unmuffled

A message from [the] Hudson City School District

2012-02-06T11:47:00.001-05:00

[Email received 11:36 a.m.]

Subject: Accident

Good morning. This is Superintendent of Schools Jack Howe. At approximatley [sic] 7:30 this morning a driver lost control of her car and slammed into the front of the high school building where a faculty/staff lounge is located. The Hudson Police Department and emergency vehicles responded to the scene. There were no reports of injuries to students, faculty, staff or the driver of the car. The damage to the building will be inspected and repaired. The school is operating on a regular schedule.

New law makes meeting documents available

2012-01-28T16:02:00.033-05:00

ALBANY -- Beginning Thursday, records related to discussions planned for an open meeting must be made available to the public in advance of that meeting. The legislation, sponsored by Assemblywoman Amy Paulin (D-Scarsdale) and Senator Steve Saland (R-Poughkeepsie), was signed into law by Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, January 4.

According to the Committee on Open Government, "The purpose of the legislation is simple: Those interested in the work of public bodies should have the ability, within reasonable limitations, to see the records scheduled to be discussed during open meetings prior to the meetings."

“I offer congratulations to Assemblywoman Paulin and Senator Saland regarding a bill that will improve the operation of government and the lives of thousands of New Yorkers,” said Robert Freeman, Executive Director of the Committee on Open Government, in a statement following passage of the legislation. “The public will soon have the opportunity not only to listen to public discussions but also to review the records that are the subject of those discussions.”

The law pertains to all public bodies, including school boards, village, town, city and county governments. And, according to the Committee on Open Government, it is "important to stress that the amendment involves an effort to take advantage of today’s information technology to promote transparency and citizens’ participation in government, and to reduce waste." If a board or agency "maintains a regularly and routinely updated Web site and utilizes a high speed internet connection," the records are to be posted online prior to the meeting.

Members of the Hudson City School District Board of Education traditionally received paper packets containing the meeting agenda and all pertinent supporting documentation by courier, no later than the Friday preceding the Monday meeting. That practice changed last year when the administration began the transition to electronic packets. Using school-owned laptops, all board members can now access the materials electronically up to four or five days before a meeting.

Community and staff in attendance at HCBoE public meetings have long complained about the board's failure to make documents available to the public at least during, if not prior to public discussions. The problem is especially acute during high stakes discussions, such as the school improvement process, budget development or consideration of district policies, most notably the Code of Conduct.

The full text of the new amendment -- found at Section 103(e) of the Open Meetings Law (Public Officers Law, Article 7) -- reads:

(e) Agency records available to the public pursuant to article six of this chapter, as well as any proposed resolution, law, rule, regulation, policy or any amendment thereto, that is scheduled to be the subject of discussion by a public body during an open meeting shall be made available, upon request therefor, to the extent practicable as determined by the agency or the department, prior to or at the meeting during which the records will be discussed. Copies of such records may be made available for a reasonable fee, determined in the same manner as provided therefor in article six of this chapter. If the agency in which a public body functions maintains a regularly and routinely updated website and utilizes a high speed internet connection, such records shall be posted on the website to the extent practicable as determined by the agency or the department, prior to the meeting. An agency may, but shall not be required to, expend additional moneys to implement the provisions of this subdivision.

The good news

2012-01-27T13:47:00.000-05:00

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo unveiled the 2012-13 Executive Budget and Reform Plan on January 17. That plan called for an accountability system to "put students first," and increased school aid to $805 million, "including $250 million linked to improved academic performance and management efficiency." Those funds will be distributed to districts based on a competitive process.

According to data released by the New York State Education Department, under the governor's proposal state aid to Columbia County schools will increase by $1.69 million during the 2012-13 school year, for a total of $55.55 million.

The executive proposal would increase the Hudson City School District's non-expense based aid allocation from $13.2 to $13.5 million. With the addition of building, transportation and BOCES aids ($6.3 million), the district's potential 2012-13 aid package totals $19.72 million.

The legislature will now analyze and evaluate the governor's plan, and both houses will work toward agreement on income and spending allocations. The state budget deadline is April 1. School budgets will be ratified by voters on May 15 this year.

School aid, excluding expense-based aids, countywide.
All districts saw an increase in funding under
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's proposed budget.
Source: www.governor.ny.gov

Two more years

2012-01-25T17:41:00.000-05:00

"We...know that when students aren’t allowed to walk away from their education, more of them walk the stage to get their diploma. So tonight, I call on every State to require that all students stay in high school until they graduate or turn eighteen."

President Barack Obama
2012 State of the Union address

As of June 2010, 20 states, the District of Columbia, American Samoa and Puerto Rico required students to stay in school until the age of 18, according to the Education Commission of the States. This decision -- the minimum and maximum age requirement for school enrollment -- as noted by the President, Tuesday, is made at the state level, and the requirements vary from state to state.

In Arizona, Vermont and Wyoming students are no longer required to attend school after the completion of 10th grade. Virginia, South Dakota, Nevada, Maryland and Connecticut allow a one-year extension of the compulsory minimum age requirement with a waiver from the child's prospective school. And in the "vast majority of states," ECS reports, students are released from compulsory attendance upon graduation from high school, regardless of age.

In New York, children must enter school at the age of 6, and remain until they are 16, with some exceptions. In the cities of New York and Buffalo students must remain until they are 17. And every district statewide has the ability to require any and all unemployed minors, between the ages of 16 and 17, to stay in school, according to the ECS.

Nearly half the states,including New York, require students to enroll in school,
public or otherwise, at the age of 6.

New York is one of 19 states that allows students to leave school at the age of 16.

'Teachers matter'

2012-01-25T12:00:00.000-05:00

whitehouse.gov
...a good teacher can increase the lifetime income of a classroom by over $250,000. A great teacher can offer an escape from poverty to the child who dreams beyond his circumstance. ...Most teachers work tirelessly, with modest pay, sometimes digging into their own pocket for school supplies – just to make a difference.

Teachers matter. So instead of bashing them, or defending the status quo, let’s offer schools a deal. Give them the resources to keep good teachers on the job, and reward the best ones. In return, grant schools flexibility: To teach with creativity and passion; to stop teaching to the test; and to replace teachers who just aren’t helping kids learn.

President Barack Obama
2012 State of the Union address

Ten years of NCLB

2012-01-05T14:34:00.001-05:00

Education Week posed the question, "What word or words do you associate with No Child Left Behind?" on its Facebook page. Among the 280 responses, 72 chose "flawed," 49 picked "failure." The word cloud (above) illustrates all 280 responses. To mark the legislation's 10th anniversary, Ed Week has also published a compilation of quotes, stories, photos, tweets and readers' reflections on NCLB. It is available at storify.com.
(Click the image to enlarge.)

'This year...consider me the lobbyist for the students'

2012-01-04T15:06:00.085-05:00

ALBANY -- Governor Andrew M. Cuomo celebrated New York state government's accomplishments in 2011, and outlined his plans for 2012 in the State of the State Address, Wednesday.

In the presentation -- "Building a New NY...with you" -- Cuomo outlined "a new economic development blueprint...proposed a reinvention of how government operates..., and detailed a series of actions to strengthen New York's legacy as the progressive capital of the nation."

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo
All rights reserved by governorandrewcuomo

As predicted, Cuomo called for the creation of a bi-partisan commission to look at teacher accountability and student achievement, and district management efficiency. The plan to establish the "New Blueprint for Education Commission" was included as part of the governor's proposal to "reimagine" state government.

"We must make our schools accountable for the results they achieve and the dollars they spend," Cuomo said.

The "most important lesson" Cuomo learned about public education last year?

"I learned that everyone in public education has their own lobbyist," he said, to peals of laughter. "Superintendents have lobbyists. Principals have lobbyists. Teachers have lobbyists. School boards have lobbyists. Maintenance personnel have lobbyists. Bus drivers have lobbyists. The only group without a lobbyist?" he said. "The students."

"...This year, I will take a second job -- consider me the lobbyist for the students. I will wage a campaign to put students first, and to remind us that the purpose of public education is to help children grow, not to grow the public education bureaucracy," Cuomo said.

He said New York is more driven by the "business of public education," more than the "achievement in public education."

"Maybe that's why we spend more money than any other state but are 38th in graduation rates," Cuomo said.

New York needs major education reform, he said. "We have to change the paradigm."

Among Cuomo's extensive wish list of proposals for the coming year:

Construction of the largest convention center in the nation, to be located at the Aqueduct Racetrack (Queens) venue, and the development of the existing Jacob Javits Convention Center (New York City) into a mixed use facility, in the style of Battery Park City.
A $1 billion economic development package for the city of Buffalo.
Commitment to a "comprehensive approach" to casino gaming.
Additional grant opportunities for SUNY -- 60 campuses statewide will be eligible to compete for three $20-million challenge grants.
Continued mandate relief initiatives, focusing on pension reform and the creation of a Tier VI retirement plan for public employees.
The elimination of the fingerprinting requirement for potential food stamp participation by working families.

The full text of Cuomo's speech can be found here.

The writing road to reading proficiency

2012-01-04T09:00:00.002-05:00

by Kim Marshall
Marshall Memo, Jan. 2

In this Harvard Educational Review article, Steve Graham and Michael Hebert of Vanderbilt University note that major initiatives over the last ten years to improve reading achievement (No Child Left Behind, Reading First, the National Reading Panel) have produced disappointing results: while NAEP math scores improved significantly, reading scores have flatlined and large numbers of students are far from being proficient readers.

Why? Graham and Hebert believe it’s because the instructional practices identified by the National Reading Panel in 2000 and pursued with gusto across the nation were “too narrow and not complete.” In this article, they report on a meta-analysis of research on one of the underemphasized factors: the impact of effective teaching of writing on students’ achievement in reading. Here are their three research questions and what they found:
First, when students write about material they have read, does their comprehension improve? Graham and Hebert found there is significant positive impact in grades 2-12 when students are asked to write about literature and material in science, social studies, and other expository texts. Students did extended writing, summary writing, note-taking, and answering and generating questions. The positive impact of this type of writing was greatest in middle school and with students who were weakest in reading and writing. Why is writing about reading so helpful?
It fosters explicitness, as students must select which information in the text is most important.
It encourages the writer to organize ideas from the text into a coherent whole and establish explicit relationships among the ideas.
It fosters reflection because it’s easier to review, reexamine, connect, critique, and construct new understandings from written text.
It gets students personally involved by requiring them to engage in active decision-making about what they will write and how they will treat it.
Students must transform or manipulate the text’s language to put it into their own words, which makes them think about what the ideas mean.
Second, does explicit teaching of writing skills strengthen students’ reading skills? Again, Graham and Hebert found positive results in this research, which covered grades 4-12 language arts classes.
Third, does increasing the quantity of student writing improve how well they read? Yes, say Graham and Hebert, reporting on studies of students in grades 1-6 language-arts classes.
The authors end on a cautionary note: “Just because a writing intervention was effective in improving students’ reading in the studies included in this review does not guarantee that it will be effective in all other situations,” they say. “As a result, the safest course of action for teachers implementing research-based practices is to directly monitor the effects of such treatments to gauge whether they are effective under these new conditions.” They suggest these key components:
Frequent student writing;
Explicit skill instruction;
Starting small and measuring the impact of each initiative before embarking on others.

“Writing to Read: A Meta-Analysis of the Impact of Writing and Writing Instruction on Reading” by Steve Graham and Michael Hebert in Harvard Educational Review, Winter 2011 (Vol. 81, #4, p. 710-744)

Small world: Padalino resignation leads to Groat hire

2012-01-03T23:15:00.001-05:00

Interim principals named at junior-senior high school
Watervliet City School District.Communications Office, Jan. 3, 2012

The Watervliet City School District Board of Education has named an interim principal and interim assistant principal for the junior-senior high school.

Ryan Groat (left) meeting students,
Monday. (Courtesy WCSD)
The board has selected current assistant high school principal David Wareing as interim principal of Watervliet Junior-Senior High School and Ryan Groat, a former teacher and administrator in the Hudson and East Greenbush school districts, as interim assistant high school principal.

“The appointment to these interim positions will help ensure a smooth and brief transition period as we undergo a change in the district administration. I expect the board of education to make permanent appointments to the principal and assistant principal positions by spring,” Board of Education President Mark Scully said.

The interim appointments are part of the shift in the district administration set off by the November resignation announcement of current Superintendent of Schools Dr. Paul Padalino. Dr. Padalino will leave the district at the end of this week to take the superintendent’s position in the Kingston City School District. Following an internal search for candidates, the board of education last month announced it had selected current Junior-Senior High School Principal Dr. Lori S. Caplan as the district’s next superintendent. She officially takes over as the district’s top administrator on Monday, Jan. 9.

Daily News: Governor to announce new ed reform commission

2012-01-02T09:56:00.000-05:00

by Kenneth Lovett
Jan. 2, 2012

ALBANY — Gov. Cuomo, in his second state-of-state address Wednesday, will accuse New York’s schools of being unaccountable and announce a commission to come up with reforms, the Daily News has learned.

Cuomo’s announcement will come just days after he was critical of the city and other districts that failed to reach agreement with their unions on a new teacher evaluation system by an end-of-year deadline.

“The failure to pass the teacher evaluation system is an example that not only is the system broken, but the ability to monitor the system and come up with a method to ensure kids are educated properly is broken,” said a source close to Cuomo.

The education commission he will announce will be designed to look at education from a “student perspective,” the source said.

“What are the performance indicators? How do you judge performance in the education system? How are the services being provided?” the source said. “No one has really looked at it without a particular perspective on what’s going on in education.”

The makeup of the commission, which as of Sunday was still undetermined, will likely include outside experts.

Cuomo spokesman Josh Vlasto wouldn’t confirm or deny specifics of the speech.

'An academic gun for hire'

2012-01-02T00:10:00.003-05:00

Sam Eshaghoff, 19, a 2010 graduate of Great Neck North High School (Nassau County) was arrested and charged with criminal impersonation and fraud in September, for taking the SAT and ACT exams on behalf of other students. The self-proclaimed standardized test-taking "ace" spoke publicly about the fraud for the first time to 60 Minutes, Sunday. (Watch the full interview below.)

Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice filed the charges against Eshaghoff and the students that hired him. "This was a huge fraud from my perspective. This was lots of money changing hands, there were high stakes involved, and there was forgery, there was criminal impersonation. That's a fraud. That's a fraud on many different levels, but most importantly against the kids who play by the rules."

Eshaghoff said paid test takers were an open secret at Great Neck North. He charged as much as $2,500 per exam, and "one very satisfied customer" gave him a $1,100 tip. Asked if he knew where students were getting the money, Eshaghoff said, "I mean I can't imagine that a high school kid would be able to get this kind of money on his own, like from working or something. I don't know. Maybe it came from their parents. I mean, I wasn't really gonna ask them, 'Okay, so where are you getting the money from?' But come on, let's put two and two together."

The Long Island case has raised significant questions about test security, but Educational Testing Services, which administers the SAT on behalf of the College Board, denied a widespread problem exists. According to ETS, impersonation is a "rare occurrence" -- only 150 cases were discovered last year.

CBS reported that in November Eshaghoff accepted "a plea deal, which includes community service: tutoring low-income students on how to take the SAT."

As for the students who paid Eshaghoff and benefited from the test results, "their colleges will never be notified about what they did," CBS reported. "Because it is ETS policy not to tell schools about cases of suspected or confirmed cheating."

"We know there are kids in college right now who got where they are because of tests that someone else took and there's nothing that we can do about it. If that doesn't tell you that the system has to change, I don't know what does," said Rice.

Hudson mourns Barrett

2012-01-01T13:44:00.008-05:00

Daniel P. Barrett
(Courtesy HCSD)

[Updated]

HUDSON -- The new year began with a report early Sunday of another death in the Hudson City School District family.

Business Manager Daniel P. Barrett died Sunday morning of apparent natural causes. The exact cause of death is unknown at this time. Barrett, 51, was found unresponsive by his wife in their Hudson home, according to sources.

Barrett was a lifelong Hudson resident and a beloved member of the central administration staff. He and his wife Catherine were the parents of four sons.

~~Funeral arrangements are pending.~~
Calling hours are 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., Tuesday, at the Bates & Anderson - Redmond & Keeler Funeral Home, 110 Green St., Hudson. A funeral mass will be conducted 10 a.m., Wednesday, at the Church of St. Mary, 429 E. Allen St., Hudson.

2 p.m., Sunday
A message from HUDSON CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT

It is with a heavy heart that I share the news of Dan Barrett's passing today. Dan was a great man who loved his family and enjoyed a wide circle of friends. He served the HCSD for many years as the Business Manager and took great pride in being a Bluehawk! We must come together as a district to support each other and Dan's family in a way that would make him proud! Our psychologists and counselors are available to talk to anyone who may need help during our time of loss. I know I speak for everyone when I say We love you, Dan and we will miss you.

[Superintendent] Jack [Howe]

New year, new law

2011-12-31T14:00:00.025-05:00

On Sunday, the School Bus Mandate Relief Act takes affect in New York. The purpose of the legislation is "to provide schools with budget savings by allowing boards of education to reduce the number of seats provided for student transportation if the seats aren’t being used by students," according to state Senator Jack Martins (R-C-I, Mineola), the measure's Senate sponsor.

