Board of Education Meeting CAZENOVIA CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT CAZENOVIA, NY 13035-1098 Board of Education Conference Room October 16, 2017 6:30 PM Regular Session Board Members Present:, Jan Woodworth, Leigh Baldwin,, Lisa Lounsbury, David Mehlbaum, Jennifer Parmalee and Lou Orbach (arrived at 7:45, listened in to the Board Meeting on the way to the meeting via cell phone) Board Members Absent: Administrators Present: Matthew Reilly, Thomas Finnerty, Terry Ward Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by Jan Woodworth at 6:33. She asked all for a moment of silence and then to stand for the pledge of allegiance. Public Comments: Rachel Conklin spoke concerning the school calendar. She asked why the district still had Columbus Day off when he was a bloody pirate who didn t set foot on North America and why the calendar listed Christian and Jewish holidays but no other. Denise Lucas spoke to the board about their property on Fenner. She said she would like them to post it as there is evidence that hunters are using their property. Danielle May spoke to the board concerning her 9 th grade son having lunch only every other day. She felt there should be an every day lunch period. Written Communications: None Educational Highlights: Stacia Nourse, Science Department Leader and Claudia Johnson, High School teacher gave a presentation to the board about the new direction that science is taking in New York. The focus is getting the lower grades more hands on experience in Science so that when they reach the higher grades they already have a good foundation. BOCES has made available Smithsonian Science Kits to provide this experience and training for the lower grade teachers. Children are more engaged with hands on experiments. Stacia then told the board about their district wide grow units. In all three school cafeterias they have placed grow boxes. Students are growing lettuce, mixed greens, basil and cilantro and have already had their first harvest. Agriculture and Environmental classes are growing cucumbers and tomatoes as well in their classrooms. As part of the Living Environment class they are studying mock crime scenes and aquatic water testing for the limeology unit as well as Herkimer Diamond minds. 1
Courtney Pearsall from D Arcangelo & Co, gave the board a brief presentation of the findings of the outside audit. All members received a copy of the audit and Executive Summary. She had briefed the Audit and Finance Committee in more detail prior to the meeting. She went over some of the Executive Summary of the Audit. She reported that it was a clean audit. Information and Reports: Lisa Lounsbury reported for the finance committee that in addition to the audit the Audit and Finance Committee also discussed the expiration of the municipal energy agreement through the consortium and whether we should renew it. The committee recommends that we do renew it as it provides substantial savings. The resolution for this will be at the next board meeting. Jan Woodworth - reported that the NYSSBA had many good workshops. The Commissioner of Education appear to be listening as NYS has dropped the standardized tests by 33% and supports 95% participation. Report from Administrators: C Matt Reilly Superintendent - reported that the committee on access to lunch and general scheduling is being formed. They are looking into a temporary solution for this year. The committee will consist of administrators, board members, students, parents and the superintendent. Discussion on dedicated lunch time continued for a while and Jan Woodworth, President, pointed out that this what not the time to discuss this in the meeting. Further discussion will take place under new business. Matt also reported that he had been going into Paul Harney s Economics class and teaching about the budget process. He enjoyed doing this. He also said that all of our athletic teams have been performing at high levels and that all are moving on to sectional play. Tom Finnerty - reported that any questions for the health consortium should be given to the consortium before January. He would take any questions or they could contact the consortium. The main objective for the changes are to protect the consortium so that districts do not jump in and out to save some money making it more expensive for the other members. Tom reported that the latest estimate on CPI for next year is 1.92 %. Lisa Lounsbury told the board that she had heard about a Forcast 5 Program at the NYSSBA conference and asked Tom if he had heard of it. Tom told her that he did know about the program and uses it frequently. It is very helpful comparing finances with other school districts the same size. BOCES ordered it for all of their component and it is part of our administrative fees with BOCES. Terry Ward - reported that the Special Olympics were held in Canastota last week and Cazenovia had 17 participants from Burton Street and Middle School. Sean Condon, elementary physical ed teacher arranges this every year. He reported that what was really great about this year is that when the Middle School students came into the building when they returned they received much cheering and applause from the rest of the school. Burton Street had done this in years past but not the Middle School. He said that it was really awesome to see. 2
