The Waterford-Halfmoon Union Free School District Board of Education met for a Board Informational Reopening Workshop from 6:04pm until 7:00pm.
The Waterford-Halfmoon Union Free School District Regular Meeting dated September 17, 2020 was called to order at 7:03 by Mrs. Ricci.
Present: (in person) Marcia Ricci, David Lee, Jack Catanzarita, Denise Carutasu, Carolyn Bell, Jamie Maloney
Also Present: (in person) Patrick Pomerville, Rachel Schwendinger, Mike Robbins, Joe Siracus, Chris Scanlan, Joel Richardson, Jennifer Bull
Also Present: (via Webex) Cady Kuebler, Crystal Rich, June Parker, Kim Palmer, Lori (Unknown), Patricia Miller, Kyle Williams, Quincy Rene, Ken Williams, Amy C., Paul Gervasio
Absent: Tammi Dehler
There were no comments from the public regarding items on this evening’s agenda
Comments from Administration
Mr. Scanlan stated that while the first week of school had many challenges and that things looked much different, students and staff have managed to come together and are working hard to follow all the new rules put in place. He also reported that he had looked into an accusation that had been made on social media regarding a student being asked to remove their mask, and was happy to report that it had been unfounded. Mr. Scanlan added that amongst all of the negativity, we had much positivity as well. Lastly he reported he was beginning the process of interviewing long term subs for two upcoming maternity leaves to allow for some transition time for the subs to adjust to the new learning environment we are currently working in.
Mr. Richardson echoed Mr. Scanlon’s comments regarding the adjustment students and staff have made and wanted to add his appreciation for the community’s support and understanding during this time of transition. He added things are going smoother each day and attributes that to the hard work of students and staff. He stated brand new Chromebooks have begun being distributed to our 8th graders and would be completed today. Mr. Richardson appreciated having all of these devices on hand to educate our students, especially in our current environment.
Mr. Catanzarita had a question regarding virtual education and some of the current inconsistencies between classes and teacher expectations. Mr. Richardson responded that we are only four days in and we are still getting into a rhythm, but each teacher will be sharing their expectations for students in their classrooms. Mr. Scanlan added each department will be consistent in their expectations based on the subject and grade level they are teaching and administration has and will be keeping an eye on the expectations.
Mrs. Carutasu asked why we have split some of our blocks on the Jr. and Sr. High schedules. Mr. Scanlan responded this was to account for our old A/B schedule that accommodated PE and Science Labs and thus keeping the amount of time spent in these classes the same.
Mrs. Carutasu asked why the schedules needed to be redone the weekend before they were to be released. Mr. Scanlan replied it was decided to keep transitions and contact to a minimum the schedules needed to be reconfigured. Mrs. Carutaso then wondered if the lunch schedule added another time of transition. Mr. Scanlan agreed it did, but that it was necessary for supervisory needs, allowed the students to be dispersed more equally among locations and maintain lunch with their own grade level.
Mr. Siracuse wanted to thank all the staff for all of their hard work to make this opening a reality, but he especially wanted to thank all of the students for all of their outstanding cooperation. He expressed his appreciation for parents' patience during drop off and reported that it was going more smoothly each day. He thanked the Waterford Police Department for their assistance keeping everyone safe on the road outside of school, the patience of the community with the bussing issues, and all of the extra time Mrs. Burniche and Mrs. Mulligan put into fixing those issues. Mr. Siracuse reported we are in the process of adding color coded tags to all of the K-2 students' backpacks to help ensure they are boarding the correct busses. Lastly, he reported academic services for students will be starting shortly for those students that require extra help.
Ms. Bull reiterated the other administrators' comments of appreciation for all the staff and students have accomplished this week, especially for our Teacher Aides and Teacher Assistants. They have been patient and accommodating while we make adjustments as needed, and are very happy to be back with the students in school. Ms. Bull wanted to acknowledge the many years of service to the District by Mrs. Lasek and wished her the best of luck in her retirement. Ms. Bull is currently interviewing for a replacement for Mrs. Lasek and Teacher Assistants in both the elementary and Jr/Sr High levels.
Mr. Robbins gave an update on the current situation regarding the Fall Athletic Season. He reported that because the Girls Tennis team competed in the Patroon League, their season would be beginning on Monday, September 21. He stated he is in the process of putting a season together for the Golf team as it would be difficult for them to start in March during the Fall II season. Mr. Robbins reported only two leagues in Section II would be starting their soccer seasons. Most leagues have moved their soccer seasons to the Fall II season. He gave tentative starting dates for the Athletic seasons as follows: Winter Sports; January - March, Fall II; March - May, and Spring April - June. He added there will probably not be any Sectional or State Championships this year.
Mr. Pomerville made the following remarks:
Regarding the opening of school; there have been successes and there have been challenges with our reopening of school. It has been great to see staff and students back at school. The building is meant to have students in the hallways and classrooms and it is so nice to see the building come back to life this September. I’d like to start with some positives…
· Administrative team did a tremendous job with planning and getting ready for opening day. If you walked through our building at any given time during the day, and barring the classroom spacing and mask wearing, it would seem like a typical day.
· Technology support has been wonderful. Adding Chromebooks to the third graders has been well received. Making sure we had enough bandwidth to ensure a smooth transition to more live streaming, and being throughout the building to support the teaching staff and being responsive to the numerous requests from students and families at home getting up and running with their technology.
· The Business office has worked hard to provide the resources needed by administrators, buildings and grounds, staff members and the like…
· Our school lunch manager and her team had to hit the ground running to provide meals for the first day of school. They created a Google Form used by students and staff to order their meals. They have been very creative to solve the challenges of bringing food to the students instead of the students coming to the cafeteria.
· Rachel developed a building sanitization process and cleaning protocols to prepare for the return of students and staff. This required us to hire and train additional custodians to implement this plan on a daily and nightly basis. Brian Dengler and his custodial team have done a great job of keeping our building clean and sanitized.
2. Reopening hasn’t been without its challenges too. Jr./Sr. High school schedules, solving the student drop off and pick up backups, dealing with some student COVID secondary exposures, and one of our biggest challenges has been getting our busing in order. I would like to speak directly to busing if I may…
Opening comment: Busing this fall has been one of our biggest challenges. There have been many issues. It has been a trifecta of issues which are
1. Errors on our schools information/scheduling part
2. Errors on the part of Durham routing
3. Errors made by the Durham drivers…
Here is why busing was such a challenge this year…
Point 1:
The Governor made his announcement to reopen schools on Friday, August 7th. This gave the District 4.5 weeks to prepare. Typically we have all summer in a regular year.
Point 2:
In any regular year, we can rely on our old bus routes from the previous year to simply tweak the routes since almost all 1st through 12th graders are getting on the same stops and coming in at the same time. We need to add the new kindergartners, remove the graduated seniors, and switch the previous sixth graders to the 7-12 bus schedule.
Point 3:
Typically we have all summer to do this.
Point 4:
This year, since we were only allowed to place 21 students on a bus, and we had to create an accurate list of who was coming to school and who was virtual, we had to create brand new bus routes for the entire district. This had to be done from scratch.
Point 5:
We actually didn’t even have 4.5 weeks to do this, we had about 2.5 weeks to do this since we had to first create a survey to determine who was coming to school, who was full virtual and then get more detail of who was riding the bus, who was being transported by parents, who was only using the morning run or the afternoon run, and who was being dropped off at home or at a daycare location.
Point 6:
In a regular year we have a number of errors but in this unprecedented year, we had many errors. We gave bad information to parents, Durham missed numerous bus stops and we even had some drivers refuse to allow a student on the bus. This was unacceptable to us and these issues have been addressed.
Point 7:
Things are getting much better every day. Rachel Schwendinger, Carol Burniche, and Kerry Mulligan have worked tirelessly to correct issues as they arose. Both Carol Burniche and Kerry Mulligan have logged a ton of phone hours calling parents and taking calls from parents to sort out problems. These problems are then communicated to Durham Transportation to make the appropriate changes. It has gotten better every day and I am confident that we will be in a good place by the end of next week.
Point 8:
My last point is that once things settle in, we are already having discussions about beginning to plan for the next step of creating regular bus runs in the event that at some point this year, we are allowed to have total in-person schooling without the virtual option.
Addendum Item:
As you are aware, we have concluded our first search for a Director of Facilities, we had three talented finalists and to make a long story short, none of the individuals accepted the position. I am proposing to extend the contract with Brian Dengler to October 15th. This will give us time to get our second search process completed. We have begun the process already and have some first round screening interviews set for tomorrow. If we are fortunate to find a qualified candidate, it will still take a few weeks for the candidate to give his/her 2-3 week notice and begin working with us in October. Please note that the money we are paying an interim director is offset by the money we are not paying in salary and benefits to a Director of Facilities who would normally be on our payroll for the last several months.
Emergency Response Plan, Confidential Document
A copy and changes are listed on a separate piece of paper in your red folder.
Ms. Schwendinger stated her appreciation for all of the hard work put in by the twelve month employees to get school open last week. While the reopening had its share of bumps, she is happy with the way things went considering the current situation we are living in.
Ms. Schwendinger reported there would not be any Treasurer’s Reports at this meeting as we are changing the format to make it more streamlined for the Board and the reports will be presented at the next Board Meeting.
Ms. Schwendinger was happy to report that our state aid funds for September have not been cut, and we are expecting a full payment. However she did report that the funds for August were cut by 20% and we are waiting for more information on whether or not they would be restored and if we should expect cuts to continue for future aid payments.
Ms. Schwendinger reported that the District has received many calls from the Public since the school tax bills were sent out on September 1. Ms. Schwendinger shared a slide show presentation to explain the reasons for the tax increase homeowners are seeing (see attached Momentive Tax Certiorari Presentation ).
After the presentation Mrs. Carutasu asked if there was any way to make the pie smaller to reduce the burden on the taxpayers. Ms. Schwendinger responded that unfortunately, we cannot change this year’s tax levy and added the District is currently carrying significant costs related to the safe reopening of school to meet all of the requirements set forth by the NYSDOH. She stated that the situation is extremely challenging for all schools and many are closing their doors due to cuts and extra costs. Ms. Schwendinger pointed out that our budget is already pretty lean as it is and is unsure where we would be able to make further cuts.
Presentation: Special Education Review of 2019-2020 School Year, Jennifer Bull (see attached)
Action
On motion by Mr. Lee, seconded by Mrs. Maloney, and by a vote of 6-0, the Board approved the minutes of the September 3, 2020 Board Meeting.
On motion by Mr. Lee, seconded by Mrs. Maloney, and by a vote of 6-0, the Board approved the following warrants and claims audits:
- General Fund 9 for $30,545.83 with Corresponding Claims Audit
- Special Aid 2 for $17, 936.34 with Corresponding Claims Audit
- Capital Fund 2 for $29,754.23 with Corresponding Claims Audit
- School Lunch 1 for $960.50 with Corresponding Claims Audit
- General Fund 11 for $599.00 with Corresponding Claims Audit
- General Fund 12 for $176,599.76 with Corresponding Claims Audit
- Special Aid 3 for $10,684.60 with Corresponding Claims Audit
- Capital Fund 3 for $2,952.75 with Corresponding Claims Audit
- School Lunch 2 for $4,990.61with Corresponding Claims Audit
On motion by Mr. Lee, seconded by Mrs. Maloney, and by a vote of 6-0, the Board approved the four year probationary appointment of Sophia Filuta as Teaching Assistant effective September 9, 2020 until September 9, 2024; 6 hours per day; salary per the CSEA contract.
