MINUTES
BOARD OF EDUCATION
Regular Meeting - August 30, 2005
PRESENT: President, Mrs. Lori H. Montefusco;
Vice President, Mrs. Nancy Gassert; Mrs. Kathleen Berezny; Mrs. Christine
Prete; and, Mr. W. Brian Stark.
LATE: Mr. Timothy Griffing and Mrs. Mary
Ellen Harkin.
ALSO PRESENT: Mr. Paul R. Doyle, Mr. Joseph
Singleton, Mr. Joseph Ogeka and Ms. Nancy Carney.
President, Mrs. Montefusco,
opened the meeting at 5:42 p.m. with the pledge of allegiance to the flag.
A motion was made by Mrs.
Gassert, seconded by Mr. Stark, to recess to executive session to discuss
collective bargaining - RCFA and
CSEA; personnel - Sign Language Interpreter, Section 75 Settlement and teacher
tenure date (Jarema Credit);
update on Site Selection Committee; and, security consultants.
Yes
5 No 0
Motion
Carried.
The Board of Education
recessed to executive session at 5:43 p.m.
Mr. Griffing arrived at 5:47
p.m.
Mrs. Harkin arrived at 6:42
p.m.
A motion was made by Mr. Griffing,
seconded by Mrs. Gassert, to return to open session.
Yes
7 No 0
Motion
Carried.
The Board of Education
returned to open session at 7:36 p.m.
A brief recess followed.
The meeting resumed at 7:41
p.m.
There were about 35 other
people in attendance.
ALSO PRESENT: Mrs. Barbara OÕKula.
Pledge of Allegiance
Recess to
Executive Session
Return to
Open Session
(085)
Minutes
Board of Education
August 30, 2005
Page 2
A motion was made by Mrs.
Gassert, seconded by Mr. Stark, to amend the agenda as follows:
Include:
RESOLVED, that the Board of
Education of the Riverhead Central School District approves the appointments of
the following consultants (funding from Title IA AND TITLE II Grants):
Pat Bloss Ð Math Staff
Developer, effective 9/1/05.
Sara Ford Ð English Language
Arts Staff Developer, effective
9/1/05.
The above positions and
rates have been approved by the State Education Department over the last
several years. Maximum expenditures
will be limited to State approved Title IA and Title II entitlement grants for
2005/06.
Amend Change in Status:
Kelly Cregan Ð To:
Elementary Teacher, From: Leave
Replacement, effective 9/1/05-2/28/08.
Remove:
Appointment
______TBA___________
- Administrative Assistant to Assistant Superintendent for Business
(replacement of Karen Orth), effective __ TBA______.
Amend:
Linda Sadowski Ð School Bus
Monitor, effective 9/9/05.
Add:
RESOLVED, that the Board of
Education of the Riverhead Central School District hereby agrees to resolve a
pending matter with a member of the non-instructional staff and directs the
Superintendent of Schools to execute the Stipulation of Settlement with such
employee.
Yes
7 No 0
Motion
to Amend Agenda Carried.
-Approved
(086)
Minutes
Board of Education
August 30, 2005
Page 3
A motion was made by Mrs.
Gassert, seconded by Mr. Griffing, to amend the agenda to include:
RESOLVED, that the Board of
Education of the Riverhead Central School District authorizes ten (10) hours at
$300 per hour and up to fifty (50) hours for the services of the Long Island
Security Consultants, Inc.
Yes
7 No 0
Motion
to Amend Agenda Carried.
A motion was made by Mrs.
Harkin, seconded by Mrs. Gassert, to approve the minutes of the following
meeting:
Regular Meeting Ð August 9, 2005
In a discussion that followed,
Mrs. Prete requested that the discussion portion on page 47 (Approval of
Facility Plan of Action)
reflect that her inquiry was just
what the tax consequences would be on a $160 million bond and response provided
by Mr. Singleton.
A motion was then made by Mrs.
Prete, seconded by Mrs. Harkin, to approve the minutes of the following meeting
as amended.
Regular Meeting Ð August 9, 2005
Yes
7 No 0
Motion
Carried as Amended.
A motion was made by Mrs. Gassert,
seconded by Mrs. Prete, to approve the minutes of the following meetings:
Special District Meeting Ð August
23, 2005
Regular Meeting Ð March 22, 2005
Special Meeting Ð March 29, 2005
Special Meeting Ð April 5, 2005
Special Meeting Ð April 12, 2005
Yes
7 No 0
Motion
Carried.
Approval of Minutes
-August 9, 2005
-Approved as
Amended
Approval of Minutes
-August 23, 2005
-March 22, 2005
-March 29, 2005
-Approved
(087)
Minutes
Board of Education
August 30, 2005
Page 4
Mr. Doyle stated that a final
traffic study report was received from the consulting firm involved with the
school district and the town relative to safety concerns for pedestrians,
bicycles and vehicular safety, as well as, recommendations in terms of access
and egress between the Middle School and High School and redesign of some
intersections. A safety committee
will coordinate and host workshops as a direct follow-up to implement several
recommendations. The report is
available at the District Office upon request.
Mr. Doyle reported to the Board of
Education and public on the findings of a 2005 graduating senior survey in
which 80 out of 283 students
responded (1/3 of the graduating class).
