Members Present
Dr. Archer
Mrs. Austin
Mrs. DeForest
Mr. Gross
Mrs. James Murad
Mr. Leach
Ms. McKenney
Mrs. Souser
Mr. Zoghby
Members Absent
Ms. Aljerari (Student Board Member)
Administration Present
Dr. Smith. Superintendent
Mr. Reyes, Assistant Superintendent
Mr. Franz, Assistant Superintendent
Mr. Furlong, Interim Business Administrator
Others in attendance: Bishop Dr. H.B. Alex, Benedicte Doran, Trey Evans
Mrs. DeForest called the Board Meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. in the Board Room of the District Office and via Zoom.
Mrs. Austin moved and Mr. Gross seconded the motion to remove the Student Board Member report from the Agenda.
Motion carried. (9-0-0)
Red Ram Recognition
Mrs. DeForest recognized and congratulated:
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- Alessio Vega for being named Channel 9 Extraordinary Talent of the Week as well as one of the top high school musicians on the east coast
- Scholastic Art Award Winners at both the Middle School and High School. A complete list of winners is on the District website. Mrs. DeForest also congratulated all the art teachers from elementary schools to the high school. (See Supplemental Minutes)
Mrs. Souser wished all stakeholders a Happy Chinese New Year, Happy Lunar New Year, or wonderful Spring Festival.
Community Comment Time #1
Benedicte Doran commented on the District Safety Plan and the addition of SRO’s. She said we should not have negative bias towards law enforcement for the protection of children.
Rachel Wagner commented on school safety and suggested the District invest in screening programs proven to reduce school violence. She urged the Board to take time and make the best decision with the right people at the table.
Approve Consent Agenda
Mrs. Souser moved and Mrs. James Murad seconded the approval of the Consent Agenda.
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- Superintendent’s Personnel Recommendations and Substitute Appointments
- CPSE and CSE Recommendations
- Internal Claims Auditor’s Report
Motion carried. (9-0-0)
Superintendent’s Personnel Recommendations – January 23, 2023
INSTRUCTIONAL
Extension of Regular Substitute Appointment
Name and position: Sean Kesselring, Regular Substitute, Guidance Counselor, Replacing S. Placito-Raymond
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- Location: Middle School
- Salary: $31,653.00 – prorated for the 2022-2023 school year (B6-M+57)
- Certification: Permanent School Counselor
- Effective: February 1, 2023 through June 30, 2023
Extra Duty Assignment – Intramurals – Middle School – 2022-2023 School Year
Name, assignment and stipend:
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- Mitzi Longway, Session 2 Intramurals, $296.10
- Kurt Sweeney, Session 2 Intramurals, $296.10
Extra Duty Assignment – Winter Coaching – 2022-2023 School Year
Name, assignment and stipend:
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- Patrick Gillette, Boys Varsity Head Track Coach, $6,483.00
- Nancy Raicht, Girls Varsity Head Track Coach, $5,386.00
Request for Retirement
Name, assignment, location, and effective date:
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- Jill Duby, K-6 Classroom Teacher, Tecumseh Elementary, June 30, 2023
- Anne Marie Honsinger, School Psychologist, District, June 30, 2023
Resignations:
Name, position, location, and effective date:
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- Yong Sul, Cafeteria Supervision, High School, January 30, 2023
- Elyssa Rosenbaum, Modified Softball Coach, Spring Season
NONINSTRUCTIONAL
Appointments
Name, position, location, salary and effective date:
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- Karen Berkley, Substitute Bus Driver, Transportation, $21.50/hr., January 24, 2023
- Dinean Bird, Bus Driver, Transportation, $32.39/hr., 52 week probationary appointment, January 24, 2023, replacing N. Abdo
- David Robertson, Substitute Bus Driver, Transportation, $21.50/hr., January 24, 2023
- Michael Schwartz, Substitute Bus Driver, Transportation, $21.50/hr., January 24, 2023
- Jill Shute, Typist II, PPS Department, $17.00/hr., provisional appointment, January 24, 2023, replacing T. Flint
- Craig Tanner, part-time Bus Attendant, Transportation, $15.17/hr., January 24, 2023, replacing A. Wedemeyer
Resignations:
Name, position, location, and effective date:
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- Daniel Kilbride, Food Service Helper, Cafeteria, January 11, 2023
Approve Minutes of the January 9, 2023 Board Meeting
Mr. Zoghby moved and Ms. McKenney seconded the approval of the Minutes of the January 9, 2023 Board meeting.
Motion carried. (8-0-1). Mrs. James Murad abstained.
