No Increase In BCSD Tax Levy

by David Flint
The Berlin School Board at their regular meeting Tuesday set the tax levy for the 2010-11 school year at the amount approved by the voters in June, which is $8,317,221. The levy is the same as for the previous year. The levy results in the following tax rates per thousand, apportionment of the levy and percentage changes in the individual towns. Only one town, Stephentown, will see an increase this year.
Berlin                      $57.60        $2,059,435    -3.99%
Grafton                 $169.70        $2,148,255    -2.21%
Petersburgh          $25.07        $1,378,954     -0.04%
Poestenkill           $57.25            $256,578     -1.40%
Stephentown       $47.23         $2,473,999    +1.72%
Elementary Transition
In September for the first time all of the Berlin School District elementary schools will be located at one site, the Berlin Elementary School. Michelle Colvin, the Principal of that school, provided a report on the preparations that began last march to make for a transition for Grafton students and their parents that would be as smooth as possible. Buildings & Grounds Administrator Cyril Grant reported on the physical preparations that have been done. Facilities planning began in April and the occupancy layout was finished in mid-June. Renovation work on classroom space to accommodate the additional students was completed by the end of July so that teachers could begin to set up their rooms during the summer. A number of improvements were made to classrooms including painting, new blackboards and new carpeting.
Board Member John Nash, said that he understood there was a legal limit of 400 students for the building, a number which will now be exceeded, and he questioned what was being done to deal with that issue. Grant replied that he didn’t think any such number had ever been definitely defined. Nash said it had been a topic of discussion and had been used as leverage in an attempt to get the construction bond referendum passed last December. None of the other Board members seemed to recall anything definite on this. Beverly Stewart thought the number referred to acreage, not the building. Board President John Greene said he would get it clarified.
Andrew Zlotnick of Petersburgh read a statement asking if the Board had considered the health and safety of the building. He recalled that last fall it was claimed that six to ten million dollars of health and safety work had to be done or the District could lose its Certificate of Occupancy. Zlotnick wanted to know when the Board would inform residents and parents of potential contaminants he believes may have been found recently, including asbestos in the walls, and explain how they would remediate the problem. “Is there anyone,” he asked, “who feels that they have enough information to say unequivocally that our school is safe?”
Interim Superintendent Eileen Leffler, contacted after the meeting, said some problems had been discovered in the process of repairing some brickwork in the parapet. She believes the problems have been dealt with but is waiting for a full report which will be discussed at the annual safety meeting scheduled for Thursday.
Superintendent Search
The Board was in agreement on the need to get started on a Superintendent search but had some differences of opinion on how to go about it, whether to hire BOCES, an outside firm or do it themselves. Beverly Stewart, John Nash and Alan Webster were adamant about not giving the job to Questar III BOCES. Nash commented that under the leadership of persons with strong ties to that organization the Berlin BOCES budget had increased by $600,000. John Greene said he had no strong negative feelings about BOCES but realized that a sizeable portion of the community does. Stewart pointed out that as a result of last year’s aborted Superintendent search the District is in possession of and owns a suitable advertising brochure. Most thought that the Board would not have the time to do the entire job themselves including pre-screening of applicants. Frank Zwack, whose preference was to use BOCES, conceded that with the brochure in hand and a Leadership Advisory Group already in place, an outside firm could be hired to function in a minimized capacity as a facilitator. The Board ended up passing unanimously a resolution to authorize Stewart and Elizabeth Miller to develop a list of consulting firms and contacts for a Superintendent search and schedule them to make a presentation to the Board.
Academic Intervention Services
The Board approved by a vote of 5-2 a plan for Academic Intervention Services (AIS). Board members Nash and Alan Webster voted no. According to the plan, AIS “are additional instruction and/or support services that supplement the instruction provided in the general curriculum and assist students in meeting the State Learning Standards…are intended to assist students who are at risk of not achieving the State Learning Standards in English Language Arts, mathematics, social studies and/or science or who are at risk of not gaining the knowledge and skills needed to meet or exceed designated performance levels on State Assessments.” The plan outlines criteria for eligibility and for beginning, continuing and ending services, the components, services and supports provided, procedures for managing and coordinating services and the goals of the program for 2010-2012.
Heinz Noeding of Petersburgh said he had read the plan on the District’s website and noted that the District incurs substantial cost through its hiring policies for AIS, but he could not find how many students in prior years were identified for the program or any mention of the results of these interventions. He asked what the penalties are if AIS fails. “Ultimately the administration and the teachers must be accountable,” he said. “You cannot adopt programs such as AIS without having a historical accountability of prior year activities.”
Board Member Nash noted that there has been an AIS plan in effect since 2000 and said he, too, would like to see some accounting as to whether students receiving these services are really benefitting. He believed there has not been a lot of progress in either the Berlin District or in New York State as a whole using these programs. If the program is not being successful, he said, the Board needs to look at other options.
Superintendent Leffler affirmed that monitoring is taking place though it does not show up in the plan. She said they use multiple measures including literacy portfolios and quarterly progress reports at the elementary level. There is also a program in place for monitoring progress called Response to Intervention from which she would be able to provide detailed information to the Board. She said she would look at getting data from the secondary level also, such as how many students have exited from the program at the end of the year. Leffler noted that more students are showing up in AIS because cut points have been raised so that more students qualify for the services.
Elections
Stewart reported from a meeting of the Elections Subcommittee that had met before the regular meeting. They are looking at two changes in how School District elections are held. One change would be to have multiple polling sites instead of just the one in Berlin. The other change would be to elect Board Members at large instead of for a specified seat. Stewart said they have found that multiple polling stations is a more complex issue than they had thought and needs further study. The question of at-large elections of Board Members, however, she asked to be put on the agenda for discussion at the September Board meeting.
Open Communications
The Board unanimously passed a resolution to have a draft of minutes of meetings placed on the District website (berlincentral.org) within two weeks of the meeting. The monthly reports from the Board President and the Superintendent of Schools will also be included. The documents will also be posted in the various town libraries.
Contract Negotiations
Alan Webster, noting that negotiations with the Berlin Teachers Association on a new contract are scheduled to begin in January, asked if the process could start in October. Since teacher salaries and benefits constitute the largest piece of the budget he felt more preparation is needed. Webster suggested that a law school might be engaged to provide students who could do a comparative analysis of contracts. Using this information the District would be able to make available to the public an accurate analysis in advance of negotiations. Stewart agreed that the District should be doing comparisons. President Greene said he would put it on the agenda for next month.
Stewart asked if Board members would be conducting the negotiations and, if so, could they be appointed at this meeting so as to get started early. Zwack said that before anyone is designated the Board should meet first in executive session with legal counsel so that anyone designated would know what they have to do and what they are up for.
Professional Development Plan
The Board passed without comment a Professional Development Plan for 2010-11. The purpose of the plan is “to improve the quality of teaching and learning by ensuring that teachers participate in substantial professional development to remain current with their profession and meet the learning needs of their students.” But Heinz Noeding was again concerned about lack of accountability. He perceived that instead of measuring teachers’ progress in meeting certain targets during the year to maintain their certification, we pay teachers to receive training, $35 per credit up to 130 credit hours. “Teachers should want to maintain their certification standards and not have to be bribed to do so,” he said.
New Meeting Time
The Board passed a resolution to start their meetings hereafter at 7:15 pm. They set their Retreat meeting for goal setting for Monday, August 23, at 7:15 pm and the next regular meeting for Tuesday, September 21, at 7:15 pm, both meetings to be at the High School in Cherry Plain.