Minutes March 12, 2014

Date:

March 12, 2014

Time:

7:30 p.m.

Place:

Horace Greeley High School

Present:

Board of Education
Jeffrey Mester, President
Karen Visser, Vice President
Alyson Gardner Kiesel
Warren Messner
Victoria Tipp

Staff Members
Present:

Dr. Lyn McKay, Superintendent

Mr. Eric Byrne, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum

Mr. Andrew Selesnick, Assistant Superintendent for Leadership, and Instruction

Mr. John Chow, Assistant Superintendent for Business

Absent:

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

Town Board
Members Present:

Rob Greenstein, Supervisor; Jill Simon Shapiro, Town Administrator; and

Lisa Katz, Jason Chapin

Absent:

Elise Mottel and Adam Brodsky

Visitors Present:

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

President Mester called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. for the Joint Town/School board meeting Alyson Kiesel moved to convene joint public session. Victoria Tipp seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

President Mester asked for a motion to appoint Karen Visser District Clerk, Pro Tem. Alyson Kiesel so moved. Jeffrey Mester seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

President Mester, Supervisor Rob Greenstein, and Superintendent Lyn McKay agreed that the town and school has a strong working relationship. It's a partnership in many areas such as DEP, policies, taxation and we look for other ways to work together.

Rich discussions were covered on the following topics:

After a short break, the previous joint portion of the meeting was adjourned by the Town and the Board reassembled for the continuation of the meeting at 7:45 p.m.

President Mester welcomed everyone and again thanked the town supervisor and town board members for coming to meet with us and for being on the same team working together for the good of the school and the town mutual issues.

Presentations:

Special Education / Athletics

Special Education:

Dr. McKay introduced Director of Special Education Dr. Heidi McCarthy and thanked her for the meticulous manner in which she has prepared her presentation. She then thanked all the administrators for the time they have spent in preparation of their budgets for this year's presentations.

Dr. McCarthy reviewed the Commitment Statement, "We are committed to prepare all students for productive lives as full members of society." The district has a commitment to educate our students in the general education classes to the greatest extent possible. She spoke to the benefits of inclusive benefits to all students that results in increased academic achievement, social experiences and outcomes, collaboration among parents and teachers, inclusion within the community.

Dr. McCarthy reviewed some of the many laws and regulations governing special education students to determine eligibility, the classifications, and recommended programs. She went over the statistics and services that are provided to both preschool and regular classes. Classification rates are below state and other school districts and a reduction between 2012 and 2013. She outlined the in district and out of district programs and addressed some of the many projects such as the CSE reorganization, use of technology, reading, goal development, and a Center for Autism project. She mentioned some of the goals in professional development and leadership for next year. Dr. McCarthy presented the main components of her budget: staffing, contract services, tuition for students in out-of-district placements and transportation. She reviewed the staffing changes and noted they will not change services that are needed. She explained the line by line of her proposed budget with a decrease of 1.41%, and pupil transportation increase of 6.5%.

As Dr. McKay noted, we do not know how many more board meetings CSE Chair Lynn Lubow will be attending. She took the opportunity to thank Lynn Lubow for her many years of dedicated service to each of our students and the many hours she has spent with her colleagues brainstorming for better ways to serve our students.

Athletics:

Dr. McKay introduced Athletic Director Peter Kuczma and noted that he works very hard with our students and is dedicated to consistency in physical education and athletics. He believes in building programs in modified sports for both girls and boys.

He presented the sports offerings for boys and girls and noted it is in line with Title IX. He also showed the student participation rate by season with an increase over the past year and the highest participation in winter sports for the past six years. Boys in high and middle schools will have 39 teams and girls will have 40 teams. We have 100 coaching positions including 11 volunteers and there will be 108 next year. When we increase programs, we will be increasing coaching costs, transportation, and official costs. In listed the many achievements of the girls and boys teams this past year and the goals that the athletic department achieved as well, including the use of technology to help students view their progress and develop their skills. He has been working with 35 other schools who have united in a Physical Education and Health Consortium, a "brain trust" to interact and view what each is doing. The program budget is $1,211,307 that represents a 5.01% increase.

1.

Information

Questions and Comments

2.

Organization

3.

Approvals

4.

Recommended Action: Personnel

Superintendent Dr. McKay made the following recommendations:

5.

Recommended Action: Other

6.

Facilities

7.

Financials

8.

President Mester gave Notice of Future Meetings -

9.

Adjournment

Alyson Kiesel moved to adjourn the meeting at 10:47 p.m. Karen Visser seconded. The motion passed unanimously.