by Fidel Moreno
New Lebanon Central School District’s State issued “report card” provided a status of “Good Standing” for it’s 2009 academic and curriculum programs related to ELA-English Language Arts and Math as presented by the District’s Superintendent, Karen McGraw, in her opening address to the NLSD’s School Board at its meeting on April 1.
This positive status joined other good news and curriculum updates regarding student development and extra-curricular activities. In the elementary school, Principal Daniel Packard spoke about the success of the “Remain in Place” and “Shelter in Place” safety drill programs. The girl scouts also had a successful Mardi Gras night as many community members, students and parents came out for the school supported activity.
Mr. Packard also reported that there was a productive conference for teachers focused on math curriculum for next year. Professional displays were created by the District’s sixth grade teachers. There was RTI introductory training for elementary school staff. The homework club is showing results as teachers are finally getting homework from students. The homework club is still seeking adults and high school students to volunteer to assist elementary grade students to develop positive homework skills in all subject areas of school curriculum.
Tiger Jam
At the elementary character assembly, called Tiger Jam, the fifth grade did a skit called the “5th Grade Feud” that demonstrated people being tolerant or intolerant. Therefore “the character trait of the month (April) is tolerance.”
Drama Club
The drama club will be presenting the school theater production of Seussical Jr. The drama club also raised money for a sound system that includes four minted speakers, five hanging mikes and three flesh colored headset mikes. The drama club received the “Broadway Junior School of Excellence” award for their 5 & 6 junior high and high school level adaptation of this well known Broadway production. There was a thank you to Mr. Timothy Lambert for providing the monkey tails.
Sixth-graders from Hancock visited the New Lebanon Junior Senior High School. Students swam in the pool, ate lunch and were given a tour of the school. Awards, congratulations and thanks were also generously provided by Principal Leslie Whitcomb. High School Students entered a juried art show of works with oil on canvass at Hudson Community College.
Awareness Training
There was awareness level training safety drills. The high school is also hosting an evening for developing initiatives to improve parent – teacher communication, dialogue and relationship building. The event for sixth grade students and their parents will be on April 8 from 6:30 to 8:30 pm. Seventh and eighth-graders completed a science and arts expressive fusion project about original works of art with student’s writing journals about their personal experiences, evaluating their likes and dislikes related to original art.
Artist/Scientist Sam Bowser provided photographs of protists, which are micro-organisms, enlarged into gallery size, mounted photo displays. Holly May was the lead local teacher who facilitated combining math, science and English as an inter-disciplinary student activity. The artistic process successfully attracted the participation of the District’s student population. John Ransom Phillips, a Columbia County and New York City resident artist funded the project.
National Honor Society
The new National Honor Society members are Emily Blacker, Geneva Furlano, Rachel Hayes, Jackie Howe, Sara Magin, Molly Risko, Linda Sowalski, Maggie Springer and Hannah Springer.
Special Ed
Special Education at New Lebanon Central School District updates and new projects were provided by Ms. Tamara Thorpe-Odom. Sixth grade teachers helped students in their transition from sixth to seventh grade. Student reviews will take place in April and finishing placements in May. Homeless training and transportation support will come from Title 1 funding.
Physics Class Takes First Place
Special introductions and a catapult demonstration were also in order as physics teacher Glen Giumarra provided a detailed introduction and summary of his 2009 class students who participated and won First Place against other area high schools as well as a team of General Dynamics engineers in General Dynamics’ sponsored competition to inspire interest in all engineer related careers and professional occupations. This is part of a professional development and recruitment option for students after graduation.
The General Dynamics competition’s requirements included use of garbage from a list of re-cycled materials available only in a classroom. There was a specified limited time element and a $10 cap value of finished product or invention which demonstrate creative applications and innovative technologies. High School students from Berkshire County public and Catholic schools were allowed to participate with a total of 13 high school teams competing.
The NLCS’s physics class won. It was the first year they participated in the County-wide competition. The District winning team members were Erich Lowe, Kevin Hanley, Kayla Hayes, Jessica Colon and Dan Padrick with AP District Physics Teacher, Mr. Glen Guimarra offering academic supervision and District representation.
The winning team designed a medieval catapult mechanism with an arm made up of two yardsticks glued together and a cardboard base stacked and joined with a nock and groove inter-locking application. The sling was from a shirt remnant of Mr. Guimarra (which he donated) and laminated with adhesive.
The actual competition was judged on two primary aspects – accuracy and distance. The target a two meter size flat blackboard, was 20 feet away. The NLCS team’s first shot went 105 feet while the competition, including the GD engineers team, went only 80 feet. The NLCS Physics team won “Best Overall Design” with each student team member receiving $40. If there had been a good sportsmen’s conduct award, the District’s student team would have received it for providing the engineers’ team support and assistance by helping the engineers fix their catapult mechanism when it malfunctioned and disassembled upon activation. Needless to say the engineers were very frustrated and did not like losing . . . but to the victors go the spoils and recognition.
