September 2011

THESE MINUTES ARE SUBJECT TO BOARD APPROVAL AT THE NEXT BOARD OF EDUCATION MEETING ESSEX ELEMENTARY SCHOOL BOARD OF EDUCATION
SEPTEMBER 8, 2011

Regular meeting of the Essex Board of Education was held on Thursday, September 08, 2011. In attendance were Lon Seidman, DG Fitton, Mark Watson, Matt Cooper (arrival 7:28) and Jeff Burzin. Also in attendance were Dr. Ruth Levy, Superintendent, Mr. Ian Neviaser, Assistant Superintendent, Mr. Garth Sawyer, Business Manager, Dr. Joanne Beekley, Principal, Mrs. Deborah O’Donnell, Assistant Principal and Kelley Frazier, Clerk. Absent: Suzanne Helchowski

Mr. Seidman led the Pledge of Allegiance.

CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order by Lon Seidman at 7:00p.m.

CONSENT AGENDA
On a motion duly made and seconded the Board unanimously VOTED to approve the Consent Agenda consisting of the minutes from the regular meeting of May 12, 2011, the minutes of the special meeting held on July 22, 2011 and the Accounts Payable Report. The motion passed.

AUDIENCE OF CITIZENS
No Comment

OTHER ITEMS Principal’s Update - J. Beekley Dr. Beekley reported that the school had an excellent opening to school. The carpeting was done in B wing. They are waiting for the molding which will be installed when it arrives. There are several leaks which will be repaired soon. The first week of school classes are concentrating on social development in building community for the students for the beginning of the year.
Dr. Beekley introduced the new hires for Essex Elementary School. Mr. Seidman and the Board welcomed the new staff members.

EDUCATIONAL ISSUES DISCUSSION – Topic: Cyber bullying
Dr. Levy discussed the cyber bullying article which she distributed previously. There are challenges in dealing with cyber bullying, but we are fortunate in our district to have a social development program to help deal with this. She noted that we need strategies, goals and protections which will be developed with the State Department of Education to meet our needs. Parents and educators need to be educated on cyber bullying and the impact. It is difficult for schools to police activity when students are not in school.

REPORTS: Financial Status Report – Mr. Garth Sawyer Mr. Sawyer gave a brief update of the financial status and the year end numbers. Essex Elementary is currently projected to have a significant surplus after the audit is completed mainly due to the special education services that were not incurred by the district.
Cafeteria Report – Mr. Sawyer
Mr. Sawyer gave an update on the status of the Cafeteria Budget. The cafeteria numbers were better than anticipated because sales have increased. There was some concern that chocolate milk is not available in the cafeteria which Dr. Beekley will look into. Dr. Levy discussed the advantages of having the cafeteria workers as well as nurses and network technicians covered under the Supervision District budget. This will be reviewed in the future.
Financial Status Report – Mr. Garth Sawyer
Mr. Sawyer gave a brief update of the financial status for the current year. There are savings for FLMA. A new para will be hired which is not reflected in the report. There will be an increase in health insurance for the teachers out on leave. The enrollment for the HSA is increasing. Electricity is anticipated to have a surplus. Essex is currently projected to have a small deficit and will look for areas of savings.
Joint PK-12 Policy Committee – Mr. Seidman
Mr. Seidman noted the committee meeting dates.
Supervision District Committee Update –L. Seidman, J. Burzin, S. Helchowski
Updates given at the Supervision District Meeting.
Other Committee Reports
No Updates
The Committee assignment list will be updated when the new members are elected.

ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT - I. Neviaser
Mr. Neviaser reported that the AYP reports will not be reported on at this time.
Mr. Neviaser gave a brief overview of the 2010-11 EES CMT results. Mr. Neviaser noted that we have made growth and improvement over time. He noted that Math is a focus of the district.
Dr. Beekley reviewed the action plan moving forward. She noted that all grade levels will focus on math this year. Diane Avino will be working with the staff before each unit to meet the needs of the students in each class. We will continue to use CBAS. Teams will also focus on not loosing the work they have done on strategies for the past year. Dr. Beekley hopes to deconstruct tasks to get the students from one level to a higher performance level. She is working on a protocol for data analysis to identify kids who need additional help as well as those who need enrichment. Educators are starting to get
beyond only having strategies for their class, but focusing on flexible groups across the grade level. She noted that you maximize your time with kids when you do this.
Dr. Burzin’s concern is that we are not making growth as quickly as the other schools in other similar school districts. Dr. Levy feels that we need to make mathematics a district priority and to make decisions on where our focus should lie.
Mr. Watson asked if we are looking at the other two elementary school’s methods? Dr. Levy said we are looking at this very thing this year. All three schools will be working with Diane Avino. Performance Plus will be helping tremendously to assess how students are doing through out the year.
Dr. Burzin noted that our class sizes have gone up and our results have gone down. Dr. Beekley has always felt that class size is a component. The special education population is changing. Our demographics are also changing.

SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT - R. Levy District Update Dr. Levy discussed the need for full day kindergarten. She noted we have a very stringent curriculum which can not be accomplished in a half day. We have been working on this for four years and with declining enrollment the time is right. This is very important for our students to have the time, skills and socialization they need.
The opening of school has been a pleasure and a very positive experience. The schedule was altered due to the storm and we were unable to have one professional development day. The State Department will be deciding whether this professional development day can be eliminated. Mr. Cooper said that the shelter at JWMS was a positive experience for the community during Hurricane Irene. Dr. Levy said that the staff and community came together. It was a collaborative effort of all three communities. Mr. Watson noted that the Alert Now messages were helpful in keeping the community informed. There was a workshop for potential board members and existing board members which were informative. On September 19th we will begin the strategic planning process. On September 21st there will be a ribbon cutting for the solar panels.
Information and Communication BOE Meeting Calendar for 2012 – First Reading The enclosure was briefly discussed and will be voted on at a later date.
Vote on AED Units -
On a motion duly made and seconded, the Board unanimously VOTED to accept the Superintendent’s recommendation to accept the donation of two AED units for Essex Elementary School. The motion passed.
Mr. Orr purchased two AED units for the building. Eleven people have completed training. Mr. Orr received funding for the training and units through various community organizations.
Evaluate participation as Preschool Host Community per Collaborative Agreement
There has been an additional preschool class added this year. Dr. Beekley discussed three different scenarios for next year for building use. She noted that the preschool would still fit in our building plan. There are still unknowns as far as how many sections of grade levels we will need.
Mark Watson moved to approve to continue to house the preschool in the Essex Elementary School for one year. Matt Cooper seconded the motion which carried by a unanimous vote.
Discuss planning for beginning of year reception
Lon will check with Suzanne and Jen regarding the date.

PUBLIC COMMENT
No Comment
FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS
8.1 Next regular Essex BOE Meeting (Nov 10th @ 7:00pm)
8.2 Election of BOE Officers (Nov)
8.3 Supt. presents major budget driver for 2012-13 (Nov)
8.4 BOE & Community input on 2012-13 budget (Nov)

ADJOURNMENT
On motion duly made and seconded, the Board unanimously VOTED to adjourn at 8:54pm.
Respectfully Submitted, Kelley Frazier, Board Clerk

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