Watervliet City School District
Watervliet, New York
Date: March 14, 2019
Type of Meeting: Regular
Where: Watervliet Jr. – Sr. High School
Board Members Present:
President Sheri Senecal
Vice President Heather Soroka
Mary Beth Whited
Steven Hoffman
Amanda Cavanaugh
Superintendent: Dr. Lori S. Caplan
Student Council Rep: Miranda Luck
The meeting was opened at 6:05 P.M., with President Sheri Senecal officiating.
Comments from the Floor
There were no comments from the floor.
Old Business
There was no old business to be discussed.
District Recognition
Coach Lane & Varsity Wrestling Team
Coach DiBacco & Varsity Basketball Team
Mr. Foust thanked the Board of Education for honoring the teams and thanked Dr. Caplan for the invitation.
Coach DiBacco and Coach Lane thanked everyone.
Dr. Caplan noted that each student is academically sound and the seasons were very competitive.
Reception
The Board adjourned at 6:12 p.m. for a break and refreshments in honor of both teams.
Reconvene
The Board reconvened at 6:25 p.m.
Board, Staff and Student Reports
- Budget Overview Presentation Keith Heid
- Introducing the NYS Next Generation Standards & ESSA Presentation Donald Stevens
Dr. Caplan asked Mr. Stevens to explain chronic absenteeism.
Mrs. Webster discussed incentives/programs for encouraging students to maintain good attendance and rewarding both them and their families. Mrs. Ferris and Mr. Gadsden are also reaching out.
Jessica DeJesus – 2407 Broadway, Watervliet, NY – asked about data points and where you get the racial breakdown for applications when parents leave it blank.
Mr. Stevens noted that the race is selected by a staff member, who selects the closest match.
Amanda Cavanaugh asked if we can share the “good standing” rating in Mr. Steven’s presentation, especially in light of the news article that lists the district as being ninth worst in the state.
Mr. Stevens noted that we will look at the best delivery of the message.
Dr. Caplan stated that we need to let the data compile for a few years to see where we stand within the new standards. Dr. Caplan also noted that social media doesn’t always warrant a response.
Hope Mann – 1323 6th Avenue, Watervliet, NY – noted that she understands that you don’t have to respond, but sometimes you HAVE to respond.
Dr. Caplan thanked Ms. Mann, and stated that if the public wants any information, they can come to Board meetings, call us, visit the buildings, etc.
Mrs. Senecal thanked Ms. Mann for attending and sharing her thoughts.
Ms. Mann noted that she feels like there should be more activity and sharing of good news and what is going on.
First Reading of Revised Policy:
- Comprehensive Student Attendance Policy
Items Requiring Board Action
On a motion by Mary Beth Whited, seconded by Amanda Cavanaugh and unanimously accepted, the Board approved the Board of Education Minutes for the meeting held February 7, 2019, submitted by Bernadette L. Boardman, Clerk of the Board, as recommended by the Superintendent.
On a motion by Mary Beth Whited, seconded by Amanda Cavanaugh and unanimously accepted, the Board approved the Committee on Special Education’s recommendations for the meetings held January 29, January 31, February 8, February 26, and February 28, 2019, submitted by Janelle Yanni, CSE Chair, as recommended by the Superintendent.
On a motion by Mary Beth Whited, seconded by Amanda Cavanaugh and unanimously accepted, the Board approved the Committee on Pre-School Special Education’s recommendations for the meeting held February 13, 2019, submitted by Janelle Yanni, CPSE Chair, as recommended by the Superintendent.
On a motion by Mary Beth Whited, seconded by Amanda Cavanaugh and unanimously accepted, the Board approved the Substitute Registry submitted by BOCES, as recommended by the Superintendent (packets #21, #22 and #23).
On a motion by Mary Beth Whited, seconded by Amanda Cavanaugh and unanimously accepted, the Board approved the following Treasurer’s Reports for the month of January 2019, submitted by Keith Heid, Business Manager, as recommended by the Superintendent:
- Schedule of Warrants & Payrolls
- Revenue Status Report
- Cash & Investments
- Appropriation Status Report
On a motion by Mary Beth Whited, seconded by Amanda Cavanaugh and unanimously accepted, the Board approved the termination of Regine Abcede from the position of Cafeteria Worker, at the Watervliet Elementary School, effective January 7, 2019, as recommended by the Superintendent.
