Odessa-Montour school board 10/08/09

Oct 14, 2009 at 02:41 pm by Observer-Review


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Odessa-Montour school board 10/08/09

Meeting:  The Odessa-Montour school board met Thursday, Oct. 8 for one hour and 50 minutes.
Attendance:  Damita Chamberlain was the only board member absent.  There were 40 members of the public in the audience, mostly for School Board Appreciation Week.
Action:  After a public hearing that no public attended, the board approved transferring $522,541 from the repair reserve to the capital reserve.
• Two corrections to the tax levy were approved.  One was for a Montour Falls property that should have been exempted.  The second correction was a clerical error that had an assessed value wrong.  Superintendent Jim Frame said these are typical corrections.
• The board accepted the education goals for 2009-10, as created in the September workshop.
• The board accepted a $3,000 grant from the Corning Inc. Foundation.  The grant will be used to support science, math, and technology services provided by the Regional Science and Discovery Center through GST BOCES.
• A $49.01 donation was accepted from the Target Take Charge of Education Program.  Frame said a school can get a percent from purchases made at Target.
• The board approved the creation of an extracurricular fund account for the National Junior Honor Society, a new club.
• The board also accepted the 2008-09 audit report and internal audit risk assessment report.
Discussion without action:  At the start of the regular session, a number of students from all the Odessa-Montour District schools were there for Board Appreciation Week.  Board members were presented with gift bags and baskets, folders decorated by students, a trumpet solo, short speech, and cheer.
• Board member Scott Westervelt said he has spoken with Elmira, Corning, and Owego schools about competing against Odessa’s modified boys swimming team.  He said each is willing to compete twice, and that Horseheads might also be willing.
• Frame reported that the Sports Boosters will help provide funds so the school can purchase a digital sign for out front of the middle/high school building.  The sign was an idea for improving communication between the school and the community; one of the board of education’s goals.
• The school board heard from the school district’s nurses about head lice, diabetes, and the flu.  Jen Hoose, nurse, said they are sending parents general information about the flu.  Concerning head lice, she said the school cannot send out a letter to students’ parents when someone in the class has lice because it is a privacy issue.  However, Hoose explained that the nurses do regular checks at the start of the school year, after long breaks, and periodically throughout the school year.
• The board heard from the special education department on the Model Transitional Grant the school has been participating in for the last two years.  Sandy Young, special education administrator, said the grant money will run out in November though.  She explained the purpose of the program is to help students with disabilities transition into secondary education or jobs.  Students in the program visited Corning Community College, did job shadowing, had work experience, and skills training.
Upcoming meetings:  The next regular board meeting will be Thursday, Nov. 12.    It is expected to start at 7 p.m., following an executive session at 6 p.m.   A workshop meeting will be held Thursday, Oct. 22 at 6 p.m.  
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