Mineola Board of Ed. Notebook: March 3

The Mineola Board of Education held a meeting on Thursday, March 3. Here’s a look at some of the things you may have missed.

Champion Wrestlers

• The board honored the county champion wrestling team at the outset of the meeting. The team was Division II County champions for the second year in a row.
• Eight wrestlers advanced to the finals at Hofstra University, with four winning their respective weight classes and going on to the state tournament.
• “We had a very successful year,” coach Ralph Armantrano said before calling each of his wrestlers up one at a time for recognition.

New School Start Times

• Superintendent Dr. Michael Nagler announced the new school start times under the for the 2011-12 school year:
  • The time would remain the same, running from 7:26 a.m. to 2:18 p.m.
  • The would follow an elementary school day, running 15 minutes shorter than the current schedule, 7:55 a.m. until 2:32 p.m.
  • Both and would run from 8:12 a.m. to 2:49 p.m.
  • The would begin at 8:43 a.m. and end at 3:20 p.m.
  • The schedule at would remain from 9:09 a.m. until 3:16 p.m.
• Dr. Nagler explained that the Jackson schedule was changed to avoid congestion during the dismissal and arrival schedules at the middle school and . He added that a few minor changes might be made to accommodate a few bus routes.

Meeting Change

• Due to the St. Patrick’s Day holiday, the board voted to change the date of the next meeting from Thursday, March 17 to March 16.
• The final budget will reportedly be presented at the meeting.

Other Board News

• The superintendent announced that science teacher A.J. Hepworth will follow the seventh grade students as they make the move to the high school. Hepworth would help to oversee the grade and be “a friendly face” as they transition to the new building.
• Following a superintendents’ conference in Albany, Dr. Nagler reported that New York state will no longer pay for special education summer school, which is required under federal law. “That means that we will bear the entire cost of the special ed. summer school if the governor’s budget goes through,” Nagler said.
• Also under ’s proposed budget, the Mineola School District will “most likely” not qualify for building aid. Mineola currently receives about 14 percent in building aid. “We’re considered a high wealth district so every kind of aid, we get a low percentage and when they cut we basically get eliminated with the cut,” Nagler said, hopeful that some legislators may be able to change the provision.
• The board approved an employment agreement with Janice Patterson effective March 21 - June 30, 2011 to provide educational management and research services to Dr. Nagler’s office and other duties at a rate of $794 per day, not to exceed $29,999 for the 2010-11 fiscal year. “(She’s) going to stay on with us to help us transition to the new configuration,” Dr. Nagler said. “She has an in-depth knowledge of personnel that I really can’t replace.” Patterson would be working “a couple of days” per week and the district would begin advertising for the position shortly.

The next meeting of the Mineola Board of Education will be on  at 7 p.m. at the .