1. May 12, 2006
    2. Board Letter:
    3. 11. Upcoming Events:
    4. Athletics: (Home Events Only)
    5. 12.  Attachments:
  1. Wayne Central School District
  2. Office of the Superintendent of Schools
  3. Memorandum
    1. TO: Board of Education
    2. FROM: Michael Havens
    3. RE: Excellence 
    4. DATE: May 12, 2006
  4. Wayne Central School District
  5. Office of the Superintendent of Schools
    1. PO Box 155
    2. 6076 Ontario Center Road
    3. Ontario Center, NY 14520
    4. 315-524-1001

Letter to the Board

 

 
 
 
 
 
 



May 12, 2006
 
"Even if you are on the right path, you will get run over if you just sit there." --Will Rogers

 

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

 

 



Board Letter:

  
1. Accident: As you are all aware, on Wednesday, there was an accident involving a school vehicle and a young boy. I reported at that time that we believed the child had sustained two broken legs (based on the EMT’s evaluation) and that he was air lifted to Strong Hospital. Fred called the hospital Thursday and was told that the child, Job Marshall, 10 years old, is in guarded condition in the intensive care unit. Fred Prince followed district procedures and took the driver of the vehicle, our mechanic Kevin Grace, for drug testing immediately following the accident (after clearance by EMT’s and the police). Results of that will be coming in about 2 days. The alcohol test was returned immediately and came back negative. The deputy chief of the WC Sheriff, Richard House, did an accident reconstruction and it demonstrated that there was no chance for our driver to stop for this child. The district vehicle was a 1989 Chevrolet suburban. The accident site was just north of Paddy Lane on Route 350. Kevin is taking a few days off, he is pretty shaken up. Fred has asked Lori Sensenback (OP counselor) to contact him and see how he is doing. Randy Emison was also in the vehicle and is obviously upset as well. Lisa Connor (HS counselor) is making contact with him from the high school. Just FYI, I received only one call from the media regarding the accident. (See attached)
 
2. Greg Update: Greg has been out this week and has been sent for a MRI. I believe the doctors are still unsure of what is happening, but migraines are one culprit that is on the list. He continues to have the symptoms. I will keep you posted.
 
3. Newark Police Dept Release: We received the attached release regarding an arrest of a school volunteer in the Newark School District for sexual abuse of an 8 year old student and the subsequent arrest of a third grade teacher for the failure to report her knowledge of suspected incidence of abuse. Mark Callahan has checked our records and has verified that neither the teacher nor the aide have ever been on the payroll at Wayne Central as far as we can tell. We really do not have any way of verifying whether the volunteer might have spent time with our district, but I did make an inquiry to all our buildings and they have no records or recollection of him. Since the newspaper states he just retired from Newark and began volunteering, I feel quite confident he was never here.
 
4. High School Talent Show: The annual National Honor Society Talent School will be held on Thursday, May 18 at 7:00 p.m in the Performing Arts Center.
 
5. High School Undergraduate Awards: Enclosed are invitations to the Undergraduate Awards on May 30 at 7:00 p.m. in the PAC.
 
6. Honor Roll: The third quarter high school honor roll is attached for your information. FYI, we had 52% of the 9th grade on the honor roll, 42% of the 10th grade, 45% of the 11th grade and 54% of the 12th grade (honor roll meaning merit, honor and high honor roll). One of the exciting things about this is that typically our 9th graders make up the smallest percentage. This time they are the second highest and last quarter they were at the top.
 
7. Special Olympics: On May 26 Wayne Central will be hosting the Wayne Finger Lakes Special Olympics. This involves Track & Field events and is coordinated by our Athletic Director, Marc Blankenberg in conjunction with our special education staff. Each member of our track team has been helping to train our 18 special Olympians. Students and student athletes from Wayne Central will be assisting with the running of the events of the day. If you have the opportunity, you may want to stop in to see it. The schedule of events is as follows: 9:30 a.m. Arrival of Athletes, 10:15 a.m. Opening ceremonies, 10:45 Competition begins, 1:30 p.m. Closing of competition. Attached is a list of the participating schools.
 
 
8. Bob Lonsberry Radio Show: A parent called in to the Bob Lonsberry show complaining about a play that was going to happen at OP regarding what he felt was anti-logging. The skit, with an environmental, arbor day theme, is attached. The parent wrote a letter to the teacher after hearing of the play rehearsal stating his objections, and the teacher discontinued the play. The parent has family members in the logging business and felt it portrayed loggers as insensitive to wildlife and the environment. His letter is attached as well.
 
9. Meet the Candidates Night: On Monday, May 15 the HS PTSA and the OP/OE PTA will be hearing a budget presentation at 7:00 p.m. in the district office conference room. They have decided that they would like to host a meet the candidates night as well. They are coordinating this and inviting all the candidates to participate. We have made arrangements for them to have access to the HS Cafeteria if needed for additional space.
 
