Mineola Board of Ed Notebook: May 24

The  held a meeting on Thursday, May 24. Here are some of the things you may have missed.

World Language School Survey

• Superintendent Dr. Michael Nagler shared some of the results of a survey sent out by North Shore about in surrounding school districts.
• A total of 45 district responded to the survey, with 22 offering a form of FLES (foreign language in elementary grades) while 23 did not.
• “I guess he needed some information for his board, his community about whether or not this was a good thing to embrace,” Dr. Nagler said, noting that Mineola begins at one of the youngest ages whereas most begin in third grade.
• Herricks is one of two schools that have an whereas other districts have FLES.
• The superintendent also noted that Rosetta Stone has a school license and the ability to set up for every student the ability to learn any language they choose for 30 minutes three times per week via a computerized course.
• “I’m thinking about introducing it to the school district but I’m not 100 percent sure what I would recommend we do with it,” he said, noting that each student having an iPad could use the program during their “downtime” but “I don’t know how many middle school students would do that voluntarily without putting some kind of requirement to it.”
• The program would work with ESL students, who could use it to learn English the same way that English speaking students would learn a foreign language.
• The pilot program could also be offered as a supplement.
• Currently no school in Nassau County has a site license to use the program, though some have a single license to use for high school students.
• “If we’re going to use it I would want to assess it, see it,” board president Christine Napolitano said, noting that one of the advantages would be for ESL students.

Tax Anticipation Notes

• Since the district does not immediately receive the tax revenue from the recent , the board is forced to issue Tax Anticipation Notes (TANs) in order to cover the gap between the time money is needed and when tax receipts begin to be received; taxes are collected in October and in May.
• The money, not to exceed $15 million, is borrowed for a period of one year and is repaid during that same year.

Personnel

• The board accepted the resignation of head varsity lacrosse coach Michael Perro, effective June 30.
• Catherine Vays-Maiman was appointed to the position of director of pupil personnel services effective July 1, 2012 with a probationary period of July 1, 2012 to June 30, 2015 and a salary of $163,000.
• The board accepted the resignation of bus drivers Vincent DiSpigno and Joann Rios, effective June 29.

Field Trips

• The following trips for the marching band and guard trips were approved for the 2012-13 school year:
  • band camp: August 14-19, Circle Lodge/ Camp Kinder Ring, Hopewell Junction, NY
  • October 27-29: New York State Field Band Conference Marching Band Championship
  • February 15-22: Biennial Marching Band Trip to Disney World
  • April 10-14: WGI International Championships.
• A high school to Graz, Austria in which Austrian students will visit Mineola in mid-September 2012 and Mineola students will travel to Austria during February break 2013 was approved.

Contracts

• License agreements between the district and SCOPE Education Services for the after school child program for the 2012-13 school year and the PSAT/SAT preparatory program for the fall of 2012 were approved.
• Health contracts with the following school districts were approved for Mineola resident children attending non-public schools were approved: Garden City, New Hyde Park-Garden City Park.

Other Board News

• The summer music program, traditionally held at , will “most likely” be at the or “since that’s where all of our programs are ending up this year so might as well put them all in one spot,” Dr. Nagler said.
• The closed on May 24. Dr. Nagler reported that there was a 24 percent rate of return which he described as “very good” and results would be available “in a couple of weeks.”
• Trustee William Hornberger again brought up the issue of to parents who have several children in the district and more than one in a single building, sometimes receiving duplicate mailings – one for each child. A recent mailing was sent out from the middle school regarding illness. Dr. Nagler said that he did put out an email to all principals and would follow up on the issue again.
• The Jackson Avenue bus loop committee met on May 29. Dr. Nagler estimated the current size of the committee at about 10 members.
• The district met on May 22 with the mediator for the teachers’ contract. Dr. Nagler reported that it was a long meeting lasting until about midnight. Another meeting was also held on May 29. “There was a modicum of momentum,” Dr. Nagler said. “I remain optimistic.” The district is reportedly at an impasse with the other bargaining units but not yet at the point where a mediator would be called upon to assist with negotiations.
• The recent NWEA scores would be mailed home to students with their report cards.