The law permits a board of education "to reduce the number of seats if there is a documented history of the actual number of riders in each of the preceding three years, showing a consistent pattern of eligible pupils not using the transportation provided by the district."

Pressure has mounted to consolidate routes in the Hudson City School District during recent budget cycles largely based on complaints of low ridership. Some buses regularly run near empty -- fewer than 20 students -- according to various sources.

"Apparently there was a law that says you can't have kids standing on the school bus, and that got interpreted as saying that every kid who could possibly have the right to ridership on that bus had to have a seat waiting for them," New York State School Boards Association Executive Director Tim Kremer told WAMC, in a story posted Thursday. "So, even though the transportation supervisor knows that I never take the bus, my parents always drive me, or I walk or ride my bike, we still had to have a seat waiting."

With this change in the law, he said, bus requirements can now be based on actual ridership patterns. "We can redesign our route(s) [and] can be much more efficient. That will allow for lower fuel costs, which is a huge budget item in the school district budget these days," Kremer said.

The current HCSD transportation budget is $1.9 million.

Others mandate relief proposals for schools enacted by the state in 2011, include:

Allow the required census of Pre-K students to be conducted biennially, not annually.
Authorizes up to three districts of fewer than 1,000 students each to share a superintendent.
Permits school districts to provide regional transportation services jointly with other districts or BOCES (Boards of Cooperative Educational Services).

Asking students what they think about their teachers

2011-12-29T17:21:00.000-05:00

'Teachers aren’t always aware of how their own behaviors are causing students to react in certain ways...'

by Kim Marshall
Marshall Memo, Dec. 28

In this Journal of Staff Development article, Tracy Crow (publications director for Learning Forward) describes the work of Ronald Ferguson and Rob Ramsdell on the Tripod Project, which has tapped students’ perceptions of their teachers on the “Seven Cs’” from the Gates Foundation’s Measures of Effective Teaching Project:
Care: My teacher in this class makes me feel that he or she really cares about me.
Control: Our class stays busy and doesn’t waste time.
Clarify: My teacher explains difficult things clearly.
Challenge: My teacher wants me to explain my answers – why I think what I think.
Captivate: My teacher makes learning enjoyable.
Confer: My teacher wants us to share our thoughts.
Consolidate: My teacher takes the time to summarize what we learn each day.
Students generally do better academically and are happier, harder-working, more engaged, and more satisfied with their achievements in classrooms in which teachers rate high on these criteria, Ferguson and Ramsdell have found. And it’s not just about better test scores: “Most of us as parents would sacrifice a few points on a test in exchange for more happiness,” says Ferguson. “We want to build a love of learning, not just maximize the scores on the next test coming up.”

Should students’ ratings of teachers be shared with teachers – and should they be part of teachers’ evaluations? Ferguson has found that teachers learn a great deal from seeing their students’ perceptions of them as instructors – in fact, it’s one of the most valuable forms of professional development and can prompt teachers to look for support in specific areas. “Everybody in the building is a learner,” he says. “None of us is fully realized in terms of our potential and we’re going to work together to help each other to reach our potential.”

Ferguson is more cautious about using student input to evaluate teachers, suggesting that what students say about their teachers should inform professional development rather than be used as part of the formal evaluation – with possible evaluative consequences down the road if teachers don’t use critical feedback to improve.

One thing that intrigues Ferguson and his colleagues is the interaction between students’ perceptions of their teachers and teachers’ perceptions of their students. For example, certain Tripod Project questions of teachers and students reveal how tenacious teachers are with difficult-to-teach students (Ferguson calls it the “give-up index”).

“When you look at how a teacher’s rating on the give-up index correlates with how the students have rated the teacher, there’s a clear relationship,” he says. “When you put all this together, you get an image of a social environment where the feedback effects operate in both directions. What the teacher is doing affects how the student is responding and how the student is responding is affecting what the teacher is doing.” Teachers aren’t always aware of how their own behaviors are causing students to react in certain ways, he says.

Ferguson is also a strong believer in the value of teacher teams looking together at student work.

[...]

“I suspect there are a lot of people in leadership positions who have never seen a truly exemplary school,” says Ferguson, “and they doubt that it could happen.”

But not every principal and teacher who succeeds has a crystal-clear vision up front, says Ferguson. People can act their way into a new way of believing as well as believing their way into a new way of acting. Mandates and accountability can push educators into doing things that (surprise, surprise) get results, and their expectations and beliefs and aspirations rise to meet what their students have achieved.

“The View from the Seats” by Tracy Crow in Journal of Staff Development, December 2011 (Vol. 32, #6, p. 24-30), www.learningforward.org

Marilyn P. Barry, former HCSD teacher and administrator, dead at 63

2011-12-29T00:38:00.000-05:00


Marilyn Barry and granddaughter (Photo courtesy French Gifford Preiter & Blasl)

Long-time Hudson teacher and administrator, Marilyn Pease Barry, of Chatham, died Tuesday at the age of 63. Barry died at Albany Medical Center from a ruptured cerebral aneurysm, according to the obituary published online by French, Gifford, Preiter & Blasl Funeral Home. She fell ill Christmas evening after spending the holiday with her family.

Barry "graduated valedictorian from Chatham High School in 1965." She received a degree in Latin, summa cum laude from Wells College, in 1969. She later "earned master’s degrees from Brown University and the State University of New York in Albany," according to French, Gifford.

Barry "taught Latin, English, French, and reading. She....served as a school psychologist, vice-principal, and principal" in the Hudson City School District." She also served as president of the Columbia County Council on the Arts.

Following her retirement as superintendent of the Chatham Central School District in 2005, Barry served as HCSD Interim Superintendent from Sept. 2005 through Dec. 2006. At one point, Barry was rumored to be the Board of Education's choice to fill the position permanently, but the job eventually went to then Poughkeepsie City School District administrator Fern Aefsky.

Barry is survived by her husband, Eugene M. Barry, three adult sons and a granddaughter.

Calling hours are 9 a.m. to 11 a.m, Saturday, at Saint James Church in Chatham.

Happy Holidays!

2011-12-23T11:54:00.000-05:00

Catholic Charities and HCSD capture $500K Promise planning grant

2011-12-19T13:15:00.004-05:00

20 communities secure funding to plan, implement cradle-to-career education model
For immediate release: Dec. 19, 2011
U.S. Dept. of Education

WASHINGTON DC -- Senior officials from the Obama Administration announced today that five organizations will receive the first round of Promise Neighborhoods implementation grants, and another 15 organizations will receive a second round of planning grants. Grantees, comprised of nonprofit organizations, institutions of higher education and an Indian tribe, will put school improvement at the center of local efforts to revitalize underserved neighborhoods.

More than 200 organizations from 45 states, as well as American Samoa and Puerto Rico, applied for 2011 Promise Neighborhoods planning and implementation grants.

“I commend all communities that are putting education at the center of efforts to fight poverty in urban and rural areas,” said Melody Barnes, domestic policy advisor to President Obama. “The goal of Promise Neighborhoods is to provide the resources and support young people need to succeed while transforming distressed neighborhoods into communities of opportunity.”

The five new implementation grants will be awarded a first-year grant of up to $6 million, totaling up to $30 million across the life of the grant, which will support implementing plans to provide cradle-to-career services that improve the educational achievement and healthy development of children. The second round of $500,000 planning grants will fund planning activities to transform 15 new communities into Promise Neighborhoods.

“Promise Neighborhoods recognizes that children need to be surrounded by systems of support inside and outside of the classroom to help them be successful in school and beyond,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. “The 20 grantees announced today are spread out across the country, reflecting a broader nationwide movement to revitalize struggling communities by providing better access to health care, social and safety services partnered by great schools."

The Promise Neighborhoods program aims to address significant challenges faced by students and families living in high-poverty communities by providing resources to plan and implement a continuum of services from early learning to college and career. Plans include a range of services from improving a neighborhood’s health, safety, and stability to expanding access to learning technology and Internet connectivity, and boosting family engagement in student learning.

[...]

A complete list of 2011 Promise Neighborhoods grantees follows.

The five Promise Neighborhoods implementation grantees are:
Westminster Foundation (Buffalo, N.Y.)
Northside Achievement Zone (Minneapolis, Minn.)
Berea College (Clay, Jackson, and Owsley Counties, Ky.)
United Way of San Antonio & Bexar County, Inc. (San Antonio, Texas)
California State University – East Bay (Hayward, Calif.)
The 15 Promise Neighborhoods planning grantees are:
Mission Economic Development Agency (San Francisco)
Reading and Beyond (Fresno, Calif.)
Mercer University (Macon, Ga.)
Community Action Project of Tulsa (Tulsa, Okla.)
Elmezzi Foundation (New York)
South Bay Community Services (Chula Vista, Calif.)
Black Family Development (Detroit, Mich.)
Children Youth and Family Services (Charlottesville, Va.)
CAMBA (New York)
SGA Youth and Family Services (Chicago)
Ohio University (Glouster, Ohio)
Meriden Children’s First (Meriden, Conn.)
Martha O’Bryan Center (Nashville, Tenn.)
Catholic Charities of Albany (Hudson, N.Y.)
Campo Band of Mission Indians (Campo, Calif.)

A statement from Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) about the "Greater Hudson Promise Neighborhood Project," along with a copy of the letter Schumer submitted to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan in support of the Catholic Charities application can be found here.

The project abstract

2011-12-19T13:14:00.000-05:00

Greater Hudson Promise Neighborhood
Catholic Charities Diocese of Albany
Town of Greenport/City of Hudson, NY
Funding: $499,224

Target Schools

John L. Edwards Primary School
Montgomery C. Smith Intermediate School
Hudson Junior High School
Hudson High School

Project Partners

Catholic Charities of Columbia and Greene Counties
Hudson City School District
Columbia-Greene Community College
Columbia Opportunities, Inc
Columbia County Department of Social Services
City of Hudson
Columbia Economic Development Corporation
Columbia County Human Services
Mental Health Association of Columbia and Greene Counties
Hope Casto, PhD.
DLG Wealth Management LLC
Candace LaRue and Associates

Project Description

The Greater Hudson Promise Neighborhood (GHPN) Project will address the needs of children within the Hudson City School District (HCSD). With two of the four schools identified as persistently low performing and a graduation rate of 59%, the children and families need answers, solutions and hope. Economically the area has been hit by a spiral of manufacturing job losses in the city, has minimal transportation, and little opportunity to rise above poverty. HSCD has been undergoing school reform using the transformation model since 2006. Their school reform vision focuses on increasing graduation rates, participation in school activities, test scores, and performance outcomes. Working Groups, Advisory Boards, and a Fundraising Team will work actively with local leaders, residents, and expert consultants to carefully collect, organize, and process real and current data. We will keep solutions that work, create new ones, and seal the cracks that children fall through on their way to success. Through partnerships with HCSD and others, GHPN will work with HCSD to identify needs and create a plan to meet them, participating in District Leadership Team and building Leadership Teams. We will work to promote school readiness, successful transitions to adulthood, skillful parenting, access to health care (including mental health), and an environment where youth are encouraged to participate in the arts and humanities. Catholic Charities and the HSCD have a successful history of collaboration, in particular with Catholic Charities staff working within the schools as prevention educators. Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Albany dba Catholic Charities of Columbia & Greene Counties is a community organization with a proven track record for providing quality and results while attaining to high standards including the operation of the WIC program. Catholic Charities is well equipped for the tasks that need to be undertaken to make the Hudson Promise Neighborhood greater.

Is the answer in the cards?

2011-12-18T11:00:00.032-05:00

Education Resource Strategies Inc. is a non-profit organization located in Watertown, Mass., "that works with large urban school systems to transform their resource use to dramatically improve student learning." ERS works with some of the largest urban districts in the country, including, Boston, New York and Charlotte-Mecklenburg (N.C.), winner of the 2011 Broad Prize for Urban Education. It receives financial support from a variety of sources, including, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, The Broad Foundation and The MacArthur Foundation. ERS specializes in school funding and staffing systems, and school system design.

Using the knowledge it gained working with large districts, ERS has developed a set of tools and resources and made them available for use online, at no cost. The latest (released last month), is "School Budget Hold'em," a "trade-off game to transform districts and meet budget challenges." Its purpose is to challenge school administrators to think creatively about the use of critical resources and to drive home the idea that trade-offs are important when the ultimate goal is to transform districts and improve instruction. The game can be played alone or in a group; a player can view winning hands, rank their own and learn how to put that hand into action.

unmuffled decided to test drive the game and see how a theoretical budget shortfall of $1.6 to $2 million (a minimum budget reduction target of 4 to 5 percent) might be neutralized, or at the very least sufficiently minimized to avoid massive personnel cuts. In the end, we succeeded -- and then some.

Savings

We started by choosing to increase the average secondary school class size by two, a savings of a 1.4 percent.* According to ERS, the benefits of reduced class size "have only been demonstrated in classes with fewer than 17 students in core academic subjects and early/transitional grades." And a decision to increase the size of non-core/elective classes (subjects other than ELA (English Language Arts), social studies, math, science and world language) by four will cut an additional .8 percent.

A reduction in transportation costs by 10 percent could result in an overall savings of .3 percent. A similar 10 percent cut to facilities and maintenance cuts the bottom line by .7 percent.

ERS recommended the creation of various community-school partnerships as a cost-savings measure, including the replacement of the top five percent most expensive high school classes with comparable online offerings (.2 percent) and providing 10 percent of non-core/elective classes through local resources (.1 percent). "Local and partner expert resources [writers and artists, for example] can be used on a part-time basis to provide high quality, low cost non-core instruction," according to ERS

Relatively large savings could be realized by freezing step increases for all employees (1 percent) and cutting benefits by 10 percent (2 percent). And if necessary, making teacher layoff decisions based on performance rather than seniority could save the district's bottom line .4 percent.

Investments

We did not play the game choosing cuts and reductions alone. We also picked cards to provide for district investment in key areas, to improve and support instruction.

Because we made changes to Special Education (reducing placement by addressing over-identification (.3 percent) and reducing the number of SpEd aides by rewriting IEPs (Individual Education Plans) (.2 percent)), we chose to invest in (.1 percent) and/or improve the district RTI (Response to Intervention) plan. These types of programs target and support struggling students early in their school careers with tutoring and differentiated instruction. According ERS, a strong RTI program "can reduce the percentage of students who get a label as someone with a disability by 50 percent," and in the long run that equals bottom line savings.

We also chose to provide a one-time payment for course work that will lead to cross-certification across multiple subjects and specialties for 10 percent of teachers. This would be especially beneficial at the secondary level, because cross-certification allows for greater flexibility and cost-effective allocation of teachers. It also provides "subject content knowledge, a key to better supporting students, especially special populations," ERS reported. Cost of investment: .8 percent

Other investments include:

One-time investment to implement and build capacity for a teacher evaluation and data system (.5 percent)
Restructure the school day to provide 60 additional minutes of collaboration planning (no cost but may present contractual issue)
Adjust teacher schedules so that teachers who share course content or students have the same free periods (no cost but may present contractual issue)
Add 60 minutes of learning time to the school day in the lowest performing schools, with a focus on core subjects taught by the highest qualified teachers (1 percent)

When the game was over, the cards we played resulted in a total savings of 9.1 percent. Allowing for the various investments, at an approximate cost of 2.4 percent, the end result was a 6.7 percent reduction in the bottom line, nearly two percentage points more than needed to hit our target and fill that hypothetical $1.6 to $2 million gap.

*The percentages assigned "are 'educated estimates' based on ERS' work over the past 15 years with urban districts and on NCES national statistics. They are meant to give you an idea of the relative impact that different decisions will have on a typical district budget."

Dependent audit, year-end gifts and 'no' to nurse termination

2011-12-14T13:00:00.003-05:00

[Correction, Dec. 18]
HUDSON -- The regular meeting of the Hudson City Board of Education in the high school library would have been a mundane affair Monday, were it not for the fact that for the first time in years everyone could hear what was said. The five members present (Carrie Otty and Peter Rice were absent) were obviously pleased with the new venue, as were the dozen or so members of the audience.

The evening began with a presentation by representatives of the Wynantskill-based employee benefits consulting and management firm, Benetech, Inc. Company president Barry McNamara and account manager Mark Quinlan briefed the board on the recent completion of a dependent eligibility audit. They provided a brief overview of the process, detailing the work undertaken to "validate that all dependents were eligible" for coverage under the district's current health, dental and prescription drug plans.

Among the 578 dependents audited, only 14 (2.5 percent) were dropped from the rolls, because they lacked the requisite information to support their status (marriage license, joint tax returns, etc.) or they simply refused to participate in the audit. Overall, the district had a 98.4 percent participation rate.

The audit, McNamara said, will result in a one-time savings to the insurance cooperative (made up of 23 school districts) ~~district~~ of $400,000. HCSD's share of the savings was approximately $34,000.

It was a night to acknowledge philanthropy. From the audience, Wayne Kinney (HHS Science Dept.), second vice president of the Hudson Teachers' Association, announced a $500 contribution from the union to the fledgling Jeff Otty Scholarship Fund, via the district Dollars for Scholars fund.

The board formally accepted (unanimously) two miscellaneous gifts: The first, in the amount of $200, from the Columbia County Corrections Officers to "defray the cost of new varsity basketball uniforms; the second, from Michael S. Johnston, in the amount $250, was received for the district afterschool program.

