Board of Education Meeting CAZENOVIA CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT CAZENOVIA, NY 13035-1098 Board of Education Conference Room January 22, 2018 6:30 PM Regular Meeting Board Members Present: Jan Woodworth, Leigh Baldwin, David Mehlbaum, Jennifer Parmalee Mark Goris and Lou Orbach (6:35) Board Members Absent: Lisa Lounsbury Administrators Present: Matthew Reilly, Thomas Finnerty, Peter Ciarelli Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by Jan Woodworth at 6:32. She asked all for a moment of silence and then to stand for the pledge of allegiance. Public Comments: None Written Communications: None Educational Highlights: Mandi Millen, Agriculture Teacher and FFA Advisor, and some of her students updated the board about a grant that they applied for and were awarded that will be used to develop a community garden on district property at the Fenner athletic fields. The Advanced Ag class wrote the grant application for $9,000. They were awarded $2,935.86. These funds will be used to develop a 1 acre plot of land for the community garden and to fence in the garden. They will be applying for additional funds to hopefully fund a well and possibly have alpacas in the future. Community members and businesses have agreed to provide equipment and train students on how to use it. Maureen Carroll, Physical and Health Education Department Chair, presented to the board on the departmental goal of increasing student engagement and physical participation. Using time set aside for staff professional development, the department brain stormed on how to accomplish this for all grades K- 12 and for students at different levels within the same class. High school classes have started taking walks through town and have a fitness circuit when weather doesn t allow for walks. They have added more variety in class (classes are 84 minutes long for grades 8-12), have more large group games and Project Adventure challenges. Students also go bowling, and to Morrisville Ice Plex (for example) and local businesses have been very supportive. Middle school students are doing different warm ups (ie Tag Game Tuesday and Hip Hop Friday). They do games using a word of the day, incorporating rhyming words and creating sentences. Elementary students have 30 minute classes and since there are no bells at Burton St, the students don t arrive at exactly the same time. They are making sure that students that are active while waiting for the rest of the class to arrive. Realizing that there are different skill levels, they are working on more lessons to improve skills by 3 rd grade. A new Special Special s Day activity has been implemented for 4 th graders where they can choose non-traditional activities and are responsible for getting to their assigned location on their own, teaching the independence and responsibility. In regards to Health classes, they are coming up with innovative ways to teach students how to deal with stress and
anxiety. Tricia Moesch, Health teacher, went to a Mindfulness seminar to help with teaching meditation and living in the moment. In closing, Maureen thanked the board on behalf of her staff for opportunities provided for professional development and for time allowing the department to work together. Jim Bouffard, architect with Tetra Tech, updated the board on facility project planning, including ongoing challenges and opportunities as well as long range planning for facility needs. He explained different sources for identifying needs (i.e. Building Condition Survey (required to be done every 5 years), executive summary, site infrastructure and needs based on current education environment. They are currently working on mapping out possible timing for the next large capital project. The district is currently reviewing construction management companies. Potentially, the next large capital project would be presented for voter referendum in November or December. Independent of this, they are also working on potential STEM spaces to be built at Burton St and the middle school. These would be flexible spaces that could react to ever changing curriculum, including furniture that can be easily reconfigured as needed and glass walls that can be left open or closed, as well as possibly incorporating an outside space. Information and Reports: Board Committees-The Policy Committee is continuing to work on policy revisions. The Facility Committee met and was updated on potential capital project status. The Finance Committee met and discussed the 2018/2019 budget and the CASA Contract. The Personnel Committee is working on the Superintendent s mid-year evaluation, with materials handed out to all board members for completion. Board President-Jan Woodworth will be scheduling a mini board retreat for a session with NYSBBA regarding the roles of board members. Reports from Administrators: Matt Reilly, Superintendent, spoke about the vaping crisis and the explosion in the number of students that are vaping and ultimately getting caught. Students are saying that vaping is widely prevalent at the high school. His colleagues at other districts are also seeing the same scenario. Matt is working on a student assembly to address the health issues as well as an evening information session for parents. Student organizations (SADD, Friends of Rachel) are trying to help address issues. A community member is donating signage about repercussions. High school staff is being extra vigilant and trying to be visible at all times to try to deter the clandestine behavior. Along with nicotine products, vaping can deliver other drugs as well as alcohol. The code of conduct was discussed and will be reviewed to be sure it covers vaping. The search for a high school principal and coordinator of curriculum is on going. Christina New s business class held their Mad City events where simulations of real life issues take place. Students from Chittenango High School also participated. The event was a fantastic success and the community involvement was appreciated. Matt commented on Governor Cuomo s budget proposal in that school aid was slightly higher than anticipated but with a $4.6 billion revenue shortfall for New York, there are concerns about where finalized amounts will end up.