Interesting questions were asked of the youngsters in terms of strengths
and weaknesses, orientations toward college, employment responsibilities and
citizenship responsibilities. Key
topics were study skills, research skills, career exploration, public speaking
and computer skills. Obvious
problems cited by the students concerned smoking, drugs and gang-related issues
followed by social acceptance and alcohol, communication and respect by the
administration. He stated that the
district would work toward making significant improvements in terms of
studentÕs well-being. Mrs. Berezny
suggested that the survey for the Class of 2006 be distributed during the school
day to garner a much larger response.
The survey is available at the District Office upon request.
Mrs. Berezny thanked Ms. Carney
for the invitation to meet the 44 new teachers and welcome them to the district
this past Monday at a breakfast and seminar held at the High School. Board members, Mrs. Prete and Mrs.
Gassert also attended. She, also,
asked Mr. Doyle how many incoming freshman there are for the new school year Ð
Answer: approximately 499.
Mr. Stark reported on the meeting
held by the Site Selection Sub-committee.
In efforts to identify certain parcels based on the willingness of
sellers for a centrally located new high school, an advertisement will be
placed in the local papers next week.
This lets the public know that the district is actively involved in
moving forward to buy property that would be in the best interests of the
schools for a new facility. He,
also, stated the variables such as the lengthy protracted approval process
involved toward that end. The
sub-committee will keep the Board of Education and public apprised of its
ongoing efforts.
Opportunity for
Superintendent
Riverhead Central
School District
Graduating Senior
Survey 2005
-Paul Doyle
Opportunity for
Board Members
(088)
Minutes
Board of Education
August 30, 2005
Page 5
Mrs. Prete reported on her
attendance at the Southampton Town Board meeting last Tuesday with regard to
the Riverhead Catwalk project and its effect upon property taxes. The principal of the project was present
and publicly stated that there would be no tax consequence. Mrs. Prete read their statement
outlining the Empire Zone benefits and impact on local revenues and offered to
answer any questions from the community regarding same.
Comments from the community
included:
-the President of the RCFA pointed
out that the language on the
agenda for the position of the ESL coordinator is actually a
full-
time coordinator who does .4 coordinating work and .6
teaching
work
-question on mentor appointments
Mrs. Montefusco stated that this is an unfunded state mandate
stemming from February 2004 that requires all districts to
have a
mentoring program in place of 175 hours of one-on-one
mentoring/professional development for first year teachers in
five
years.
-rate of pay for consultantsÉ$600
per diem for Pat Bloss for
100 days and $1,000 per diem for Sara Ford for 70 days
-total enrollment as of this date
in K-12 for new school yearÉclose
to 5,000 (up about 3% from last year)
-questions on timeliness of Civil
Service list and high salary for
Senior Administrative Assistant position. Mr. Ogeka stated that
there is no current list Ð the appointment is provisional
until the
test is administered.
-did the district receive
correspondence from the United States
Department of Education, Office of the Inspector General of
Investigation Services, who is working with the Department of
Justice and other federal agencies to ensure the proper use
of
public money by Long Island school district? Mr. Doyle stated
that the district received the letter that asks for records
pertaining
to vendors, contractors, consultants or other business
concerns
that received single payments of at least $10,000 between
January 2000 and July 2005, as well as, copies of all 1099 income
tax forms used to track payments. The financial data is to be
returned on diskette by mid-October. .
-question on terms in Long Island
Security Consultants services
Mrs. Montefusco stated that 10 hours are for athletic field
issues
and concerns and up to 50 hours to complete the final
analysis.
Community
Comments
(089)
Minutes
Board of Education
August 30, 2005
Page 6
-the President of the RCFA spoke
on the importance of the
mentoring program and that the district will be asked by the
state
to sign off on teachers permanent licenses to provide
documentation that they, in fact, did receive the
mentoring/staff
development required.
-time allocated for
mentoring? Ms. Carney stated that
mentoring
will take place at different times Ð before school, after
school,
during lunch periods and on SaturdayÕs.
-need for Long Island Security
Consultants, Inc. Mrs. Montefusco
stated that they will assess security needs and concerns of
the
entire district while taking into consideration the
recommendations
of the local and state police departments.
-selection process for Senior
Administrative Assistant position and
number of applicants and those that did not get the courtesy
of an
interview. Mrs.
Montefusco stated that the position
was posted and that it is an appointed position. Mr. Ogeka will
check on the number of applicants to confirm.
-letter sent by a community member
objecting to the use of the
Riley Avenue Elementary School facility by the North Shore
Christian Church to conduct their services as advertised in
the Pennysaver News and his opinion that this is a
violation of the
precept of separation of church and state. Mr. Doyle stated that
the legality of the buildingÕs usage has been obtained from
legal
counsel and that the district cannot discriminate against it
citing the Lambs Chapel court case.
A motion was made by Mrs. Gassert,
seconded by Mrs. Harkin, to amend the following resolution to read:
RESOLVED, that the Board of
Education of the Riverhead Central School District hereby authorizes the
abolishment of the position titled Assistant Director of ESL (replaced by a
full-time ESL Coordinator teaching six-tenths and coordinating four-tenths), effective
immediately.
Yes
7 No 0
Motion
to Amend Carried.
A motion was made by Mrs. Gassert,
seconded by Mrs. Harkin, to approve the following resolution:
RESOLVED, that the Board of
Education of the Riverhead Central School District accepts the following
recommendations of the Committee on Special Education regarding children with
disabilities and whose Individualized Education Plans need to be
implemented: