In the second Board of Education meeting of the year, the meeting centered on introducing a new member to help the district’s District Diversity Task Force and sharing the results of the Remote Learning Surveys.
The opening remarks of the meeting came from Board of Education President Doug Reinstein who detailed his experiences visiting all the schools in the town. Having experienced first-hand the extraordinary efforts of teachers and students, he thanked the teachers, parents, and students for their continued effort to ensure the quality of education does not diminish.
The meeting then moved to correspondence sent to the district office, which Donna Felezzola, School Business Administrator and Board Secretary, summarized. A number of these emails were from teachers voicing concerns related to the pandemic and a tribute from Mr. and Mrs. R. Frungillo on Jennie Byram.
Mr. Reinstein shared a heartfelt message regarding Ms. Byram and assured that Superintendent Dr. Melissa Varley would work to find a way to acknowledge and remember her.
Thereafter, the Student Representatives provided their reports to the Board. In senior representative Emily Haines’ report, she detailed the success of the sports team thus far in the season and the transition for students into the second semester. In junior representative Thomas Burke’s report, he informed the Board of the many academic competitions the students have participated in and the various club-related events students are engaging in; among these are the literary circle on South African comedian Trevor Noah’s autobiography “Born a Crime.”
Following these reports, Dr. Varley shared her Superintendent's report which began by urging former students to share any experiences in which they have felt uncomfortable with the district attorney’s who will thoroughly investigate all of these events. From here, Dr. Varley will take appropriate actions to condemn these actions. Additionally, she congratulated Buildings and Grounds director Anthony Amiano for receiving the National Plant Manager of the Year for the United States and Saudi Arabia. The Superintendent also clarified the use of snow days versus virtual days, saying snow days would only be given when it is not safe for people to reach the building; this distinction will lessen the likelihood that the Board would have to take days from spring break or any other holiday.
In the second part of her report, she introduced Mark Strachan who would be aiding the District Diversity Task Force. Mr. Strachan has over 40 years of experience changing culture in the corporate world to be more inclusive and will be a valuable asset in helping the district achieve its goal for increased diversity. After sharing some of his experiences and his vision to achieve this goal, he fielded questions from Board members who asked him what changes he hoped to see in the next 12 to 18 months and how he would begin this process.
The Superintendent’s Report transitioned into the presentation of the 2019-2020 Budget Report. The annual audit led by Bill Swisher showed a surplus of $6,930,000, up from $5,801,000 at the start of the year.
In the last part of the Superintendent's Report, Assistant Superintendent Scott McKinney and Marybeth, Kopacz Director of Education and Intervention, provided the Remote Learning Surveys results. This survey, sent out to students and families, attempted to gauge their views on the schooling system that was put in place. With the response of 417 families and 703 students, the survey found that district-wide, only 14% of responses were dissatisfied (11%) or extremely dissatisfied (3%) with regard to general satisfaction with school thus far this year. The survey also found that nearly 70% of all those who responded indicated that the current hybrid learning format is better than the virtual format from the spring. Responses from both elementary and secondary levels also indicated that the toughest challenges were the amount of at-home support needed for content and screen time. Another metric the survey collected was on overall mental health. 43% of parents indicated their child had positive mental health, 49% indicated they had okay mental health, and 8% had negative mental health. Seeing this information, Board members asked for clarifications and explanations for anomalies in some statistics and when the Board would conduct this survey again. Mr. McKinney indicated that the survey would likely be sent to families and students again in March.
During the multi-part Superintendent’s Report, various Board members shared Liaison Reports. Board member Christine Reilly reported on the first meeting of the newly combined Finance and Facilities Committee, Board members Robert Cianulli and Helen Kirsch shared reports on the Environmental Commission, Board member Joy Young reported on the town’s Truth and Racial Feelings Transformation Committee, and Mr. Reinstein and Dr. Varley reported on the PTO Council meeting attended by the school principals.
In the next part of the meeting, Ms. Felezzola provided the Facilities Report. In her report, she shared that filtration systems at the schools were in compliance with the state requirements and the various steps the different schools were taking to make classes safer including updating units to increase the airflow of classrooms.
Towards the end of the meeting was the Citizens Hearing. Board members listened to comments and fielded questions from the public on topics such as the high school’s spring musical, the source of the surplus in the budget and how it would be sued, concerns about the validity of the Remote Learning Survey due to the low number of responses, and whether the district was working with other towns to further equity at the school.
The Board then voted on whether to approve matters centered on the administration, personnel, business, and finance. All matters were passed with the exception one item, which the Board felt needed to be investigated further. Mr. Cianulli also took this time to offer leading the Teacher of the year Liaison and share his concerns regarding the bus system.
Before adjourning the meeting, Mr. Reinstein informed the audience that full day kindergarten will be available in September 2021, and he will provide more information on this in future meetings.
The next meeting will take place on February 25 at 7:30 p.m. via Zoom.
Editor's Note: Thomas Burke is a junior at Gov. Livingston High School and is the Student Representative for the Board of Education.
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Student Representative Report: Board of Education Meeting February 4, 2021 - TAPinto.net
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