10. Newsweek Top 1,000 School: See Attached Memo
 


11. Upcoming Events:
 
May 16 – Budget VOTE @ HS Gym 9:00 – 9:00 p.m.May 16 – FE Band & Chorus Concert @ PAC – 7:00 p.m.May 16 – District Art Show @ HS – All Day May 17 – Education Foundation Meeting @ R-House – 7:00 p.m.May 23 – OP/OE PTA Meeting @ OE – 3:30 p.m.May 24 – Senior Banquet @ Webster Gold Club – 6:00 p.m.May 24 – OP Concert @ PAC – 7:00 p.m.May 25 – Board of Education Meeting @ D) – 7:00 p.m.June 15 – Education Foundation Meeting @ R-House – 7:00 p.m.
May 15 – HS PTSA Meeting/ Budget Presentation & Meet the Candidates Night @ DO – 7:00 p.m.
May 22 – OE Concert Chorus @ PAC – 7:00 p.m.
May 26 – WFL Special Olympics @ Wayne Central – all day – Appx. 9:00 – 2:00
 


Athletics: (Home Events Only)
5/15 – Girls’ Varsity Softball vs. Newark – 7:00 p.m.
5/15 – Boys’ JV Baseball vs. Newark – 4:15 p.m.
5/15 – Girls’ JV Softball vs. Newark – 4:15 p.m.
5/16 - Co-Ed Varsity Track vs. Newark – 4:15 p.m.
5/16 – Boys’ JV Tennis vs. Newark – 4:15 p.m.
5/17 – Boys’ JV Baseball vs. Geneva - 4:15 p.m.
5/17 – Girls’ JV Softball vs. Geneva – 4:15 p.m. – (double header)
5/17 – Girls’ JV Softball vs. Lyons – 7:00 p.m.
5/18 – Boys’ Varsity Tennis vs. Penn Yan – 4:15 p.m.
5/19 – Boys’ JV Tennis vs. Pal-Mac – 4:15 p.m.
5/19 – Boys’ Varsity Baseball vs. Canandaigua – 4:15 p.m.
5/19 – Girls’ Varity Baseball vs. Canandaigua – 7:00 p.m.
 


12. Attachments:
a. D & C Accident Article
b. Newark Staff Arrests Information
c. HS Talent Show invitation
d. HS Honor Roll
e. Special Olympics Participating Schools
f. OP Skit and Parent Letter
g. Newsweek Top Schools Letter
h. Legislative Letters
i. MCSBA “Newscope” – May
j. “Embracing The Challenge” Panel Discussion
k. HS Undergraduate Awards Night Invitation

 
 

Back to top


Wayne Central School District

Back to top


Office of the Superintendent of Schools
 

Back to top


Memorandum

 
 



TO:  Board of Education



FROM:  Michael Havens



RE:  Excellence  



DATE:   May 12, 2006
 
This memo and chart is for reflection purposes. I don’t want you to do anything right now but I’d like you to think about it and have a discussion together some time this summer, perhaps at our retreat. I have asked Mr. Siracuse and his administrative team to have similar reflections.
 
Our stated overall goal is to be the best school in New York State by any measure. It is a lofty goal which has driven our Commitment to Excellence goals that we report to you on. Each of those goals measure minimum competency. That is, they measure how many students pass a test with a minimum of 65. Most all of our efforts have been to get at least 90% of our students to that minimum spot. We aren’t really pushing our average to above average students to a more rigorous level.
 
Newsweek magazine publishes what it considers to be the top 1,000 high schools in the country. They use a very different type of measure. They base their statistics on the percent of students that chose to be part of an AP or IB program. So they are measuring the number of students in the average to above average ability who choose the most difficult high school program. I don’t think one measure is better than another measure. They are just looking at different students in making their judgment.
 
As you know, recently we waived the AP costs for US history and Spanish for the 2005-06 school year. The number of students who decided to take the assessment increased dramatically. Next year without subsidizing any costs, it already appears we will have a record number of students taking AP.
 
The enclosed chart shows the top 50 NYS schools according to the Newsweek criteria. I have highlighted Monroe County schools in yellow. The dark blue bars show where we are. The question I’d like us to ponder is this, “If we want to be the best school district by any measure, is this a measure we should look at?”
 
As with every measure, this one is flawed. It measures how many students take the exam, not how many pass it. The cost of $80 a test also means something different to a family in Pittsford than it does to some of our Wayne families. Given all that look at the data, reflect on it and we’ll talk about it later.


Back to top


Wayne Central School District

Back to top


Office of the Superintendent of Schools
 



PO Box 155



6076 Ontario Center Road



Ontario Center, NY 14520



315-524-1001

 

         May 8, 2006
 
 
Governor George Pataki        Also sent to: Assemblyman James Tedisco
State Capitol               Republican Leader, NYS Assembly
Albany, NY 12224
 
RE: New Edison Project
 
To the Honorable Governor Pataki,
 
As a Superintendent of Schools for a school district of nearly 3000 students in the State of New York, I have a keen understanding and strong belief in the importance of providing the greatest possible opportunities for our students in the fields of math and science.
 
The New Edison Project has many wonderful programs that focus on the distinct need for our state, and our nation, to be able to prepare our students to compete globally in terms of the academic challenges they are faced with. As you state, there is a tremendous need to keep pace with this ever growing, ever expanding technological world in which we live, and we do our youth a tremendous disservice if we are not providing them the opportunities to be as prepared as students in every other part of the world.
 
I applaud the efforts of this project, and our district is pursuing a pilot with local University for “Project Lead the Way.” We are looking forward to its success. Please feel free to contact me if I may be of service to you in continuing these efforts.
 
             Regards,
 
 
             Michael Havens
             Superintendent of Schools
 
/les
Xc: Board of Education
 

       “Students First ~ Excellence For All”  

Back to top