Board of Education Members Attend NYSSBA Convention

(November 8, 2007--Riverhead, NY) The 88th Annual NY State School Boards Association Convention was held October 25-28 in New York City. Several members, Kathleen Berezny, Nancy Gassert, Christine Prete and Brian Stark, of the RCSD Board of Education and Dr. Scricca were able to attend all or part of the Convention.

Dr. Scricca noted, “Not only was it an opportunity for us to attend premier workshops on district site expansion, changing school climate, and the latest legislative issues in education, among many other topics, but we were able to meet school board members and superintendents from all over the state to share concerns, problem solve, and develop information resources for our district. We spent many hours discussing our district’s mission, its goals, and how, as a focused and cohesive team, we can move our district forward."

All the members met with other school boards at the Convention and Dr. Scricca, Mrs. Prete and Mr. Stark attended a workshop entitled "Changing School Culture." Mrs. Prete also encouraged all the Board members to attend the seminar that discussed guidelines for "High Performance Schools" and "GREEN Design" as well as the seminar on "Building Projects in an Era of Accountability."

Legislative workshops on school law: "Students’ Free Speech and the High Court Slam Dunk or Foul Shot?"--oral arguments in a case involving a school district’s authority to impose restrictions on students’ speech; "Contracts for Excellence: Present for Some/Future for Others," which dealt with new state accountability measures; "Special Education Updates," "The ABC’s of Legally Compliant School Board Meetings" and "School Attorney Ethics" were also of particular interest.

Kathy Berezny, who was a presider for the Campaign for Fiscal Equity (CFE): Legislation and Accountability Implementation, also shared that she "really enjoyed the speakers at the Convention. I had goose bumps during the Teacher of the Year's presentation," she stated. "I was also very moved by Henry Winkler, who was the keynote speaker. He talked about his own experience in school and shared that he didn't discover he had dyslexia until his own child was tested for it. I went to his book signing event and bought several of the children's books he's written and had him sign them. I'm going to give them as gifts. That's when I was able to get a Kodak moment with him."

“I thoroughly enjoyed the workshops,” shared Mrs. Gassert. “I’m so happy they’re having this event in New York City, which is so much easier for us to get to and enjoy. On Friday, I focused on the workshops dealing with laws and legislation. On Saturday, we spent much of our time at the trade show visiting vendors who specialized in GREEN approaches to school construction, since school construction is an initiative we’re grappling with this year. I was very interested in the vendors who were promoting the use of polished concrete as a surface for floors in schools. We also looked at artificial turf and a number of other energy-related vendors. I picked up a lot of information to bring back with me that should help us.”

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