October 12, 2000

Wednesday evening’s Board of Education Meeting began with an Executive Session where the Board

discussed the possibility of a land acquisition bordering the Middle School property. The regular meeting

began with Announcements and Committee Reports. Gretchen Craft reported on a volleyball game she

attended and reminded the Board of the upcoming Open House at the Williamson Vocational Center.

Amy BennettLepel reported that she and Bucky Jordan presented Perfect Attendance awards to Middle

School staff. Deb Larson reported on the Elementary School Open House that she attended and

announced that one community member has volunteered for the Technology Committee. The district is

still looking for one more interested resident. Bill Herbert reported on an upcoming meeting in Albany on

the New York State Standards implementation and highlighted his recent trip to the Netherlands.

The Board approved the Consent Agenda which included substitute teachers and support staff. A few

extracurricular appointments were approved, as was the appointment of Carolyn DeRight­Smith as

permanent substitute for the Elementary level and Rhonda Bigelow as Elementary School Monitor. The

General Purpose Financial Statement and Management Letter, prepared by Raymond F. Wager, CPA, was

reviewed and approved. CSE Case Summaries, presented by Wanda Miller were all approved after

questions were answered.

Under Reports to the Board, the Middle School Planning Team was in attendance to present their Action

Plans for the year. Principal, Doug Skeet, provided an introduction and discussed Action Plan 1 which

focuses upon improving communications between school and home. Action Plan 2 was presented by

Gary Holowka and focused upon the plan for establishing Academic Intervention Services and

monitoring student progress. Karen Cross presented Action Plan 3 which discussed the formulation of a

Committee to study and investigate Alternative Programming for Middle School Students who are not

being successful with traditional programming. Diane Osborn and Kristen Smucz highlighted some

immediate action items that they are going to address. Other members of the team present were Kathy

Grandjean and Mark Cottrell.

Also under Reports to the Board, Director of Curriculum and Instruction, Maria Ehresman, presented an

update of how our 4

th

 

 

and 8

th

graders performed on the New York State Tests in Math and Language Arts

given last year. Williamson 4

th

graders scored at the top of our region on both the English/Language Arts

and Math Tests. On the 8

th

grade Math Tests our students performed nearer the middle of the region,

scoring fourth in Wayne County out of 11 schools. On the 8

th

grade English/Language Arts Test our

students again scored at or near the top in the region. Maria outlined plans to address the lower

performance in the Math area as students move through the system. This trend was seen not only in our

region but across the State.

Under Old Business the Board determined the Board Representative to the District­wide Safety

Committee and decided to approach the PTA for their recommendation for the community representative.

This committee will be set up after November 1

st

to address the new regulations around school safety. A

plan will be developed by the July 1, 2001 deadline. The Board began their review of the policy book by

starting on the 1000 section. Five policies were identified for revision and a first reading at the next

meeting. The Board will complete sections 1000 – 3000 this year.

Under New Business, the Board unanimously approved the French Club trip to Quebec City and Montreal

scheduled for May 2001. Linda Shepard, High School French Teacher, was present to answer questions.

After Public Participation, the meeting was recessed to Executive Session at 9:30 p.m. The meeting was

adjourned at 10:00 p.m.