Members Present
Dr. Archer
Mrs. Austin
Mrs. DeForest
Mr. Gross
Mrs. James Murad
Mr. Leach
Ms. McKenney (attended virtually)
Mr. Zoghby
Ms. Evans
Members Absent
Mrs. Souser
Administration Present
Dr. Smith. Superintendent
Mr. Reyes, Assistant Superintendent
Mr. Franz, Assistant Superintendent
Mr. Timothy Decker
Mrs. DeForest called the meeting of the Board of Education to order at 7:00 p.m. in the Board Room of the District Office.
In attendance were: Stan Chen, Michelle Kielbasinski, Rev. Bernard Alex, Andy Eldridge.
Mrs. DeForest asked for a Motion to Amend the Agenda to add item 4a3 – Calendar Change for 21-22 School Year.
Mrs. James Murad moved and Mr. Leach seconded the Motion to Amend the Agenda.
Motion carried. (8-0-0).
Red Ram Recognition
Mrs. DeForest recognized Sue Kimber and Jayne Dominicos for their work on the food and gift drive for families at Jamesville Elementary School. She also recognized Cara Goldberg for her work with the junior prom and senior ball gown drive at the High School. She said the drive helps to save students and families a significant amount of money on a dress that would be used one time. Mrs. DeForest congratulated Tecumseh Elementary students, families and staff for their work on the Science and Technology Fair where there were 90 experiments conducted and on display. Lastly, Mrs. DeForest recognized the High School students and families, teachers and staff for raising over $2,000 to support Ukraine through Doctors without Borders and Voices of Children, in addition to collecting four large boxes of supplies to go directly to Ukraine.
Community Comment Time #1
Mrs. DeForest explained the new rules for Community Comment along with the Google Form to request to speak and said it will be available on the website tomorrow.
Stan Chen commented on the Chinese language program and said it is the second most spoken language in the world. He requested that students start learning a foreign language before the age of 10.
Approve Consent Agenda
- Approve Superintendent’s Personnel Recommendations and Substitute Appointments
- Approve Minutes of March 21, 2022 Board Meeting
Mr. Leach moved and Mr. Gross seconded the approval of the Consent Agenda, to include an Addendum to the Personnel Recommendations.
Motion carried. (8-0-0).
Superintendent’s Personnel Recommendations
INSTRUCTIONAL
Appointments
- Name and position: Jared Nies; Teaching Assistant; Probationary Appointment (4 years); Replacing A. Dumas
- Location: Middle School
- Salary: $29,096 (B+BA); prorated on start date
- Certification: TA 1
- Effective: April 5, 2022
Coaching, Spring Season
- Name: Samantha Guillaume;
- Assignment: Modified Softball Coach
- Stipend: $3,006
- Name: Robert Weigand
- Assignment: Modified Baseball Coach
- Stipend: $3,006
Resignations
- Name and position: Sara Fricano; Technology Teacher
- Location: J-D Middle School
- Effective: April 22, 2022
- Name and position: Cathy Jaworski; School Nurse
- Location: J-D Middle School
- Effective: April 29, 2022
NONINSTRUCTIONAL
Appointments
- Name and position: John Crump, Custodian II; Full-Time Probationary Appt. (52 weeks); new position
- Location: MTCE
- Salary: $26.38/hour
- Effective: April 11, 2022
- Name and position: Joseph Czornij; Custodian II; Full-Time Probationary Appointment (52 weeks); replacing J. Baxter
- Location: MTCE
- Salary: $26.38/hour
- Effective: May 9, 2022
Addendum to Superintendent’s Personnel Recommendations
INSTRUCTIONAL
Appointments
- Name and position: Jessica Murray; Mathematics Teacher; Probationary Appt. (3 yrs.); Replacing A. Ninestein
- Location: J-D Middle School
- Salary: $68,365 (B-11+30M)
- Certification: Perm. Math 7-12
- Effective: Aug. 31, 2022
- Name and position: Amaru Pareja; Mathematics Teacher; Probationary Appt. (3 yrs.); Replacing L. Gangemi
- Location: J-D Middle School
- Salary: $63,416 (B-7+30M)
- Certification: init. Math 7-12
- Effective: Aug. 31, 2022
Approve Minutes of March 28, 2022 Meeting
Mr. Zoghby moved and Mr. Gross seconded the approval of the Minutes of the March 28, 2022, Board of Education meeting.
Motion carried. (6-0-2) Ms. McKenney and Mrs. Austin abstained.
Approve Revision to 2021-2022 School Calendar
Dr. Smith explained a necessary revision to the 2021-2022 School Calendar as the District was recently made aware that the holiday Eid Al-Fitr is not set until relatively late in the lunar cycle and this year, the holiday will fall on May 2, not May 3 as previously published. The holiday will be moved to May 2 and school will not be in session on that day.
Mr. Zoghby moved and Mr. Leach seconded the approval of the Motion to Revise the 2021-2022 School Calendar. (See Supplemental Minutes).
Motion carried (8-0-0).
Potential Consideration for Future Meetings
Mrs. DeForest reviewed the ongoing list of topics for potential consideration for future meetings. Mr. Gross asked for an update on the building capacity study and for information on maximizing reimbursement from private insurance companies. Dr. Archer suggested ways to create more representation on the Board to ensure more diversity.