And the superintendent reported receipt of a $1,250 donation from Hudson River Bank & Trust Co. Foundation to Hudson Reads.

Among the agenda items:

A memorandum of understanding with the Columbia County Department of HumanServices/Behavioral Health Services Mental Health Clinic was unanimously approved "for the provision of reimbursable school based mental health assessment and treatment for district students" to be located at the junior-senior high school, effective January 1. There is currently a similar clinic in place at John L. Edwards Primary School.
A "student transportation efficiency study" was approved on a vote of 4 to 1 (Peter Meyer was the dissenting vote). The study will be conducted by Transportation Advisory Services of Wayne County, at the cost of $8,850, plus expenses "not to exceed $1,000."
Assistant superintendent Maria Suttmeier announced the product of the two-year K-12 curriculum mapping project will be unveiled during the summer of 2012.

The board set aside 10 a.m., Jan. 7, to discuss the superintendent's performance evaluation. Howe is currently in the third year of a three-year contract. Under the terms of that contract, the board must evaluate and discuss the superintendent's performance twice every year, in June and December. The board is specifically required to "reduce the evaluation to writing," and provide the superintendent with a copy (signed by all members) "at least 10 days prior to the board meeting scheduled to discuss the evaluation." On Jan. 7, the board will meet in the high school library and immediately adjourn to executive session.

Other personnel action taken after the board emerged from what on the outside sounded like a lively, one-hour executive session:

A recommendation by Howe to terminate the employment of Hudson Junior/Senior High School nurse Pamela Adamo was defeated. The vote was 3 to 2 (Peter Merante and Meyer voted "no.") Adamo is also the Health Services Coordinator, and a similar recommendation to terminate was pulled after the first resolution failed to pass. Adamo was present for the vote.
The creation of two positions to serve the students of the Ancram Group Home. The first, a Home to School Mediator, "will assist student residents and provide crisis intervention...work closely with guidance and school staff to help students succeed within the school setting." The mediator will work three hours per day, five days a week at the rate of $30 per hour, beginning Jan. 3. The second, an academic tutor position, will "...provide academic support in ELA [English Language Arts] and math after school hours, beginning Jan. 3. The tutor will work one hour per day, four times a week, at the rate of $48 per hour. The successful candidate must be a certified grade 7-12 teacher.

The board will next meet 7 p.m., Jan. 9 in the HHS library. Questar III BOCES Superintendent James N. Baldwin will be the featured guest.

When a leak goes very wrong

2011-12-13T00:29:00.066-05:00

Update (11:45 a.m.) The Register Star corrected its online version of the story at 11:42 a.m. The headline reads, "HCSD investigation into Spicer complaint completed."

HUDSON -- Local media reported late Monday that John Edwards Primary School principal Steven Spicer's racial discrimination complaint against the Hudson City School District and its Board of Education was declared "unfounded." Problem is, the story is untrue.

The story, posted at 9:30 p.m., Monday, at the Register Star Web site, declared as breaking news, "The racial discrimination complaint filed Oct. 28 by...Steven Spicer...was declared unfounded by the New York State Division of Human Rights."

“There was no finding of any racial discrimination and if Spicer chooses to release the report then he may do so," BoE President Peter Merante told the Register Star.

In fact, the Division of Human Rights rendered no such opinion, and the process of adjudicating the complaint has barely begun -- the district has yet to file a formal answer to Spicer's allegations, according to statements made by HCSD Superintendent John F. Howe, Monday.

The report alleged by the Register Star to have been rendered by the state Division of Human Rights, was in reality authored by a man hired by HCSD, Delmar attorney Ira Lobel. Howe distributed copies of the report to members of the board, Monday.

Lobel was contracted November 14, upon the recommendation of the district's labor attorney, Stuart S. Waxman, of Donoghue, Thomas, Auslander & Drohan of Hopewell Junction. He was brought in to sort through the ongoing dispute between district administrators that led to allegations of racial discrimination, and the filing of a formal complaint with the Division of Human Rights.

Rumors of Lobel's findings -- including an anonymous post to this blog -- circulated during the past week without official confirmation. At the board meeting Monday, Howe acknowledged the report was completed. He said Lobel's findings would be "incorporated into the board's formal response [to Spicer's complaint]...." and subsequently filed with the Division. The district has until Friday to file that response, Howe said.

Asked by board member Peter Meyer if Lobel's findings would be made public, Howe advised that based on advice of counsel, the report could not be released without first securing Spicer's approval because the document contained identifiable, personal information. "But I do believe it's FOIL-able," Howe said, referring to the state's Freedom of Information Law.

It was readily apparent from the Register Star account the reporter was in possession of the report itself. Why that report was falsely represented as a decision rendered by the Division of Human Rights is not known.

In his findings, Lobel determined "...there was no racial discrimination in this matter." He further recommended, "additional training on a broad range of topics, including internet use, diversity sensitivity, and communication skills may help avoid such allegations in the future."

According to sources, the final bill for Lobel's services was estimated at $4,500. [Clarification, 12.14.2011: The actual amount billed for services rendered by Lobel was $4,255.50 (three days at $1,400 per day, plus mileage).]

If the Division finds probable cause to believe an act of discrimination occurred, the matter will be sent on to an administrative judge. A public hearing will be held, and based on the outcome of the evidence and testimony presented, the administrative judge then renders a final order. According to the Division, the "median time frame from filing to final order is 465 days."

Among Spicer's allegations:

Spicer was subjected to harassing, “disparaging” emails from a coworker, Hudson High School principal Thomas Gavin. In those emails, Gavin accused Spicer of professional misconduct. Specifically, “...corrupting state Regents exams and knowingly assisting teachers and students in cheating on the state assessments.” The emails in question were sent in June, and again in October. Spicer’s complaint stated Superintendent John F. Howe failed to take appropriate and timely action to stop the harassment.
Howe reprimanded Spicer via email on more than one occasion, and simultaneously distributed those emails to Spicer’s colleagues and other staff members.
Every building level administrator received an annual performance review at the close of the 2010-11 school year, except Spicer. “The meeting occurred for all the other building principals, except me. No appointment was made and no reason was given,” according to the complaint. Spicer also alleged he was denied a base pay increase as specified in his contract.
Spicer also alleged he was denied a key to the administrative offices. Every other administrator was provided a key for use in accessing the facility for weekly meetings. According to the complaint, “no reason has yet been given for being denied the same privilege all the other administrators were afforded.”

The complaint was filed against the HCSD and its board, but Spicer specified Howe as the individual responsible for the discrimination. He said the most recent act occurred Oct. 14.

Budget season begins; facilities deal approved

2011-12-01T06:00:00.384-05:00

HUDSON -- The Hudson City School District faces a $1.6 million budget gap in 2012-13 -- "less than" the shortfall confronted by the district during the "last couple of years," Superintendent John F. Howe told the Board of Education during its regular meeting at Hudson High School, Monday.

Howe's presentation was billed "Budget 101," the same PowerPoint given at community meetings. Aside from the brief mention of the estimated budget gap, Howe's remarks focused on process, only. He said nothing about projected revenue or expenditures for 2012-13. The figures used in the presentation were lifted from the 2011-12 spending plan.

At the board's Nov. 14 meeting, however, Howe and HCSD business manager Daniel P. Barrett shared a bit more detail. They indicated expenses (salaries, health benefits and retirement) will increase by $1 million ($1,012,084), and revenue was projected to decrease by $600,000 ($594,068). Based on that information -- and calculating a tax levy increase of 2 percent (the maximum now permitted under state law) -- Howe and Barrett estimated the funding shortfall at $1.6 million. Without a tax levy increase, that number increased to $2 million, approximately 4.8 percent of the 2011-12 budget ($41.15 million).

Howe and board Budget Committee chairman Kelly Frank announced the next "community conversation" on the budget process, and a special focus on transportation, will be held 6 p.m., Dec. 5 at John L. Edwards Primary School. They urged the public to attend.

"If ever there was a need for the public to get involved, it is now," Howe said Monday night.

Voters will be asked to approve the 2012-13 budget, May 15.

In other business:

President Peter Merante read aloud the board's "lofty and lengthy" goals for the school year. Pending minor corrections and edits, the list is expected to be adopted later this month.
On a vote of 4 to 2, the board approved a shared services agreement between HCSD and the city of Hudson. The agreement provided for the exchange of city-owned equipment valued at $1,580, with the district -- in lieu of a cash payment -- for the use of the soccer field and basketball courts by the Department of Youth. The usage fees due for events scheduled through January 2012, totaled $682.50. Under the terms of the agreement, the city has a remaining credit of $897.50 with the district.

Board member Elizabeth Fout took exception to the contract, asking why the district was willing to barter with the city but not offer similar opportunities for other organizations. And, she asked, where are the "shared services?" Frank agreed the contract did not include provisions for shared services.

Under state law, when districts operate under a contingency spending plan (as the Hudson schools are this year), outside organizations are prohibited from using school-owned facilities for free. Howe assured the board the district's lawyers said bartering, or exchanges are permitted under the contingency law. The majority gave the contract a green light; Fout and Jeri Chapman voted "no."
Assistant Superintendent Maria Suttmeier pronounced the professional development day held the previous week, "one of the best...ever." Her office was still in the process of compiling participants' evaluations, Suttmeier said, but the majority of the feedback so far rated the workshops "outstanding."
The board accepted a $1,000 donation from Hudson River Bank & Trust Co. Foundation to help students attend Nature's Classroom, a natural science program for older elementary students. Howe also officially announced the establishment of the Otty Scholarship. No word yet on the amount of the scholarship and/or eligibility requirements.
The board made the unanimous decision to abandon the high school cafeteria as its meeting venue in favor of the library, effective December 12.

NCES releases report on distance learning in public schools

2011-11-30T14:26:00.000-05:00

As budgets shrink, the appeal of online learning grows. Recent stories in the Washington Post and Education Week debated the educational value of the virtual classroom. In Hudson, the district Board of Education recently included the possibility of district participation in the BOCES distance learning program among the board's goals for the 2011-12 school year.

On Tuesday, NCES (National Center for Education Statistics, at the Institute of Education Sciences, part of the U.S. Department of Education) released a report on the status of distance learning in the public schools. According to that report, 55 percent of school districts reporting had students enrolled in distance education courses in 2009-10. Other findings include:

• Of the 55 percent of school districts reported having students enrolled in distance education courses, 96 percent were enrolled in distance education courses at the high school level, 19 percent at the middle or junior high school level, 6 percent at the elementary school level and 4 percent in combined or ungraded schools.

• Districts reported an estimated 1.8 million enrollments in distance education courses for 2009–10.

• Twenty-two percent of districts with students enrolled in distance education courses reported that students enrolled in regular high school programs could take a full course load in an academic term using only distance education courses, while 12 percent reported that students could fulfill all high school graduation requirements using only distance education courses.

The full report can be found here.

BoE meets tonight

2011-11-28T17:35:00.000-05:00

HUDSON -- Hudson City Board of Education meets at 7 p.m., tonight in the Hudson High School cafeteria.

Among the items on the agenda: A "budget 101" PowerPoint and a presentation on the Otty Scholarship, an update on the sale of Greenport Elementary and the "donation to Nature's Classroom" by Hudson River Bank & Trust Co. Foundation.

The board will also be asked to approve a "Shared Services Agreement" between the city of Hudson and the school district. The agreement (already signed by Hudson Mayor Richard Scalera) appears to call for the bartering of equipment -- in lieu of cash -- for the use of district facilities by the Hudson Department of Youth. Under state law, when districts operate under a contingency spending plan (as the Hudson schools are this year), outside organizations are prohibited from using school-owned facilities for free. The BoE has so far this year rejected fee reduction and/or waiver requests submitted by Bindlestiff Family Variety Arts, the Diata Diata International Folkloric Theatre and the Pop Warner football program.

Home alone

2011-11-23T18:12:00.006-05:00

It is the day before Thanksgiving and Hudson City School District students have the day off. But as their students traveled, played video games or simply slept, the district's teachers were expected to be at school bright and early Wednesday, participating in one of three Superintendent Conference days scheduled for this year. The full-day professional development conference, from 8 a.m. to 3:15 p.m., featured a roster of guest facilitators including, Robert Whiteman, 2006 Disney Teacher of the Year, Greta Smith from the College of St. Rose, Cliff Bird, Principal of Abram Lansing Elementary School in the Cohoes City School District, Diane Furjanic of Pearson, representatives of Questar III BOCES, and others. Among the workshops offered:

Strategies to Boost Student Achievement with Underserved Students (Smith)
For all students, access to resources is vital to academic success. Based on the hidden rules of poverty, this workshop focuses on ways to examine resources of learners and to determine intervention. Proven, practical strategies for instruction that are based on building up these resources in struggling students will be presented.

Engaging All Students (Whiteman)
This mini workshop will focus on strategies that work to engage students in every class setting.

PBIS & Bullying Prevention (Bird)
This session with provide participants with the tools to reduce bullying behaviors through the blending of school-wide positive behavior support, explicit instruction, and a redefinition of the bullying construct.

The Key to Success: Content & Strategies (Jane King, Questar III)
This session will provide participants with classroom strategies to help students develop a deeper understanding of the content and test taking strategies required to be successful.

Painless Data Collection (Gloria Jean, CASDA (Capital Area School Development Association))
Looking ahead and planning for next year’s tasks. Development of a timeline for annual guidance functions.

enVisionMATH (The newly adopted elementary math program) (Furjanic)
This workshop will provide K-2 teachers with additional resource and instructional information to further assist with the implementation of the enVisionMATH program. Topics:
Review of program components, pacing of lessons, questions/concerns, focusing on the CCSS (Common Core State Standards) and technology.

Professional development programs are paid out of the district's annual Title I A and D allocations. According to the proposed 2011-12 budget, $12,500 (12.5 facilitators at $1,000 per day) was earmarked from that funding source for ELA (English Language Arts) and math professional development programs this year.

Mike Schmoker on building a coherent curriculum

2011-11-22T09:35:00.000-05:00

Marshall Memo 411 (Nov. 21)

In this call to action in Kappan, author/consultant Mike Schmoker says the single most important thing in highly effective schools, both here and abroad, is “a coherent, content-rich curriculum that abounds in opportunities for reading, writing, and discussion in every subject area.” This, he says, is what improves students’ reading skills, higher-order comprehension, test scores, and success in college and careers. How the curriculum is taught matters, says Schmoker. “But even the best pedagogy can’t overcome the negative effects of incoherent curriculum, just as the best exercise regimen can’t overcome the damage done by a diet of fast food.”

One of the most important benefits of a coherent, common curriculum is that it paves the way for professional learning communities (PLCs) to become the “essential engine of continuous improvement.” They can craft common interim assessments, analyze their students’ achievement in real time, and improve teaching month by month. “I can’t tell you how many frustrated PLCs I have seen that still can’t see the root cause of their arrested development: the absence of coherent curriculum.”

The problem, says Schmoker, is that very few schools have the kind of content he describes. “Many schools implement a test-prep curriculum that is nothing but a content-poor corruption of real curriculum,” he writes. “The actual taught curriculum continues to depend, more than anything, on which teacher a student happens to get.”

The Common Core State Standards are a good start, says Schmoker, but he agrees with two CCSS authors that there are still too many English language arts standards and we should “focus on the cornerstones” – specifically:
A carefully selected sequence of increasingly complex texts within and across each course and grade level – books, essays, speeches, opinion pieces, newspaper and magazine articles, poems, and textbook pages;
High-quality questions on those texts;
Abundant opportunities for students to closely read, discuss, and write about the texts in response to the questions;
Assigning writing that takes the form of arguments supporting claims with evidence as
students analyze, explain, and research the topics they’re studying;
Devoting at least one week per grading period to helping students write a short research paper.
“Only this will ensure that they’re college and career ready,” says Schmoker. For schools that don’t already have this kind of curriculum, nothing is more important than putting it in place....

“First Things First: Curriculum NOW” by Mike Schmoker in Phi Delta Kappan, November 2011 (Vol. 93, #3, p. 70-71), www.kappanmagazine.org

Dr. Mike Schmoker is a former school administrator, English teacher and football coach. He is the author of five books.

BoE drafts goals for school year

2011-11-21T13:24:00.000-05:00

The Hudson City School Board held a goals workshop Saturday in the Hudson Jr. High library. During the two-hour working session, members formulated 12 objectives for the 2011-12 school year. The board will vote to approve the list at its Nov. 28 meeting.

*According to the procedures specified in School Board Policy #2000 (“Board Operational Goals”) the board adopts the following goals for 2011-2012:

Financial/Budget
Develop a plan to promote transparency within the budget-making process by February 2012.
Create an outline for a three-year budget plan by the end of June 2012.
Communication
Upgrade the district Web site to include a comprehensive calendar (that will be updated regularly) by March 2012.
Create a district newsletter that will be published three times a year: each semester plus a special budget issue.
Complete the redraft of the board’s community relations and news media relations policies (#1000 and #1130) by February 2012.
Academic Achievement/Curriculum
Complete the written K-6 curriculum for math, ELA, science, and social studies by the end of June 2012.
Present the final report of the Task Force on Student Academic Performance to the board no later than March 2012.
Present a proposal for participation in the BOCES long-distance learning program by March 2012.
Have administrators from each building present written reports to the board on their school improvement and restructuring plans once a semester. The presentations should include:
1. Research used to inform decisions
2. Evaluations of all programs currently in operation
School Culture/Climate
Develop a plan with building administrators by March of 2012, to empower students to speak up about school culture, climate, and academics, including proposals to strengthen student government practices.
Create a plan to facilitate student transitions between buildings, incorporating and improving on existing transition plans and ensuring social and academic aspects of the student experience (e.g., establishing a “shadowing program”) by May 2012.
Facilities
Complete an inventory of the district’s physical structures to determine room usage, for the purpose of informing future program decisions by March of 2012.

*Draft document reflects the board discussion as transcribed by Jeri Chapman, incorporating notes from Peter Meyer.

District census under 2,000

2011-11-20T23:34:00.001-05:00

The total enrollment of the Hudson City School District on Oct . 1 was 1,885, according data reported to Questar III BOCES; 1,010 students in K-6, 286 in grades 7 and 8, and 589 in grades 9 through 12.

According to data reported by the district in early 2011, the K-12 enrollment this time last year was 1,888; 998 were enrolled in K-6, 279 in grades 7 and 8. The high school measured the student body at 611.

Between 2009 (K-12 enrollment was 1,917, according to NYSED) and 2011, the district lost 32 students (2 percent).

HCSD employed 200 teachers in 2009-10, 201 in 2010-11 and 182 in 2011-12.

In the past 20 years, HCSD enrollment was at its highest (2,567) during the 1995-96 school year. Between 1995 and 2011, the district enrollment shrunk by 682 -- more students than currently attend Hudson High, a decrease of 27 percent in 16 years.

According to the U.S. Census, the city of Hudson's population decreased by 10.8 percent between 2000 and 2010. In 2010, the percentage of city residents age 18 or younger was 22.5 percent, an increase of 2.2 percent since 2000.

Padalino named Superintendent of Kingston schools

2011-11-19T17:00:00.004-05:00

KINGSTON (Ulster Co.) -- Former Hudson High School principal Paul J. Padalino was chosen Tuesday, as the new Superintendent of Schools for the Kingston City School District. According to press reports, Padalino, 42, was approved by the Board of Education after a panel of community residents unanimously chose him over two other finalists -- a Kingston district administrator and a high school principal from Long Island.

Former HHS principal
Paul J. Padalino has
been named Kingston
superintendent.

The Daily Freeman reported a member of the panel "described Padalino as charismatic," and that his "experience as a high school principal and teacher,...at small-city schools...demographically similar to Kingston" was a factor in the panel's decision. Another member said Padalino "had done his homework not only on the district but also on all 12 members of the advisory committee."

Padalino will replace retiring Kingston superintendent Gerard Gretzinger, effective Jan. 6, 2012. According to media reports, the Kingston board set Padalino's yearly salary at $179,500.

Padalino was principal of HHS from 2001 to 2005. He was considered a protege of then Superintendent James B. Clarke, Jr. Clarke resigned in 2005, in the wake of two budget defeats and a state investigation, after five years with the district. At the time of his resignation, Clarke spoke publicly about Padalino, and his hope the younger man might have succeeded him in the district's top spot. "I offered to step down," Clarke told the BoE at the time.

Instead Padalino resigned as HHS principal to become superintendent of the 1,400-student Watervliet School District in Albany County in July 2005. He has served in that capacity for six years. During that time, he claims, the Watervliet graduation rate increased 10 percent and he has never had a budget defeated.

Padalino received a doctorate in educational leadership from the Sage Colleges in 2010 (as did former Greenport Elementary principal Tom Baumgartner). Padalino's undergraduate degree is in secondary education/American history, according to the Kingston City School District.

KCSD is comprised of one high school, two middle schools and 11 elementary schools, with an enrollment of 7,000 students. The district is governed by a 12-member board.

Padalino told the Daily Freeman his two teenaged sons will attend Kingston High School.

BoE taps Delmar lawyer to look into allegations

2011-11-16T17:48:00.005-05:00

HUDSON -- The Hudson City School District Board of Education hired Delmar attorney Ira B. Lobel, Monday, to sort through the ongoing dispute between district administrators that led to allegations of racial discrimination, and the filing of a formal complaint with the New York State Division of Human Rights in October.

Ira Lobel will look into
HCSD discrimination
allegations.

A licensed attorney since 1975, Lobel calls himself an "arbitrator and mediator," but his practice also includes fact-finding for labor disputes in the public sector, according to the New York State Dispute Resolution Association.

In a statement to the media Tuesday, BoE president Peter Merante said Lobel was hired “because of potential conflict of interests,...we determined that an outside and impartial investigator should be assigned to this case."

Lobel's appointment got the green light from all four board members present -- Jeri Chapman, Merante, Peter Meyer and Peter Rice. A per diem rate of $1,400 was also approved. There was no indication of the how long Lobel's inquiry is expected to take.

The district response to the complaint was due Wednesday. Contacted by phone Tuesday, Division spokesperson Lourdes Santana said it was against agency policy to comment on a open case, but was willing to outline the complaint process, in general.

If, Santana explained, following the initial investigatory stage, the agency finds there is probable cause to believe an act of discrimination occurred, the matter is sent on to an administrative judge. A public hearing is then held, and based on the outcome of the evidence and testimony presented, the administrative judge renders a final order. The "median time frame from filing to final order, is 465 days," she said.

When asked generally if the results of an independent review of a dispute can factor into the eventual resolution, Santana said, "It is something we can take into consideration but it's really not a part of the process."

Carrie Otty chosen to fill vacancy

2011-11-15T13:25:00.006-05:00

HUDSON -- Carrie Sigler Otty became the newest member of the Hudson City Board of Education, Monday. Otty was chosen from a field of five candidates during a regular meeting of the full board held in the Hudson High School cafeteria. Otty was immediately sworn, and took her seat at the table. The appointment was temporary -- she will serve until May, when she must stand for election.

Otty was appointed to fill a vacancy created following the death of her husband, Jeffrey. He succumbed to illness in Sept., three months after he was elected BoE president.

Prior to the vote, Peter Meyer thanked the candidates for coming forward. "The district would be well-served by all of you," he said. "This is a tough decision. We are replacing a fine, upstanding guy."

Otty is a lifelong resident of Columbia County, and for 20 of those years has lived in the Hudson City School District. She is the mother of three children -- one a graduate of HHS and two younger children currently enrolled in the district. Otty also served as a Foster parent. Her previous experience in education was "as a parent," and she is an active participant in various parent organizations, including the PTA and PTO. During the two previous budget cycles Otty spoke out publicly against various attempts at systemic cost-cutting, most notably around the issues of transportation and personnel.

Otty defined the district's strengths as its teachers, sports staff and facilities; its weakness is the "lack of parent involvement." Otty expressed an interest in serving on the board Budget Committee.

Four of the six current board members were present -- Elizabeth Fout and Kelly Frank were absent -- to hear from four of the five candidates who declared an interest in serving.

Michael C. Clark, 29, is a lifelong Hudson resident, and a 2001 graduate of HHS. He went on to graduate from the University at Albany-SUNY with a degree in economics and English. He and his wife -- an elementary teacher employed by the district -- have a son enrolled in the HCSD Pre-K program.

Clark said he was uniquely qualified because "there is no one from my generation" on the board. He said his wife's employment with the district was not, in his estimation, a problem. "If you serve with integrity, it's not a conflict," Clark said, citing former board member James Mackerer as an example. (Mackerer, a banker by profession, served on the school board for 10 years, ending in 2007. His wife Linda, a high school social studies teacher, retired in 2010, after 25 years of service.)

Clark said the board must create goals and a mission for the district. If chosen, he would like to serve on the Budget and Facilities committees.

Craig Jaufmann, a retired state Department of Corrections employee, who also "grew up in the district," spoke next. He was a 1979 graduate of HHS, his four children are graduates, as is his older brother, a neurosurgeon practicing in the south. He said Hudson "has provided educational opportunities to make students successful," but went on to point out it is currently ranked 83 out of 85 districts in the region, and 624 out of 682 in the state.

Jaufmann emphasized his management and budget expertise. As a sergeant, he held budgetary responsibilities and at one point managed 100 men. He opined that money is not an issue in Hudson -- the district is highly taxed. He also pointed out that student to teacher ratios were more in line with those found in private schools. Jaufmann's priority issues: The board must make a plan to improve the teacher turnover rate, and hold everyone -- administrators, teachers and students, alike -- responsible. He expressed an interest in the Budget and Curriculum committees.

Martin Nayowith spent 36 years as a teacher and administrator in private and public schools in Philadelphia before he retired to Livingston in 1995 to become a farmer. Nayowith has a background in Special Education, working for years with the learning disabled in a variety of roles, including an educator evaluator and a high school SpEd coordinator.

Nayowith's two grandchildren are elementary students enrolled in Hudson schools. The children were previously homeschooled. "Something I didn't agree with," he said. In addition to "its great elementary school -- according to my grandchildren," he said, HCSD's music and sports programs are outstanding. Nayowith said the district's weakness is its negative perception within the community. "Better communication is the issue," he said, calling for more effective community outreach. He expressed interest in the Budget Committee and working on issues related to the Code of Conduct and bullying prevention.

Former Hudson First Ward alderman and long-time gallery owner Carrie Haddad threw her name into the hat for a seat on the board for the third time in almost two years. Merante read aloud Haddad's letter of interest; she was unable to be present due to long-standing vacation plans.

Haddad holds a degree in sociology from Bard College. She discussed her extensive business background, and shared that at one point in her life she considered becoming a school administrator. Haddad is a licensed mediator with Common Ground, a useful credential for board service, she wrote. She remembered fondly her experience with the staff of JLE where her two (now adult) sons were once enrolled. The family left the district, she said, when "plans to move into Hudson fell through." As for a committee assignment, "I will serve wherever you need me...," she wrote.

Top earners...continued

2011-11-12T16:49:00.000-05:00

The Hudson City School District paid 45 employees $85,000 or more during the 2010-11 school year, putting it first in that category among school district employers in Columbia County. Of the 45 administrators, business staff and teachers that fall into that income bracket, 18 make $90,000 a year or more. According to data from the two state retirement systems available via SeeThroughNY.net, 23 percent of the district payroll went to those making more than $85,000 -- approximately 13 percent of the workforce.

In meetings on the 2011-12 budget last spring, Superintendent John F. Howe estimated that 83 percent of teachers employed by HCSD during the 2010-11 school year resided outside of the district.

The U.S. Census reported the 2009 median household income in Columbia County was $49,795; in the city of Hudson, $36,241.

Hudson now officially 'District in Need of Improvement'

2011-11-12T14:33:00.000-05:00

Middle schools countywide cited for ELA scores

ALBANY -- The New York State Education Department announced a total of "1,325 elementary, middle and high schools and 123 districts statewide" are now "identified for improvement" under the ESEA (Elementary and Secondary Education Act), more commonly known as the federal NCLB (No Child Left Behind) legislation of 2001. The announcement was made Thursday.

"The number of schools and districts that were newly identified for improvement is unprecedented," NYSED reported.

"This is just further evidence – as if we needed any – that we must move forward to reform our schools and change what is happening in our classrooms," Board of Regents Chancellor Merryl H. Tisch said in statement released by NYSED. "Our goal is to ensure every student graduates from high school college- and career-ready. These numbers show that too many schools are moving in the opposite direction. The Regents have adopted strong new reforms to improve student performance and increase accountability. If student performance doesn’t improve, schools must be held accountable. We are watching."

Chatham Middle School, Germantown Central School, Ichabod Crane Middle School and Taconic Hills Middle School were among the 847 schools newly identified throughout New York state. All were identified for failure to meet state performance standards in elementary-middle level ELA (English Language Arts).

The Hudson City School District was one of 89 districts newly identified as a district in improvement status for its failure to meet performance standards in ELA.

Hudson Jr./Sr. High School was identified in both secondary math and ELA; Montgomery C. Smith Intermediate School continues to struggle in elementary-middle level ELA. Principal Mark Brenneman's grade 3-6 school is now in restructuring status, a designation that requires the implementation of significant, fundamental reforms.

All county schools identified currently receive federal Title I funding. Schools in the first year of improvement status must provide Supplemental Educational Services to students who income qualify. As a school in restructuring, MCSIS must also offer school choice, if available (it is not).

Under the state's "Differentiated Accountabily" model, improvement status is divided into three phases: Improvement, Corrective Action and Restructuring. Schools in restructuring status (MCSIS) have failed to meet state performance standards for five consecutive years. State guidelines mandate an assessment of the school's academic program by a team appointed by the state Education Commissioner.

The plan created as a result of that assessment must require the school to make fundamental reforms, "such as significant changes in staff, governance or organization,..." and must be approved by the Board of Education no later than three months after the restructuring designation is made.

Schools and districts in all three phases of improvement status qualify for a variety of additional technical and financial support from NYSED and its related networks.

School payroll data released

2011-11-12T11:59:00.002-05:00

ALBANY -- On Nov. 3, SeeThroughNY.net released payroll information for the 373,971 employees of New York state school districts (outside of New York City) for 2010-11 school year.

The state's top ed earner was Dr. Carole Hankin, Superintendent of the Syosset Central Schools. She earned $506,382, for the year ending June 30, 2011. The 6,600-student Syosset district is located in Nassau County.

The average salary paid to superintendents nationwide in 2010-11, was $161,992, according to the Educational Research Service of Alexandria, Va. Among districts with an enrollment of 2,500 to 9,999 students, that average was $154,874; in districts of fewer than 2,500 students, the average superintendent salary was $119,613.

"Long Island schools had the highest average pay by region at $73,417. The Mohawk Valley had the lowest average pay at $36,893," SeeThroughNY reported.

The 2010-11 top 10 earners in the Hudson City School District :

John F. Howe, Superintendant -- $135,000
Thomas W. Gavin, Principal (Hudson High School) -- $118,002
Maria J. Suttmeier, Assistant Superintendent -- $107,100
Susan J. Hungerford, Teacher (Montgomery C. Smith Intermediate School) -- $104,010
Steven A. Spicer, Principal (John L. Edwards Primary School) -- $103,636
Lucy A. Rees, Teacher (Hudson Jr. High School) -- $96,617
Derek W. Reardon, Principal (HJrHS) -- $95,878
Daniel P. Barrett, Business Manager -- $95,796
Charles M. Peters, Teacher (HJrHS) -- $95,681
Mark A. Brenneman, Principal (MCSIS) -- $95,069

SeeThroughNY is a Web portal created and maintained by the Empire Center for New York State Policy. The data contained in the database was obtained via FOIL request submitted to the New York State Teachers' Retirement and the New York State Retirement systems.

Spicer files complaint

2011-11-09T13:43:00.000-05:00

JLE principal alleges “unlawful discriminatory actions”

ALBANY -- John L. Edwards Primary School principal Steven Spicer has accused the Hudson City School District and its Board of Education of racial discrimination.

In a complaint filed with the New York State Division of Human Rights, dated Oct. 28, Spicer alleged he is “being subjected to disparate treatment for unlawful discriminatory reasons relating to” his race. Spicer is the only African American administrator employed by the school district.

Board president Peter Merante deferred comment on the matter when contacted by phone Wednesday.

“I haven’t had the chance to read it [the complaint] yet,” Merante said. "I don't want to say anything until I've had a chance to look at it." He said the document was sent to the board via email, but technical difficulties had so far prevented him from retrieving the document.

Among Spicer's allegations:

Spicer was subjected to harassing, “disparaging” emails from a coworker, Hudson High School principal Thomas Gavin. In those emails, Gavin accused Spicer of professional misconduct. Specifically, “...corrupting state Regents exams and knowingly assisting teachers and students in cheating on the state assessments.” The emails in question were sent in June, and again in October. Spicer’s complaint stated Superintendent John F. Howe failed to take appropriate and timely action to stop the harassment.
Howe reprimanded Spicer via email on more than one occasion, and simultaneously distributed those emails to Spicer’s colleagues and other staff members.
Every building level administrator received an annual performance review at the close of the 2010-11 school year, except Spicer. “The meeting occurred for all the other building principals, except me. No appointment was made and no reason was given,” according to the complaint. Spicer also alleged he was denied a base pay increase as specified in his contract.
Spicer also alleged he was denied a key to the administrative offices. Every other administrator was provided a key for use in accessing the facility for weekly meetings. According to the complaint, “no reason has yet been given for being denied the same privilege all the other administrators were afforded.”

The complaint was filed against the HCSD and its board, but Spicer specified Howe as the individual responsible for the discrimination. He said the most recent act occurred Oct. 14.

Spicer and his attorney met with the BoE during executive session, Oct. 24. The details of that discussion are unknown.

In July 2010, Howe made the decision to move Gavin (former principal of the HCSD Alternative Learning Program and the former Montgomery C. Smith Middle School principal) to HHS following closure of the ALP. Under Howe’s short-lived plan, Gavin was placed as co-principal alongside long-time HHS administrator Spicer.

The co-principal model proved a failure -- it led to a significant breakdown in the HHS climate in less than six months. With the retirement of Carole Gans, Spicer requested reassignment to JLE. The assignment was approved by the BoE in Dec. 2010. Gavin remained on as HHS principal.

The Division of Human Rights notified the district of Spicer’s complaint by letter, dated Nov. 2. The Division directed that a response be submitted within 15 days.

Board president succumbs to illness

2011-09-28T09:18:00.001-04:00

HUDSON -- Hudson City School District Board of Education president Jeffrey A. Otty died Wednesday morning at Columbia Memorial Hospital.