On motion by Mr. Lee, seconded by Mrs. Maloney, and by a vote of 6-0, the Board approved the contract between Waterford-Halfmoon UFSD and Sun Medical Group for the 2020-2021 school year. Mrs. Carutasu asked about the use of a Physician's Assistant as our main medical contact and if Sun Medical would be available for assistance with any COVID-19 issues that come up in the District.. Mr. Pomerville responded it is allowable as the PA is supervised by Dr. Sun and yes, we have had multiple consults already with the practice concerning COVID-19 questions and anticipate many more consultations in the future.
On motion by Mr. Lee, seconded by Mrs. Maloney, and by a vote of 6-0, the Board approved the following Resolution;
that the Retention and Disposition Schedule for New York Local Government Records
(LGS-1), issued pursuant to Article 57-A of the Arts and Cultural Affairs Law, and containing Legal minimum retention periods for local government records, is hereby adopted for use by all officers in legally disposing of valueless records listed therein.
FURTHER RESOLVED, that in accordance with Article 57-A:
(a) only those records will be disposed of that are described in Retention and Disposition Schedule for New York Local Government Records (LGS-1), after they have met the minimum retention periods described therein;
(b) only those records will be disposed of that do not have sufficient administrative, fiscal, legal, or historical value to merit retention beyond established legal minimum periods.
On motion by Mr. Lee, seconded by Mrs. Maloney, and by a vote of 6-0, the Board approved the Appropriation and Revenue Status Reports ending June 2020.
On motion by Mr. Lee, seconded by Mrs. Maloney, and by a vote of 6-0, the Board approved the Appropriation and Revenue Status Reports ending July 2020.
On motion by Mr. Lee, seconded by Mrs. Maloney, and by a vote of 6-0, the Board approved the Appropriation and Revenue Status Reports ending August 2020.
On motion by Mr. Lee, seconded by Mrs. Maloney, and by a vote of 6-0, the Board tabled the Memorandum of Agreement between Waterford-Halfmoon Union Free School District, Waterford Teachers’ Association, and Jen Mead regarding a leave of absence beginning September 8, 2020 and ending November 18, 2020; dated September 8, 2020.
On motion by Mr. Lee, seconded by Mrs. Maloney, and by a vote of 6-0, the Board approved the 2020-2021 Emergency Response Plan.
On motion by Mr. Lee, seconded by Mrs. Maloney, and by a vote of 6-0, the Board approved the extension of the appointment of Brian Dengler as Interim Director of Facilities at $400 per day and $50 per day for expenses; until October 15, 2020; prorated for the days actually worked during this time period.
On motion by Mr. Lee, seconded by Mrs. Maloney, and by a vote of 6-0, the Board approved the appointment of Mackenzie Akin as high school substitute teacher for the 2020-2021 school year; effective; September 18, 2020; salary per the policy on substitute teacher pay.
Comments
Mrs. Carutasu had a question regarding the availability of the Health Screening Questionnaire for students. Mr. Pomerville informed her that we have a meeting with the company providing the app the next day, and we are hopeful that it will be available to students and staff within the next week.
On motion by Mr. Lee, seconded by Mrs. Maloney, and by a vote of 6-0, the Board went into executive session at 8:0pm to discuss a personnel matter. They returned to regular session at 9:40pm.
On motion by Mr. Lee, seconded by Mrs. Maloney, and by a vote of 6-0, the Board approved the Memorandum of Agreement between Waterford-Halfmoon Union Free School District, Waterford Teachers’ Association, and Jen Mead regarding a leave of absence beginning September 8, 2020 and ending November 18, 2020; dated September 8, 2020.
On motion by Mr. Lee, seconded by Mrs. Maloney, and by a vote of 6-0, the Board adjourned at 9:41pm.
Donna Cramer
District Clerk