On a motion by Mary Beth Whited, seconded by Amanda Cavanaugh and unanimously accepted, the Board accepted the resignation of Daniel Nittinger from the position of Lunch Monitor, at the Watervliet Elementary School, effective February 19, 2019, as recommended by the Superintendent.
On a motion by Mary Beth Whited, seconded by Amanda Cavanaugh and unanimously accepted, the Board accepted the resignation of Lori J. Pompey from the positions of Cleaner and Part-Time Night Cleaner, at the Watervliet Jr. – Sr. High School, effective February 25, 2019, as recommended by the Superintendent.
On a motion by Mary Beth Whited, seconded by Amanda Cavanaugh and unanimously accepted, the Board accepted, with thanks, the retirement request of Joseph Facin from the position of Technology Teacher at the Watervliet Jr. – Sr. High School, effective June 30, 2019, as recommended by the Superintendent.
On a motion by Mary Beth Whited, seconded by Amanda Cavanaugh and unanimously accepted, the Board accepted, with thanks, the retirement request of Michaeleen Backus from the position of Reading Specialist at the Watervliet Elementary School, effective June 30, 2019, as recommended by the Superintendent.
On a motion by Mary Beth Whited, seconded by Amanda Cavanaugh and unanimously accepted, the Board approved the leave request for Megan Forget, effective September 1, 2019 through the 2019 – 2020 school year, to return to work at the start of the 2020 – 2021 school year, as recommended by the Superintendent.
On a motion by Mary Beth Whited, seconded by Amanda Cavanaugh and unanimously accepted, the Board approved the leave request for MaryLou Brodhead, effective September 1, 2019 through the 2019 – 2020 school year, to return to work at the start of the 2020 – 2021 school year, as recommended by the Superintendent.
On a motion by Mary Beth Whited, seconded by Amanda Cavanaugh and unanimously accepted, the Board approved the emergency appointment of Christa Faruggio to the position of Apex English Teacher at the at the Watervliet Jr. – Sr. High School, effective February 5, 2019 through the remainder of the 2018-2019 school year, for one hour per week, at a rate per contract, as recommended by the Superintendent.
On a motion by Mary Beth Whited, seconded by Amanda Cavanaugh and unanimously accepted, the Board approved the appointment of Jenna Gregnano to the position of Long-Term Substitute Special Education Teacher at the Watervliet Jr. – Sr. High School, beginning March 11, 2019, at a rate of $125.00 per diem, as recommended by the Superintendent.
On a motion by Mary Beth Whited, seconded by Amanda Cavanaugh and unanimously accepted, the Board approved the creation of the following courses to be offered to students in Grades 8-12, at the Watervliet Jr. – Sr. High School beginning in the 2019 – 2020 school year, as outlined in the attached, as recommended by the Superintendent:
- Mixed Media Art
- Technical Education
- Intro to Journalism
- Horror Fiction
On a motion by Mary Beth Whited, seconded by Amanda Cavanaugh and unanimously accepted, the Board approved the following Student Teacher/Observer requests at the Watervliet Elementary School, as outlined below, as recommended by the Superintendent:
- Name: Brittany Moeske
Role: Observer
Cooperating Teacher(s): Kim Suedkamp
Dates: February 2019 – April 2019 - Name: Fatema Khatun
Role: Observer
Cooperating Teacher(s):Samantha Spano
Dates: February 2019 – May 2019 - Name: Megan Shultis
Role: Observer
Cooperating Teacher(s): Samantha Spano
Dates: February 2019 – May 2019 - Name: Mikaela McManus
Role: Observer
Cooperating Teacher(s): Samantha Spano
Dates: February 2019 – May 2019
On a motion by Mary Beth Whited, seconded by Amanda Cavanaugh and unanimously accepted, the Board approved the following Student Teacher/Observer requests at the Watervliet Jr. – Sr. High School, as outlined below, as recommended by the Superintendent:
- Name: Patience Gully
Role: Observer
Cooperating Teacher(s): Co-Teach Rooms
Dates: February 25, 2019 - Name: Emily Hogan
Role: Observer
Cooperating Teacher(s): Jackie Bishop & Vicki Helenek
Dates: February 2019 – April 2019 - Name: Ashley Carsillo
Role: Student Teacher
Cooperating Teacher(s): Scott Emerson
Dates: March 11 – May 3, 2019
On a motion by Mary Beth Whited, seconded by Amanda Cavanaugh and unanimously accepted, the Board approved the 2019 – 2020 School District Calendar, as recommended by the Superintendent.