Otty, 51, of Hudson, was first appointed to the board in Oct. 2007. He and Emil Meister were chosen from a field of eight candidates to fill two seats vacated by Edward Nabozny and John Rutkey Jr. He was subsequently elected to a full five-year term in 2008. Otty was elected board president in July.

At the time of his appointment, Otty cited “better communication” between the school and parents as a significant issue in the district. He related his own experience as an example. When, according to Otty, his son’s English grade plummeted from 90 percent to 35 percent in only five weeks, no one at the school told the family about the abrupt change.

Otty's elder son graduated from Hudson High in 2007; his younger son and a daughter are currently enrolled in the district.

Otty was a lifetime resident of Columbia County, and a graduate of Hudson High School. He was an employee of the Columbia County Highway Department for more than 20 years. He was a U.S. Navy veteran.

Funeral arrangements are pending.

No crossing guard anytime soon

2011-09-26T23:00:00.018-04:00

HUDSON -- The Hudson Police Department will no longer provide school crossing services in front of John L. Edwards Primary School, at the intersection of State and Fourth streets in Hudson, effective Saturday.

In a Sept. 12 letter to Superintendent John F. Howe, Chief of Police Ellis Richardson said the decision was made for "several reasons." First off, he said, the department is currently under a "hiring freeze, which prohibits the hiring of new employees." In the past, HPD officers have manned the post, but the "unpredictability of when an officer should have to respond to a primary call leaves the responsibility without assurances and unpredictable at best," Richardson said.

Furthermore, according to Richardson, the department found it difficult to keep the position filled over the years because of the limited time (2 hours per day) and rate of pay ($10 per hour) the job required. Due to anticipated budget shortfalls in the coming year, Richardson said, it is unlikely the position will be funded in 2012.

In a response dated Sept. 21, Howe thanked Richardson for the department's years of service to district children and families.

"I understand the challenges facing all public institutions as we build and develop budgets during these difficult economic times. I understand that supervision of the crosswalk by a Hudson police officer will be subject to availability," Howe wrote.

Crossing guards in Hudson, as in most locations, are civilian employees of the local police department.

The loss of a dedicated crossing guard at the busy city intersection comes as the elimination of busing services for all students living within the city limits is under consideration by the Hudson City School Board.

Tonight

2011-09-26T16:53:00.002-04:00

HUDSON -- The Hudson City School District Board of Education meets 7 p.m., tonight in the Hudson High cafeteria. On the agenda:

A presentation by Assistant Superintendent Maria Suttmeier on the district reading intervention programs.
Various committee reports, including a report from the Facilities Committee that may, or may not, provide an update on district consolidation and the possible sale of John L. Edwards Primary School to Columbia County for its use as an office building.
The first meeting for student representative David Frank. Frank is a Hudson High senior, and the son of first-year board member Kelly Frank.
An explanation by Suttmeier of the school and district designations, as determined by the New York State Education Department:
-- M.C. Smith Intermediate School is currently in Restructuring status for its failure to improve the scores of students with disabilities, black and Hispanic students in ELA (English Language Arts).
-- Hudson Jr./Sr. High School is now a School in Need of Improvement, Year 1, after all students failed to make AYP (adequate yearly progress) in ELA and math.
-- HCSD is officially now a District in Need of Improvement, Year 1, in ELA. Suttmeier's planned discussion with the board is the district's first public acknowledgment of its degraded status for 2011-12.

Report on Regents results expected

2011-09-11T20:52:00.000-04:00

HUDSON -- Less than half of the Hudson High School students who sat for the Regents exams administered in August passed, according to a report expected to be presented to the Hudson City Board of Education, Monday.

Pass rates in English (77 percent), geometry (63 percent) and integrated algebra (59 percent) out-paced student performance in science and history by a wide margin. Among living environment (biology) students the pass rate was 11 percent, Earth science, 19 percent. The global history pass rate was 20 percent; U.S. history and government, 33 percent.

Among HHS students who took the Regents exams administered
in August, 63 percent failed to pass.

The district conducted review sessions in math and global history beginning in July. Four teachers delivered eight, two-hour sessions, at a cost to the district of $3,142, according to the report. Among the 31 students that attended the review sessions, 20 passed the exams.

Traditionally, many of the students who take the Regents in August do so because they failed the spring exam. The report did not specify how many of the 128 students who sat for the exams last month were taking the test for the second or third time.

Hudson Jr./Sr. High School is currently in improvement status (School in Need of Improvement, Year 1) in ELA (English Language Arts) and math.

The HCSD BoE will hold its regular meeting 7 p.m., Monday, in the cafeteria of Hudson High School. Assistant Superintendent Maria Suttmeier is slated to provide a detailed review of the Regents results.

Performance in the sciences and history lagged way behind math and English.

According to Monday's agenda, the board will hear opening week reports from building administrators, and return to its ongoing discussion about transportation cuts. The board will also be asked to approve additional transportation contracts, as well as a "Preliminary Memorandum of Understanding" between the district and Catholic Charities of Columbia and Greene counties, "for the....Promise Neighborhoods grant application."

Do-over

2011-09-01T20:06:00.000-04:00

HUDSON -- The meeting of the Hudson City Board of Education was cancelled Thursday, after it failed to achieve a quorum. It was immediately rescheduled to take place 6 p.m., Friday, in the junior high school library.

The emergency special meeting was added to the calendar by Superintendent John F. Howe less than one week ago. Its primary purpose was the restoration of a full-time equivalent teaching position at the primary level. Other items on the agenda included: an instructional staff transfer; instructional appointment(s); and the addition of guidance counselor summer hours.

The board barely managed a quorum for its Aug. 22 meeting, with only four members present. Members in attendance Thursday included board president Jeff Otty, Kelly Frank and Peter Rice.

Classes in Hudson resume Wednesday.

How they scored

2011-08-11T20:27:00.000-04:00

Each year, the New York State Education Department "equates" scores so performance levels have the same meaning from year to year. Proficiency scores for 8th graders were set at a level that provides students a 75 percent chance of achieving college-ready Regents scores -- a 75 or higher on the ELA exam, and 80 and above in math.

Among Hudson 8th graders, 35 percent (49 students) tested proficient in ELA (English Language Arts) and 27 percent (37 students) were deemed proficient in math, four years before graduation.

Hudson median scale scores in ELA (above) varied considerably. Precipitous decreases in occurred between 2010 and 2011 in the performance of 3rd-, 5th- and 7th-grade students and scores earned by 4th- and 6th-graders increased, Next year's high school freshman turned in the same score their predecessors did in 2010. All Hudson median scores fell well below the proficiency level calculated by NYSED.

In math (below) students in the 4th, 5th and 7th grade showed improvement; however, proficiency alluded all but the 4th graders. As 3rd graders in 2010, the same group of students achieved an equally proficient score of 684. As in ELA, the 8th grade -- Hudson High Class of 2015 -- scored poorly in the aggregate, well below the proficiency level set by the state.

Rome is burning...

2011-08-11T12:24:00.000-04:00

The New York State Education Department has now released the 2011 ELA (English Language Arts) and math results for exams taken in May by students in grades 3 through 8.

Statewide "the average scale scores on this year’s English exams are slightly lower than last year’s at all grade levels; the average scale scores in math are about the same as last year’s," but the majority of students met or exceeded the proficiency standards in both subject areas, according to a statement released by NYSED, Monday.

However, the data release was not good news for the Hudson City School District. Based on the test results reported, the majority of students enrolled in grades 3 through 8 scored less than proficient in both ELA and math. The median scale scores -- the grade-level aggregates -- were below the proficiency standard set by NYSED, across the board. The HCSD 4th grade score for math (681) was the lone exception, coming in five points above the state proficiency standard of 676.

At the Board of Education meeting Monday, Superintendent John F. Howe deferred comment, and said only that Assistant Superintendent Maria Suttmeier will speak about the data at the Aug. 22 board meeting.

Peter Meyer said he had a "quick look" at the material and what he saw was "not good."

NYSED raised the standards in 2010 in an effort to "better reflect the level of achievement needed to indicate that a student is on track to achieve college-ready scores on future state exams." In addition to setting new cut scores, performance levels were renamed “...to reflect more precisely...whether a student is below, meeting or exceeding the proficiency standards."

The levels as now defined are: Level 1, below standard; Level 2, meets basic standard; Level 3, meets proficiency standard; and, Level 4, exceeds proficiency standard.

Throughout the past year some HCSD administrators regularly groused about the state's recalculation of cut scores and the redefinition of proficiency levels. "The ball was in play and they moved the goal post," Suttmeier told the Board of Education on May 9."They yanked those test scores up...."

In Hudson the percentage of students scoring at Level 1 and Level 2 (below proficiency) on the exams taken in May (by subject and grade level):

3rd grade (ELA) 61 percent (math) 65.8 percent
4th grade (ELA) 47.2 percent; (math) 47.2 percent
5th grade (ELA) 66.4 percent; (math) 51.6 percent
6th grade (ELA) 53.9 percent; (math) 55.9 percent
7th grade (ELA) 67.8 percent; (math 61.3 percent
8th grade (ELA) 64.8 percent; (math) 73.2 percent

HCSD has struggled with accountability measures from the time the measures were established with passage of the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. The district's demographic make-up has, on occasion, been cited as the reason the schools lag behind other county schools.

"People compare Hudson to other Columbia County districts," Suttmeier said during a May 9 briefing on the district report card. "But it's not the same. We have large 'sub-groups.' Other districts don't have these 'sub-groups.'"*

During the 2009-10 school year, the district reported its ethnic/racial make-up as 54 percent white, 29 percent black, 9 percent Hispanic or Latino and 7 percent Asian or native Hawaiian/other Pacific Islander. HCSD has a Special Education classification rate of 19.71 percent (the state average is 13.2 percent) and a 57 percent free and reduced lunch rate (a standard measure of poverty).

Students that made up the 8th-grade class in 2010-11 (the HHS Class of 2015) were 4th graders in 2006-07, the year the former Greenport Elementary School was first designated a School in Need of Improvement. As a result, they ( and their younger counterparts) have spent the majority of their academic careers in designated schools and subject to limited content instruction as dictated by various corrective action plans.

During the past two years, the district adopted an elementary ELA program (Journeys, a Houghton Mifflin Harcourt product, has been in use for more than a year) and a math program (use of Pearson's EnVisions Math will begin in Sept.), but HCSD remains without a “written, taught and tested curriculum.”

*Use of the term "sub-group" in this context is a direct reference to a reporting feature of the accountability measures currently in place, mandating the reporting of achievement data broken down by race/ethnic origin, gender and economic status. Schools are now evaluated by the state based on the school's ability to teach all students, as demonstrated by students' performance on annual standardized exams.

Hart and HCSD settle

2011-08-08T18:35:00.002-04:00

ELA teacher walks away from litigation with cash and a spot on the district eligibility list

Aug. 10 Update -- unmuffled has learned a member or members of the Hudson City Board of Education are under fire for what colleagues allege was a violation of a gag order in the Sharon M. Hart case. As previously reported, under the terms of the settlement agreement filed with the court July 20, Hart is specifically prohibited from discussing the terms of the settlement with anyone other than her attorneys, tax advisor and immediate family.

There is no public record of the instructions and/or direction provided to board members behind closed doors on July 18; however, the agreement itself does not contain language banning disclosure or discussion of the case by board members. In fact, the Board of Education is never referenced in the12-page filing.

The closest the document comes to limiting discussion of the matter by district personnel can be found in paragraph 12. In that clause, Hart agrees "not to make or cause to be made any statement that damages or disparages the reputation of the District or any of the Releasees [Fern Aefsky and Ryan Groat]." And further, the district "has instructed its 'Control Group' not to make or cause to be made statements that disparage or damage the reputation of Hart. For the purposes of this provision, the 'Control Group' is defined as all central and building level administrators." [Emphasis added.]

As for the sourcing of the story (below), unmuffled attended the July 18 meeting, waited as the board conducted its one-hour executive session and witnessed the subsequent board vote on the settlement motion. The settlement details and various elements of the litigation history contained in the story came directly from the public record as maintained by the Clerk of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York.

HUDSON -- On the eve of trial, the Hudson City School District Board of Education voted to settle with eighth-grade English teacher Sharon M. Hart, ending three years of litigation. The board approved the settlement on July 18, one week after an agreement was reached between the parties.

The complaint, filed July 24, 2008, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York, alleged that in 2007, HCSD, its former Superintendent Fern Aefsky and former M.C. Smith principal Ryan Groat denied Hart tenure, and terminated her employment based on age (she was 46 at the time). Hart also accused Aefsky and Groat of retaliation after she complained of the alleged discrimination.

Under the terms of the settlement agreement filed with the court July 20, Hart, 50, will receive a one-time payment of $175,000 -- $50,000 from the district, and $125,000 from its insurance carrier. The district further agreed to rescind Hart's 2007 termination (approved by the BoE) and placed Hart on an unpaid leave of absence retroactive to July 1, 2007. Following execution of the settlement agreement, the leave ended, Hart's position eliminated, and her name placed on the district's eligibility list. At the close of the July 18 meeting, the BoE granted Hart tenure with the district.

The agreement and release prohibits Hart from discussing the details of the settlement with anyone, other than her attorneys, tax advisors and immediate family.

According to court records, Hart and the defendants reached an agreement in a settlement conference held July 11, before U.S. District Judge Mae A. D'Agostino. Superintendent John F. Howe attended the settlement conference on behalf of the district along with attorney John Donoghue of Donoghue Thomas (Hopewell Junction). Aefsky and Groat were represented by counesl and did not personally appear.

During an executive session held at the July 18 meeting, the board was briefed by Donoghue and told a settlement had been reached. Members emerged from the one-hour closed door session, and following a motion by Peter Merante, voted 6-0-1 to affirm the settlement. (Peter Rice abstained.) No further discussion was held; Howe offered no public comment on the matter.

From 2008 until early 2011, HCSD bore the cost of representation for Aefsky and Groat. In April, Aefsky retained the services of James P. Evans of Hiscock, Barclay of Syracuse. The following month Groat hired Robert F. Manfredo and Patrick J. Fitzgerald of the Girvin Ferlazzo firm in Albany

Hart received her undergraduate degree in 2001 and a master's in 2003. She was hired by HCSD to teach 8th-grade ELA (English Language Arts) in Sept. 2004. It was her first full-time, tenure-track position.

Aefsky served as HCSD superintendent from the fall of 2006 until June 2008, when she was hired for the top spot with the Beacon City School District. She was recently named principal of a charter school in New Port Richey, Fla.

Groat was employed by the district from Sept. 2006 until June 2009. Hired by the East Greenbush Central School District in 2009, he resigned as principal of Howard L. Goff Middle School at the close of the 2010-11 school year.

Meeting brings school year to a close

2011-06-30T23:59:00.037-04:00

HUDSON -- The Hudson City School District Board of Education held its final meeting of the 2010-11 school year, Monday. Attendance was sparse -- two of the seven board members were absent and fewer than 10 members of the public were present to observe the nearly two-hour meeting, held in the high school cafeteria.

The meeting included a decision to raise school meal prices, an agreement to comply with a Freedom of Information Law request and various personnel actions, including one instructional recall and an additional administrative vacation time buy-back.

The meeting brought to a close the terms of Emil Meister and Mary Keeler Daly. Superintendent John F. Howe acknowledged the moment, making a small presentation to Daly. Howe thanked Daly for her service. "She will be missed," he said.

Meister was not present and Howe made no reference to his former teaching colleague. Meister's attendance has been sporadic since May 17. Kelly Frank, of Livingston, and Peter A. Rice Jr. of Hudson, will replace Meister and Daly on the board, July 5.

The meeting began with a presentation by Debra Spicer, member of the Naval Mobil Construction Battalion 21. She presented various gifts to staff and students in thanks for the Hudson High School Class of 2010's support of the battalion during Operation Enduring Freedom.

Spicer, the wife of John L. Edwards Primary School principal Steven Spicer, offered "heartfelt thanks to the Hudson community and the students of Hudson High School" for the many care packages and letters sent to the troops over the course of the 2009-10 school year. "During these tough economic times we appreciated your sacrifice," she said. Among the items presented: the battalion's "traveling flag." The gift was entrusted to the Hudson community and Hudson High as "a token of appreciation for kindness shown" to the troops.

Meal prices
School meal prices appeared on the agenda for the second time in two weeks. On June 13, the board deadlocked on a request from Food Service Supervisor Catherine Drumm to raise prices by up to 15 percent.

Howe began the discussion with a reference to a memo from Drumm concerning recent changes to the law (Section 205 of the Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010) that required districts to raise meal prices a minimum of five cents. Drumm proposed a larger increase to cover costs. If the minimum increase was implemented, Howe said, the difference -- approximately $10,000 -- will have to come from the general fund. An item, he said, "...not budgeted."

Peter Merante said he could support the minimum increase of five cents, across the board, but nothing more. He said any additional amount would have a tremendous impact on an already struggling community. Following Daly's second attempt to approve Drumm's larger increases (the motion failed to carry), a motion made by Merante to approve the five-cent increase passed on a vote of four (Jeri Chapman, Peter Meyer, Merante and Otty) to one (Daly). Elizabeth Fout was absent.

"This is a grave mistake," Daly said.

