Back in June 2010 one year "successor agreements" were established between various unions and the Newburgh School District. These agreements specify modifications to the the previously in-effect contracts which expired in June of 2010.

The agreement with the NTA is a single page. The chart of salaries ("step increases") used for 2009-2010 is increased by 1.75%, with additional $1,000 and $2,000 increases at certain steps. Step advancement and the increased salaries will be effective December 1. Assuming an advancement of one step, this will result in a net increase of between 3 and 6 percent for most NTA members.

Retired members of the NTA have a right to vote on contracts. Presumably, Board of Education members Bowles, DeMarco, and McAfee would have had that right.

The agreement with the NTA Teaching Assistants is two pages long. The salary schedule is increased by 1.75%, with the change to be effective December 1. Due to "advancing a step" the actual raise percent will be higher than 1.75%. Maximum accumulation of sick leave is increased from 225 days to 300 days.

The agreement with the CSEA (Civil Service Employees Association, OC Local 836) is six pages long. Employees not eligible for step advancement are to receive a 1.5% "longevity" that isn't added to base salary. Other employees will advance a step but not get an additional wage increase. Senior Monitors get a $4,000 increase over step. There are a number of other provisions, including a prohibition on collecting on a health insurance buy-out as a retiree while receiving health insurance as a spouse of a retiree.

All three of these agreements terminate June 30, 2011.

Public attendance was sparse at the June Newburgh School District Board of Education meeting. Only about half the audience of 10 waited out an hour long executive session which followed a presentation about special education at the beginning of the meeting.

There was a lack of unanimity among the Board on a resolution to approve evaluators for the Extended School Year program.

"Memoranda of Agreement" between the Newburgh School District and the NTA, NTA TA, and CSEA unions were all agreed to. These contracts are just one year in duration.

An Executive Director for Curriculum and Instruction and a Director of Social Studies and International Languages were appointed.

Click for the meeeting notes from the regular Newburgh Board of Education meeting in June.

Tuesday June 22, 2010 there was a Newburgh Schools BOE Workshop meeting which began in the Library auditorium at 7 P.M.

32 retirees were recognized at this meeting.

"Memoranda of Agreement" have been drafted with three major unions in the Newburgh School District. These may get approved at the next Board meeting if the unions have voted to approve them.

The Board is considering eliminating two Kindergarten sections at GAMS. Average Kindergarten class size in the district would stay well above 20.

Here are additional notes.

An article in the Utica Observer-Dispatch from April 2010 discusses Pike Company, which had been in charge of some construction projects in the Newburgh School District. Company supervising schools project had contract canceled elsewhere:

The company overseeing the Utica City School District's $187.6 million renovation project recently had its contract with another school district terminated.

In early 2008, about the same time it was chosen for the Utica project, the Pike Co. was hired as construction manager to oversee contractors for a $75 million renovation project for the Newburgh Enlarged City School District.

But just more than a month ago, the contract with Newburg was terminated.

Utica Superintendent James Willis said he knew about Pike's situation with Newburgh, but he isn't concerned about what that means for Utica.

...

Past problems

There are varying opinions about why Pike's Newburgh contract was cancelled.

Pike Co. Chief Executive Officer Tom Judson said the project size was cut dramatically, and the company's services were no longer needed.

Representatives from Armlin Damon & McMordie, the company that oversaw Pike in Newburgh and is doing the same in Utica, said there was a conflict of personalities.

The Newburgh district isn't talking. Multiple calls to Newburgh Superintendent Annette Saturnelli and school board members were not returned.

Minutes from that district's school board, however, say simply that there was an "early termination of the contract." No other details are provided.

Pike also was removed from the $35 million renovation of the Albany County Courthouse in August 2008 after that project lagged more than two years behind schedule.

...

The team of Pike officials who worked on the Newburgh and Albany projects is different than the team in Utica. Gloria Ciminelli, who will lead the Utica team, did not return calls Monday.