On a motion by Steven Hoffman, seconded by Heather Soroka and unanimously accepted, the Board accepted, with thanks the donation of 10 Gallons of Milk from Dr. Lori S. Caplan, to be given to students in the Backpack Program at the Watervliet Elementary School, as recommended by the Superintendent.
On a motion by Heather Soroka, seconded by Mary Beth Whited and unanimously accepted, the Board recognized and thank We Care Vliet, for their donation of $1,000.00 to be equally divided between the Character Education programs at the Watervliet Elementary School and Watervliet Jr. – Sr. High School, as recommended by the Superintendent.
On a motion by Mary Beth Whited, seconded by Heather Soroka and unanimously accepted, the Board accepted, with thanks the donation of Several Gallons of Paint from Passano Paints to the Watervliet Jr. – Sr. High School Drama Club, to be used to paint sets for their upcoming musical, Aladdin, as recommended by the Superintendent.
On a motion by Mary Beth Whited, seconded by Amanda Cavanaugh and unanimously accepted, the Board accepted the Internal Claims Auditor Report for the month of February 2019, submitted by Michaeleen Backus, as recommended by the Superintendent.
New Business
Mrs. Senecal shared the following:
- On behalf of the Board of Education, congratulations all of the student athletes and coaches.
- Thank you to Mr. Facin and Mrs. Backus for their years of service.
- Best wishes to the Drama Club on their performances.
Comments from the Floor
Mr. Stevens noted that Alladin is this weekend.
Miranda Luck, Student Council Representative, shared the following:
- Senator Gillibrand cannot schedule a visit at this point, but is hoping to schedule one prior to the end of the year.
- The spring voter registration drive will be held in the next few weeks, during social studies classes.
- A game night was held last Friday. Only board games were allowed. They are looking to hold one again soon.
Dr. Caplan shared the following:
- Thank you to Mr. Facin and Mrs. Backus. They will be greatly missed.
- Thank you to Bob Beston, for donating a flag to WES.
- Thank you to Charles Patricelli and Sean Ward for their efforts in procuring flashing lights at WES.
- I presented an ACES training last week. There were two 1-hour sessions.
- The RAPP assembly/concert, held at WJSHS last week, was amazing. Students were very engaged.
Ms. DeMento shared the following information:
- The Whitney Young Advisory Council recently met. All Board members are welcome to attend these meetings.
- There are 585 students currently enrolled. The goal is to reach 1,000.
- 325 students have been seen.
- Staff are conducting physicals, administering vaccinations, etc.
- WES kids are enjoying the bus ride here with Mr. Capitula.
- A health survey will developed soon, and they will be pushing into lunches soon, to talk about nutrition.
Mrs. Soroka asked why we need to get to 1,000 enrollees.
Ms. DeMento noted that we need that amount in order to be financially viable, according to the state. Ms. DeMento noted that co-pays are not required.
Mrs. Cavanaugh asked how the three year-old pre-kindergarten was going.
Ms. DeMento responded that it was going well, with lots of positive feedback being received.
Mr. Groat shared the following:
- Whitney Young is providing a service and allowing our nurse time to push in to PE classes with Mr. Gadsden.
- There is an effort underway to make students in off-site programs still feel like they are part of the WCSD community.
Ms. DeJesus asked if something could be sent home to parents to add them to the Whitney Young Health program, now that it is off the ground.
Mr. Groat responded that we can make an effort to send out more information.
Dr. Caplan noted that we need to do more to inform parents about the program and how it works.
Ms. DeJesus stated that she and other community members will share information if it is provided in a small script format.
Dr. Caplan responded that we will push out more information.
Ms. Mann suggested pitching things that will help parents, such as mental health and physicals, where there might be a need.
Mrs. Webster noted the following:
- 46 WES students signed up for the garden club.
- St. Peter’s is donating seven more garden beds.
- A fruit tree will also be donated.
Ms. Mann stated that Junior Achievement is trying to get WJSHS to come to her job at the Department of Health. She is hoping the district will send students.
Mr. Emerson noted that nitch.com was founded as a collegeprowler.com and expanded to create a Zillow-like site to rank schools. It provides a poor picture of random data.
Mrs. Whited recognized and thanked the students that worked on the pizza clash. It was well-attended and the students did a fantastic job.
Adjournment
On a motion by Steven Hoffman, seconded by Mary Beth Whited, and unanimously accepted, the Board adjourned the meeting at 7:46 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Bernadette L. Boardman
Clerk of the Board