School Board Meeting Cheat Sheet - Nov. 16 Edition

Hauppauge Union-Free School District's Board of Education held its November meeting on Tuesday night. Topics of discussion ranged from Languages Other Than English programing and changes in state educational requirements to student hotlines and special educational classes.

Presentations

• LOTE -  Lillian Carey, director of Languages Other Than English program, gave a presentation about LOTE, talking about what classes exist, their enrollment, new additions and the future of language classes. New York State has done away with all language regents other than the English Regents examination, as well as the proficiency tests, Carey said.
  There are 230 students who started taking a second language in sixth grade. Of these students, Carey said by twelfth grade there is normally only one AP section of each.
  In efforts to bolster enrollment, the district added a level 2 Honors Spanish course followed by a German 1 last year. The German class had 21 students enroll with 12 who received between a 90 - 100 score on their German Regents last year.  Five students then continued into Honors German 4 or AP German.
  Carey said Hauppauge's program will start focusing on integrated performance assessments, ways of testing the student's skills in a second language by incorporating teaching in another subject. As an example, she offered having students complete a food pyramid in Spanish while doing a food unit - learning health and Spanish at the same time.
  The district is also leading efforts among 40 Long Island districts to create a regional examination to replace the discontinued Regents examination.
• Independent Audit - Highlights of the independent audit conducted by R. S. Abrams resulting in a 60-page report were presented to board and community members. Findings includes that due to the district's current assets increased by more than $14 million while its liability increased by $19.8 million due to issuing serial bonds for its 2008-2009 capital improvements.  
  Auditors informed the board that there will be new classifications for reporting school budgets by June 2011.

Superintendent's Update

Matt Giordano will be returning to his position as principal of on Monday.

Hauppauge School District will be undergoing its next Tri-State Consortium science education evaluation starting Wednesday. A four to five professional educators team will be speaking with staff, teachers, parents and students to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the district's science curriculum. It will result in a report that gives potential recommendations for future development.

Kriss said a number of changes are expected to be made by the New York State Board of Education. These include elimination of some Regents examinations, charging $6 per student per Regents taken, and gradually increasing what qualifies as a passing scores on the Regents. None of these suggestions have become formal changes yet, Kriss said, but expects many of them will be seriously considered at the start of next year.

Administrative Matters

• The Board of Education received a donation of $250 from TD Bank Employee Volunteer Program due to the work of Hauppauge resident Paul Borowski.
• Board members approved the charters of the co-curriculuar clubs with exceptions to:

1. Hauppauge Middle School Accounting Club -  Board member Ginger Todaro  said she wanted to see the mission of the club rewritten to reflect its activity and be more beneficial to students.
2. Step Club Dance Team - Board Member Eileen Mass ask that more club positions be elected aside, such as a treasurer, outside of just a president.

Curriculum and Instruction Matters - Board members voted 4-3 to approve of the annual overnight field trip to Quinipet Camp & Retreat Center on June 6 - 10, 2011. President Ann Macaluso voted against the trip. She said that during hard economic times, it can place stress on parents whose children ask for $230 to attend a school field trip not covered by district funding, and felt the bonding trip would be more beneficial for students earlier in the school year.

Comments on Non-Agenda Items

Several parents of the special education 3-4-5 class at spoke to the Board of Education regarding concerns with the teacher, compliance with special education regulations and instruction. The classroom teacher will be changing for the third time in as many months. Parents said they were upset, disappointed and frustrated by what they called a lack of response from school administrators.
The Superintendent offered to reach out to a representative of the group to arrange a round table discussion for administrators and parents to come together to discuss the issue.

Discussion Matters

• Student Hotlines -  At the previous Oct. 26 board meeting, Todaro mentioned having a hotline available for students who need assistance. Assistant Superintendent Kryie Siegel said there is a general hotline for students at 631-584-8232 for serious issues. Macaluso and Trustee Susan Hodosky wanted to further consider ways this can be brought to students' attention.
• The District will be paying the full $220 registration cost for any board member wishing to attend the New York State School Board Association Winter Law Conference on Jan. 20, 2001 at the Islandia Marriott.