Willis said he spoke to Newburgh board members, who told him the contract was terminated because "the chemistry wasn't there."

"There was nothing wrong with the work that they did," Willis said.

Utica Project Manager Tony Armlin, whose company oversaw Pike in Newburgh, said Pike is a "fine company." "They are a very strong construction management team," Armlin said. "We're very pleased with the team in Utica."

Armlin, who didn't work on the Newburgh project, said the situation there wasn't a good fit.

"It was not a performance-based issue," he said. "The personalities of that district and Pike didn't mesh. That happens sometimes on projects."

...

At the May Newburgh School District Board of Education meeting several dozen teachers and parents from South Junior showed up to protest a plan they had heard about, to reassign Principal Mucci and Assistant Principal Ragusa from South Junior to elsewhere in the district. A resolution which likely resulted in a few layoffs passed. A Vice Principal was appointed at NFA, and a principal was appointed at Meadow Hill.

Click for the meeeting notes from the regular Board of Education meeting in May.

Assessment Specialist Diane Lennon presented district level "report card" information for the Newburgh School District at this meeting. This assessment and "NCLB Status" information is complex, arcane, and often arbitrary. Ms Lennon did an excellent job of making it comprehensible. Extraordinarily, noone had any questions!

Click for the meeeting notes from the regular Board of Education meeting in April. The official minutes of this meeting are available from the district website.

On Saturday, May 8, 2010, the Newburgh Lyceum group and Mothers and Others for a Better Newburgh co-sponsored a "Meet the Board of Education Candidates" event.

Seven of the eight Newburgh School District Board of Education candidates were able to attend. The many excellent questions submitted here at newburghedinfo were among those forwarded as input.

Video coverage of the event is posted at the Newburgh Lyceum blog. The video quality at the beginning of the event is not so good. However, the audio is fine throughout.

All of the candidates are to be commended for taking the time and initiative to answer questions publicly. And thank you to Newburgh Lyceum and Mother and Others for sponsoring this event.

Each of the candidates expressed a sincere desire to work for improvements in the district. On May 18 you will get to decide who gets the chance.

There is going to be a "Meet the Candidates" event next Saturday. Please suggest questions to the sponsors via email to newburghlyceum@gmail.com, or suggest a question in a comment here, and I will see that they are forwarded.

From: Newburgh Lyceum
Subject: Meet the Newburgh Board of Education Candidates - Saturday May 8

*Meet the Newburgh Board of Education Candidates - Saturday May 8*

The Newburgh Lyceum and Mothers and Others for a Better Newburgh invite you to "Meet the Candidates" on May 8, 2010. The school board election and budget vote will be May 18.

When: 10 a.m. - 12 noon, Saturday May 8

Where: Board of Education Auditorium (on the top floor of the Newburgh Free Library.)

This is your chance to learn about the candidates. The event will begin with a few formal questions to the candidates, with additional time afterward for the public and the candidates to meet informally.

If you have a question you would like the candidates to answer, please email it to the Newburgh Lyceum at newburghlyceum@gmail.com by May 3. If you are a candidate and would like to participate, please email or call (845) 391-0125.

*****

The Newburgh Lyceum is a forum for citizens concerned about the quality of life in Newburgh to share ideas and work work together to create positive change. Membership is open to all.

Mothers & Others for a Better Newburgh, Mo'Betta, seeks to improve the quality of life for residents of the city of Newburgh by 1) providing greater oversight of its government officials and municipal processes and 2) generating workable plans of action designed to resolve the city's impediments to progress and strengthen the city's sense of community and family friendliness.

There was a special meeting of the Newburgh School District BOE on Tuesday April 20 at 7pm. The main purpose was for the Board to vote on the 2010-2011 budget proposal. A few other items were added. All the resolutions passed unanimously with little discussion.

