We do understand how frustrating an incomplete website can be; our apologies for your frustration.  We have been working on our website; however, we do not have personnel available to dedicate to this work at this time.  We hope to have more sections of it completed as the year goes on.  Thank you for your comment and your interest.

Thank you for your suggestion, we have passed it on to our principals.  This would be a wonderful way to save time.  There are a couple of problems we can foresee with this.

It would take the coordination of many people, which can be difficult, especially if since many are volunteers, and the other issue is that some parents may not have the money available all at once, so for some families it could be a hardship if we requested they do that.  It is however, a wonderful idea, and we appreciate it.

Thank you for your question. It does seem that it should be different but it isn't. The bottom line is the same as always; we must have school for 180 days. The make up days should we need them are April break.We build 5 emergency days into the calendar. The information below is taken directly from the Education Department website.

3. Extraordinary Conditions:

The length of school day requirement does not apply if schools open late or close early due to extraordinary circumstances beyond their control. Each year, some school districts lose whole days, however, because of circumstances beyond their control (i.e., winter weather, utility failure). The Commissioner is authorized to excuse up to five days for extraordinary circumstances, if those "lost days" of instruction could not have been made up by using, for the secondary grades, all scheduled vacation days which occur prior to the first scheduled Regents examination day in June, and, for the elementary grades, all scheduled vacation days which occur prior to the last scheduled Regents examination day in June. Scheduled vacation days that may be used include days of religious observation associated with Passover, Easter and other religious holidays. Only Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays are excluded from days that may be used for this purpose. Requests for excusal must be made in writing to the Education Department at the close of the school year. If scheduled vacation days and days waived by the Commissioner are insufficient and the school district still remains one or more days short of the 180 days, the district may schedule additional sessions after Regents examinations, through June 30, to satisfy the length of session requirement.

In the event that only one building in a district will be short the required days of session because of some extraordinary condition, the day(s) for only that building must be made up by using all scheduled vacation days before an excusal can be given. The only exception is an occasion where a school opens late or closes early and the half-day kindergarten is excused from attendance as a result of that action. Under no circumstances may kindergarten pupils who miss a day of session be counted in attendance for that day. Further, the day may not be made up by having the half-day group meet twice on the same day. Because of the impracticability of opening schools, running buses, and bringing in teachers and pupils to make up half-day kindergarten classes at a time when other classes are not in session, excusals for half-day kindergarten (up to five for a.m. sessions and five for p.m. sessions) will be given under these special circumstances. Such requests for excusal must be made on the State Aid claim forms submitted to the Education Department. (Education Law 3604(7))

A declaration of a State of Emergency by the Governor due to adverse weather conditions does not authorize the school districts affected to operate an annual session of less than 180 days.

Since statute requires a minimum of 180 days of session, school districts cannot extend the regular school day and count the extended times as additional days of session to make up "lost days."

www.emsc.nysed.gov/schoolday.htm

The Averill Park School District has begun the process of registering boys and girls for the 2009-2010 Kindergarten Classes. If you, or someone you know, has a child who will be five years of age on or before December 1, 2009 please contact the district registrar at 674-7050 extension 2819 to make sure that the child is listed on our school census. This will guarantee that you will receive all upcoming kindergarten information by mail. Registration paperwork should be hand delivered by the parent or guardian to the district registrar at the district office in Miller Hill School during the months of January and February. Registration hours are Monday through Friday from 8 AM to 3:30 PM with extended evening hours on February 3rd & 12th until 7 PM. Registration forms are accepted on a walk-in basis only. No appointment is required. All paperwork must be completed by 02-27-2009.

New York State Public Health Law, Section 2164, requires that all pupils must be immunized as follows for your child to attend school:

• 3 doses of diphtheria (usually as DTP, DT or Td)
• 3 doses of oral polio vaccine
• 1 dose of mumps vaccine after 12 months of age
• 1 dose of rubella vaccine administered after 12 months of age
• 2 doses of measles vaccine, the first after 12 months of age and the second after 15 months of age.
• 3 doses of Hepatitis B Vaccine given in a 6 month period of time.
• 1 dose of varicella vaccine (chicken pox)

All of the items you mentioned are available for sale along with other school spirit items at boy’s basketball games and in the APHS bookstore, or you can call Helena Collen 674-5575. We will make sure to ask the Booster Club if they would stock up on these items in each school's bookstore.  Thank you for wanting to show your support, we all trulyappreciate it!

I noticed in previously asked questions about re-scheduling of
the Holly Ball. The questions are answered but yet there are no
updates in the Calendar section of the web site with
rescheduling information of the event. Perhaps this would avoid
confusion and the need to submit the questions in the first
place.  Also, is there a link on the web site that allows for checking
on the status of events that is updated and current?

We are exploring the potential for efficiencies in every area and department. "Decrease administrative cost" is listed in the efficiencies to which you are referring. This list is a working document and nothing on the list has been decided at this point.Our total 08-09 budget includes 7% for administrative cost which is one of the lowest in the state. We have 3 central office administrators, 6 principals in 7 school buildings and 3 assistants in grades 6-12. In addition, we have a Director of Health, Safety and PE who also handles inter scholastic athletics, and a Director of Academic Intervention/Special Education. This lean team leads our K-12 district of 3500 students.

I Just recently checked out the possible reductions found under the "Budget Corner" and noticed that the Student Assistance Counselors may be cut.
It says that drug and alcohol use has tapered off, but that doesn't mean that they should necessarily do that. Student Assistance Counselors are very important to have in all schools, regardless if it has tapered off or not. I know as of know this is only a "Possible Reduction", but I do not think it should even be on the list of possible eliminations.
It would also be a good idea to take a poll on this situation to consider it being a elimination option.  If you could send me more information as to why this might happen, it would be well appreciated.

The Holly Ball was re-scheduled for this Saturday at the request of student advisors. 

Ms. MacGilfrey was able to arrange for the gymnasium to be used by moving the functions already scheduled for that space to Algonquin Middle School.  When unexpected things happen (like the ice storm and subsequent power loss), we do what we can to provide alternative times for cancelled activities.  In the future, perhaps students could weigh in with their advisors so that a more convenient re-scheduling might occur.  I am sorry for your inconvenience, but, unfortunately, in an emergency situation, such as the one we had, it is not always possible to accommodate everyone’s needs.  Hopefully, the majority of students who planned to attend last week, will be able to get there this week.

Though cheerleading is not considered a sport by NYSPHSAA, we offer it as an opportunity for students to participate in an athletic, organized activity, which supports our teams.  Cheerleading is listed with athletics in the District calendar, together with all other sports teams.  All teams and school sponsored activities adhere to the blue card.

Every student who is involved in an activity such as sports, cheerleading or theatre is governed by the code of conduct.  Theatre participants have been and will be suspended for breaking that code.  When a student commits themselves to an activity where their participation is required, and their conduct, whether it’s breaking school rules or not showing up for practices affects others, then the student is bound by the same rules, regardless of whether it is a sports team or a cast for a play. It probably is an inexact use of words for us to call the “blue card” a sports team code of conduct; we should think about changing that.

There are two leagues that we know of close by; they are Twin Town Little League in West Sand Lake (ttll2008@nycap.rr.com) or Spring Little League (518- 272-5087) in Troy.  We are not aware of any youth leagues currently operating in Averill Park, however, the Youth Services Supervisor may have some more information. (518-674-0149 youth@townofsandlake.us)

Yes, the District has a fund balance.  It is like a savings account you might have at home.  If you make less than you spend and use your savings to make up the difference, you will run out of your savings very quickly.  What we’re working to do is reduce our expenses to meet our anticipated revenue.  We will use fund balance money but not to the extent we expect the gap between revenue and expenses.  This gap exists because state aid is declining given the financial crisis NYS is experiencing.

No, the last thing any of us want to do is lay off teachers.  The entire focus of our District is to do what’s right for kids, and not having the appropriate number of teachers, would certainly not be that.  I believe what you read is a reference to an answer to a question the superintendent was asked at a Budget Task Force meeting about a way to reduce costs in the instructional staff area.  The answer was that, unlike some districts who are trying to re-negotiate teacher contracts, we do not anticipate there will be a change in teacher contracts, unless the teachers themselves wish to re-negotiate.  What was stated was that the only way to reduce instructional employee costs would be to reduce instructional employees, which is the case.  We do not advocate this as a way to reduce costs, however, it is not the superintendents call as to how the District will reduce costs, it will be up to the BOE.  If you would like more information about the budget process, please go to the Budget Corner link.  You will see the fund balance use proposal we have created.

We have no way of knowing how deep the State’s funding cuts will be, therefore, we are not as of yet in a position to make specific recommendations.  We are looking at all options in terms of reducing expenses for next year; nothing has been ruled out.  The District is engaged in conducting stakeholder meetings with a Stake Holder Task Force made up of community members with and without children, business people, and members of our teaching, administrative and non instructional staff.  Though elementary enrollment is being reviewed, we have not made, nor will we make a decision about closing any of the District schools until the Task Force is done with its work.  The decisions on what items will be cut will be made by the School Board when all stakeholders have finished their work.  Unfortunately, we are experiencing the same issues that every single school in NYS is experiencing.  We were one of the first schools to create a stakeholders taskforce, and we have been working on this issue from the moment we heard about the crisis.

We will all feel the impact of NYS’s budget crisis.  We do expect to have varsity teams next year; it would be highly unlikely that we would have to cut varsity sports.  We understand that there is a great deal of anxiety about what cuts will be made, so we are providing information on our website under the Budget Corner link.  The BOE has not made any decisions yet, as the Budgetstake holder groupis still working on possible solutions to funding cuts.  We do not yet know what we will forced to cut, but our hope is that we do not have to cut existing varsity sports.

As to the issue of letters, pins and bars at the varsity girl’s banquet; there should have been enough emblems for every participant.  The coaches are given a list with every student’s name and what they are to receive.  A career letter is given to each athlete.  After the letter is issued, an athlete receives a bar for subsequent years of participation, and a pin for each sport.  The Director ofSafety, Health and PE was not informed that we lacked any of these items for our athletes.  My apologies to you and our student athlete; please contact the Ms. June Macgilfrey, and she will provide anything that was missing for the student in question. You will find her contact information on our website under Programs/Athletics.

Students participate in the Language Arts contest by invitation because it does require additional work outside of the classroom.  Teachers would normally only invite students who they feel would benefit from the opportunity this program affords.  The program is in its strictest sense simply for the enrichment of the students, and is an example of differentiated instruction. Differentiated instruction is based on the knowledge that not all students are alike, and provides an approach to teaching and learning so that students may have multiple options for making sense of ideas and information.

The contest challenges students to solve analogies based on word relationships; it does not emphasize grammar or punctuation.  There are no set number of students who are selected to participate, it depends on the particular class and which students the teacher feels might benefit from the experience.  A student who is not asked to participate is not necessarily doing poorly or worse than a student who has been asked to participate.  The school does not benefit in any way, except by providing an enriching experience to some of its students. For more information about differentiated instruction, please use this link: http://www.cast.org/publications/ncac/ncac_diffinstruc.html

Membership in our chapter of the National Honor Society is decided by the faculty based on the following criteria; each category is judged independently and is of equal merit.

Scholarship – Seniors are eligible for consideration for membership in the National Honor Society by earning a 90% cumulative high school grade point average based on GPA for thirteen (13) semesters.  A student must be an Averill Park High School student for at least one semester.

Service –A student must have been involved in a non-scholastic, service type activity (i.e., sports, chartered clubs, student government, service learning, church, and scouts) lasting two years.  Participation in these activities will be verified.  P.I.G. service projects, lessons or salaried jobs do not count as non-scholastic service activities.