FOIL request
Under "new business" the board discussed a pending FOIL request submitted by the HTA (Hudson Teachers' Association) to the district seeking emails to and from individual board members and members of the HTA's bargaining unit anytime during the past school year. To be in compliance, the board must produce the records no later than July 5, according to Daniel Barrett, the district's records retention officer.

The item was placed on the agenda at Meyer's request. He told the board he thought the HTA letter was "an attempt at intimidation" and the request should not be "entertained during contract negotiations."

The three-year contract between HCSD and the HTA expired June 30, but with the exception of two attempts to secure a wage freeze during recent budget negotiations, the district is not currently in active negotiations with the union, according to Howe and Barrett.

Meyer said while he understood board member emails are generally subject to FOIL, there are exceptions to the law. He cited "School Law" (it is in reality an exemption under the New York Freedom of Information Law), to argue that under these circumstances emails between board members and individual HTA members were exempt because disclosure "...would impair current or imminent contract awards or collective bargaining negotiations." Therefore, Meyer said, the request should be denied.

Daly immediately said she disagreed; the board must comply with the request. Otty pointed out there was no approved resolution from the board directing the administration not to comply.

Meyer said he asked Howe to bring his question concerning exempted records to the district's lawyers but Howe and/or the attorney failed to respond. Howe offered nothing in direct response to Meyer's statements or question, but later chided the board on the question of defying the advice of counsel, calling it potentially "reckless."

Almost immediately Daly made a motion to comply; the motion was carried on a vote of four (Chapman, Daly, Merante and Otty) to one (Meyer). All agreed to produce the emails prior to July 5. Barrett said six of the seven board members have already completed the task.

Personnel
The board adjourned to a 30-minute executive session. When the members emerged, the board approved:

One instructional recall (Gordon Pratt) assigned to M.C. Smith Intermediate School, to fill an elementary position open due to retirement.
Eight instructional "Enhancing Education Through Technology Grants" in the amount of $2,000 per teacher, to Karen Antonelli, Lori Below, Lynn Clark, Emma Cottini, Kim DelPrincipe, Lynn Dykeman, Alicia McCagg and Lucy Rees.
A vacation buy-back for JLE principal Spicer in the amount of $3,238.65 (7.5 days).
The recall six former full-time teachers' aides to fill six part-time positions, effective June 27.
The creation of one professional development position for a location and time to be determined at the rate of $47 per hour. The facilitator will support K-6 teachers in understanding the ELA common core standards and provide "Journeys Instructional Support."
The creation of two facilitator positions -- at the rate of $47 per hour for facilitation and $42 per hour for prep time -- for a children's community book group Hudson Opera House, effective July 20 through Aug. 24.
The approval of four extra-curricular appointments: John Connor Jr. (girls' modified basketball, $3,147); Todd Gardner (boys' JV basketball, $3,598); Dicel Jefferson (boys' modified basketball, $3,147) and Adele Schertel (senior class advisor, $1,486).

The board will next meet to reorganize for the 2011-12 school year, 6 p.m., July 7 at HHS.

Balancing employment and enrollment

2011-06-28T23:59:00.007-04:00

HUDSON -- At the request of Board of Education member Peter Merante, the Hudson City School District central office recently compiled district census numbers for the past 15 years. The information was provided to the full board, Monday. The data documented a steady decline in student enrollment but the hiring patterns for teachers and teachers' aides did not follow the same trend.


During the 1996-97 school year, the Hudson City School District enrolled 2,513 students in grades K-12. With the exception of a small uptick between 2003 and 2005, enrollment has consistently declined since. (Source: HCSD)


HCSD teacher hiring increased 18 percent over four years (1996-2000) despite a decrease in enrollment. The district employed 185 teachers in 2010-11, the same number on staff in 1996-97, when school enrollment was 24 percent higher. (Source: HCSD)

The number of aides employed by HCSD hit an all-time high in 2003-04,
but after the elimination of 10 positions in 2007-08, the number of aides on staff
has not fallen below 70, a 27 percent increase over the number
employed during the 1996-97 school year.
(Source: HCSD)

School taxes on a $300,000 house in 2010...by district

2011-06-24T22:21:00.000-04:00

Source: The Business Review Schools Report, 2011. Taxes for multiple-municipality districts were computed using the tax rate of the municipality that contains the largest portion of the district. Tax estimates do not account for homestead exemptions, STAR exemptions, etc. Tax estimates are also for school taxes only.

Congratulations to the Class of 2011

2011-06-24T12:11:00.000-04:00

Graduation ceremony for the Hudson High School Class of 2011, 7 p.m. in the high school auditorium. Admission by ticket only.

Hudson remains low on annual list

2011-06-24T09:41:00.005-04:00

ALBANY -- The Hudson City School District has been ranked 83rd of the 85 K-12 districts in the Capital Region by The Business Review in the 2011 edition of its annual Schools Report, published Friday.

The popular database "ranks 85 districts in 11 Capital Region counties based on a weighted tabulation involving student test scores, graduation rates and other state Education Department data," according to the Business Review. "The main source for...[the] report is the state Education Department and its Report Card data for the 2009-10 school year."

Bethlehem Central School District (Albany County), topped the list, squeezing out Vorheesville Central School District (Albany County), ranked first in 2010.

While HCSD and Taconic Hills Central School District (#63) maintained their 2010 rank, two other Columbia County districts climbed -- Ichabod Crane Central (from #36 to #28) and Germantown Central (#52 to #40). Two other districts moved down the list -- Chatham Central fell from #33 to #54, and New Lebanon Central went from #34 to #42. Berkshire Union Free School District was not ranked.

The Business Review published portions of the Schools Report all week, and while HCSD ranked near the bottom overall, in other areas (with the exception of superintendent's compensation) it was consistently ranked in the top 25 percent:

The HCSD 2010-11 budget -- with expenditures totaling nearly $41 million -- was the 23rd largest spending plan among the 92 districts ranked.
HCSD placed #28 of 92 districts in per student expenditures ($20,952 per student)
HCSD was #10 of 93 districts in teachers' salaries, paying $60,997 per annum (median).
The Hudson dropout rate (3 percent) put the district in the top 17 percent -- #15 out of 86 schools.
HCSD Superintendent John F. Howe placed in the top 40 percent of the list based on compensation. Based on the amount outlined in the adopted 2011-12 budget, Howe will receive $135,000 (salary) plus $24,002 (benefits) for a total of $159,002.

Phase II of building project slated to begin

2011-06-21T00:05:00.002-04:00

HUDSON -- The Hudson City School District Board of Education Facilities Committee announced summer construction plans for the district at the meeting of the full board, June 13.

Phase II of the 2007 District Wide Renovations and Additions Project will affect three of HCSD's four buildings. Construction is tentatively scheduled to begin June 24 and projected to end on or before Oct. 4. Facilities Committee chairman Jeffrey Otty said the project will be paid for using the remaining Excel funds awarded in 2007.

The scope of work includes:
Hudson High School
Replacement of all student lockers (first floor)
Replacement of all plate glass windows in stairwells and business rooms
Upgrade of all bathrooms with water-saving fixtures and auto flush/water valve devices
Replacement of the pool filtering system

M.C. Smith Intermediate School
Replacement of all student lockers in the old sections (all three floors)
Replacement of fan bleachers at the football field
Repair and resurface tennis courts

John L. Edwards Primary School
Upgrade of all bathrooms with water-saving fixtures and auto flush/water valve devices
Installation of environmental door systems at the main office entrance

According to Otty the New York State Education Department approved the list of projects. He said an advertisement was prepared and published to solicit sealed bids for four contracts: Hazardous materials, site work, general work and plumbing.

The deadline for submissions is 3 p.m., Wednesday; the forms submitted will be opened immediately thereafter in the conference room of the district office.

The board is expected to award the contracts at its meeting, 7 p.m., June 27. The board Facilities Committee will next meet 1 p.m., June 27.

Report indicates former ALP students are struggling

2011-06-16T01:38:00.005-04:00

HUDSON -- Nearly a full year after the Hudson City School District Alternative Learning Program was closed the majority of the program's former students appear to be adrift and have either withdrawn from school completely, or are struggling to succeed in the traditional setting at Hudson High School.

According to the "ALP Academic Behavior Report 2011," 17 of 39 former ALP students (44 percent) are currently "failing." An additional seven students (eight percent) dropped out during the past year.

The report, dated June 7, was compiled by current HHS principal Thomas Gavin (and former ALP principal), and presented to the HCSD Board of Education during its special meeting, Monday, at the request of board member Peter Merante.

Merante said that while he was grateful for the information, his request was for comparative data -- information that would provide the board with a idea of how former ALP students were faring at Hudson High in 2011, compared to how they performed during the time spent in the standalone alternative program.

On a related query from other board members, Superintendent John F. Howe said he was not clear on Gavin's definition of "failing." He promised to clarify the point and get back to the board with an answer as soon as possible. Gavin was not present at the meeting.

The report included data on 39 former ALP students -- nine are currently enrolled in the 12th grade, seven in the 11th, four in the 10th and 10 are 9th-graders. Six are expected to graduate with the Class of 2011, and seven are classified as currently "passing." Two of the graduating seniors are members of fhe National Honor Society. Two of the 39 took and passed the GED (General Educational Development) exam.

Gavin also provided information on the number of referrals, out-of-school suspension days, tardies and absences for each former ALP/current HHS student. Referrals varied from a high of 53, to a low of zero (students on both ends of that spectrum are "failing.") One 9th-grade student was suspended for a total of 54 days, according to the report.

Established during the 2006-07 school year, the ALP was intended to enhance the district's instructional program and placed an emphasis on small group instruction and team-building. The district received initial funding through a magnet school budget line sponsored by state Sen. Steve Saland.

When the board ended the program at the end of the 2009-10 school year -- by first closing the Greenport campus where the program was housed, and then gutting the teaching staff through workforce reduction -- students wept and begged board members to save the ALP. Several of the students repeatedly alleged they were being "set up to fail."

Of the 50 students enrolled in the program at the end of 2009-10, eight graduated, leaving 42 expected to attend Hudson High in Sept. Beyond a plan to split HHS into two schools -- which never materialized -- a substantive plan for integrating ALP students back into the general high school population went undeveloped.

Aefsky now retired, has moved south

2011-06-15T10:02:00.005-04:00

No more snow days in
Fern Aefsky's future.
(poughkeepsiejournal.com)

Former HCSD superintendent named principal of charter school

NEW PORT RICHEY (Fla.) -- Former Hudson City School District Superintendent Fern Aefsky has been named principal of Athenian Academy of Pasco, a K-8 charter school of 300 students in west central Pasco County, located on the Gulf of Mexico.

The school's governing board announced Aefsky's appointment in a statement released last week. She is the school's fourth principal in two years. According to the Florida Department of Education, during the 2009-10 school year 76 percent of all Athenian Academy students read at or above grade level, while 71 percent tested at or above grade level in math.

In January, Aefsky, 55, announced her intention to retire as Superintendent of the Beacon City School District, effective at the conclusion of her three-year contract on July 1. However, according to a statement from the BCSD Board of Education, Aefsky later amended the departure date to May 27, "due to a combination of a sickness in her family and starting a new job in Florida in July." On June 1, the Beacon district appointed Harvey Hillburgh interim superintendent. He will serve until a permanent replacement is found.

In August 2006, the HCSD Board of Education voted unanimously to hire Aefsky despite the dearth of community input and support for the selection. The board took the action after negotiations with Irwin “Earl” Sussman collapsed (the details of those negotiations were never disclosed to the public), and in direct opposition to concerns over the hiring process raised by community members and the Hudson Teachers' Association.

Aefsky resigned in early 2008, after less than two years on the job. Her brief tenure was marked by extreme rancor and divisiveness. The Board of Education's decision to raise her salary at the start of the 2007-08 school year brought protests from three of the district's bargaining units. Notwithstanding the absence of an annual performance review, the board raised Aefsky's salary by 7.6 percent after less than a year of service.

Many of the changes Aefsky implemented were viewed as attempts to exclude parents and student advocates from the educational process. In some cases, experienced individuals who formerly supported at-risk students were expelled from classrooms and school activities. At the same time, Aefsky promoted a program called, "Parent University," a grant-funded project characterized as a tool to "engage" the community and "empower parents."

Aefsky is the author of two books on education, and according to the Athenian Academy Board of Directors, she is about to publish her third, "...about building community within the school by involving parents and community partners."

Administrators sell $48K in vacation time

2011-06-14T23:00:00.002-04:00

Eleven teachers, two teaching assistants granted tenure

HUDSON -- The special meeting of the Hudson City School District Board of Education Monday ran the gamut -- from student recognition and teacher tenure cheered on by a full house, to the approval of more than $139,000 in personnel expenditures, including $47,700 in vacation time buy-backs for eight administrators, witnessed by the last four observers.

Nearly 100 people poured into the Hudson High School cafeteria for the penultimate BoE meeting of the 2010-11 school year. The evening began as a celebration of district students and within an hour the considerable accomplishments of third-grade poetry lovers and their reading mentors, along with the Hudson High School varsity track team, marching band and robotics team were well-recognized and applauded.

Following the students, 11 teachers and two teaching assistants moved into the spotlight as they were presented for tenure recognition. Late in the meeting, the board voted to tenure all 13 on a vote of five (Jeri Chapman, Mary Daly, Peter Merante, Peter Meyer and Jeff Otty) to one (Elizabeth Fout). Board president Emil Meister left the meeting "for another appointment," before the tenure class was presented. Those approved:

Dawn D'Elia, math, HJrHS (Hudson Junior High School)
Emily Goldstein, math, HJrHS
Amie Malin, elementary, MCSIS (Montgomery C. Smith Intermediate School)
Kristen Marchisio, elementary, MCSIS
Andrew Ohrin, math, HHS
Sallie Ostrander, home economics, MCSIS/HJrHS
Carla Perez, foreign language, HJrHS
Karen Schassler, guidance counselor, MCSIS
Valerie Spensieri, reading, HHS
Scott Vorwald, music, MCSIS
Elizabeth Young, guidance counselor, HHS
Tiffany Kriz, teaching assistant, MCSIS
Marilyn Proniske, teaching assistant, JLE (John L. Edwards Primary School)

The board approved the annual administrator vacation day buy-back request, totaling $47,700 -- $38,700 less than the amount paid out in 2010 ($86,400). The bonus-like perk for supervisory personnel is provided under the terms of the collective bargaining agreement currently in place between The Building Administrators of the Hudson City School District and HCSD. Administrators are alotted 25 vacation days per year and must use 10 days. "Any remaining days can be sold back to the District at the per diem rate." The per diem rate is based on the administrator's base salary; payments must be made by July 15.

The buy-backs approved for 2011:

Antonio Abitabile 15 days @$329.17 [$79,000] = $4,937.55
Daniel Barrett 15 days @$389.98 [$93,595] = $5,848.70
Mark Brenneman 15 days @$395.83 [$94,999] = $5,937.45
Thomas Gavin 31.5 days @$491.68 [$118,003] = $15,487.92
John F. Howe 3 days @$562.50 [$135,000] = $1,687.50
Kim Lybolt 15 days @$375 [$90,000] = $5,625.00
Derek Reardon 15 days @$395.83 [$94,999] = $5,937.45
Maria Suttmeier 5 days @$446.26 [$107,000] = $2,231.25

Other board action:
The board gave the green light to entering into a five-year contract with Questar III BOCES for the lease/purchase of 13 Xerox network printers, at the cost of $107,577.85 per year ($537,889.25 total). District business manager Daniel Barrett reported this agreement will provide some cost savings -- the district is currently paying $115,000 per year for machines near the end of their usefulness.

The board unanimously approved an agreement between HCSD and The Devereux Foundation for unspecified Special Education services for an unspecified number of students with disabilities at an unspecified state determined rate, beginning July 1 and ending June 30, 2012. In New York, Devereux operates the Red Hook Day School, Millwood Day School, Intermediate Care Facility and 853 Residential Program. According to its Web site, Devereux is a nonprofit behavioral health organization, and operates a nationwide network of clinical, therapeutic, educational and employment programs and services.

The board deadlocked (three to three) on a request by Food Service Supervisor Catherine Drumm (and recommended by Superintendent John F. Howe) to raise the prices charged for school meals. The increases ranged from 6 to 15 percent. Fout opposed the price hike saying this "was not the best time," to be charging more. "Everything is hitting the middle class," she said.

Misc. personnel matters:

Appointment of a food service helper, effective June 14 ($13,455)
Probationary appointment of night custodial supervisor, effective June 13 ($34,622)
Various academic appointments for 4- and 8-day programs in August (Kindergarten Preview Academy, K-2 ESL Summer Camp, Gr. 3 Boost Up Academy, Gr. 7 Jr. High Prep Academy, Gr. 9 Freshman Academy) ($18,036)
"Summer curriculum development work appointments" -- 15 teachers @$400 ($6,000)
Summer food program appointments, effective July 1 ($12,733)
Extracurricular appointments (sophomore and junior class advisors), 2011-12 ($1,709)

The board will next meet 7 p.m., June 27 at HHS.

Discrepancies, adjustments and increases

2011-06-07T23:00:00.016-04:00

HUDSON -- One week after the Hudson City Board of Education chose a 9.8 percent tax levy increase over the imposition of further cost-cutting measures, and voted for a second time to adopt its original 2011-12 $41.25 million budget, the community is still reeling.

