Hammondsport school board 9/21/11

    Meeting: The Hammondsport school board met Wednesday, Sept. 21, for three hours and five minutes.
    Attendance: All board members were present. There were 10 members of the public in the audience.
    Action: The board approved the school’s Annual Professional Performance Review (APPR), as mandated by the state. Superintendent Kyle Bower explained that under the plan, a teacher or principal’s review is dependent on several different factors. However, he added that in each district, some of those components are decided locally through collective bargaining. Bower said the state currently says 20 percent of a review will be based on the student’s test scores. Bower added the state is focusing only on teachers who have 50 percent or more students in grades four to eight math and English Language Arts. One concern expressed by the board was the amount of time needed for administrators to complete these teacher reviews. Bower said one review is estimated to take between 30 and 40 hours.
    • All funds in the elementary yearbook extracurricular account were transferred to the high school yearbook account. Bower explained there will only be one yearbook this year. He said the number of students buying just an elementary yearbook did not justify printing two separate versions.
    • The school board gave initial approval for the Spanish Club’s trip to Peru.
    • The board declared 15 “Understanding Psychology” text books and Hammondsport sports uniforms as surplus. They will either be disposed of or sold.
    • The school’s concussion management plan was approved. Bower explained the district has completed all physical and cognitive testing of fall sport athletes. He said these results would be used as a baseline comparative if a student is later believed to have experienced a head injury.
    • The board accepted a $272.29 donation for the class of 2014.
    Discussion without action: A number of staff and students were recognized by the board for their accomplishments and contributions to the community. Students Susan Sincerbox and Lauren Binnert were recognized for making All County Band/Area All State; Jessica Anthony for making Conference All State; and Matt Bussman for making alternate for Conference All State Mixed Choir. Fifth grader DeAndre Cox was recognized for his enthusiasm to learn. Jeff Wisniewski, new Spanish teacher, and Kory Merritt, art teacher, were also honored.
    • High school Principal Tad Rounds and elementary Principal Michelle Sincerbox showed a joint presentation on the curriculum changes that New York State Education Department is making schools implement. Rounds said the state looked at what made students in college ready to handle the material. He explained the state then backtracked to elementary and middle and made curriculum changes that are supposed to prepare students to be college ready.
    • Bower reported that the board would review more capital project improvements in October.
    Appointments/resignations: Megan Archer and Katherine Fingar were appointed day-to-day special education and elementary/middle school substitutes; and Kalyn Fries was approved to be a day-to-day substitute teacher, teacher’s aide, and aide for Glenn Curtiss elementary school.
    Upcoming meetings: The next regular school board meeting will be Wednesday, Oct. 19, at 7 p.m., following an audit committee meeting.