know Joe, and you happen to run in to him, be sure to let him know how much you appreciate his support on this issue. |
| 5. | Concert Reschedule – The high school concert was cancelled on Sunday due to the weather conditions. It has been rescheduled for Monday, December 22 at 7:30 p.m. in the Performing Arts Center. |
| 6. | Happy Holidays - With the holiday recess ahead, we will be taking a break from the board letters and correspondence until January 5 when we will have the board agenda packets and board newsletter delivered to your home. I extend my very best wishes to you for happy holidays with family and friends. I look forward to the new year and all that it will bring for us at Wayne Central. |
| 7. | Events - | |
| Dec. 22 – HS Band & Chorus Concert @ PAC – 7:30 p.m. | ||
| Jan. 7 – Board of Education Mtg @ OE – 7:00 p.m. | ||
| Jan.8 – Junior Honor Society Induction – MS – 6:00 p.m. | ||
| Athletics: (Home Games) | |
| 1/3 – Boys JV & V Basketball vs. York Central – 6:00 & 7:30 p.m. | |
| 1/5 – JV & V Bowling vs. Mynderse – 4:15 p.m. | |
| 1/6 – Boys JV & V Basketball vs. Penn Yan – 6:00 & 7:30 p.m. | |
| 1/7 – JV & V Bowling vs. Canandaigua – 4:15 p.m. | |
| 1/9 – Boys JV & V Basketball vs. Victor – 6:00 & 7:30 p.m. | |
| 1/10 – JV & V Wrestling vs. Newark – 6:00 p.m. |
| 8. | Attachments – | |
| a. | Student Absenteeism – Week of December 15 | ||
| b. | Hopeworks Newsletter | ||
| c. | Walworth Town Board Meeting Minutes – 12/4 | ||
| 15th | 16th | 17th | 18th | 19th | |
| FE | 37 | 20 | 24 | 57 | 68 |
| (438) | 8.4% | 4.6% | 5.5% | 13% | 15.5% |
| Normal Avg | 3-6% | ||||
| OP | 27 | 23 | 17 | 23 | 26 |
| (381) | 7.1% | 6% | 4.5% | 6% | 6.8% |
| Normal Avg | 3-5% | ||||
| OE | 44 | 38 | 31 | 39 | 29 |
| (389) | 11.3% | 9.8% | 8% | 10% | 7.5% |
| Normal Avg | 3-6% | ||||
| MS | 81 | 63 | 59 | 58 | 68 |
| (711) | 11.4% | 8.9% | 8.3% | 8.2% | 9.6% |
| Normal Avg | 7%-11% | ||||
| HS | 58 | 55 | 66 | 69 | 45 |
| (864) | 6.7% | 6.4% | 7.6% | 8% | 5.2% |
| Normal Avg | 5-10% | ||||
| Districtwide | 247 | 199 | 197 | 246 | 236 |
| (2783) | 8.9% | 7.2% | 7.1% | 8.8% | 8.5% |
| Normal Avg | 5%-10% | ||||