In coffee houses and grocery lines last week residents struggling with the high cost of food and fuel angrily denounced the board for a failure to do its job, and the majority's continued disregard for the will of the voters. Comments during recent public meetings by district employees calling a 9.8 percent tax levy increase "nothing," did little to salve the already wounded relationship between community and school.

The discontent has led to talk of possible board member recalls. In the words of a former city official, "I just can't believe they [board members] think they don't have to do their jobs."

In the week leading up to May 31, the board appeared to be making a good faith effort to do its job, taking the first steps toward crafting an amended version of the controversial budget in a series of three workshops chaired by Peter Meyer.

Most of the questions during the post-election work sessions were aimed at understanding how the money is spent based on figures published by the district in May, and widely distributed in the budget book. As the sessions progressed, it became clear the board had only budget-to-budget figures to work with; it did not have actual spending data. Nothing to indicate the true and accurate cost of running a district of 1,917 students. The honest attempt at substantive cost reduction was a challenge, and without the full cooperation of the district's top administrators, the effort barely got off the ground before the question of adopting the original budget was pushed to a vote.

Vincent Wallace, Claverack resident and the HCSD Concerned Taxpayers spokesman took issue with the accuracy of the budget book at the start of the second workshop. "This is the taxpayers' only reference and we have every right to expect it to be right," he said. Wallace said he intends to request the Office of the State Comptroller conduct a full audit of the district based on the discrepancies in the document brought to light "so far."

Highlights from the three workshops:

Salary freeze
The Hudson Teachers' Association was not the only bargaining unit in the district to refuse a salary freeze. In fact, only Superintendant John F. Howe, Assistant Superintendent Maria Suttmeier and Business Manager Daniel Barrett agreed to forego an increase for 2011-12. All but the top three district employees will be paid more next year (see below) than in 2010-11.

If an agreement had been reached, the savings to the district would have totaled at least $750,000, Meyer said.

Substitute teachers
In the third workshop, Peter Merante suggested the substitute teacher salary line be budgeted at $135,000, a reduction of $50,000. Merante said "$50,000 more is too much," and asked why that particular item was increased by 37 percent. He suggested there might be a need for some "oversight of teacher absences...." if the district was seeing large increases in the cost of substitute teachers.

Howe rejected the idea. He said the district had little substantive control over teacher absences and denied there was a pattern of abuse. He also said the $50,000 increase was necessary because the district could not continue to run a deficit on that line. Barrett agreed with Howe, and said the substitute teacher line is consistently over budget. Barrett did not say -- nor was he asked -- how much was actually spent on substitute teacher salaries and why the line was chronically in the red.

The total amount paid out by HCSD to substitute
teachers increased nearly 20 percent over three years.

If fact, the district's financial filings with the New York State Education Department confirm the district consistently overspent in this area during the past three years, and in less than two years the total amount of salaries paid to substitute teachers has increased by almost 20 percent (right).

In the end, the proposal adopted allocated $185,000 for substitute teacher salaries. There was no indication of how the overspending from previous years has been -- or will be -- absorbed.

Librarians
During the first workshop (May 25) a community member asked why "two librarians" cost the district a total of $186,082. Kathy Keeler -- a library media specialist at the junior high school -- was present, and stood to say yes, the district employed only two librarians, but denied that she or her colleague made $93,000 a year. Barrett later clarified, saying the number published represented the amount budgeted to cover the salaries of three librarians; because one of the three positions was eliminated for the 2011-12 school year, he said, there may have been some confusion.

According to the New York State Teachers' Retirement System, the actual salaries paid to the two librarians (that remain on the district payroll) during the 2009-10 school year totaled $140,000. Calculating three percent more (a conservative estimate) for the two positions for the upcoming year, the budgeted amount should be in the $144,000 to $150,000 range. However, the proposal as adopted budgeted $189,082 for two librarian salaries.

Increases
Although the entire budget increased less than one percent overall, specific budget lines grew anywhere from 1.5 percent to 37 percent, including:

Clerk of the board - +2.5 percent
Superintendant's office, clerical - +1.5 percent
Business office staff - +1.4 percent
Treasurer - +1.5 percent
Personnel, clerical - +1.5 percent
*Curriculum development, clerical - +1.5 percent
Supervision, regular schools, clerical - +1.5 percent
Security officers - +2 percent
Sub teachers - +37 percent ($50,000)
SpEd paraprofessionals - +7 percent ($48,548)
Computer assisted instruction, computer salaries - +6 percent ($8,189)
Guidance, counselors salaries - +4 percent ($8,383)
Nurses - +2 percent
Psych services, psychologists's salaries - +17 percent ($62,340)
[Barrett explained at the final workshop that effective with the 2011-12 school year, the district's sixth psychologist was added to the general fund payroll. The position was previously grant funded.]
Co-curricular activities, salaries - +2 percent
Pupil transportation, transportation salaries - +5 percent

Employee benefits
Benefits increased four percent overall. The cost of specific benefits greatly varied. Health insurance -- touted as one of the district's notable and unavoidable increases -- actually went up less than one percent.

Employees retirement - +44 percent
Teachers retirement - +12 percent
Social Security - +3 percent
Workers compensation - -5 percent
Unemployment insurance - 0
Health insurance - +.8 percent
Dental and vision insurance - -6 percent

Administrator and teacher aide salaries
The budget, as proposed, provided an eight percent increase for administrative salaries (five school-level supervisors). In response to questions from Elizabeth Fout during the final workshop, Barrett confirmed that $669,106 was budgeted to cover administrative salaries and vacation buy-backs. Fout calculated salaries for the five positions at around $500,000, and asked if the additional $170,000 was earmarked for vacation buy-backs. Barrett shook his head, but did not answer the question.

Fout also queried Barrett about an increase (12 percent) in the amount allocated for teacher aides ($526,577). Barrett said the amount included a three percent raise. He said the district employs 80 teacher aides; five positions were cut for 2011-12. He characterized the line increase as an "adjustment." The exchange was quickly ended as the meeting drew to a close.

Late Tuesday, Meyer distributed "thank you" emails to those who contributed cost-reduction ideas during the process. "Your suggestions...have not been lost," he wrote. "In fact, they have been gathered together and will be made part of the district's new initiative to improve the school's finances...."

Budget will stay at $41.25 million

2011-05-31T23:59:00.041-04:00

BoE abandons process; hope for second public vote now gone
HUDSON -- Bringing the post-election budget revision process to an abrupt end, the Hudson City School District Board of Education adopted its original 2011-12 $41.25 million budget, Tuesday. As a result, a second vote on a revised proposal is no longer a possibility.

The resolution was put forward by Mary Keeler Daly and seconded by board president Emil Meister; it carried on a vote of four (Jeri Chapman, Daly, Meister and Jeffrey Otty) to three (Elizabeth Fout, Peter Merante and Peter Meyer).

The decision Tuesday was the second time in two weeks the board moved to adopt the same budget, mandating a 9.8 percent tax levy increase. The first decision -- made immediately after the proposal was overwhelmingly rejected by voters -- was rescinded May 23, and the members agreed to revise the plan in preparation for a potential second public vote on June 21.

On Tuesday, Daly pushed the adoption vote, telling the board, "We have the right to bring back and vote on the 9.8 [percent tax levy increase] plan."

Meyer, obviously angry, called the board's decision "another slap in the face" to taxpayers. He called the teachers' refusal to consider a wage freeze "unconscionable."

Otty said the "cuts were deep and hard on everyone" and indicated the board had already done enough.

Meister, in attendance for the first time since May 17, arrived just before the call for a vote was made. Consistent with his earlier position, Meister spoke against further cuts. "The question is what to do next year? What will be left to slash and burn?" he said.

Fout's position remained unchanged in the two weeks since the election. "I believe with this decision...you will hurt the district," Fout said. "It will cause a great deal of loss -- a loss of students, a loss of voters and a loss of faith....This is a huge mistake."

Chapman, the newest member of the board flipped her position -- she voted against adoption on the 17th. Chapman said "chipping away" at the budget would certainly lead to school decline, which would in turn, "put us on the road to community decline."

Under the law, school boards have three options in the event a budget proposal is defeated: Offer up the same budget for a second vote; amend the plan and seek voter approval; or, immediately adopt the contingency plan. The HCSD board constructed its 2011-12 budget at the contingency level (the total budget increase was less than one percent). A contingency budget, as defined by state law, "...funds only teachers' salaries and those items the board determines to be 'ordinary contingent expenses.'"

The adoption came after the board's third post-election budget workshop concluded, in the junior high school library packed primarily with faculty and staff. The workshop -- limited to one hour by previous agreement -- ran long and concluded at 7:20 p.m.; discussion was limited and the board's decision was final by 7:30 p.m. The opportunity to vote on the list of cost-cutting measures put forward during the workshop sessions (totaling more than $750,000) never materialized.

Among the potential cost-savings measures suggested (estimated savings appears in parenthesis):

Eliminate anticipated salary increases ($205,000)
Cut four additional teaching positions (grades 7-12) ($200,000)
Redraw bus routes, establish pick-up areas, cut back on extracurricular busing and begin "safe-zone" walking-school bus pilot program within Hudson ($100,000 to $250,000)
Institute cost savings measures: Turn off lights and equipment when schools not in use, remove small appliances from classrooms and offices, etc. ($100,000)
Cut four additional teacher's aides positions ($100,000)
Eliminate department heads ($77.658)
Cut an administrative salary by one-half ($50,000)
Reduce budget line for substitute teachers ($50,000)
Eliminate staff development ($9,000)

Superintendent John F. Howe attended each of the workshops, as did Daniel Barrett, the district business manager. Much like the original budget process, the sessions were filled with more questions than answers provided. Fout and Meyer (and member-elect Kelly Frank) queried Howe and Barrett concerning specific budget lines, to no or little avail.

"There are [still] questions left," Meyer said as the board prepared to adopt the unrevised plan. "We should be ashamed of ourselves for not doing better."

"We should be ashamed of ourselves for trying to cut so much in two weeks," Daly said.

The board next meets 7 p.m., June 13.

Survey says!

2011-05-26T01:06:00.000-04:00

HUDSON -- The results of the May 17 voter survey were released, Monday. Mary Keeler Daly, chair of the Hudson City Board of Education Budget Committee provided the information to the full board, taking special note that 82 percent of the 583 respondents reported they do not have a child currently enrolled in the district (#2, below). The top three priorities in "non-mandated areas" were class size, advanced academic classes and elective courses. Interscholastic athletics (sixth) and extracurricular clubs and activities (eighth) came in much lower on the list.

How did you vote on the proposed budget?
Yes (in favor) - 28 percent (162)
No (opposed) - 65 percent (379)
No answer - 7 percent (42)
Do you currently have any children who attend the Hudson City School District?
Yes - 17 percent (98)
No - 82 percent (480)
No answer - 1 percent (5)
Are you in favor of a 1.5 mile walk zone? (A walk zone means there will be no transportation provided for students "within" the designated area.)
Yes - 70 percent (409)
No - 26 percent (149)
No answer - 4 percent (25)
Knowing the education funding crisis is likely to continue or worsen next year, which three of the following non-mandated areas would you like most to see preserved when it comes time to develop the 2012-13 budget? (Check your top 3, only.)
Class size (245)
Advanced academic classes (230)
Elective courses [grades] 9-12 (219)
Music programs | beyond mandates (199)
Art programs | beyond mandates (173)
Interscholastic athletics (156)
Staff development to improve teaching (148)
Extracurricular clubs and activities (58)
Field trips (44)
Other: Tutoring, college prep courses, foreign language
No answer (58)

Act II: How low can they go?

2011-05-25T17:14:00.000-04:00

HUDSON -- The Hudson City School District Board of Education is going to try again.

Before a standing-room only crowd at Hudson High School Monday, the BoE chose to rescind its May 17 decision to adopt the proposed $41.25 million 2011-12 spending plan. The members also informally agreed to revise the budget in preparation for a potential second public vote on June 21.

Board member Peter Meyer was quick to limit the discussion to the question of revoking its earlier action. He emphasized a decision to rescind would buy the board additional time to do some needed work. "This will give us two more weeks to roll up our sleeves and get a better budget," he said.

When it meets Wednesday, the board will begin the challenge of tackling a large task within a short period of time. To reduce the 9.8 percent tax levy increase by half, the board must identify and implement nearly $1 million in "cost-saving and reduction measures."

During the budget process, the administration and board chose to cut costs primarily through expenditure reduction -- downsizing the workforce, program cuts, elimination of discretionary purchases, etc. Indications are the board will now focus on additional ways to save, considering issues of efficiency and strategies for maximizing resources already in place.

The board was persuaded to reverse course after residents turned out in record number for the board meeting, Monday. Ads prepared and paid for by the HCSD Concerned Taxpayers peppered the airwaves, urging residents to attend and demand the board reverse its election night decision. Email campaigns initiated over the weekend circulated the same message. More than 200 attended -- neophytes to seasoned board observers -- and the television cameras recorded it all.

"Thanks to all for showing up," said Concerned Taxpayers spokesman and Claverack resident, Vincent Wallace. He was the first to speak during the public forum and was first to urge the board to rescind its vote.

Wallace said the election outcome -- 1,249 to 424 against passage -- was "sufficient enough reason for the Board of Education to rescind it decision, and to further present an amended budget to the community for a second vote."

As for the Hudson Teachers' Association's rejection of a proposed wage freeze, Wallace said, "Maybe they will do the right thing now."

John Keeler, of Claverack, urged the board to restore community confidence and rescind its vote. "It's way overdue for the board to reform itself," he said.

Carmine Pierro, aide to Hudson Mayor Richard Scalera, addressed his comments directly to Jeff Otty, board vice president and the member who most aggressively argued to ignore the election results. Pierro said he was especially bothered by the idea that because "only 18 percent" of the electorate voted, the results could be ignored.

"I've worked for the city for 16 years," Pierro said. "And I've participated in seven or eight hotly contested elections. But when it's over, it's over...." He found the sentiments expressed by Otty "especially offensive" and called for Otty's resignation. The crowd roared as Pierro left the podium.

Hudson resident Lee Stone was barely able to control his anger. "How dare you tell me my vote doesn't count?" he said. "This board needs to get smart real quick."

Ed Konow of Claverack (and spouse of a retired HCSD teacher), told the board he almost decided to stay away from the meeting but reconsidered because in so doing, he would be as "irrresponsible as the board members that voted to adopt this budget." He said the board did the voters a great disservice by adopting the very budget the voters rejected.

But the most poignant remarks of the night came from Hudson resident Ann Hamm. "You have no right to disrespect us as taxpayers and as parents, the way you have," said Hamm. "I have never been more disrespected in my life. My son has a third-grade reading level and you gave him a high school diploma. And you want me to pay more for that?"

Otty, unbowed and unapologetic, addressed many of the comments and allegations made concerning the decision-making and the budget processes, and his concerns going forward.

Otty denied he said the election did not count. He also said the process to formulate the budget took six months, not three weeks. He said responsibility for the district's current fiscal challenge lies with the state's failure to support districts like Hudson -- cutting aid, then asking more for retirement and health insurance.

As for the tax levy, Otty said the board started the process anticipating a 15 percent increase. "We're not happy [with 9.8 percent] but 9.8 is the best we can do. We had to cut 19 teachers. And I can't justify asking kids to walk," he said.

As for the proposed salary freeze, Otty said, "We don't control the HTA. We can't force them to take a freeze. They refused to discuss it or put it up for a vote [by the membership].

"The cuts now will be serious," Otty said. "Cutting another two million will be impossible. We might as well close the doors and go home."

Superintendent John F. Howe spoke twice; both times to reinforce comments made by two parents alarmed at the possibility of "slashing more" to lower the tax levy increase. One woman -- the mother of two primary students -- was so moved, she wept as she spoke.

Howe nodded in agreement. "We have lost multiple positions, have little in the way of supplies. We've made cut, after cut, after cut. This is [a] bare bones [budget]," he said.

Meyer agreed the process is difficult, but noted the next step is not about "slashing" it is about deciding how to save money.

"We owe it to the voters to try," said Elizabeth Fout. "We can sit down for the next two weeks and look at cuts....We can cut and still meet students' needs."

In the end, Peter Merante -- one of the four who voted with the majority on May 17 -- made the motion to rescind.

"I'm not afraid to admit when I make a mistake," he said. After thinking it over, Merante said he remembered his own anger and frustration when his son (at the time serving in Iraq) did not receive an absentee ballot and was denied his vote in the 2008 presidential election. "I was p***ed," Merante said of the experience. As a result, he had to reconsider his vote. Merante made the motion; Fout seconded.

The motion passed on a vote of four (Jeri Chapman, Fout, Merante and Meyer) to two (Mary Keeler Daly and Otty). Board president Emil Meister was absent due to illness.

The board next meets 6 p.m., Wednesday at Hudson High School.

HCSD top earners, 2010 edition

2011-05-23T17:39:00.001-04:00

More than a quarter of the professional staff makes more than $80K

SeeThroughNY updated its school district payroll data in Nov. 2010 with information obtained by the Empire Center for New York State Policy through the filing of a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request with the New York State Teachers' Retirement System.

According to the information provided to the retirement system, 53 of 200 teachers employed by the Hudson City School District during the 2009-10 school year -- 27 percent -- were paid $80,000 or more during that time. Of the 53 (see below), seven are now retired.

