Mineola Board of Ed Notebook: April 17

The  held a meeting on Tuesday, April 17. Here are some of the things you may have missed.

Pink Slime

• Mineola Superintendent Dr. Michael Nagler said that the district has been “assured” by its meat distribution company Whitson’s that there is no meat served in the district that contains pink slime.
• “The additive in the meats is ,” he said. “We’ve been reassured by their supplier and the Whitson’s company themselves and I have it in writing.”

Little League Use of Meadow Drive Field

• The field has been fixed up for the Williston Park Little League after to due to Solomon Schechter being located in the building.
• “We’ve got the diamond in shape,” Dr. Nagler said. “As far as I know, they’re playing on it. I know we did the work and it’s ready to go.”
• Solomon Schechter reclayed the infield at Cross Street making it larger which was recently finished and reseeded.
• “Solomon Schechter and the little league have kind of worked out the schedule amongst them that work that’s taken place,” the superintendent said.

Jackson Avenue Cafeteria

• After reviewing the cafeteria fund, which is a fund specifically earmarked for things associated with the buildings, cafeterias and equipment, Dr. Nagler stated that the balance at the end of last year was $350,000 and the district was “comfortable with expending no more than “$200,000 for the .
• “We feel that we want to have the cushion in there in case there’s any – there is a lot of older equipment in the district and if one walk-in refrigerator goes or something to that effect you can be in a deficit quickly.”
• A meeting with the architects was scheduled for April 18 with the project scheduled to be done over the summer.
• Dr. Nagler said that there are currently about 420 students in the building this year with next year’s estimates at about the same with a worst-case scenario being an additional period of lunch at the building.

Teacher Contracts

• Negotiations are with a mediator appointed between the district and the teachers’ union – Howard Edelman.
• Dr. Nagler said that he has met with him once prior to the meeting and again on April 24.
• “His job is to try to go between the two parties and come up with resolutions on the issues that we both seem not to move on and try to find common ground,” Dr. Nagler said. “If he can we’ll continue to work with him, if he can’t we’ll go to the next step.”
• The superintendent noted that after the initial meeting there was not great movement on either side, saying that as per the direction of the board of education that there were “certain things” that he was not moving upon.

2012-13 BOCES Budget

• Once a year, all Nassau County school districts are required to meet on a specific day to vote on the BOCES administrative budget and for BOCES Board trustees.
• For the 2012-13 school year, the administrative operations budget is $19,305,205, a 1.9 percent increase over last year.
• The Mineola Board voted in favor of the BOCES budget, and recommended that incumbents Susan Bergtraum, Michael Weinick, and Martin R. Kaye be reelected to the BOCES Board.
• There are currently only three available seats on the BOCES Board and each component school board is entitled to cast one vote for each vacancy.
• The board also voted to allow BOCES to create a career and technical education reserve fund.
• “Basically BOCES wants to offer districts a discount for sending their students to Barry Tech or CiTE (Career in Technical Education),” Dr. Nagler explained. “In order to offer the discount they need to set up a reserve to put money into so over the time the discount is applied they can draw or deposit moneys for that purpose.”
• Mineola traditionally sends 15-20 students per year to Barry Tech and would be able to take advantage of the discount.

High School Report

• student Mathias Penaherrera reported that “for the most part” everything was back to normal following the spring break except for some problems that day with the internet network until it was brought back to operational status.
• Elections for next year’s senior officers were underway as candidates are collecting signatures and preparing speeches which will be aired over the school TV channel.
• The final round of senior projects is also underway as graduation approaches. Each class is also prepping their fundraising efforts.
• There are currently talks about forming a committee in order to hold a dance for the eighth grade, since their dance was “put off” due to the this year.

Contracts

• A contract with Winter Bros. for the removal of rubbish was approved with a state contract bid of $37,315 per year, a set rate and the same price as the 2011-12. The district and their bid was accepted by the state. “It’s like an extension of what we currently do,” Dr. Nagler said.
• The mutual termination of leases with Xerox was approved by the board. The superintendent explained that the settlement was from a contract from a few years ago. “We’re held harmless in this and Xerox is going to pick up their equipment and we’re going to call it a day and close the chapter in that book,” Dr. Nagler said.

Other Board News

• The board approved a settlement between the district and a student with special needs.