Minutes October 10, 2012
Minutes
CHAPPAQUA CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT
BOARD OF EDUCATION
Chappaqua, New York
|
Date: |
October 10, 2012 |
|
Time: |
8:15 p.m. |
|
Place: |
Horace Greeley High School |
|
Present: |
Board of Education |
|
Staff Members |
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 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 Tipp called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Karen Visser moved to convene the public session and move into Executive Session for the purpose of discussion of labor negotiations with all unions. Alyson Kiesel seconded. The motion passed unanimously. President Tipp welcomed the community and asked for a motion to reconvene the public session. Karen Visser moved to reconvene the public session at 8:39 p.m. Alyson Kiesel seconded. The motion passed unanimously. Presentations: Audit Report Alan Kassay, partner with O'Connor Davies reported that he met with the Audit Committee on May 25 for a planning meeting and a post audit meeting on September 10. These are legally required meetings with the Audit Committee. The auditors were in the district the week of July 30, 2012. He detailed the auditor's responsibility under the auditing standards generally accepted in the United States. He reviewed the management letter, schedule of revenues, expenditures and changes in fund balance, budget and actual as of June 30, 2012. He also noted the Statement of Assets as of June 30, 2012. The district received an unqualified opinion or "clean opinion" that is the highest that can be received. He declared the district is in good financial standing. Jeffrey Mester, on behalf of the Audit Committee recommended, that the Audit Report be accepted for the past year, as in the following formal resolution adopted each year, Be it resolved that the Audit Report for the year ended June 30, 2012 submitted by the firm of O'Connor Davies upon the recommendation of the Audit committee, be accepted. Randall Katchis seconded. The motion passed unanimously. Teacher Action Research Project (TARP) Superintendent McKay introduced Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum Eric Byrne in charge of TARP and asked him to introduce the teachers and their projects for this year. She emphasized that it is one of the most powerful tools of professional development and its importance to improving teaching using inquiries. Annie Piekarski, elementary teacher: Annie reported on using sculpting with Playdoh in her class to deepen understanding of the student's reading text. It was amazing to see the level of creativity and how they were sculpting instead of taking notes. It also reaffirms the importance of collaboration. By working with high school teachers, it provides an opportunity to see how they work on a high school level. Christina Provenzano, high school science teacher. Christina reported on the positive outcome of working with Annie's class and the many opportunities for staff development. There is a concentrated focus on what we do and how we improve. Her goal was to create time in her classroom to do more in depth teaching. She provided notes for students and the class became a flipped classroom. Students studied at home to learn the material and then came into the classroom to do guided practice, which is traditionally performed in just the opposite manner. It created time in the classroom with someone there to help and guide them. Karen Baker, SB librarian: Although not a classroom teacher, she became involved because of teachers who raved about the process. She decided to teach students how to search better using Google. She was grateful to have much more time with students and tried to figure out why they don't use subscription services and databases. It was their lack of awareness about search engines and so she worked to create short, online videos on how to utilize online databases. TARP has been very energizing and has added opportunities for the library experiences. Dr. McKay indicated that every teacher in our district now has an inquiry question. Board members commented on the positive outcome of allowing the children to learn differently. Eric Byrne added that teachers have taken their projects "on the road" to other districts. He stressed the increased breadth and depth of material that is covered. |
1. |
Information
|
||||||||||
Questions and Comments We welcome public inquiries, and in respect for each other's time, we ask that you limit your inquiry to three minutes. Board members may be contacted via email or phone. |
|||||||||||
2. |
Organization
|
||||||||||
3. |
Approvals
|
||||||||||
4. |
Recommended Action: Personnel Dr. McKay made the following recommendations:
|
||||||||||
5. |
Recommended Action: Other
|
||||||||||
6. |
Facilities
|
||||||||||
7. |
Financials
|
||||||||||
8. |
President Tipp gave Notice of Future Meetings - Wednesday, October 24, 2012 at Horace Greeley High School, 8:15 p.m. Presentation: Administrator and teacher leadership development President Tipp also mentioned that Dr. McKay is a panelist on an APPR discussion sponsored by Westchester Putnam School Boards on October 11, at Seven Bridges. |
||||||||||
9. |
Adjournment At 10:17 p.m., Jeffrey Mester moved to adjourn. Randall Katchis seconded. The motion passed unanimously. |
Respectfully submitted,
Theresa Markley, District Clerk / Admin. Asst. to Superintendent
Victoria Tipp, Board President
tm