Minutes February 15, 2011

Date:

February 15, 2011

Time:

8:15 p.m.

Place:

Horace Greeley Auditorium

Present:

Board of Education
Janet Benton, President
Gregg Bresner, Vice President
Alyson Kiesel
Jeffrey Mester
Randall Katchis

Staff Members
Present:

Mr. John Chambers, Interim Superintendent

Dr. Lyn McKay, Deputy Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction

Mr. John Chow, Assistant Superintendent for Business

Theresa Markley, District Clerk/Adm. Asst. to Superintendent

Visitors Present:

Representatives of the Chappaqua PTA, school PTAs, building administrators, faculty, and other interested citizens.

President Janet Benton convened the public session at 7:00p.m. and moved to enter into Executive Session to discuss a personnel issue and negotiations. Jeffrey Mester seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

At 8:20 p.m. Jeffrey Mester moved to adjourn the Executive Session and reconvene the public session. Randall Katchis seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

President Benton welcomed everyone. She turned the meeting over to Interim Superintendent John Chambers and Deputy Superintendent Lyn McKay to introduce the latest release of Classroom Clips.

Presentations:

1. Classroom clips - Literacy, Grade 2

   Dr. McKay provided a look into the classroom of Annie Piekarski, second grade teacher at Roaring Brook and Doreen Calendria, special education teacher, as they co-taught a second grade class in reading. In the clip, students are reading at the same level and sharing conversations about the same text. The students learn to form opinions and ideas, which encourages them to become independent thinkers and speakers.

2. Budget Discussion - Superintendent's Proposed Budget for 2011-2012: School Programs and Staffing

   Interim Superintendent John Chambers presented an overview of the proposed budget for 2011-12. He prefaced his remarks with a reminder that this is the third year of working in the context of a troubled economy and the district faces more difficult decisions in the future. With that in mind, he described the budget process as a collaborative effort between central office and building administrators that began in the fall. Mr. Chambers reviewed the district's strategic questions, the four pillars of a school budget (class size/staffing, program, infrastructure, and contractual obligations), and the modifications to the operating standards upon which the 2011-12 budget is based.

   The proposed budget for 2011-12 is $111,338,488, an increase of $1,947,140 or 1.78%.

   In November a rollover budget was presented to the community to carry forward all the district's current programs and staffing with a 6.61% increase or $7,233,407. This was a clearly unacceptable starting point for the board and community. Mr. Chambers noted the unprecedented opening of the Chappaqua Congress of Teachers' Contract in January with a $1 million dollar giveback by the union was a step forward, but still more staff reductions would be required to lower the budget. To achieve the 1.78% increase, the proposed budget contains $4.2 million in instructional and non-instructional personnel reductions and $1.1 million in non-personnel reductions. Districts are bound by New York rules across all employee groups to determine staff reduction priority.

   Horace Greeley Principal Andrew Selesnick outlined the impact of teaching staff reductions the high school. The number of sections offered in English, Math, Social Studies, Science, Foreign language, Physical Education and Business will be reduced, resulting in larger average class sizes. Class sizes will still be within district contract guidelines, with core academic class sizes projected to average between 21 and 24 students. The reduction in the number of course sections offered may make scheduling for some individual students more difficult. Mr. Selesnick explained that students have not selected their courses for next year so specific course demand is not yet known.

   Seven Bridges Principal Martha Zornow reviewed the projected grade level enrollment for next year and explained the proposed change to reduce the number of teams in seventh and eighth grades. There will be one full team and one half team at each grade level. Average team section size will be 23.2 in 7th grade and 25 in 8th grade. The half teams will share core subject area teachers, with each teacher teaching two sections of seventh grade and two sections of eighth grade. Ms. Zornow commented that she is familiar with the blended team model from her work in other Westchester districts. It was also noted that half teams have been used in past years at Bell when warranted by enrollment numbers.

   Deputy Superintendent Lyn McKay pointed out that there will be a reduction in a .8 FTE administrative position in special education. There will be no change in entitlement or loss of special education services to students. It will mean an increased workload for assistant principals who will be part of the CSE teams. They have experience in this area but will receive additional training as well.

   Mr. Chambers noted that other recommendations, such as former Superintendent David Fleishman's recommendation to consider restructuring the middle schools into 5-6, 7-8 configuration or changes in transportation guidelines some time in the future might be necessary. He cautioned that both these would require long term study and are not being considered for implementation in the 2011-12 school year.

Questions and Comments on topic. There were a number of comments and questions about the presentation.

1.

Information Business Affairs

2.

Organization

Question and Comments on Report Items

3.

Approvals

Alyson Kiesel moved to approve meeting minutes as amended, for:

4.

Recommended Action: Personnel

Interim Superintendent John Chambers made the following recommendations and requested that Lisa Lowy be omitted from the resolution to appoint AP proctors.

5.

Recommended Action: Other

Alyson Kiesel moved that items 5.1 through 5.7 be approved and resolved as indicated below. Gregg Bresner seconded. President Benton asked if there was any further discussion on these items. As there was none, the motion passed unanimously.

6.

Facilities

Jeffrey Mester and Randall Katchis, co-chairs of the Facilities Committee, reported that Bell, Douglas Grafflin, Westorchard, and Seven Bridges were clean and well maintained. Bell School needs courtyard window replacement, which is planned for next year but there are no major changes to the district buildings.

7.

Financials

Alyson Kiesel moved to accept items 7.1 through 7.3, the financial reports and approve items 7.4 through 7.6, the bid and budget transfers. Randall Katchis seconded. After a brief discussion on item 7.4, the motion passed unanimously.

Questions and Comments

8.

Notice of Future Meetings -

President Benton gave notice of future meetings:

Tuesday, March 1, 2011 at Horace Greeley High School - 8:15 p.m.

9.

Adjournment

At 12:15 a.m. President Benton asked for a motion to adjourn the meeting. Jeffrey Mester moved to adjourn the meeting. Randall Katchis seconded. The motion passed unanimously.