Peter Ciarelli, Interim Curriculum Coordinator, showed a presentation about being future ready. Technology is constantly changing and even a few years in age difference is huge. How do schools keep up with technology changes? Don t make it about the technology, make it about the lesson. Doing the same thing in the same way but just using the latest technology doesn t mean we are doing it better. Lessons need to be device agnostic. Lessons need to be student driven and self directed. Thomas Finnerty, Assistant Superintendent, publicly thanked Matt Erwin, Director of Facilities, and the staff at Northland Communications for installing the new phone system and training staff. He updated the board on Smart Schools Bond Act projects and the search for a construction management company, as discussed earlier by Jim Bouffard. The district is off the NYS Comptroller s Fiscal Stress List and our rating improved over last year. The majority of Tom s discussion was related to budgeting for 2018/2019. The rollover budget was presented with what is known at this time (i.e. some factors for the tax cap calculation, debt service payments, contractual salary changes), some unknowns (i.e. state aid, tax cap, benefit increase/decrease, retirements, etc) and some assumptions (i.e. all positions remain, all employees remain, no appropriations, transfers, etc). This first pass at the rollover budget as presented indicates a shortfall of approximately $600,000. It was stressed that this is very preliminary and there are many unknowns at this time. He hopes to have a fund balance projection soon and will update as other information becomes available. Much more to follow. Consent Agenda - Recommended Actions: A. Routine Matters 1. Minutes for December 2017 2. Financial Reports for December 2017 3. Committee for Special Education Report 4. Textbook Approval Whereas, Christina New, high school business teacher, has requested the textbooks, Learn by Doing - Microsoft PowerPoint 2016" and Learn by Doing - Microsoft Excel 2016" for use in the Business Classes, and Whereas David Cecile, Interim High School Principal has seen and approved this textbook, be it 5. Overnight Field Trip Whereas, Mary Coburn, Maggie Dougherty and Lindsay Burress, music teachers, have asked approval for a trip to Darien Lake Amusement Park for 92
5 th and 6 th grade students in the Middle School Band, Orchestra and Chorus to participate in the Music Festival on Friday June 1, 2018, and Whereas, they have been given approval from Matt Reilly for this trip, be it Resolved that the board approve the requested field trip for the music students to attend the music festival. 6. Overnight Field Trip Whereas Mandy Millen, High School Agriculture Teacher has asked permission for approximately 16 high school students to attend winter-related environmental science educational program at the at the Oswegatchie Education Center in Croghan, NY, from February 16 - February 18, 2018 for wildlife management, outdoor recreation, outdoor survival along with leadership development, be it RESOLVED that the Board of Education approve the overnight field trip to Oswegatchie Educational Center in Croghan, NY. 7. Overnight Field Trip Whereas, Mandi Millen, Cazenovia Ag Teacher has asked for permission for 5 students to attend 212/360 Conference at the Double Tree Hotel, in East Syracuse to participate in a special two-day leadership development program hosted by the NYS FFA Association from Saturday January 27 th - January 28 th 2018. 8. Overnight Field Trip Whereas, Ben Wightman, advisor to Academic Decathlon, has requested an overnight field trip to SUNY Brockport for the Academic Decathlon Team, consisting of eight 9 th -12 th grade students to compete in the state competition on February 23 rd and February 24th, 2018 if they qualify for the regional competition on January 20 th, be it Resolved that the board approve the overnight field trip to Brockport if the Academic Decathlon qualifies. 9. Textbook Approval Whereas, Catharine Taylor, 1 st grade classroom teacher, has asked for approval for the reading books Jack and Daisy Reader s Theatre and Jack and Daisy Orange, for use in the first grade reading program, and Whereas Mary Ann MacIntosh, elementary principal has reviewed and approved these books, be it Resolved that the board approve these reading books. A motion was made by David Mehlbaum and seconded by Louis Orbach to approve the Consent Agenda. Jennifer Parmalee questioned if textbooks were really necessary for teaching Excel and
