Minutes May 6, 2015

1.1

President's Report

1.2

Superintendent's Report

Alyson Gardner moved to accept the Minutes of March 18, as amended, and March 25, 2015. Jeffrey Mester seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

3.1

Minutes of March 18, 2015

3.2

Minutes of March 25, 2015

4.1

Instructional

Dr. McKay made the following recommendations:

4.1 Instructional

Resolution:

Resolution:

Resolution:

Resolution:

Resolution:

Resolution:

Resolution:

Resolution:

Request for Parental Leave of Absence:

Resignation:

Appointment: Probationary

Appointment: Regular Substitute

Appointment: Coaching

Victoria Tipp moved to accept the recommendations with the exception of those already appointed. Jeffrey Mester seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

4.2

Non-instructional

Dr. McKay made the following recommendation:

Resignation for Purpose of Retirement:

Resolution:

Victoria Tipp moved to accept the recommendation. Jeffrey Mester seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

5.1

Victoria Tipp moved to approve CSE summaries on May 6, 2015. Jeffrey Mester seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

5.2

Alyson Gardner offered the following resolution, "BE IT RESOLVED, that the Board hereby ratifies the provisions of the Memorandum of Agreement executed by the negotiating teams for the District and the Chappaqua Congress of Teachers dated February 25, 2015 and agree to a three-year successor agreement, effective July 1, 2015 and terminating on June 30, 2018, and authorizes the expenditure of those monies necessary to implement the provisions of the 2015-2018 CCT Collectively Negotiated Agreement." Victoria Tipp seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

5.3

Alyson Gardner offered the following resolution, "BE IT RESOLVED, that the Board hereby ratifies the provisions of the Memorandum of Agreement executed by the negotiating teams for the District and the Chappaqua Congress of Teachers, covering title of Teaching Assistant, dated February 25, 2015 and agree to incorporate the provisions of their 2012-13 Collectively Negotiated Agreement as modified by the 2013-15 Memorandum of Agreement into a three-year successor agreement, effective July 1, 2015 and terminating on June 30, 2018, and authorizes the expenditure of those monies necessary to implement the provisions of the 2015-2018 CCT Collectively Negotiated Agreement. Victoria Tipp seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

5.4

Warren Messner offered the following resolution, "BE IT RESOLVED, that the Board hereby ratifies the provisions of the Memorandum of Agreement executed by the negotiating teams for the District and the Chappaqua Congress of Teachers, covering titles of Registered Nurse, Occupational Therapist, Athletic Trainer, Licenses Practical Nurse and Physical Therapist, dated February 25, 2015 and agree to incorporate the provisions of their 2011-13 Collectively Negotiated Agreement, as modified by the 2013-15 Memorandum of Agreement into a three-year successor agreement, effective July 1, 2015 and terminating on June 30, 2018, and authorizes the expenditure of those monies necessary to implement the provisions of the 2015-2018 CCT Collectively Negotiated Agreement. Jeffrey Mester seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

5.5

Jeffrey Mester offered the following resolution, "BE IT RESOLVED, that the Board hereby ratifies the provisions of the Memorandum of Agreement executed by the negotiating teams for the District and the Chappaqua Administrators' Association dated March 17, 2015 and agree to a two-year successor agreement to their 2013-15 Collectively Negotiated Agreement, effective July 1, 2015 and terminating on June 30, 2017, and authorizes the expenditure of those moneys necessary to implement the provisions of the 2015-2017 CAA Collectively Negotiated Agreement. Alyson Gardner seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

5.6

Victoria Tipp offered the following resolution, "BE IT RESOLVED, that the Board hereby ratifies the provisions of the Memorandum of Agreement executed by the negotiating teams for the District and the CSEA, Local 1000, AFSCME, AFL-CIO, CHAPPAQUA CSD UNIT No. 9226, WESTCHESTER COUNTY LOCAL 860, dated April 13, 2015 and agree to incorporate the provisions of their 2013-15 Collectively Negotiated Agreement into a two-year successor agreement, effective July 1, 2015 and terminating on June 30, 2017, and authorizes the expenditure of those monies necessary to implement the provisions of the 2015-2017 CSEA Collectively Negotiated Agreement. Alyson Gardner seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

5.7

Jeffrey Mester offered the following resolution, "BE IT RESOLVED, that the Board hereby ratifies the provisions of the Memorandum of Agreement executed by the negotiating teams for the District and the Chappaqua Office Staff Association, dated April 21, 2015, calling for the creation of a seven-year successor Collectively Negotiated Agreement effective July 1, 2011 and terminating June 30, 2018, and authorizes the expenditure of those monies necessary to implement the provisions of the 2011-2018 COSA Collectively Negotiated Agreement. Victoria Tipp seconded. The resolution discussed. Jeffrey Mester read a long statement about his conflicting feelings about this agreement. He recognized that all the members of the unit and the teacher aides are hard working people and deserve a raise, but the question of retro-active pay had been discussed by the board and administration and we did not agree to retroactive pay for any group. In spite of his respect for these people, he cannot sacrifice his principles. President Visser mentioned that everyone comes to the bargaining table with certain needs and the idea is no one comes away empty handed. We must compromise. Jeffrey voted no. The remaining four board members voted yes. The motion passed.