Presentation: Middle School Schedule
Mr. Andy Eldridge shared a presentation with the Board on the 2022-2023 Middle School schedule. He started out by reviewing the current state of the Middle School schedule, goals for revising the schedule, a timeline of the work completed to date on the new master schedule and comparisons between the current schedule and the new schedule. Lastly, Mr. Eldridge explained the roll out to the community and student body and answered questions from the Board. (See Supplemental Minutes for Presentation).
Assistant Superintendent’s Report, Recruitment and Retention
Mr. Reyes shared a presentation with the Board on Recruitment and Retention. Mr. Reyes reviewed the process of hiring and interviewing, which culminates with a Personnel Recommendation that comes to the Board for approval. Mr. Reyes explained the connection to the Strategic Plan, hiring process, obligations and types of appointments. Mr. Reyes shared data on staff demographics broken down by race/ethnicity for buildings and for athletics as well as staff retention data by district and by diversity. Mr. Reyes reported on the District’s efforts to understand the experiences of our diverse staff as well as to diversify our staff. He shared information on efforts to improve our practices. Lastly, Mr. Reyes shared the next steps in the recruitment and retention processes, which include to implement exit interviews, increase efforts to measure cultural competence, develop a process to understand the experiences of staff of color, regular analysis of hiring processes, and to create a hiring plan to attract diverse staff, culturally competent administrators, faculty and staff that represents national statistics. Mr. Reyes answered questions from the Board. (See Supplemental Minutes for presentation).
Superintendent’s Report
Dr. Smith began his report with a Budget Status report. He said the State’s deadline to approve a budget was April 1st. He said the date has come and gone yet he is hopeful that budget will be passed in the first days of this week. Once passed, it takes 12 to 24 hours to receive the state aid runs. Dr. Smith said the Finance Committee is scheduled to meet tomorrow and asked for the Committee to be flexible. He said the next step is to present the completed budget at the Board meeting on April 18th and for the Board to adopt the budget. Dr. Smith reported on the legislation to extend absentee ballot requests due to concerns of COVID-19. He reviewed the application process for absentee ballots and also reviewed the process for obtaining a petition for Board membership. Dr. Smith shared an update on COVID-19 numbers and said numbers are usually higher on Mondays and tend to decrease throughout the week. Dr. Smith said the NYS Health Commissioner has recommended masking in indoor spaces but the County Executive will not mandate masks. He said J-D has been a place where people feel comfortable both wearing and not wearing masks. Dr. Smith reported that the New York State Comptroller’s Office has contacted the district to inform us that we have been chosen for an audit. He said that Mr. Decker, Mrs. DeForest and he will be meeting with representatives from the Comptroller’s Office this week. A scope of the audit has not yet been communicated to the district. He will keep the Board updated. Dr. Smith reported on the ongoing discussions between Mr. Franz, himself and Vera House regarding bystander training. He said they have made themselves available as partners and will be working to train all staff. He also reported on a meeting with local leadership of the NAACP, where they discussed recruiting and retaining staff of color. Dr. Smith shared good news on events taking place in the buildings, including the Middle School Orchestra Festival, the National Honor Society Induction Ceremony and the High School/Middle School Choral Festival. Dr. Smith shared with the Board that he has been invited to participate with the process of opening of the new STEAM School in the City of Syracuse. He said it will be the first type of this partnership of its kind in CNY. He said 40% of the seats will be designated for suburban students and 60% of seats for students in Syracuse City School District. Dr. Smith shared that he will be part of the team writing the application process for students who want to attend. He said he was excited about this idea years ago, when he first wrote a letter of support and feels blessed to be part of this. He said the potential for all kids in all of CNY is really great. Lastly, Dr. Smith updated the Board on upcoming events.
Student Board Member Report
Ms. Evans provided the Board with her report which included a demographic breakdown of responses by grade, gender, race and sexual identify. Her report covered compliments, concerns and suggestions. (See Supplemental Minutes).
President’s Report
Mrs. DeForest thanked the Board for working on the updated Community Comment Time and Ground Rules. Mrs. DeForest thanked Jamie Cooke and Jeannie Aversa, from Interfaith Works for their work in facilitating the Board retreat. Lastly, Mrs. DeForest thanked Ms. McKenney and Dr. Archer for agreeing to serve as Board representatives on the Equity Council.
Community Comment Time #2
Michelle Kielbasinski commented on the Middle School schedule and said that some teachers feel they have not been given the opportunity to provide feedback, and that she feels more professional development needs to be done.
Rev. H. Bernard Alex commented that County’s Promise Zone was not designed to address diversity; the District’s meeting with the NAACP without representation is concerning; and that we need to remember the impact of the incident of January 31st.
Dr. Dana Corcoran commented on the Middle School’s proposed block scheduling and asked if this is really what is best for students. She said that not all research shows it is best, stakeholder groups have not heard anything about this, and she asked for involved voices to be heard.
Rachel Wagner commented that the right people are not at the Board table when important decisions, policies and procedures are being discussed.
Unfinished and Continuing Business
Mrs. DeForest reminded the Board and community that Anka Chiorini, a junior at J-D, is a finalist in the National Shakespeare Competition. She said that anyone can vote for her up until April 22nd and that information on voting as well as how you can stream the competition is available in the High School Newsletter.
At 9:55 p.m., Mr. Gross moved and Mrs. Austin seconded the adjournment of the meeting.
Motion carried. (8-0-0).
Respectfully submitted,
Timothy Decker
Clerk of the Board
BOARD APPROVED: 4/18/22