Terry also reported that a letter was coming from the Education Commissioner about new math standards. This will be going out to the parents also. Terry said that there is a Strategic Planning Committee tomorrow night with the core team. They will define work for the task forces. Consent Agenda:* Routine Matters 1. Minutes of September 7, 18, and 29, 2017 2. Financial Report for August and September 3. Special Education Reports 4. Field Trip Approval Whereas Mandi Millen, Agriculture Teacher, has asked for approval of an overnight field trip for 8 students 9th-12th grade to attend the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, IN on October 24, 2017 - October 29, 2017, and Whereas Eric Knuth, High School Principal has approved this trip and a copy of the itinerary is attached, be it Resolved that the Board approve the trip to the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana on October 24, 2017 - October 29, 2017. A motion was made by Lou Orbach and seconded by Leigh Baldwin to approve the consent agenda. The motion carried 6-0. New Business: A. Adjustment of the Tax Warrant WHEREAS the Board of Education has the authority to adjust the Tax Warrant, and WHEREAS the district has been notified by the County Offices of Real Property Tax Services that Tax Roll Corrections are to be made, therefore be it RESOLVED that the Board of Education adjusts the 2017-2018 Total Tax Warrant of $18,591,385 that was set by the Board on August 21, 2017 to now be a Total Tax Warrant of $18,588,583, a reduction of $2,802. A motion was made by Lou Orbach and seconded by Jennifer Parmalee to accept the adjustment of the Tax Warrant. The motion carried 6-0. B. Acceptance of Annual Audit 3
WHEREAS D Arcangelo & Company has completed the annual audit for the school year ending June 30, 2017, and WHEREAS the Management Letters and audit have been given directly to each Board Member, be it RESOLVED that the Board of Education accept the report of the District s independent auditor, D Arcangelo & Company, LLP, for the school year ending June 30, 2017, and be it FURTHER RESOLVED that the Assistant Superintendent is authorized to file the aforementioned reports with all appropriate agencies. A motion was made by Leigh Baldwin and seconded by Lou Orbach to accept the audit. The motion carried 6-0. C. New Interim Board Member Whereas Kathy Hahn has resigned from the Board of Education to move to take a job in Albany and the board wants to appoint an interim board member; and Whereas the board appointed a three member committee to fill this vacancy and have determined a name to put before the board, be it Resolved that the board appoints Mark Goris to fill the vacancy on the board and finish out this year s term. A motion was made by Lou Orbach and seconded by Leigh Baldwin to appoint Mark Goris as interim board member. The motion carried 6-0. D. Discussion of Dedicated Lunch Period After a lengthy discussion as to whether we need to come up with a policy concerning the boards support of a dedicated lunch period a resolution was proposed by Lisa Lounsbury and seconded by Leigh Baldwin as stated below: Resolve that the Board of Education supports every student to have a dedicated lunch period everyday. The motion failed 3-3. With Lisa Lounsbury, Leigh Baldwin and Jennifer Parmalee voting yes and Jan Woodworth, Lou Orbach and David Mehlbaum voting no. Personnel Reports: A motion was made by Leigh Baldwin and seconded by Lou Orbach to accept the Personnel as presented. The motion carried 6-0. 2 nd Public Comments: Denise Lucas told the board that she and her two sons went through Cazenovia and she feels that if the students are hungry they will eat. A dedicated lunch period should be up to the individual students and parents. She also asked a question about the Athletic 4
Coordinator. Advanced Planning : A. Items for Future Agendas - update on committee on dedicated lunch, conversation on boards role in implementing strategic planning B. Future Meeting Dates - Facilities Committee, Nov 20, 6:00 Executive Session: None Adjournment: Lou Orbach made a motion to adjourn the meeting. The meeting was adjourned at 8:35pm. Respectfully submitted, Patricia Marzeski, District Clerk 5