Powerpoint due to the availability of online resources. The motion carried 6-0. New Business A. Sport Combinations for 2017-2018 Whereas in past years we have allowed sport teams to combine with ours, and Whereas they are small enough so that it will not change our classification for tournament play, be it Resolved that the board approve the combination of the above listed sports teams. A motion was made by Louis Orbach and seconded by Leigh Baldwin to approve the combination of the Girls Varsity Lacrosse team. There was discussion about if the extra outside player would cost a Caz student a position on the team. A discussion about past practices ensued and most of the previously combined teams were small and could accommodate additional players. It was also noted that Caz students are participating on the F-M swim team. This subject may be revisited in the future. The motion carried 6-0. B. Abolishment of a Bus Route Whereas a student who needed a special bus route in Cazenovia this year did not come to Cazenovia. Therefore it is necessary to abolish a route which will cause a reduction in force for one bus driver. Whereas there is no need for the special route, the bus route for that student has been abolished, therefore, be it Resolved that the bus route is abolished. A motion was made by Louis Orbach and seconded by David Mehlbaum to abolish the unnecessary bus route. The motion carried 6-0. C. Increase of Substitute Wages Whereas the state had increased the minimum wage to $10.40 per hour or greater and since some of our substitutes are not now receiving the minimum wage, the following changes must occur: Substitute Teaching Assistant from $70 to $71 Substitute School Bus Attendant from $9.70 to $10.40 Substitute Clerk from $9.70 to $10.40 Substitute School Monitor from $9.70 to $10.40 Resolved that the board approve the increase in pay to the above substitute positions. A motion was made by Louis Orbach and seconded by Leigh Baldwin to increase the hourly rate for substitutes due to increase in minimum wage. The motion carried 6-0.
D. Ratification of Agreement with Cazenovia Central School District and the Cazenovia Administrators and Supervisors Association (CASA) WHEREAS, after good faith bargaining and mediation an agreement has been reached by representatives of the District and the Cazenovia Administrators and Supervisors Association regarding the terms and conditions for a successor agreement to one that expired on June 30, 2017, be it RESOLVED that the Board of Education of the Cazenovia Central School District ratifies an Agreement with the Cazenovia Administrators and Supervisors Association, and be it FURTHER RESOLVED that the Superintendent of Schools be authorized to approve such Agreement s form and content and to execute such document on the District s behalf. A motion was made by Leigh Baldwin and seconded by David Mehlbaum to approve the Agreement with the Cazenovia Administrator s and Supervisor s Association. Leigh Baldwin commented that he appreciated the agreed upon increase in employee contribution for health insurance and the prescription edits. There was some discussion concerning the tuition reimbursement clause. The motion carried 6-0. Personnel Report : A motion was made by Louis Orbach and seconded by David Mehlbaum to approve the Personnel Report. Leigh Baldwin questioned the mid year salary increase for Patrick Ruddy. The motion carried 5-1. Discussion Items- Dave Mehlbaum asked if home schooled students were eligible to play on school athletic teams. NYS law prohibits them from participating on district teams. There was further discussion about combined sports teams and the impact it could have on Caz participants. It was decided to have further discussion including Mike Byrnes, Athletic Director. 2 nd Public Comments -None Advance Planning: A. Items for Future Agendas-Combined sports teams/mike Byrnes B. Future Meeting Dates-Executive Session to discuss mid-year review of Matt Reilly, immediately following Feb 26 regular board meeting. Other Board Concerns: March 12, 2018-work session Professional Development for Board (Board of Ed Roles) following March 12 work session meeting. Possible Executive Session: None Adjournment: A motion to adjourn was made by Lou Orbach at 9:34 PM. Respectfully submitted, Sheryl Conley District Clerk, Pro Tem
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