5.8

Victoria Tipp offered the following resolution, "BE IT RESOLVED, that the Board hereby ratifies the provisions of the Supplemental Memorandum of Agreement executed by and between the Superintendent of Schools and the Board of Education of the Chappaqua School District and the Chappaqua Congress of Teachers dated April 29, 2015, that it is in their mutual best interests to adjust the language of Article 18 Salary Credit and Article 23 Salary, signed Memorandum of Agreement dated February 25, 2015 for the purpose of clarification. Alyson Gardner seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

5.9

Victoria Tipp offered the following resolution, "BE IT RESOLVED, that the Board hereby ratifies the provisions of the Supplemental Memorandum of Agreement executed by and between the Superintendent of Schools and the Board of Education of the Chappaqua School District and the Chappaqua Congress of Teachers, covering titles of Registered Nurse, Occupational Therapist, Athletic Trainer, Licenses Practical Nurse and Physical Therapist, dated April 29, 2015, that it is in their mutual best interests to adjust the language of Article 3D Salary, signed Memorandum of Agreement dated February 25, 2015 for the purpose of clarification. Warren Messner seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

5.10

Warren Messner moved to appoint Library Director Pam Thornton to New Castle Media Center for a term of two years, July 1, 2015 - June 30, 2017. Alyson Gardner seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

5.11

Tax Anticipation Note Resolution of CCSD, Adopted May 6, 2015, Authorizing the issuance of not to exceed $4,500,000 Tax Anticipation Notes in anticipation of the receipt of taxes to be levied for the Fiscal Year ending JUNE 30, 2016.

Alyson Gardner offered the following, " Be it Resolved by the Board of Education of Chappaqua Central School District, in the County of Westchester, New York, as follows:

Section 1. Tax Anticipation Notes (herein called "Notes") of Chappaqua Central School District, in the County of Westchester, New York (herein called "District"), in the principal amount of not to exceed $4,500,000, and any notes in renewal thereof, are hereby authorized to be issued pursuant to the provisions of Sections 24.00 and 39.00 of the Local Finance Law, constituting Chapter 33-a of the Consolidated Laws of the State of New York (herein called "Law").

Section 2. The following additional matters are hereby determined and declared:

Section 3. The Notes hereby authorized shall contain the recital of validity prescribed by Section 52.00 of the Law and shall be general obligations of the District, and the faith and credit of the District are hereby pledged to the punctual payment of the principal of and interest on the Notes and unless the Notes are otherwise paid or payment provided for, an amount sufficient for such payment shall be inserted in the budget of the District and a tax sufficient to provide for the payment thereof shall be levied and collected.

Section 4. Subject to the provisions of this resolution and the Law, and pursuant to Sections 50.00, 56.00, 60.00 and 61.00 of the Law, the power to sell and issue the Notes authorized pursuant hereto, or any renewals thereof, and to determine the terms, form and contents, including the manner of execution, of such Notes, and to execute arbitrage certifications relative thereto, is hereby delegated to the President of the Board of Education, the chief fiscal officer of the District.

Section 5. The Notes shall be executed in the name of the District by the manual signature of the President of the Board of Education, the Vice President of the Board of Education, the District Treasurer, the District Clerk, or such other officer of the District as shall be designated by the chief fiscal officer of the District, and shall have the corporate seal of the District impressed or imprinted thereon which corporate seal may be attested by the manual signature of the District Clerk.

Section 6. This resolution shall take effect immediately.

Jeffrey Mester seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

5.12

Jeffrey Mester moved to approve PNWBOCES Initial Contract of Services for 2015-16 in the amount of $1,073,936. Warren Messner seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

5.13

Karen Visser moved to approve agreement with Woodard and Curran "terms and conditions" (part of October 2014 agreement) and appoint Client Representative (John Chow has been past practice) with respect to the services to be rendered under this Agreement in he amount of $88,500. Jeffrey Mester seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

5.14

Warren Messnter moved to appoint Board of Registration for the May 19, 2015 Budget Vote and Election. Alyson Gardner seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

5.15

Jeffrey Mester moved to approve Contract for Health and Welfare Services with Katonah-Lewisboro Union Free School District for 16 students at $1235,75 per student for a total of $19,772. Victoria Tipp seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

