Here's the bullet point version of the Newburgh School District January 31, 2012 Regular BOE Meeting.

• The expected NYSSBA presenter had to cancel and is expected to reschedule.
• District Arts Director Theresa Brown was recognized by the Orange County Arts Council.
• Art Plichta, a teacher in the district, commented that increasing class sizes will be detrimental to students, especially in younger grades. He called for a bold budget without layoffs.
• Board President Fucheck commented that the Board was considering a reduction in the number of polling places as a cost saving measure, but that will not occur this year.
• Board Member Giudice resigned by letter effective February 1.
• Approval of spring athletic coaching appointments was tabled for executive session discussion.
• There were strong complaints from public speakers about a girls sports coach.
• Two public speakers had complaints about resolving special ed services or paperwork situations.
• Former Board Member Bowles complained about lack of a Martin Luther King Day event, community relations, and lack of instructional leadership.

After nearly three hours of executive session the Board did the following:

• Approved the recommendation of the Superintendent that the board terminate the services of the Palumbo group. This is a firm that does construction project management.
• Removed from the table resolution 0131128. This resolution was not discussed during the public part of the meeting.
• Approved most of the spring coaching appointments (HR Resolution P). It seems that 17 of 24 numbered items were approved. One was voted down.
• Approved comprehensive education plans "for the schools as listed."
• Approved a facilities use request for the New Windsor/Cornwall rotary club.

On Wednesday January 11, 2012, at 3:30PM there was a Special meeting of the Newburgh School District Board of Education.

Eight of nine BOE members attended: Fucheck, McAfee, Levinstein, Lewis, Prokosch, Resch, Vesely, and Woodhull. Superintendent of Schools Pizzo and Clerk of the Board Botsford were also present. Board member Giudice was absent.

The BOE adopted revised policy 5200 Comprehensive Student Attendance and 6653 Audit Committee on two readings. The attendance policy change allows building principals to recognize "valid exceptional circumstances" that qualify as an excused absence. The BOE also awarded a contract for plumbing in connection with the GAMS Science rooms' alterations.

The meeting was over in about three minutes. Here's the video:

Following this meeting the BOE had another meeting, a "retreat" with two NYSSBA consultants, which was not open to the public. The Board chose not to provide any information to the public about this event or its purpose.

The people from NYSSBA were Barry Entwistle, Director of Leadership Development (who wrote an article about the usefulness of retreats in 2008) and Jay Worona, NYSSBA General Counsel.

At the December 2011 Newburgh School District BOE meeting last night:

• There was recognition for the fifth grade math team and for the retirement of District Photographer and AV Expert Greg Thompson.
• The Board President praised the quality and accomplishments of the NFA Career and Technical Ed Program and the elementary IB program at Horizons. She said these programs had impressed visiting education experts.
• A resolution to approve the job description for Executive Principal of NFA was separated from being grouped with revised job descriptions for "Director of Social Studies Education and Foreign Language", and "Director of Bilingual Education and Accelerated Learning Programs". One board member voted no on the Exec Principal job desc.
• Meeting minutes for Sept and Oct regular meetings, and for three Special Meetings in November were approved. They will probably be on the district website soon.
• During public comments, teacher Ms. Hutchinson again expressed concern for the affect of the new attendance policies on participation in the Girls to Ladies club. She explained that there has been a real case of a student who it is the goal of the club to help, being turned away because of the attendance policy.
• A retired police sergeant with experience working with schools expressed support for the Girls to Ladies club. He said that students who find ways to participate are much less likely to run into trouble with the law.
• Former BOE member Grace Bowles took issue with the Executive Principal job description.
• Most agenda items were approved routinely. A couple of HR items (each was "an aggreement with an employee") were tabled for discussion in executive session. The meeting went to executive session after less than an hour.
• After about 90 minutes in executive session, the board approved one of the two HR items that had been tabled earlier. The other remained tabled.

Video will probably be up on Friday.

The NECSD BOE Workshop meeting on Tuesday December 13 was preceded by a "Public Hearing on the Contract for Excellence Program". The hearing just consisted of a reading of what was printed in one of the PDF documents linked to in an earlier post.

At the workshop meeting Linda Bakst from NYSSBA gave a presentation about the Dignity for All Students Act; there were the usual construction updates and presentation of items to be voted upon at the December 20 BOE meeting. The Assistant Superintendant of HR mentioned that updated job descriptions for some Director positions and a job description for the Executive Principal position are expected to be on the agenda for Dec 20.

Click through for more details.

The November regular BOE meeting was this Tuesday at the library auditorium. There were about 60 people in the audience. Presentations included a grant from Toshiba, an energy presentation, and information about the Dignity for All Act. There was a statement by the school district attorney about the basketball attendance issue. There were also several public comments about various topics--including strong criticism of the search process for the Executive Principal position.

Click through for the November BOE meeting notes.

There was a Newburgh School District BOE workshop meeting on Tuesday, November 22. This meeting was held in the Newburgh Free Library Auditorium. There was an audience of around ten people, but chairs for many more. There is a Regular BOE meeting tonight at which these items are likely to be voted on.

Click through for the November 2011 BOE workshop meeting notes.

There was a Special Meeting of the Newburgh School District BOE on Tuesday, November 15. Board President Fucheck and Members Levinstein, Lewis, McAfee, Resch, and Woodhull attended. Also present was Superintendent Pizzo and District Clerk Botsford.

The purpose of the meeting was to work on a document expressing "Principles of Ethical Conduct for Board Members.” This would be an addendum to existing policies 0180, 3211, and 4213, and would have an accompanying signature sheet which Board Members would be expected to sign off on.

Discussion topics included...

• To whom should Board Members raise complaints and what process should be followed? One idea was that the Board President or Superintendent should be notified and an administrative remedy should be attempted before taking any action at a meeting.
• Board Members should be open to hear all sides of an issue before making a decision.
• How much and what type of offline communication between Board Members is appropriate?
• Should the Board act only on the recommendation of the Superintendent on matters of employment and dismissal of personnel?
• Basing decisions of facts.
• Members should diligently attend and prepare for meetings.
• Is it appropriate for Board Members to make appointments with district personnel?
• Is it a conflict of interest for Board members to vote on contracts which affect the health insurance benefits that they receive?

One of the documents being used at the meeting was the ethics policy of the Livingston NJ BOE. It has some interesting provisions including a few which the Newburgh School District BOE will probably not consider adopting...

...
No Board member shall discuss or vote on a proposed collective bargaining agreement with a bargaining unit when his/her family member belongs to that bargaining unit.
...
A Board member cannot be appointed to a paid office or position required to be filled by the Board, except where law permits or requires that the office or position be filled by a Board member, and is ineligible for appointment to a paid office or position in the district for at least six months after the member’s retirement, resignation, or removal from Board membership.
...

It is interesting that a school district would officially forbid these actions.

There was a Special Meeting of the Newburgh School District BOE on Tuesday, November 14. Board President Fucheck and Members Levinstein, Lewis, McAfee, and Woodhull attended. Also present were Superintendent Pizzo, Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Leimer, Executive Director of Human Resources McLymore, and attorney Shaw. The board went to executive session "to review the employment history of particular individuals" and "to receive advice from the school attorney."

Video of the October 25,2011 Newburgh School District Board of Education meeting is up. You can view it on this page or you can go directly to the video on YouTube.

At the October Newburgh School District BOE meeting last night

• There were several public comments on the basketball coach selection process and the Bunce suspension. Turnout was large, maybe 125+, YNN and THRecord were covering the meeting. There was also a protest going on just before the meeting at the parking lot which the BOE and administrators use.
• Matthew Brown was appointed boys varsity basketball coach.
• The BOE voted to hire a consultant for up to $10K to work on a search for an Executive Principal for NFA.
• Pay increases were approved for "central office administration" and "non-represented confidential/managerial staff."
• After an executive session four HR items that had been tabled during the meeting were approved. These included revision to the 2011-2012 Annual Professional Performance Review Plan and an addendum to the Superintendent's contract.

There was a Newburgh School District BOE workshop meeting on Tuesday, October 18. The resolutions that will be voted on at the October 25 regular meeting (tonight!) were covered and there were the usual construction project updates.

Click through for the October 2011 BOE workshop meeting notes.

Here is a copy of the new Statement of Core Values and Beliefs, Vision, and Mission of the Newburgh School District. It was approved at the September BOE meeting. If you prefer to print, here is a pdf file. The new vision and mision statements are very much like the previous ones.

This webpage still has the old version which refers to a "pleasant learning environment".

At the September 27, 2011 Newburgh School District Board of Education meeting Accountant Levy gave a brief summary of the audit for the fiscal year ending in June. Among the highlights is a deficit (according to modified accrual) of $15.2 million on the fund statements. Using full accrual there is a deficit of $26 million. Levy said "A big part of that reason is because you have, I told the audit committee, Post Employment Benefits that is a staggering number--for retirees' health insurance."

Click through for additional excerpts and video of the full meeting. Alternatively you can browse over to newburghedinfo on YouTube.

At the September Newburgh School District Regular BOE Meeting last night there was a brief presentation by the district auditor. He reported a deficit of 15.2 million dollars on the fund statements using modified accrual. Under full accrual, net assets minus liabilities left a deficit of 26 million. A big part of that deficit is "post employment benefits" which the auditor called a "staggering number". The regular meeting business included adoption of the district's "Statement of Core Values and Beliefs, Vision and Mission Statement", and the creation of 2 Teaching Assistant and 9 Teacher Aide positions. There were seven or so public speakers. Three of them had spoken at the prior month's meeting and returned to reiterate concerns in several areas: establishing an IESP, suspension of Ms Bunce, and hiring activities (for Basketball Coach and NFA Principal positions). The only action taken after the hour or so executive session which followed the main part of the meeting was approval of H.R. agenda item M, schedule J appointments for 2011-2012. Video will be up soon.

There was a Newburgh School District BOE workshop meeting on Tuesday, September 20. At this meeting the BOE actually introduced a topic and discussed it in public. This was quite extraordinary. The topic was whether to explore a school uniform policy. This idea was viewed favorably by the Board.

Click through for meeting notes from the September 2011 BOE workshop.

The Newburgh School District Board of Education held a special meeting on Wednesday September 14 at 6:30 p.m. All Board members except for Giudice attended. The meeting started about ten minutes late as the Board waited for School District Attorney Shaw to arrive. There was a twenty minute executive session "to review the employment history of particular individuals". This was followed by approval of a single Human Resources item, "a professional change of status". Then there was another executive session "to review the employment history of particular individuals".

This meeting may give you the impression that quoting a phrase from the New York State Open Meetings Law provides sufficient reason for an executive session. This is a point of some controversy. In January 2011, Judge Donald Greenwood ordered the Jordan-Elbridge BOE to attend training and pay a complainer's attorney fees in a case involving this issue. The law requires specificity and quoting a phrase from the law is not sufficient, according to Zehner v. Jordan-Elbridge BOE. Judge Greenwood's decision is well worth reading. There are some great lines... "Nor is Foote's argument of other area boards' failure to comply with the law persuasive."

Here's video of the two and half minutes of the meeting that were public...

The Newburgh School District Board of Education held a special meeting on Thursday September 8 at 6:30 p.m.

Here are some notes.

And here is video of the post executive session portion of the meeting--when most of the resolutions were passed:

Video of the August 30, 2011 Newburgh School District BOE meeting is now available.

Here is Board President Fucheck's statement on the basketball team attendance issue:

And here is the post executive session voting. This occurred at midnight. Last minute revisions were made to the attendance policies, and the Annual Professional Performance Review plan document was approved.

Video of all the public commments made at the meeting is available via this playlist.

Here are a few preliminary notes from the Tuesday August 30 Newburgh Schools BOE meeting. It may take until the weekend to get videos posted.

The agendas for tonight's Newburgh School District meetings are available at the district website: August BOE agenda, Code of Conduct public hearing agenda.

There are some additions to the regular meeting agenda that were not discussed at the workshop meeting last week. Item V.B. calls for the adoption on one reading of revised "Comprehensive Student Attendance Policy #5200" and "Eligibility for Student Athletic and Extracurricular Activity Participation Policy #5441".

Item X.R. is a "Resolution to Appoint Individuals as Acting Assistant Principal at the NFA Main Campus and NFA North Campus."

Item X.S. is a "Resolution to Create Two (2) Full Time Administrative Positions of Assistant Principal".

The regular BOE meeting is to be preceded by the required "Public Hearing on District's Code of Conduct/Safety Plan". Since the Code of Conduct and Safety Plan haven't been made readily available to the public, this required annual Public Hearing will most likely be short. The governing regulations about a district Code of Conduct say "A board of education or board of cooperative educational services may adopt any revision to the code of conduct only after at least one public hearing that provides for the participation of school personnel, parents, students and any other interested party."