Leadership – Students eligible for membership must demonstrate effective leadership.  This may be accomplished not only as an elected official, chairperson, or member of committees, clubs, organizations, and/or athletics, but also in the classroom by exhibiting intellectual curiosity, demonstrating positive behavior and attitudes, and accepting responsibility. 

Character – Teachers, coaches, and advisors will make assessments regarding character.  Potential NHS members must possess distinctive qualities which include, but are not limited to:  Integrity and Ethics – an uncompromising adherence to a code of honesty and sincerity; and Cooperation – a willingness to work in collaboration with students and faculty toward a common goal which enriches and enhances our school community.  This includes the use of appropriate language avoiding profanity.

A faculty selection committee will meet to thoroughly discuss each student candidate.  All decisions for selection or non-selection are decided by majority vote.  All proceedings are confidential.  Since the selection procedure is so exhaustive and confidential, results are not subject to appeal.

Cheerleading is not recognized as a sport by the NYSPHSAA, therefore its rules are not the same as for recognized sports.  The question as to why cheerleading is not considered a sport has been raised with NYSPHSAA, and recently a survey was sent to all high schools regarding this and other sports related issues.

The following is a short overview of some of the rules which can be found in the NYSPHSAA handbook:

· Cheerleading squads are not required to have a specific number of practices    before a competition. 

· There is a compliance requirement for starting dates to be similar to recognized sports.

· Cheerleaders are required to have a physical prior to participation.

At Averill Park, cheerleaders follow the same code of conduct that our athletic teams are required to follow.  Generally there are practices 2- 3 times per week, and they attend contests as scheduled for the football/basketball teams.  Thank you for raising the same question we have raised with NYSPHSAA.  If there are any changes in the status of cheerleading as a sport, we will post it on our website.

All modified sport tryouts are on November 17th at Algonquin. 

Other Sports Tryouts/Start dates are as follows:

Varsity/JV/Freshman Basketball (boys and girls) tryouts start on November 3.  They are held at the High School and Algonquin.

Bowling starts on Nov 3 at HiWay Recreation.

Basketball Cheerleading tryouts start on November 10 at Miller Hill (gym).

Indoor Track starts on November 10 at the High School.

Parking privileges are given to only to seniors and as space allows to some juniors.  We are sorry, but we do not offer parking privileges for sophomores.   Though we have no rules about who may drive to school, a sophomore will not be provided with a parking permit, so it will not be possible for them to park on school grounds.

Our theatre department made the choice to do three productions this year, instead of the Talent Show.  They decide the previous season what they would like to do for the current season, and apparently they wanted to “mix it up” a bit.  We will most certainly miss the talent show this year, as it is always a wonderful, fun event.  We do, however, know that the three shows they are producing this year are going to be outstanding, and we look forward to seeing them.  As with all of our departments, the theater department advisors and teachers are open to suggestions from parents and students, please feel free to contact them.  Thank you for your comment, and please keep coming to the shows!

We are working to get all of the pages of our site up to date.
We have had students assist on occasion, and do agree that students may be a great resource to help with updating our website. Thank you for your suggestion.

No, this is not true.  If a student loses money in a vending machine, he or she reports it to the Cafeteria, where Mrs. Blessin will handle the refund at that time.  Should Mrs. Blessin be unavailable at that moment, a cafeteria staff member takes the student’s information so Mrs. Blessin may provide the refund.  Our food service staff attempts to assure that students are aware of this refund procedure, however, if your child received information to the contrary, please let us know who advised him so we may be able to correct any future misinformation from being disseminated.  Thank you for your question.

The large concrete slabs you mention do not belong to the District; they are for the Veteran’s Park.  Our goal is to move the APHS sign (a gift from the Class of 1959) to a new base directly opposite its current location on School Rd.  The base could then be used for an electronic sign.This project is very costly. ($40,000 +)  The Education Foundation, the PTO, and the Student Government have kindly offered to help. We are unable to do this work until funds are raised to cover the cost.