5.16

Warren Messner moved to approve an Agreement with Westchester Community Opportunity Program, Inc. (WESTCOP) to renew the current contract for 2015-16 for the Head Start Program at Douglas Grafflin with a 1% increase from $25,341 per classroom for total of $50,682. Alyson Gardner seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

5.17

Alyson Gardner moved to approve Change Order #01 for Horace Greeley HS - upper gym roof project - decrease of $5,000 -Credit to the owner for less than contract price. Jeffrey Mester seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

5.18

Alyson Gardner moved to approve Agreement for Investigative Services with A.F. Investigations, at a rate of $65 per hour per investigator plus reimbursements per contract. Victoria Tipp seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

Addendum

5.19

Alyson Gardner offered the following, "BE IT RESOLVED, that the Board hereby ratifies the provisions of the Supplemental Memorandum of Agreement executed by and between the Superintendent of Schools and the Board of Education of the Chappaqua School District and the Chappaqua Congress of Teachers dated May 5, 2015, that it is in their mutual best interests to adjust the language of Article 4 (G) Work Year and Work Day, signed Memorandum of Agreement dated February 25, 2015 for the purpose of clarification. Warren Messner seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

5.20

After a brief summary of their proposed design by Kevin Fitzpatrick, Project Manager of East of Hudson Watershed Corporation, Jeffrey Mester moved to approve design by East of Hudson Watershed Corporation, for installation of stormwater retrofit projects on Horace Greeley campus, project completion August 31, 2015 at no cost ($0) to district. Alyson Gardner seconded. The motion passed unanimously. There was board consensus to have a formal project proposal prepared by EOHW on June 17, 2015.

5.21

Resolution on 2015 APPR Plan Implementation

Victoria Tipp offered the following resolution, that was seconded by Jeffrey Mester. The motion passed unanimously.

"Whereas the Board of Education of the Chappaqua School District has long supported high standards and accountability for our students and staff;"

"Whereas our district benefits from local control, opposes legislative remedies that assume that one size fits all, and has serious concerns about the new APPR plan;"

"Whereas the newly enacted State budget requires the Commissioner of Education to adopt regulations by June 30th, 2015, thereby creating a truncated timeline, and assuring ongoing, piecemeal changes to APPR without adequate public consideration;"

"Whereas the State budget legislation threatens that state aid will be withheld unless local contract negotiations conclude by September 1 of this and each subsequent year - another virtually impossible deadline given the obligations of collective bargaining;"

"Whereas the parent opt-out movement has demonstrated that parents do not favor the proposed nexus of high stakes assessment and teacher evaluation and the labeling of teachers or children based on these assessments, and has further exposed issues related to the reliability, transparency and length of the tests;"

"Whereas it is in the best interest of the students, staff and public education in the state and in this school district that we develop and implement an appropriate APPR evaluation system, rather than the recently enacted system which relies on an untested, opaque value-added model (VAM), focuses on only three snapshots in time (assessment and 2 evaluations) out of an entire school year, uses a basic scoring grid rather than a matrix based on multiple measures, and relies on a SLO model for the majority of teachers; and"

"Whereas the current efforts in Congress to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) recognize the error of mandating that test scores be linked to teacher and administrator evaluations; now, therefore, be it"

"Resolved, that the Board of the Chappaqua Central School District:

1. requests that the Board of Regents convene a task force of qualified practitioners and independent experts to review the reliability, transparency, developmental appropriateness, and length of the state tests and to assure the validity of linking the tests to the proposed evaluation system,
2. requests that the Board of Regents, Commissioner of Education, and State legislators allow that draft regulations be filed by the Commissioner on June 30, 2015, followed by a 90-day comment period and that the deadline for school district modified APPR plans be moved to September 1, 2016, and
3. requests that the Board of Regents, Commissioner of Education, and State legislators perform a detailed review of the evaluation proposal, gather input from qualified practitioners and independent experts, and reject the elements of the Cuomo Education Reform Agenda which place undue reliance on state tests and constitute inappropriate reforms to APPR. Our communities, teachers, and students deserve nothing less."

5.22

From discussion in Executive session:

Alyson Gardner offered the following resolution, "Resolved, that the Board of Education authorizes its attorneys, Shaw, Perelson, May and Lambert, LLP to execute a Consent Order and Judgment in a tax certiorari proceeding captioned, SG Chappaqua B, LLC v. Town of New Castle and the Chappaqua CSD."

"And it is further resolved, that the Board authorizes the refund of taxes as required by the terms of the Consent Order and Judgment." Warren Messner seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

Alyson Gardner moved to accept items 7.1 and 7.2, financial reports. Jeffrey Mester seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

7.1

Treasurer's Report - February 2015

7.2

Claim Auditor Reports - March 31, 2015 and April 30, 2015.