by Chris Tergliafera
At the October 19 meeting of the Berlin Central School District Board, the Middle School Student Council handed out gift bags to the Board and Superintendent to thank them for their service and dedication to the school community.
The High School Student Council recently met with Principle Kimberly Brownell to discuss concerns and improvements. One such improvement would be the ability for kids who have stayed home due to COVID-19 precautions to use Zoom. Currently if you stay home you aren’t permitted to use Zoom, while if you go into school while not feeling well, and get sent home, you can. The Student Council felt that this sends the wrong message. The issue of there no longer being a 4 pm bus for students who need to stay late was also discussed. The Council was told that there is a driver shortage, but the transportation department would still do their best to brainstorm and try to come up with a solution.
Superintendent’s Report
Superintendent Joseph Dhara stated that while COVID-19 does seem to be stabilizing, there are still positive cases within the district, resulting in students needing to be quarantined. He urged students and staff to continue to take COVID-19 precautions.
The capital project continues to progress well. Recent work completed on the soccer and baseball fields could very well result in them being ready when those seasons begin.
Berlin Elementary
Student Ambassadors—Berlin Elementary School’s version of a student council—is up and running again this year. Fifteen students in grades three through five serve as ambassadors, and the students must go through an application process to become council members. The council has several community service projects planned, including Socktober, where the students collect socks for an area homeless shelter.
Berlin Middle School/High School
There was a virtual open house held on October 13. Principle Brownell shared the School vision with parents, followed by teachers presenting an overview of courses, model for quarantine instruction and their grading policy. The school will be implementing a program called checkpoint, which will allow small groups of students to meet with teachers once a week to review their current grades and create academic goals. Checkpoint will be built into the last 25 minutes of the school day. The first meeting was held this past Wednesday, October 27.
Sports
Over 80 student athletes from Berlin have already signed up for winter sports, with an additional 50 from New Lebanon joining them. At this time there won’t be a COVID-19 vaccine mandate, but athletes will be tested on a weekly basis, pending test availably. The district is still looking for coaches and this may have an impact on certain sports.
Other News
Both the 2021-2022 code of conduct, and the BNL athletics inter-municipal agreement were approved.
Food services is experiencing issues with shipping and shortages, but stated they are doing their best to get creative without too many menu changes.