Including Homeschooled Students In Extracurricular Activities
Berlin Central School Board Hears Passionate Plea
By Doug La Rocque
The Berlin Central School District Board of Education meeting was quite routine last Tuesday Evening, January 21, until it came time for the final public comment session. It was then that two districts rose to speak on issues that have been before the board at previous meetings.
First to the podium was Laura Stein Bassallo of Grafton, who has, along with her husband Alex, homeschooled their children.
One son did attended the Berlin Jr./Sr. High School so he could play on the school Varsity Soccer Team. Participation in sports and other afterschool extra curricular activities by home school students is currently not allowed in most cases in New York State. Ms. Bassallo feels that should change, arguing that students who attend traditional public or private schools and those that are homeschooled have grown up in the same communities, often playing sports next to each other within community organizations. She said the belief that these students, who may come from different religious or social backgrounds, would be at “loggerheads” with each other, just isn’t true. She is appealing to the school board to consider these changes. Legislation, which would allow but not mandate school districts to approve this home school participation, is supported by 107th District Assembly member Jake Ashby. The bill passed both the Assembly and Senate Education committees last year and may possibly come to a vote in this legislative session.
Not everyone is in favor of this change – in fact the Council of School Superintendents says “our primary concern is that expectations for public school and home school students just cannot be equated. To participate in school sports, district students must meet standards of academic performance, attendance and personal behavior. There is no way for a district to assure that home school students are meeting comparable standards in all respects and so there is every likelihood that deserving public school students will be denied opportunities given instead to home school students whose academic attainment and conduct are impossible to compare.”
This is an argument Ms. Bassallo attempted to debunk, stating those that homeschool have to submit academic reports that prove their students are meeting state-mandated standards, as well as attendance records. She added that when a young person is causing trouble in a community, everyone knows, be they a public or homeschooled child.
As to the school board’s feelings, there seems to be a bit of a wait and see attitude. Board President Frank Zwack stating previous to Ms. Bassallo’s comments, he felt he needed to spend some time in the school with the students to become more acclimated with the school and the student’s culture. He said he would prefer to wait until he completes this before deciding if he is in favor of such home school participation.
Not Happy With Bus Route Changes
When the school district announced last summer it would be combining both the Elementary and Jr./Sr. High School bus runs together in the afternoon, there were a lot of questions, particularly about the length of time children would be spending on a bus, and safety for very young children who would be mixed in with high school students. Many came before the school board opposing the change. At the time, as was verified by board member Sherry Bowman-Kluck, the Board asked parents to give them until the holiday break to see how things worked out. Lindsay Jones of Stephentown stepped up to the public podium to say she was promised a report after school began again in January, but never received it. She claims her child is on a bus for 80 minutes each afternoon, and suggested some possible changes in bus routes to shave this down by 10 to 15 minutes. School superintendent Dr. Stephen Young said, “the District will not entertain any changes.”
Board President Frank Zwack indicated it was not really a board issue, but suggested to Dr. Young and Business Manager Karen Capozzi, who heads up transportation, they look at Ms. Jones’ proposal, and perhaps run that particular bus route in the manner suggested for two days to see if she is correct. Ms. Capozzi agreed to meet with Ms. Jones to attempt to make that happen.
A Change of Plans
The recent earthquakes that rattled Puerto Rico not only shook up the island territory, but rattled the Senior Class trip plans as well. Advisor Karen Day indicated they where no longer comfortable visiting the island citing safety concerns, and the students instead decided on a trip to Florida. When questioned by Board member Kellie Kaschak as to the cost of the change, number of chaperones and educational components of the trip, Ms. Day responded there would be no increase in cost to the students, all the educational pieces of the trip had been worked out and there may now in fact be more chaperones then were available for the Puerto Rico trip.
Ms. Kaschak also questioned the Disney “Park Hopper” passes they were planning to purchase, worried that some students might wander off between parks. Ms. Day did not feel that was a real concern, but agreed to look into an individual park pass for each day versus the “Hopper.”
School Aid
Legislative Liaison Jeff Paine said the increase in New York State Aid to Education contained in Governor Andrew Cuomo’s budget proposal was about three percent. He is hopeful that the state legislature will hike that number to four percent, as the aid has often increased in years past from the Governor’s proposal to the final budget.The Board next meets in a round table session on Thursday, February 6 at the Berlin Elementary School at 7:15 pm.