• The meeting begain with a one hour executive session to discuss employment history of an individual.
• School District Budget proposal for 2010-11 in the amount of $226,468,390 was approved.
• Library Budget proposal of 4,240,343 was approved.
• Property tax report card data for submission to NYSED was approved.
• West Street School will house grades K to 5 for the 2010-11 school year.
• North Junior shall operate as grade 9 to 12 school next year.
• Boys track team approved to attend an event.

The agenda of the meeting included time for public comments, but there were no speakers. After the executive session, it took less than 15 minutes to approve everything.

The Times Herald-Record summarized things in an article yesterday:

Newburgh school board offering $226M budget
By Doyle Murphy
Published: 2:00 AM - 04/22/10

CITY OF NEWBURGH -- The Newburgh school board will ask voters to approve a budget that is more than $3 million less than the one they approved a year ago.

The board held a special meeting on Tuesday to finalize the proposal that will go to voters on May 18 for final approval.

The $226.4 million budget includes 27 fewer positions but could still increase the tax levy 1.36 percent -- in part because the cost of paying employees' salaries and benefits increases annually.

The district is also short $7.88 million in state aid. If the federal government leans on the state to restore some of that money or the school board decides to spend a portion of the cash it keeps in the district's fund balance, the tax levy could change.
...

This was the last Budget Meeting of the Newburgh School District BOE, before voting on a budget proposal for the 2010-11 school year.

The bullet point version:

• One hour executive session to discuss employment history of an individual.
• Maintenance position added to budget, $56k.
• Violence prevention funding added to budget, $250k.
• No percentage cut to ahletics budget.

Notes from the meeting are available here.

Notes from the meeting are available here.

Three Health Aide positions (GAMS, MH, TH) were restored to next year's budget at a cost of $145k. Twenty seven Lunch Monitor positions were restored to the budget at a cost of $217k. These are part-time, hourly employees. Ten Social Worker positions were restored at $1m. Restoring the K-2 summer school literacy program was rejected.

Were these the most effective ways to spend $1.36 million dollars? Does this spending address the district's top priorities? How will the Board measure the result of this spending?

Click through for meeting notes.

At the Budget Workshop meeting this evening the Newburgh School District BOE restored 10 Social Worker positions to the 2010-2011 budget, at a cost 0f $1,008,561. I'll post full notes from the meeting some time tomorrow.

The auditorium at the Newburgh Free Library was filled to capacity for this board meeting. At the back of the room, people were standing at least three rows deep. The large turnout was to show support for Principal Jackson and the ten Social Workers, whose positions were to be eliminated. Dropping the principal position held by Jackson was an actual agenda item. The elimination of Social Worker positions had been announced at a Budget Workshop meeting but was technically a non-agenda item.

Ironically, the Social Workers received official recognition for their work at the beginning of the meeting.

Communication was strictly one way throughout the meeting. During the two public comment times, a total of 21 people spoke. Each received the same rote response ("your comments have been recorded and will be responded to ..."). At other times, the Board went about it's business with no expression of priorites, costs, or reasoning for the public to make sense of. The sole exception was when Board Member Bowles offered a clarification that the Junior High School Principal position (held by Jackson) had to be abolished because the district will no longer have Junior High Schools next year.

Abolishing the Social Worker positions is part of a reorganization that involves creating new positions. Before the Board votes to abolish the Social Worker positions at the April BOE meeting, it might be helpful for community relations to explain how the reorganization is intended to benefit the district.

Click for the meeeting notes from the regular Board of Education meeting in March.

Notes from the March 18 Budget Workshop will be posted before tomorrow, but I wanted to mention an announcement that Board of Education President Fucheck made at the end of that March 18 meeting. She said that if members of the public wished to comment on budget items, that there is opportunity to do that at the regular BOE meetings during the "public comment on non-agenda items" time. The next regular BOE meeting is tomorrow, Tuesday March 23, at 7:00pm (the public comment time is usually at the end of the meeting).