Minutes October 12, 2010

1.1.1

Superintendent Search

The board met with consultants from Hazard Young Attea on September 30 and mapped out a calendar, which is available under "quick links" on the district website. October 25 and 26 have been set aside for the consultants to meet with administrators, staff, parent, and community members. In addition, they will be meeting November 3 with student leadership at Horace Greeley. At the regular meeting of the Board on November 30, the consultants will report on their findings from the focus groups and candidate profile. An ad will be posted in Education Week and several online educational advertising sites. The consultants will meet in Executive Session with the Board on January 13, 2011 to review applications. The Board plans to interview candidates in mid-January. A finalist should be announced in March.

Jeffrey Mester noted that there is a survey on the district website to rank the preferable superintendent characteristics.

1.1.2

"Race to Nowhere" PTA Program

President Benton thanked the PTA and R21K Committee for bringing this film about education to Chappaqua last week. It looks at the stressors and pressure that we put on our children to perform and achieve in a highly competitive environment and the resulting negative consequences that may result.

1.1.3

Audit Committee Report

Gregg Bresner submitted the Audit Report and he thanked the community members of the Audit Committee for their input and support, John Chow and Blanche Blair for their work with the auditor. He reported on the RFP for a new internal auditor.

1.1.4

Finance Committee Report

Jeffrey Mester reported that following a meeting with Randall Katchis and John Chambers, and in response to community interest, the Finance Committee suggests establishing an advisory committee representative of the community to work on budget issues. Besides the Board budget meetings, six additional meetings would be scheduled that are open to the public. Two members of the board would be chairs, a formal charge is required and appointment by the Board. President Benton noted that there was consensus to go forward with sending notice to the community to seek volunteers for such a committee.

1.1.5

Communications Committee Report

Alyson Kiesel reported on the meeting with Randall Katchis and Darleen Nicolosi, Director of Technology to research the different kinds of databases that we currently use to get information out to the community. They were impressed with Darleen's implementation of centralizing databases and her plan to reduce redundancy.

1.1.6

Policy Committee Report

President Benton announced that the District will no longer maintain paper policy / regulation books. All policies and regulations are online. When a policy/regulation has been revised, an email notification will be sent. There was no objection to this new efficiency measure.

1.1.7

Live streaming of Board Meetings

President Benton reported on some additional cost information, Option A relies on using an existing conduit to use a new cable - total would be $2,360. Option B, if A is not doable, would be to lay a new cable cost is $5,060. Another option of live streaming via computer but not cable tv was introduced. The Board will consider further after this approach is researched.

1.2.1

Communications - Classroom clips

Deputy Superintendent for Curriculum Lyn McKay introduced a series of videos entitled, "Classroom clips", 3-5 minute videos, that will be available on the website. The clips will take us into classrooms to share, both publicly and internally, what we see when we go beyond standardized tests and rote learning - bringing the board question on teaching and learning to life. Tonight the clip highlights fifth grade math. Future meetings will bring clips on writing in the high school and art in middle schools. Lyn expressed gratitude to a number of people who were involved in producing the clips. John Chambers noted that one of the first items discussed by board members and administrators was communication and this was Lyn's idea to illustrate teaching and learning. Board members were enthusiastic about the initiative.

1.2.2

Collaboration with Harvard University Researchers

Interim Superintendent John Chambers asked Lyn McKay to report on the opportunity to work with two researchers from Harvard University in both Bell and Seven Bridges,7^th and 8^th grade science classrooms. The researchers will be working with teachers and students looking at performance based assessments and an interactive virtual learning system with ecosystems.

Dr. McKay is also working with PNW/BOCES and other districts to develop or create an online or hybrid course on problems of the twenty-first century. Our teachers are part of the integral design and she will bring back information on the progress.

1.2.3

Interim Superintendent John Chambers touched on a variety of topics in his follow up on the opening weeks of school.

• There are 152 days to graduation.
• There was a large crown of about 450 for the Race to Nowhere including teachers and administrators.
• Chappaqua's Race to the Top award was zero. They are awards based on a Title 1 formula. Chappaqua will not be receiving any of money, but it will be going towards districts who are in need.
• Horace Greeley has 15 National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists and 30 commended students.
• There will be 377 teachers participating in the Staff Development Day on October 22 and 90 presenters.
• Mr. Chambers noted that the Strategic Questions have been utilized by administrators and teachers for leadership support.
• He provided some information on Tri-states, a group of high performing school districts from New Jersey, Connecticut, and New York. They plan to visit in March and more will be forthcoming.
• Under Human Resources/labor relations - Mr. Chambers mentioned that the CSEA contract is currently under negotiation and reported on the status of other employee contracts, including the teacher contract which has another two years, but some issues may be discussed before then.
• The Budget process will be previewed at the November 16 meeting.
• Mr. Chambers noted the successful Homecoming and the enthusiastic attendance at all the Open Houses. He acknowledged the need for additional parking arrangements.
• The Chappaqua School Foundation will be changing their mission statement.