It is wonderful to have input from our students. Track chooses to honor their seniors at their banquet. A factor in this decision is that there are very few home meets, and in fact the indoor season is completely off campus.  To add to this issue is that the boys and girls often meet at different locations.  The logistics for creating a Senior Night are difficult at best, because of the far reaching physical locations for this sport.   Your coaches and Ms. Macgilfrey are always open to ideas, so if you have a workable solution in mind, please approach them about it.  Thank you for bringing us your concerns.

It is wonderful to see the community participate in school events. Naturally since it is easier for families to participate when they occur outside of the work day, we do have a larger show of support for evening events. Though we are able to hold evening events for art shows, concerts, and plays, it is not always possible for us to hold athletic events during the evening. We do have weekend athletic events that allow for family participation.

The Suburban Council has restrictions on the number of games that can be played at night during the school week (This is especially difficult during the winter season as there are many evening contests).  Athletic directors meet regularly with league principals and night contests are always a topic of concern.  Schedules are set up to avoid conflicts with testing such as SAT's and PSAT's as well as the January exam week.  Academics is our first priority and a great deal of thought and planning goes into scheduling.

We only have one field with lighting.  We play at least 4-5 varsity football games, 4-5 JV football games, and 3 soccer games (senior nights). We have to carefully to monitor the use of this field to keep it in useable shape. There are other logistical considerations for night events, such as the additional cost of lighting and the increased need for chaperones among other things. For the time being we have maximized the use of the resources which allow us to hold night games.

It is frustrating when timing differences like you describe occur. Many of our staff face the same issue. We have not been able to arrive at a cost effective solution that allows for this type of service. We currently only provide late buses as follows:

One hour after dismissal, four times a week from APHS and three times per week from Algonquin.  By necessity, these bus runs are extremely limited. We do not provide busses for students attending the CARES program which ends at 5 or afterschool extracurricular activities such as sports or clubs.

We do provide buses from the school to off campus games or group activities, and then back to the school, but not to the individual student’s home. Parents are responsible for transporting their children home from school for most after school activities.  We wish we could provide front door transport to all students who desire it, but it is not possible for us to so.

Perhaps there is a neighbor, or other parent with whom you can car pool, or some other arrangement.  We are sorry for the inconvenience caused by the difference in timing, but we are unable to provide students with this transportation.

At the time that we introduced Lacrosse, the program required a phase in plan over 3 years with a cost commitment of $40,435. Lacrosse was cut prior to the first budget vote, in an effort to reduce the budget to under 3%, without cutting existing programs.  There were a number of other cuts prior to the budget vote that did actually place the budget below 3%.    Though we have great enthusiasm for a Lacrosse program, our athletics programs lost $17,000 after the budget vote. We believe it is only fair to restore our current programs before we commit to new ones; however, this would be up to the Community, working through the Board, to decide which programs they prefer to fund.  

We do not have a District wide information source for fundraisers, as the District does not directly sponsor them. You will be able to obtain listings about these functions from the individual building website, your child’s classroom teacher/building principal, club, sports team, the PTO/PTA and groups such as the Averill Park Education Foundation.  We do greatly appreciate the effort our parents and students put forth to organize these events, and we support their hard work and outstanding results.

(AP Education Foundation www.averillparkef.org)

For individual building websites go to www.averillpark.k12.ny.us  click on District Schools/Contact Us.

Our daily menus do not reflect all of the food choices available to our high school.  On Tuesdays and Thursdays we offer a deli line with a variety of made to order sandwiches, wraps, chef salads, yogurt and bagels.  Though we may advertise only one food, we do always have several alternate choices available, and a hot alternative to the main menu item, such as some of the foods you mentioned: baked ziti, chili and fajitas.

It may seem boring to serve pizza so often, but it continues to be the most popular item we serve, and 50% of the student population buys it every week.  We do detail all menu items during morning announcements, so that students will be aware that there are food choices available besides the printed menu items.

As with any food establishment, we offer a menu which must be kept in line with our operating costs.  As food costs continue to rise, we are sometimes limited in certain food choices; however, we are able to serve over half of our student population a hot lunch every day.  We appreciate your comments and suggestions.  Please feel free to call the Food Service department if you should have any specific questions about food preparation.

The Board arranges their meeting schedule a year in advance during their annual re-organizational conference in July.  This schedule is modified as needed.  The Board normally meets twice a month, except during the summer when the schedule is changed to monthly. There is only one meeting scheduled in November; though there are two for October and December.  The Board always considers the amount of work to be done and what amount of meeting time should be scheduled to accomplish that work. The Board does make time for important issues that arise when no meeting is pending, and meets according to those needs.  Beginning in January there will be two meetings per month.  Meeting schedules are located at our website: www.averillpark.k12.ny.us under Board of Education/Meeting Schedule, the information includes the location and topic of each meeting.

No, this information is inaccurate. Though the Administration did recommend that the Board consider adopting a contingent budget, with $258,500 in reductions, the Board decided to reduce the budget by $85,160. Mr.Bonesteel and Mr. Ouimet carefullyexplained to the Board that there were three options: 1.) Re-vote on the same budget, 2.) Vote on a revised budget or 3.) Go directly to contingent budget.  The Board voted to go to a Contingent Budget. After extensive consideration and deliberation it was decided that $85,160 in cuts would be made.

Unfortunately, because of the failure of the 2008-2009 school budget, our athletic budget was significantly reduced.  The impact of this reduction resulted in the cancellation of the freshman boy’s soccer program for Fall 2008 and freshmen girl’s softball for Spring 2009.  The supplies and equipment budget was also reduced, which of course affected every existing sport.

We feel that restoring already existing sports to their pre-budget failure position should be our priority; so our fundraising efforts would have to start there. However,  it is our hope that we will be able to add new programs in the future.

Adding boys' lacrosse was supported by the Board of Education during the budget process, but cut when the Board reduced the budget. The Board promised to re-visit the proposal for 2009- 2010. Schedules in the Suburban Council are designed for two years. which makes it impossible for us to add lacrosse before that time.   

posted on Sept. 10, 2008

Some of our schools have chosen to have students eat lunch in their classrooms.  The teachers have viewed this as a more positive and tranquil experience for the students. Some of our teachers requested this change at the end of the 2006-07 school year.

It allows the teachers to connect with their students in a more relaxed way, and allows for more effective supervision.  Since some cafeterias are actually multi-purpose rooms, it also requires less of a transition to have the students in their classrooms for lunch.  

At Miller Hill, students eat lunch in their classrooms because the environment in the classroom is more calm and quiet. The cafeteria at MH was designed to serve as a gym, the windows are very high and the acoustics make it seem much louder than it should be. In the cafeteria, students tend to do little or no socializing outside of their own class, so the move to classrooms did not affect that aspect of their lunchtime.

The feedback from teachers and students has been extremely positive. The students are together during recess, and in many cases, this year; the folding doors between classrooms have been opened.  The teachers and students seem to love it.  The teachers have lots of games and toys for students to play with when they finish their lunch before moving on to recess.

The performance evaluation of the Superintendent is defined in the Superintendent's contract which is a document that may be requested under the Freedon of Information Law (FOIL). The section regarding the evaluation is copied below. It is also defined in policy 0320. The results of personnel evaluations, including that of the superintendent, are not subject to FOIL and are not available to the public.

Performance Evaluation

Each year, the Board shall evaluate the Superintendent’s performance and her working relationship with the Board.  This evaluation will be in writing and will be discussed with the Superintendent by the full Board in Executive Session on or before July 15th of each year.

posted on August 27, 2008

We appreciate your concern. 

