Date December 20, 2007 Kind of Meeting Regular
Where Held Hunter Elementary Cafeteria Presiding Officer Brian Wilson
President
Brian Byrne, Marc Czermerys, Gerry Loucks, Members Present
Rachel Tripsas and Brian Wilson
Patrick Darfler-Sweeney, Melinda McCool Administration Present
and Simon Williams
Various members of the staff, community Others Present
and student body.
Motion made by Mr. Byrne, seconded Minutes Approved
by Mrs. Tripsas to approve the minutes
of the 12/6/07 meeting.
CARRIED 5 YES 0 NO
Motion made by Mr. Loucks, seconded Auditor’s Report
by Mrs. Tripsas to accept the Internal
Claims Auditor’s Report as presented.
CARRIED 5 YES 0 NO
Motion made by Mr. Loucks, seconded Payment of Bills
by Mr. Czermerys to approve the
Warrant Report #10 as presented.
CARRIES 5 YES 0 NO
Cks. #s . 6494 – 6609 $328,329.22
The appropriations status report Appropriation Status
was presented for review. Report
The Tax Re-levy and Misc. Levy reports Tax Reports
were presented for review.
Katie Drao, Student Council Representative, Student Council
reported Kathleen Farrell and Amanda Osborn
are the Students of the Month for December.
The Council sponsored annual dinner for
the Senior Citizens of the district was held
in the Tannersville Cafeteria last week and
it was a great success.
The SPTO sponsored program – Lunch with SPTO
Grandparents - was held over the last few
weeks in the Hunter Cafeteria. Grandparents
Minutes
December 20, 2007
joined elementary students for lunch. There
was a good turn out and an enjoyable time was
had by all. Mrs. Coloton, on behalf of the SPTO
and the Hunter students, thanked the Board and
the District for supporting the program with special
thanks to the cafeteria staff who went above and
beyond to make everyone feel welcome. This
was an excellent opportunity to invite our
community to see the great things happening
at HTC.
There will soon be a new library on the Mt. Top Library
mountaintop and it will be located in the Presentation
Marian Center across from the Tannersville
School Building. Ron DeLong and Joan Kutcher
representing the fund-raising committee were
present to speak to the board about the plans
to turn the center into a state of the art library
and community building. Efforts are underway
to renovate the structure at a cost of approximately
2.5 million dollars. Financing will come from
fundraising, donations and grants. The first major
repairs will be the bathrooms, the heating system
and the roof. Plans are to spend the money as it
is raised and open as soon as next spring. It was
mentioned Columbia Greene Community College
plans to offer courses on site as soon as the building is
available. Mr. Byrne suggested contacting our local
State Senators and Assemblymen for help.
Catherine Romito, Senior Class President, Kenny Drao, Proposed Senior Class
Student Council President and Kelly Schermerhorn, Trip - Presentation
Senior Class Advisor outlined two options for the
Class of 2008’s senior trip. Choice #1 was
San Antonio, Texas and Choice #2 was the
Washington, D.C., Virginia Beach area. The
class has approximately $8,700 in their trip bank
account with the estimated costs for the above
mentioned trips coming in around $18,000.
Noted they have some additional fundraising
events scheduled for early 2008. There were
questions on the number of chaperones and
the board was very concerned about security
Minutes
December 20, 2007
measures to be taken for both options. The
board requested an update and more specific
information regarding pricing, security and
funding/expenses at the February workshop
meeting.
There was a presentation from Catherine Modern History Class
Romito a student in Mrs. Drexler’s Modern Presentation
History Senior Elective. The class is
overseen by a faculty member as students
explore Colonial Times through research
(inquiry method) and hands on/real life
experiences. Students are divided into groups
and given specific areas of Colonial America
to study. Mrs. Drexler was also present and
explained this method of teaching.
Mr. Sweeney mentioned he has just finished Capital Project Update
extensive meetings with the principals in
the Capital Project and stated the district
expects to be going to bid on February 1st
with a ground breaking scheduled for March 1.
Plans are for a few more meetings before
soliciting bids. Mr. Sweeney stated we are
in good shape at this point.
Mrs. McCool mentioned she is working with Administrative Reports
Mr. Graham, 5th grade teacher, on some Mrs. McCool
technology issues to make teachers
more comfortable with the programs
available in district and is planning on
presenting Excel as a tool for teachers at
an upcoming Staff Development. The
4th Graders went to NYC to meet with their
pen pals and toured the United Nations. The
trip was partly sponsored by the NYC Watershed.