Board Policies – Second Readings
Mrs. Austin moved and Mr. Leach seconded the motion to approve the following Board Policies:
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- 5681 School Safety Plans
- 6121 Sexual Harassment in the Workplace
- 7350 Corporal Punishment/Emergency Interventions
- 7522 Concussion Management
- 7530 Child Abuse and Maltreatment
Motion carried. (9-0-0)
Safety follow up and recommendation to modify the 2022-2023 District Safety Plan, Dr. Smith
Dr. Smith began with a review of the District’s annual charge of evaluating, reviewing and submitting the District Safety Plan to the State Education Department. Dr. Smith reviewed the three options that the Board had asked him to consider and said that we can’t talk about adding additional SRO’s without talking about the District Safety Plan and District safety as a whole. The three options are: adding an SRO to each building, adding an SRO only to the Middle School only, and adding an SRO to the Middle School and adding some type of security at the elementary buildings.
Dr. Smith said that with the request from the Board in mind, he created a plan with three phases that can begin immediately. The first phase is a comprehensive safety audit. He said RFP’s have already been sent out, with a timeline to have the audit completed by June 30 at which time we can evaluate and implement recommendations. Dr. Smith compared the safety audit to a building conditions survey and said he would like to see this done regularly going forward. He said that as part of phase one, there would be an analysis of cell phone reception in all buildings. Dr. Smith said the hiring of an additional SRO at the Middle School whose responsibility will also be Tecumseh and Moses DeWitt is part of phase one as well. The current SRO will be responsible for Jamesville Elementary. In addition, he is recommending we hire a non-armed guard at each elementary school whose focus is on safety and security. Dr. Smith said these modifications to the Safety Plan would require approval from the Board of Education after a public comment period.
Next Dr. Smith reviewed phase two which includes hiring a security consultant, upgrading access controls/door fobs on the interior and exterior of buildings, installing panic button systems in each building, and a recommendation for expansion of surveillance cameras. In addition to phase two, Mr. Lawson and the High School are currently working on the development of threat assessment protocols through a partnership with the Town of DeWitt Police Department. Dr. Smith is recommending that once these protocols are in place, we expand them to each level to be put in place next school year.
Next, Dr. Smith reviewed phase three which includes upgrading access controls on exterior doors, labeling doors for communication to first responders and upgrading the public address system in all buildings.
Dr. Smith reviewed the next steps, which are to seek public input from the community on the proposed changes. He said the District will put out an announcement to public, which will start the public comment period. He said comments will come to him and he will share them with the Board, and then the Board will review and choose to vote on the changes at the February 27 Board meeting. (See supplemental minutes).
Dr. Smith answered questions from the Board.
Budget Discussion: Transportation and Operations & Maintenance
Mr. Furlong presented the Operations & Maintenance and Transportation segments of the budget and reviewed the impacting factors. He reported an increase of 12.7% in the Operations and Maintenance budget and a 7.01% increase in the Transportation budget which together will have an overall .98% increase on the total budget. Mr. Furlong presented the bus purchase proposition in which we will be purchasing 3-2023 (65) passenger gasoline buses, 1-2024 (65) passenger gasoline Bluebird wheelchair bus and 1-2023 Chevy Suburban for a total cost of $663,532. The Benefits portion of the budget will be reviewed at the next meeting. (See supplemental minutes).
Superintendent’s Report, Dr. Smith
Dr. Smith provided an update on the capital project including before and after photographs of the Middle School projects including the locker room, House One common area and the library. Dr. Smith shared updates on the Director of Technology, School Business Official and High School Asst. Principal searches and said he is cautiously optimistic that we have good candidates. Dr. Smith shared that Nancy Cole, our communications specialist from CAP Region BOCES has taken a new position within the organization. He wished her well and welcomed Sarah Germaine as our new communications specialist. Lastly, Dr. Smith shared upcoming events.
Committee Reports
Mr. Leach shared that the Facilities Committee met prior to the Board meeting and reviewed a capital project update, and discussed a donor wall design for the lower field and softball area as well as fundraising efforts. He thanked all the donors including the Boeheim Foundation. The Committee also reviewed the Building Conditions Survey, discussed the next capital project and the possibility of the JD Little League purchasing a small piece of district property contiguous to Jamesville Elementary School.
Dr. Archer reported that the Finance Committee is regularly meeting to develop the budget. She said the next meeting is Tuesday, January 24.
Board President’s Report, Mrs. DeForest
Mrs. DeForest thanked everyone for completing the Board self-evaluation. She said she has compiled the data and will be sharing it so that it can be discussed at the next meeting. Mrs. DeForest said that all Board members should have received an email from CNYSBA regarding the Legislative Forum which is via Zoom on four different dates. She said Dr. Rick Timbs will speak at every session and it is very informative.
Mr. Gross shared that all the presentations from the School Board Convention have been downloaded and shared in the Board drive. He said there are a many great resources and information.
Community Comment Time #2
No comments.
Unfinished and Continuing Business
None
At 9:08 p.m., Mrs. Souser moved and Mrs. Austin seconded the motion to adjourn the meeting.
Motion carried. (9-0-0).
Respectfully submitted,
William Furlong
Interim Clerk of the Board
BOARD APPROVED: 2/6/23