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