There were plenty of chaperones and a good time
was had by all. Mrs. Purvis’ class sponsored a
food drive for the Tannersville pantry and
Mrs. Morley’s class sent care packages to an
Armed Forces unit in Iraq. Mrs. Hoaglund’s
class sent Christmas cards to the same
unit. The Platte Clove Community School 3rd
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December 20, 2007
graders joined our 3rd graders for an international
luncheon. The Site Based Team is trying to
coordinate an after school enrichment program
for after school.
Mr. Simon mentioned as part of a Staff Mr. Simon
Development program in the middle/high
school they are trying to discover ways to
get students to master concepts and help
with real life experiences in the classroom.
He acknowledged Mrs. Hairabedian, who
informed the board she is starting a student
run independent review session group during
Period J. The purpose of this gathering is to give
students an opportunity to talk about school
assignments and activities. Mr. Simon mentioned
Mr. Bain is planning to start a district wide recycling
program as part of an environmental course for
08-09 and plans are in the works for a ”buzz” bulletin
board where students may acknowledge their peers.
Mr. Sweeney mentioned he is planning a Staff Mr. Darfler-Sweeney
Development on technology for March. Noted
the district did very well on our latest State bus
inspection - reported at 90%. Reviewed some
“Legalgrams” and “Special Education Alerts” for
the board and mentioned changes in the Regents
schedule which adds a half day. The Superintendent
thanked Mr. Hairabedian for her work on the
Student of the Month program.
Mrs. Marilyn Siakowski was acknowledged Recognition
for a great job with the Senior Citizens’ Dinner,
and Mr. Mecca and Mrs. Hoyt were congratulated
on great holiday concerts in the Hunter and
Tannersville schools. There were fantastic turnouts
in both buildings.
At 8:58 on a motion from Mr. Czermerys, ES
seconded by Mr. Byrne the meeting was
adjourned to executive session to discuss
the employment history of particular persons.
CARRIED 5 YES 0 NO
Minutes
December 20, 2007
At 9:14 on a motion from Mr. Loucks, Regular Session
seconded by Mrs. Tripsas the meeting
returned to regular session.
CARRIED 5 YES 0 NO
Motion made by Mrs. Tripsas, seconded Appointment:
by Mr. Loucks to approve Mrs. Patricia Koehler P. Koehler
as a Floating Bus Driver for the remainder of the
2007-08 School year at an hourly rate of $13.41
plus benefits according to the HTESP contract.
Appointment becomes effective 1/2/08 with a
6-month probationary period beginning from her
part-time appointment of 10/5/07 ending 3/5/08.
CARRIED 5 YES 0 NO
Motion made by Mr. Czermerys, seconded Appointment:
by Mrs.Tripsas to approve Mrs. Jennifer J. Parquez
Parquez as a Substitute Bus Driver pending
verification of her driving record abstract
from Virginia.
CARRIED 5 YES 0 NO
Motion made by Mr. Czermerys, seconded Substitute List
by Mr. Loucks to approve Cynthia Jewett, Update
Elaine Farley, Joyce Howes and Kathryn McCool
to be added to the district’s list of substitutes
pending background and fingerprint clearances,
to be reviewed again in 20 days as per the
conditional policy.
CARRIED 5 YES 0 NO
The board tabled the district’s Active Vendor List
Vendor List for updating.
Mr. Byrne moved and Mr. Czermerys BOCES - Seat
seconded the motion to elect Gerry Loucks G.Loucks
as a BOCES board member.
CARRIED 4 YES 0 NO 1 ABS. (Mr.Loucks)
Minutes
December 20, 2007
Motion made by Mr. Byrne, seconded Resignation:
by Mrs. Tripsas to accept a letter of T. Stryker
resignation from Mrs. Tracy Stryker,
5th grade teacher, dated 12/18/07,
effective in thirty days.
CARRIED 5 YES 0 NO
At 9:25 on a motion from Mrs. Tripsas, ES
seconded by Mr. Byrne the meeting was
adjourned to executive session to discuss
the employment history of a particular
person and special education placements.
CARRIED 5 YES 0 NO
At 10:10 Mr. Sweeney left and at Regular Session
10:35 on a motion from Mr.Byrne,
seconded by Mrs.Tripsas the meeting
returned to regular session.
CARRIED 5 YES 0 NO
At 10:37 on a motion from Mr. Loucks, Adjourn
seconded by Mr.Czermerys the meeting
was adjourned.
CARRIED 5 YES 0 NO
Respectfully submitted,
Norita Johannessen, Clerk
BOE Approved 1/4/08