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Video of the September regular BOE meeting is here on YouTube. Before the regular meeting there was the public hearing on the Newburgh Prep Charter School.

Here are a few over-due bullet points:

• There was a presentation about STEM extended school year program. Two programs at Black Rock Forest; one at Boston University. Veronica Dun, Lori Sheets (West Point Network Science Center), and Jack Caldwell (Blackrock Forest) presented.
• During public comment on agenda items, Teacher and Coach Ed Kennedy commented on deficiencies in the process of posting coaching positions in the district.
• A resolution "to create a district Facebook account" was approved. BOE member Levinstein voiced concern about posting procedures. There was some discussion. BOE Member Lawson understood that there is a difference between Facebook and a standard web page; and that one-way communication is not how "social media" generally work. Here's a link to video of that discussion.
• There were public comments by several parents from Horizons about security problems around the process of admission to the building.
• Toward the end of the meeting, Lawson suggested that the Board discuss the charter school proposal. The school district attorney confirmed that this was not an executive session topic. Lawson expressed concern that the BOE was not accurately informed about the financial impact of the proposal on the district. He also suggested that there was little evidence that the charter proposal would implement an educational process that could address the needs of the target population. If you have any interest in the charter school, or the process by which the NECSD BOE came to support it and then not support it, do see this part of the video.
• After the main part of the meeting, the BOE went to executive session until 12:30AM.

Just got the robocall. No school for the Newburgh Enlarged City School District on Monday October 29 due to inclement weather.
[Update] School was closed Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, October 29-31.

In a September 5 letter from NYSED to Superintendent Pizzo, NYSED announced contingent approval for the Newburgh School District to receive a grant of $289k for "Systemic Supports for District and School Turnaround". The letter included summary information about the status of Newburgh schools as well as some details about how changes will be implemented as part of required School and District Turnaround plans.

Some bits and pieces:
"... the district will be implementing a Turnaround Initiative..."
Curriculum and assessments will be aligned to common core.
There will be State tests, local tests, SLO tests.
"Administrators and staff will be trained on cultural competency..."
PD will support Bilingual, ESL and Dual Language.
"... the district has agreed to adopt a combination of the Lead Partnership Model and the Internal District Partnership Model."
"Curriculum and Instruction" will be "Teaching and Learning."
Executive Director for C&I will oversee curriculum, assessments, and PD.
Assistant Superintendent for School Improvement will develop turnaround initiative and will evaluate school principals. [Latter point is strongly implied.]
Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources and Executive Director of Human Resources will be responsible for:

• Alternative Education.[?!]
• Diversity initiatives.
• Researching and developing Data systems for evaluation.
• Growth plans for ineffective and developing teachers and leaders.

The document continues on, saying the district "will design and implement a School Improvement Department" that will do this and that. It's unclear whether that is a new department or some kind of ad-hoc project team. Also CASDA will be hired to "guide the development of a school improvment department", etc.

An interesting post at www.nystoptesting.com says:

Field Tests coming to NY Schools in October

New York Parents--be aware that NYSED and Pearson are forcing our schools to waste more time on testing. In over 500 schools children will be "guinea pigs" on the Field Tests given from October 23-25. If your school is not selected in the fall, then it will be conducting the tests in the spring.

A "field test" is an exam that Pearson uses to help create the "regular" exams for our children. So basically our students are being used as "test subjects" to create future tests. This is another huge waste of valuable education time trying out test questions for the "real" tests, both of which do nothing to improve our children's education.

List of schools NYSED is forcing to give FIELD TESTS: https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B8sMmAT7SjraX0hzb0JhOHhOUkk

The Newburgh City School District schools listed in the document are:

• Balmville School, Grade 4 ELA
• Vails Gate High Tech Magnet School, Grade 4 ELA
• Meadow Hill Global Explorations Magent School, Grade 7 ELA

So the official meeting schedule page and the NECSD Google Calendar were both updated today. The updates include three meetings scheduled to occur yesterday. This is not the first time this has happened, nor the second...

Video of the September regular BOE meeting is available on YouTube.

Will post bullet points later.

There was a public hearing about the Newburgh School District Contract for Excellence plan on Thursday September 27--in between the Public Hearing on Newburgh Preparatory Charter Proposal and the regular monthly BOE meeting. The C4E Public Hearing is required by NYSED.

Assistant Superintendent of Finance Pacella said that C4E funds were in the amount of $9,376,087. It has been the same amount for three years. There were promises about significant increases in funds, but that has not occurred. Essentially it is a continuation of ongoing programs.

There were no comments. The hearing lasted only a few minutes. Here is video.

Video of the public hearing is available here.
And here are some notes from the public hearing.
Bullet point version:

• The Newburgh Prep Charter School would be generate a $1,553,000 year one cost to the NECSD.
• State aid would not kick in until year three.
• Fitzgerald didn't realize this two year lag, or the amount the NECSD would have to pay.
• Several commenters said that the goals of the charter would justify the cost.
• Some argued that the district would be financially hurt by this significant a charge.
• There was consensus that the district needed to do something about the dropout rate and academic performance.
• NYSED will decide whether to approve the Newburgh Preparatory Charter plan.

According to this NYSED page: "Members of the public may submit remarks or comment on applications through charterschools@mail.nysed.gov or by mail to NYSED Charter School Office, 89 Washington Avenue, EBA Room 465, Albany, NY 12234. Comments will be accepted until October 19 at 5:00 p.m."

There was a BOE workshop meeting on Wednesday September 19, 2012. There was an audience of around ten. Board members Howard and Lawson were not present. A pdf containing supporting materials was available from the district website. The resolutions discussed at this meeting will be put up for vote at the BOE meeting on the evening of Thursday September 27, 2012.

Video of the meeting is up on YouTube. Here are a few notes:

A board member expressed concern about the quality of work on doors at South Middle School and stair tread at Temple Hill. Mr. Damon said those items are being revisited.

There was a presentation about Extended School Year programs by Anthony Grice. He described 4 STEM programs that were conducted with partners over the summer.

There was some discussion about a resolution to create a district Facebook account. Board President Fucheck said "the purpose for this is for facilitating the dissemination of information to the community regarding issues and activities in the schools. So it's not going to be a Facebook page like a public interactive thing... the purpose is simply to disseminate information." Fucheck said that anyone who wanted to share information would send it to Ms Butrick. [This has the potential to be as useful as the district web site.]

Among the Committee on Special Education recommendations: ten initial referrals; 36 students transferred into the district; 10 at preschool level and 23 k-12 were classified; none declassified. There was some discussion about home teaching.

During discussion of the proposed purchase of a teacher observation software system Assistant Superintendent for School Improvement Forgit made a clarifying point about the process, "The assistant principals, directors, and principals have the opportunity to observe teachers. The only one who has an opportunity to evaluate teachers is the principal."

Among HR items, five teaching assistant positions and seven teacher aide positions are to be created. These "are the results of special ed children that have entered the district". Assistant Superintended of Human Resources Leimer described the number as "in flux"--"as of this afternoon the seven teacher aides has risen to eight."

A Board Member asked about the ten day posting period being shortened for a recent posting for coaching positions. There was discussion about the coaches doing work before they were appointed by the Board, and also discussion about deficiencies in posting jobs.

There was a Newburgh School District BOE special meeting on Wednesday September 19, 2012 at 6PM

Video of the meeting is here.

Here is a quote from the Committee on Open Government website:

The Open Meetings Law requires that a motion for entry into executive session must indicate the subject or subjects to be discussed. Based on a recent decision of the Appellate Division, as well as earlier decisions, a motion cannot merely parrot the language of a statutory ground for conducting an executive session. It is clear that describing an issue as a "personnel matter," a "legal matter," or "contracts," without more, is inadequate and fails to comply with law. In short, the decision confirms that a motion to conduct an executive session should include information sufficient to enable the public to believe that there is a valid basis for closing the doors.

The Newburgh School District BOE workshop meetings are usually on Tuesdays, but the schedule is shifted this month. Tonight there is a Buildings & Grounds meeting at 5PM; a Special meeting at 6PM; and a Workshop meeting at 7PM. An agenda and an "agenda items" document for the Workshop meeting have been posted on the Agenda & Minutes page. There's a link for the Special Meeting Agenda, but it is broken.

Among the agenda items for the workshop meetiing

WHEREAS, the Board of Education is committed to keeping the school community informed about the School District and to facilitating the dissemination of information to the community regarding issues and activities in the schools; and
WHEREAS, social media sites can be beneficial mechanisms for communicating with the school community and reaching more students, parents and other stakeholders;
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Board of Education hereby authorizes the
Superintendent of Schools or designee to create an official Facebook page for the Newburgh Enlarged City School District...

HR Resolution M would create several positions:

1 Math (AIS) Teacher - Title IIA & Title IA
1 Reading Teacher - Title IA
1 Special Ed Teacher - Amendment to Ulster BOCS contract
5 Teaching Assisant - Fund Balance
7 Teacher Aide - Fund Balance

From the chart it looks like 15 positions.

Here are some video highights of the testimony at the public Mid-Hudson region public hearing on September 10, 2012.

Jen Marraccino of the Restore Education Funding group in Nyack, expressed parent concern for cuts in funding and the impact of excessive high-stakes testing. [PDF of written testimony]

Thomas Hatch, a TC professor, said systemic change is required. He said that sampling performance instead of testing all students is more cost effective and can promote collaboration, and that test scores are not a sufficient respresentation of student work. [PDF]

Ernest Logan, President of Council of School Administrators, focused on "two critical pieces": early childhood education and superintendent accountability. [PDF]

Bernard Pierorazio, Superintendent of Schools in Yonkers, spoke about early childhood education. He said full day pre-K in Yonkers had a positive affect on academic achievement for the neediest students. He also gave an example of how the new teacher evaluation system stifles academic enrichment. [PDF]

Kelly Chiarella, a regional PTA representative, said that despite supporting evaluation, the dependency on state tests is questionable. She described drastic cuts in music, art, and athletics in Yonkers. [PDF]

Judith Johnson, interim Superintendent at Mount Vernon, said the most significant issue is poverty. [PDF]

Jennie Colabella of Taxpayers for a Better Highland recommended regulation of School Board membership... "Currently there is no law or ethics ruling in the State of New York which prohibits NYS Teachers, local or neighboring school district employees, and their spouses from serving on local school boards. When such a person is elected as a trustee, a clear conflict of interest is present during contract negotiations and tenure votes." [PDF]

Harriet Cornell of the Rockland Legilslature spoke about early education. She described family resource centers in schools and a literacy-based home visit program.

Louis Wool, Superintendent at Harrison Central School District said that funding was a critical issue. He had frank, harsh criticism for the APPR system, calling it "costly and ineffective". He suggested an evaluation system with a five year time-horizon. He suggested that the testing system will inhibit efforts to challege students. He challenged the Commission to follow through on its mandate to "dramatically reform our education system." [Here is the Ken Mitchell Letter at the Lower Hudson Council of School Superintendents site]

All the written testimony, including from earlier meetings of the Commission, are available here. All the excerpt videos linked above are available as this youtube playlist.

The Newburgh School District's state approved Annual Professional Performance Review plan can be downloaded here. It is one of about 75 district plans linked from this NYSED webpage. It's an important document, but a very difficult read. Perhaps an impossible read.

Here is a story which warns that New York State's APPR system may not work so well... Meet Ashley, a great teacher with a bad 'value-added' score

Yesterday the NY Education Reform Commission held a public hearing at SUNY OCCC in Newburgh. The event was at Kaplan Hall, in the impressive meeting room that overlooks the Hudson. Between nine and fourteen commission members were present during the meeting, which ran from 1 PM to 4:45. There was an audience of about 100. NECSD attendees included Board President Fucheck, NTA President Art Plichta, and Executive Director of Instructional Technology Jensen. Jensen spoke in one of the panels.

After brief introductory remarks by Chairman Dick Parsons, a series of panelists sat, summarized the written testimony they had submitted, and answered questions. A broad range of topics were mentioned including school district consolidation, funding issues, too much standardized testing, the new APPR system (several speakers noted a gap between aspiration and implementation), the effect of poverty on students, cutbacks (some sound significantly more severe than the NECSD cuts), parent involvement in school, unintended consequences of rules and regulation, etc. One speaker even brought up the issue of Board of Education members who are former employees participating in contract negotiations and votes which affect themselves financially.

I'll create shorter videos featuring some of the presenters. For now here is a video of the whole event.

See also The Hall Monitor blog.

The Newburgh School District Board of Education has several committees that meet monthly: Curriculum, Library, Policy, Porsonnel, Finance, and Building & Grounds. The committee meetings offer a preview of the items that will be voted upon at a regular BOE meeting. The committee meetings are less formal and more conversational than Workshop or Regular meetings.

Here is some documentation about committee chairpersons and members for 2012-13 and the meeting schedule for this school year. Meeting times and dates are subject to change.

Today, September 11, the schedule calls for a Personnel Committee meeting at 2:30 PM and a Curriculum Committee meeting at 4:00 PM. Both are at the Superintendent's Conference Room at the Newburgh Free Library.

The August Newburgh School District BOE meeting bullet points:

• Presentation by Executive Principal Nodel.
• Presentation by Superintendent for School Improvement Forgit.
• $160K for leveled readers.
• $402K for student assessment instruments from CTB/McGraw Hill.
• Final 2011-12 Orange-Ulster BOCES contract was $7 million.
• $2.45 million from reserves (Tax Cert, Unemployment, Workers Commp) to General Fund.
• Three and one-half hour executive session. Three tabled HR items approved.
• A Media Communications teacher position was created.

Video is available on YouTube.

Click here for August 2012 meeting notes.

The September 7 Wall Street Journal reports:

Students in 550 schools around New York state this fall will sit for another standardized test that doesn't count, as the state again tries to fine-tune future test questions, according to a memo sent to superintendents.

The sampling of New York schools will administer the tests in late October to students in fourth through ninth grades at public, charter and private schools.

Faced with a similar practice test in June, some parents in New York City and elsewhere in the state vowed to remove their children from school or refuse to allow them to participate.
...

Excerpt from MidHudson meeting information document at the NY Governor's Putting Students First website.

The New NY Education Reform Commission is a twenty-five-member Commission charged with examining the current structure of the state's education system through the lens of what is in the best interest of students. This is one in a series of public hearings that the New NY Education Reform Commission is holding to gather input from local stakeholders as well as the public on actionable solutions to improve New York's public education system in order to better meet the needs of its students while also respecting the taxpayer.

What: The Mid-Hudson Region public hearing for the New NY Education Reform Commission

When: Monday, September 10, 2012 from 1-4pm

Where: SUNY Orange County Community College, The Great Hall in Kaplan Hall, 80 Grand Street, Newburgh, NY 12550.

Space is limited; please RSVP by sending an e-mail to NYEducationReformCommission@exec.ny.gov

The New NY Education Reform Commission is specifically looking for solution-oriented input on:

The Structure of New York's Public Education System ...
Teacher and Principal Quality and District Leadership...
Student achievement and family engagement...

Monday, September 10 happens to be the first day of school for the Newburgh School District.

The Newburgh School District has received a formal letter of intent about the "Newburgh Prep" charter proposal. The letter explains that a public hearing about the proposal should occur within a month. This is the charter school proposed by Tom Fitzgerald.

A 196 page long, 37mb pdf file containing the proposal is available here. There is also an Excel spreadsheet containing a proposed budget. Both of these documents are linked from this NYSED page.

Some notes on the proposal...

• "Key design elements of Newburgh Prep's program include: 1) a school year of approximately 215 days; 2) a school building open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. each school day; 3) classes in session from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m...." first page of document.
• "Objective: Newburgh Prep's primary objective is to provide students who have not completed high school with an opportunity to graduate from high school and to prepare them for college and career", p 3.
• Projected enrollment is 105 for year one (2013-14 school year), growing to 305 year five, p 7.
• Founding group and proposed Board of Trustees spelled out on pp 40-41.
• "Newburgh Prep will follow and uphold the Open Meetings Law." p 42.
• School's proposed location is 121-123 Broadway, p 50.
• "The NECSD is responsible for providing transportation services for Newburgh Prep students...", p 52.
• There is a letter of support from the NECSD, signed by Superintendent Pizzo and Board President Fucheck, p 60.
• Admissions Policy begins after the page numbered 62. "Because Newburgh Prep is designed to serve the needs of students who have dropped out of high school, graduating 8th grade students are not eligible to apply to the school."

There was a Newburgh School District Special Meeting and a Workshop Meeting on Tuesday August 14. These meetings followed the Hudson Scholars charter school public hearing.

At the Special meeting just a few items were voted on. First, an overnight travel request was approved. The Board went to executive session for a while and then voted to adopt the findings and recommendation of a hearing officer and terminate the employment of Mark Rohanis [sp?] effective August 14, 2012.

Marcie Heywood was appointed to be an Acting Assistant Principal August 15, 2012 to June 30, 2013.

A Finance resolution to approve the tax warrant was also approved. Total amount (NECSD and Library) is $104,104,146 to be collected between September 1, 2012 and March 31, 2013.

The Special Meeting adjourned and Workshop Meeting began.

There was the usual construction update from Terry Damon. The heaviest work is going on at GAMS.

There was a brief presentation by Maxine Nodel at the Workshop meeting. She is the new Executive Principal at NFA. She noted the absence of a vision or mision statement on stationery at NFA, so worked with her admin team to come up with one. The short version is: "Preparing students for excellence in college, careeer, community." She would like to see this motto displayed on baners at the high schools "to assist setting the new tone of change at NFA".