The physics team provided a demonstration of their prize winning catapult. Several Board and audience members quickly moved from the public audience seating area to a location behind the students and their catapult and were awarded for their foresight by witnessing an object being catapulted high into the air and hitting the ceiling in a growing arc of ejection aimed at a target at the other end of the room. It was decided that the catapult was in good working order but the School District’s ceilings were at fault for not allowing the natural projection of the arc in reaching the desired target.
2009 Budget Presented and Approved
After a respectful Pledge Of Allegiance, the School Board requested an executive session to discuss a personnel issue and walked out of the room, coming back after ten minutes. The School Board President officially called the School Board to order for District updates and current status reports.
First up was Mr. Ed Davis who reported that spring cleaning was underway, cleaning up general trash and preparing for spring break in April by developing a preventative maintenance cleaning program. Private and parochial school requests for bus transportation were being processed.
Karen McGraw, School District Superintendent, provided a District update. The NLCS District received NY State approval for requests for a bus washing system and for repair of the school parapet. The District will publish requests for bids with an April 13 deadline for repair of the pool drains, which are no longer in State compliance. The pool must be drained, painted and ready for summer school pool programs. The elevator shaft is corroded and must be repaired also.
The District’s Business Administrator, Carrie Nyc-Chevrier, was introduced by Superintendent McGraw. She presented a comprehensive school operations budget with an Excel spread sheet detailing District cost and expenses for 2009. This would be the third draft of the budget. She introduced her power point presentation by referring to the budget as a three-legged stool structure:
ź 1. Maintaining quality school programs, Academic, Sports, Special Ed, Teacher’s salaries, Physical School maintenance and repair, etc.
ź 2. Getting budget as close as possible to a 0% tax levy.
ź 3. This budget decision will positively affect future school budgets given the economic challenges nationally and the fiscal limitations by New York State presently.
The stimulus package was discussed in relation to the school budget. The new State aid is at 1.76% with a total of $240,000 resulting in stimulus monies for the District’s programs and related expenditures. School District budget mandates are:
ź A. Purchase of one new bus at $50,000. Rust and corrosion has made one school bus totally unsafe and road illegal.
ź B. Unemployment Insurance is approximately $15,000.
ź C. Money for the Employee Retirement System (ERS) reserve is $50,000.
These budget factors result in a decrease in the tax levy of 0.39%.
School Board Member Raymond Sowalski asked if the District were legally obligated to pay ERS because of State contracts and Superintendent McGraw responded that those contracts were not negotiated on a per District basis but as a whole within the State education network and system. In essence, yes, the District is obligated to pay those monies. The Board in general acknowledged that a decrease in the tax levy is not a good practice because it has future negative consequences. The Board then adopted a budget with a 0% tax levy.
School Board Member Susan Luhrmann asked about the desire for a zero balance in future years. She also asked if the District could pay down more money on special projects or programs.
Sowalski suggested getting money back from FEMA for the generator and re-wiring of the school. School Board Member Timothy Lambert asked if a FEMA grant for this electrical work could be available. SEMO was also explored as an option for support but further investigation by school officials is needed.
Sowalski commented that “peace of mind is better than a few dollars saved on their taxes.”
Luhrmann agreed with Sowalski and supported developing a strategy and future planning to alleviate financial hardship on School District and taxpayers.
In summary, the changes in the school budget will result in a 0% tax levy and provide the District with an extra bus, extra unemployment monies, a generator and a grant for the alternative energy application and upgrade to the school facilities. Board President Monique Wood motioned to approve the school budget. Board Member Kelly Magin seconded the motion.
Luhrmann had several questions about a budget line item that had no description of expenditures. Her second question was directed at budget transfers of $16,216. The Administration’s response was that these monies were for the purchase of a water tank.
Sowalski commented regarding checks issued on school accounts and a possible double billing on a fund #32 with check #9369. He also commented on mileage accountability in requests for reimbursements noting that calculating specific travel distances is hard on a conventional vehicle odometer. Sowalski also politely requested the Business Administrator to place financial reports in chronological order as this might make for easier reading and comprehension. All Board Members voted to accept the motion to approve the District budget.
Susan Luhrmann inquired about the $30 per session stipend for club advisers. She commented that she would like to see the two hour class period stay in place as she felt an hour was not enough time. There was also mention that the Board approved the program for the past 2 years. Superintendent McGraw will get clarification on this.
Board President Wood commented on the Board of Education Goals and asked for input and feedback. Again, Luhrmann made the request for obtaining more information about green and sustainable energy that the School District might consider and incorporate into their management and operations policies and procedures.
Superintendent McGraw spoke about inviting the environmental club to recommend information about green and sustainable energy options. She also announced that the appointment of fall coaches will be on April 21. Susan Luhrmann thanked the Eastwick Press for a very detailed and excellent job of covering the School Board meeting last month. She remarked that it was like reading the minutes from the Board meeting.