This year we will be using ground turkey for our tacos. We will also be offering wraps on our HS deli line. Peanut butter and banana is something we could try along with turkey hot dogs. Thanks for the suggestions.

posted on August 5, 2008

Will the Board of Education meetings be televised this year and if not, then why?

The exact schedule is not yet finalized, as we do not have the final count of students taking the class. Generally, the course runs one day during the week (usually the same day as orientation, this year, Tuesday Sept. 16th, 4:30 – 6:00 pm).

It is likely that it will be Tuesdays at the same time.  Actual driving is done on Saturdays, at a time to be determined when we have the final student count.  The course requires 48 hours of instruction for completion.  For more information, contact the APHS Guidance Department at 674-7021

Retakes for Senior portraits are scheduled for August 7 – 8th in Room 178 (The Band Room), from 8 am – 3 pm.  No appointment needed. Students who have not yet been photographed may have received a reminder card from the photographer.  First time photos require a $5.00 sitting fee which is due at photo shoot; retakes do not require an additional fee. 

In a continued effort to provide low cost, nutritious meals to our students, while following the mandated USDA nutritional guidelines, we are doing the following:

• to enable us to purchase fresher fruits and vegetables at a lower cost, we have instituted a program to obtain  locally grown produce.
• we have, and will continue to reduce non-nutritious snacks in the elementary schools
• all sandwiches will be made on whole wheat breadd
• milk products will be, 1% milk, skim milk, and 1% chocolate milk

We always welcome parent’s input. Please contact the Food Service Manager, Mrs. Blessin, 674-7004 during the school year.

PLEASE NOTE – price changes for 2008-9 school year:

• milk $ .50
• elementary lunches          $2.00
• middle/high school lunches $2.25

posted July 21, 2008

Are there any thoughts to go to a 4 day school week to conserve fuel

The district is always interested in saving money and this option would certainly save fuel for buses and fuel to heat the schools. It would, however, require changes in personnel contracts, changes in teaching patterns, etc. We have not talked about this issue publicly but have discussed it administratively.
New York State requires public schools to be in session 180 days. There is little room under current law to change this. It may be something that we consider as we work with our legislators and stay involved in the discussion at the State level regarding the calendar etc. A recent news article describes the obstacles to this change.

http://www.poststar.com/articles/2008/07/18/news/local/13747120.txt

posted July 21, 2008

I am unsure whether this is the appropriate place to ask my question; I apologize if it is not. I grew up outside this school district and the last day of elementary school was exciting because we found out who was our teacher for the next school year. Why is it AP policy to hold off on this until the end of summer? Doesn’t the district think that maybe this could cause unnecessary anxiety for elementary students?

The district was not always consistent in how students "moved up" to the next grade at the end of the year. Some schools did what you describe and some did not. We have become more consistent by having students meet all of the teachers at the next grade level at the end of the year. We came to this decision so that we could allow for the summer administrative work of scheduling, recruitment and hiring, determining final staffing assignments, and program planning. Often over the summer conditions change. Sometimes we would need to change class configurations due to student assessment results received during the summer, balance class sizes because someone moved in or out, change staffing assignments when new teachers were hired or a teacher left or asked for a grade change, etc. In the model where students had already received their next year's placement, these summer changes seemed to cause students and families significant upset. We are convinced that the increased flexibility will provide for more effective programplanning and a single family notification in August before the new school year begins.

In June 2007, the Assistant Superintendent, Director of Facilities, and the Head Grounds Keeper, had been discussing equipment that they would like to purchase for the grounds and maintenance department. On 6/18/07, they created an internal purchase requisition to begin the process of making the purchase of a skid steer. The rationale behind the purchase was that the department had been borrowing and renting a skid steer on a regular basis and felt this would enhance the work of the grounds department.

On 6/26/07, this purchase issue came up at the BOE meeting. When asked about the purchase, the superintendent indicated that the equipment was still under consideration. It remained under consideration until 6/28/07 when the purchase was authorized by the Asst. Superintendent and Facilities Director, and the purchase order was sent to Fink & Co.