The Albany-based Empire Center is a project of the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, a non-profit 501(c)3 think tank.

Administration
*Carol J. Gans -- $145,806
John F. Howe -- $135,000
Thomas W. Gavin -- $118,002
Maria J. Suttmeier -- $104,645
Steven A. Spicer -- $103,636
Derek W. Reardon -- $95,000
Mark A. Brenneman -- $93,716
Daniel P. Barrett -- $86,241

Teachers
Susan J Hungerford -- $99,601
*Nancy A. Schafer -- $96,988
Amparo A.Gazzera -- $94,946
Elizabeth A. Dolan -- $92,415
Charles M. Peters -- $91,100
Lucy A. Rees -- $90,176
Thomas E. Bonville -- $89,973
Ellen K. Huemmer, -- $89,959
Gordon D. Ringer -- $89,210
Anna M. Barletta -- $88,784
Regina Libruk -- $88,676
*Linda O. MacKerer -- $87,836
Diana S. Praus -- $87,730
Andrea C. Mastrianni -- $87,552
Maryann Murphy -- $87,508
*Denise C. Barry -- $87,338
Patricia A, Howe -- $87,277
Jack R. Beyer -- $87,165
Jay O. Aronson -- $86,744
Lynn E.Lee -- $86,612
Luann Fredereksen -- $86,610
Deborah A.McSherry -- $86,058
Laurie J.Drahushuk -- $85,568
Diane V. Kreig -- $84,428
*Karen A. Risch -- $84,233
Laurie A.Cordato -- $84,028
Karen A. Engel -- $83,807
Deirdre T. Lupoli -- $83,770
Marylou G. Knull -- $83,642
*Sandra Drahushuk -- $83,398
*Alice K. Wynkoop -- $83,207
Ann M. Button -- $83,188
Jill A. Hanley -- $83,160
Carmelita L. Decicco -- $83,048
Elisabeth A. Stippa -- $82,978
Angela J. Carrico-Hickman -- $82,976
Anne T. Curry -- $82,630
Edgardo Acevedo -- $82,576
Victoria Groat -- $82,548
David M. Landry -- $82,478
Beth M. Hawes -- $82,408
Katherine E. Cook -- $82,338
Joyce A. Flanagan -- $82,268
*Patricia L. Wildermuth -- $82,262
Barbara Y. Gaylord -- $82,208
Mary E. Sleezer -- $82,157
Susan A. Melnyk -- $82,028
Elaine M. Curtis -- $81,988
Richard A. Bobrick -- $81,787
Kevin M. Bowes -- $81,718
Theresa J. Cipollari -- $81,562
Kerri L. Appelbaum -- $80,722
Emma P. Cottini -- $80,466
*Retired

'Cost reduction can take many forms'

2011-05-23T12:57:00.000-04:00

The Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials recently published an updated version of its 2003 PowerPoint presentation, "500 Cost Reduction Strategies for Local Education Agencies" Some of PASBO's 500 ideas for cutting school district overhead (in no particular order):

Implement a zero-based budgeting system -- an annual review and justification of selected programs and positions.
Employ a multi-year budget forecasting process (project beyond the immediate future).
Convert the big numbers to per unit cost for better analysis during the budget development process.
Consider a four-day school week -- staggered schedules increase capacity by 20 percent.
Assign some administrative duties to clerical staff.
Replace department chairs with teacher coordinators.
Assign principals to serve more than one school.
Make staffing decisions based on mid-year, rather than first of the year enrollment.
Require administrators to work as substitutes at least three days each year.
Promote community collaboration -- with colleges for advanced courses, for instance, or the hospital for health services.
Structure extracurricular activities to be self-supporting.
Solicit for volunteers versus paid positions for extracurricular activities.
Combine minor sports with neighboring districts.
Enlist volunteers to do cleanup for athletic events and reduce staff overtime.
Analyze and address all employee absenteeism.
Develop policies to prevent sick leave abuse.
Conduct an annual survey of employee dependent data to ensure accuracy.
Institute a one [paper] copy per family policy.
Use codes for copy machine usage.
Increase distance for transport eligibility; utilize walking school buses and safe pathways to school.
Close schools completely during breaks; consider extending the winter break.
Start school later in the winter -- after 10 a.m.
Implement electricity demand restrictions.
Repair leaking hot water faucets.
Institute a "no mow" zone or engage the municipal government to mow some lawns.
Control custodial overtime.
Hire or contract a grant writer to work on a commission basis.
Seek corporate/business support of grant applications.
Increase online learning.
Explore joint purchasing and consortium opportunities -- insurance, data processing, energy, food service, etc.
Renegotiate legal billing rates.
Merge school and community libraries.
Require car pooling for all official business.
Go electronic -- put all forms, high school course selection and district job applications online.
Provide district IT and Web support using interns and student teams.

Vetoed sports appointments back for Round 2

2011-05-22T16:52:00.087-04:00

HUDSON -- On Monday, the Hudson City School District Board of Education will reconsider the decision to veto stipends for extracurricular sports appointments made in the week leading up to the budget vote. Superintendent John F. Howe placed the matter back on the agenda, in addition to a new resolution calling for the appointment of an unspecified number of "extracurricular advisors."

These types of resolutions are presented in advance of the coming school year and are considered pro forma -- rarely questioned, much less vetoed. However, following an executive session at the close of the May 9 special meeting, the board refused to approve 20 varsity and junior varsity coaching appointments for the fall and winter seasons, on a vote of five to two. The coaching positions included football, cross country, golf, tennis, volleyball, soccer and basketball. The stipends ranged from $4,493 to $2,249 per person, per season; the total allocation requested was $69,684.

"This is a lot of money in a budget-strapped time," said Peter Meyer, speaking for the majority. "We need to get information from the lawyers, and bring in the athletic director to have a rational discussion about paying or not paying coaches."

Howe was visibly shaken at the board's decision, but he agreed to consult with legal advisors on the extent of the district's contractual obligation to provide stipends for extracurricular appointments.

Under the current agreement between HCSD and the HTA (Hudson Teachers' Association), applications for fall and winter extracurricular positions must be submitted to the central office no later than April 15 each year, and the BoE must act on the assignments no later than the end of May.

The agreement specifies that teachers be given the exclusive right to apply for any and all extracurricular positions -- the spots are not competitively filled. Only if district personnel fail to express an interest in a given position (or positions) are applications from the community taken under consideration. According to Article 6 of the HTA agreement, "No non-District employee shall be considered for an appointment unless qualified District employees have failed to apply within the time limits."

The contract does not limit the number of extracurricular assignments any one teacher can hold per season, or per year.

The agreement does cover extracurricular stipends (Article 28) to some degree, but it is unclear if that language is applicable to the questions posed by the board on May 9. The agreement reads in part: "The approval of an extracurricular stipend rests with the sole discretion of the District,..." and, the "District reserves the right to limit the number of extracurricular advisor stipends...."

The rejected appointments (with accompanying stipends) included 13 teachers and seven non-teachers.

In May 2010, the board approved 36 extracurricular advisor appointments -- yearbook, National Honor Society, class advisors, etc. -- totaling $46,002.40. Factoring in the required three percent increase, the budget to fund those same positions in the 2011-12 school year totals $47,382.47.

The morning after

2011-05-18T13:27:00.000-04:00

Most budgets passed in school districts located in the Hudson Valley and Capital Region. In Columbia County, only two -- Hudson City and Ichabod Crane Central -- saw proposed spending plans defeated.

The HCSD Board of Education opted to do nothing further and immediately adopted the rejected budget when the election results were known.

According to media reports, the Ichabod Crane BoE will meet in an emergency meeting Monday to determine how to best amend its budget before presenting it to voters a second time on June 14.

The regional results:

Catskill, Chatham, Ellenville, Germantown, Highland, Hunter-Tannersville,
Hyde Park, Kingston. Marlboro, New Lebanon, New Paltz, Onteora, Red Hook, Rhinebeck, Rondout Valley, Taconic Hills and Walkill.

Averill Park, Berne-Knox-Westerlo, Hudson City,

Ichabod Crane, Pine Plains, Saugerties

BoE to voters: Drop dead

2011-05-17T23:45:00.001-04:00

updated 5.18.2011

HUDSON -- The Hudson City School District's $41.25 million budget proposal was defeated Tuesday, 1,249 to 424, a record-breaking margin of three to one. But before the machines were re-canvased and the results officially certified, four members of the Board of Education moved to nullify the voters' intentions and immediately adopted the rejected spending plan without amendment, thereby imposing a 9.8 percent district-wide tax levy increase.

The budget was defeated in all five of the district polling locations: Hudson (351 to 124), Greenport (417 to 147), Claverack (244 to 83), Stockport (91 to 29) and Livingston (146 to 41).

In the board race, Kelly Frank finished first with 1,068 votes, incumbent Peter A. Rice Jr. was second with 1,060 votes and Jeri Chapman, with 951 votes, came in third. Rice vacated the seat he held since Sept. 2010, and Chapman was sworn in to complete the three-year term. Frank and Rice will begin their respective five-year terms on July 1.

Under the law, school boards have three options in the event a budget proposal is defeated: Offer up the same budget for a second vote; amend the plan and seek voter approval; or, immediately adopt the contingency plan. Because the HCSD board constructed its 2011-12 budget at the contingency level (the total budget increase was less than one percent) it was able to take advantage of the loophole in the law. A simple majority of the board -- four of seven -- voted to adopt the rejected budget, thus circumventing the electoral process, avoiding further cuts and solidifying the 9.8 tax levy increase.

A contingency budget, as defined by state law, "...funds only teachers' salaries and those items the board determines to be 'ordinary contingent expenses.'"

Board vice president Jeff Otty led the charge to adopt the rejected budget, disparaging district voters and questioning the legitimacy of the election. The results could be ignored, he said, because so few voters turned out.

In fact, based on HCSD's own data, Tuesday's turnout -- 1,673 voters -- was the highest recorded since 2006, and the results provided the widest margin of approval or defeat -- 825 votes -- for any proposition put forward by the district in more than 15 years. In contrast, the 2010 election drew 1,449 voters and the budget passed by a margin of 113 votes.

Otty moved to adopt the rejected plan -- already at contingency level -- because, "this is as low as we can go," he said. Peter Merante echoed Otty's comments and said, "I don't want to cut sports....We know the teachers' union won't agree to cuts and people don't want their kids to walk to school."

Board president Emil Meister and former president Mary Keeler Daly -- both in the final weeks of their board terms -- concurred. "We've already worked very hard," Daly said.

Elizabeth Fout urged her colleagues to take another look at the proposal, to cut and improve. "We don't have a choice," she said. "It's unfair to the voters."

Peter Meyer agreed with Fout. "The voters have spoken...There is plenty we can do to make this budget better."

Chapman -- who assumed her seat just minutes before -- echoed Fout and Meyer. "It would be disrespectful to ignore the voters' wishes," she said.

The motion to go immediately to contingency was passed on a vote of four (Meister, Otty, Daly and Merante) to three (Meyer, Fout and Chapman).

The board will next meet 7 p.m., May 23.

Vote

2011-05-17T12:58:00.000-04:00

HUDSON -- Voters in the Hudson City School District go to the polls Tuesday to decide the fate of the district's $41.25 million 2011-12 budget. The bottom line -- a $316,000 (.77 percent) increase over the 2010-11 spending plan -- calls for a 9.8 percent tax levy increase for residents of Claverack, Hudson, Greenport, Livingston and Stockport.

Three candidates are vying for three Board of Education vacancies -- Peter A. Rice Jr. (incumbent), Jeri Chapman and Racquel Frank.

Voters throughout New York go to the polls Tuesday to ratify budget proposals for the 2011-12 school year. The average tax levy increase in districts statewide is 3.4 percent.

The proposed tax levy increase put forward by Superintendent John F. Howe and the HCSD BoE is a near record high. In 2004, two ballots were required to approve a 9.9 percent increase after the initial ballot was rejected. Although it had the option to present an amended plan (iimposing further cuts), the BoE put the same plan forward a second time. An additional 1,000 voters went to the polls in June, and the budget passed on a vote of 1,315 t o 1,112. The following year voters roared back, rejecting two different budget proposals and the district was forced to implement a contingency spending plan for the 2005-06 school year.

Tuesday, the HCSD BoE will meet at 9 p.m. at John L. Edwards Primary School to declare the budget vote and board election official, and seat the newest member of the board. The board candidate with the least number of votes will take the seat currently held by Rice. Rice was appointed in Sept. 2010 to fill the term held by Patricia Abitabile (prior to Rice, Hudson High School teacher Justin Cukerstein held the spot for several weeks). The first vacancy is a three-year term; the remaining two vacancies are five-year terms. Board president Emil Meister and former president Mary Keeler Daly conclude their board service June 30.

Polling locations (open from 12 p.m. until 9 p.m.):

John L. Edwards Primary School, 360 State Street, Hudson
Greenport #1, 216 Green Street, Hudson
Claverack Fire House, Route 9H, Claverack
Stockport Town Hall, Atlantic Avenue, Stottville
Livingston Town Hall, Livingston

Context

2011-05-16T17:20:00.000-04:00


At the polls Tuesday, voters in the Hudson City School District will be asked to approve a 9.8 percent tax levy increase -- the highest tax levy increase among districts in Columbia County and the Hudson Valley (above). Among those same districts, Hudson ranked fifth overall -- and second countywide -- in job cuts (below). Rondout Valley finished first in the rankings, after the elimination of 49.6 positions to set the tax levy increase at 4 percent. The highest work force reduction in Columbia County was by the Ichabod Crane Central School District -- 32.5 employees were pink-slipped. The ICCSD budget calls for a 3.98 percent tax levy increase. Residents of the New Lebanon Central School District are the big winners this year -- its superintendent and Board of Education managed to cut the 2011-12 spending plan by $200,000, retained the existing work force (minus a few retirements) and spared taxpayers a higher tax bill, all while maintaining the highest per student expenditure in Columbia County.

In the mail

2011-05-12T10:43:00.000-04:00


The Hudson City School District annual budget newsletter is now in distribution. Copies of the full budget book are available at all four district schools and at the Hudson Area and Claverack Town libaries.

Public hearing tonight

2011-05-09T12:47:00.002-04:00

HUDSON -- The Hudson City School District Board of Education will hold a public hearing on the 2011-12 spending plan 7 p.m., Monday, in the Hudson High School cafeteria. Budget books are now available to the public; they can be picked up in the main office of each of the district's four school buildings, and at the Hudson Area Library (400 State St., Hudson) and the Claverack Public Library (Rtes 23B and 9H, Claverack).

A special meeting of the board will follow the public hearing.

The annual budget vote and school board election will be held 12 p.m to 9 p.m., May 17.

HCSD and closing the "opportunity gaps"

2011-05-07T11:41:00.010-04:00

Commentary

Bridging the gap between community and school is an ongoing struggle for the people in charge of the Hudson City School District. Less than 10 years ago, the (now former) curriculum director, Joseph F. O'Connor, Jr., cited the district's racial makeup as the reason why test performance lagged. His statement was followed by an intended apology from the (then) president of the board of education (and long-time district teacher), Shailer Evans, who wanted it understood that "certain ethnicities" did not support education.

In 2011, the academic challenges remain. The district is still without a curriculum, two schools are in improvement status and fewer than 30 percent* of its graduates go on to attend four-year college. But the players have changed and the issues are generally characterized in more politically sensitive terms, race seems to be a forbidden topic in mixed company. While superintendent conference days include workshops on ways to engage and reach African American boys and primers on "generational poverty," the District Leadership Team will not permit a substantive discussion of race to take place as part of its exploration of the "climate" at Hudson High School. (The DLT includes members from the community.)

In reality the Hudson school experience, especially among the poor and people of color, does not engage or motivate; it remains something for many to simply endure. District wide the emphasis remains on the gap in achievement -- that is, it is all about the kids failing. Rather than informing and enlightening the majority about the need to serve all students, the current accountability measures appear to have had the opposite effect in Hudson. The idea that "certain ethnicities" cannot excel in the school environment is still very much a part of the school culture. In that world, "gaps in opportunity," as Vanderbilt University's H. Richard Milner calls them (see below), are a source of derision, despite public rhetoric to the contrary.

Embracing "colorblindness," setting low expectations and ignoring cultural conflicts will only guarantee a permanent achievement gap. And this is a profound problem not only for those who fall into that gap but for every other student, as well. Truth is, as a community we cannot continue to absorb this massive loss of promise. We cannot continue to throw our children away.

While Milner's commentary focuses on teachers, it is important to note that this is not their challenge alone. No teacher can, or should, work in a vacuum. The Hudson City School District must make a commitment to alter its practices in a meaningful, fundamental way. That process must start with the Board of Education and district administration before anything truly transformative can happen in the classroom.

Let's Focus on Gaps in Opportunity, Not Achievement
by H. Richard Milner
May 6, 2011
Education Week

[...] teachers who transform their practices to address and close opportunity gaps do the following:

• Reject colorblindness. Successful teachers rethink persistent notions that they should avoid recognizing race and how race operates on individual and systemic levels in education. These teachers understand and acknowledge how race-central experiences can influence ideologies, attitudes, belief systems, and consequently teaching practices. Rejecting colorblindness allows teachers to understand fundamentally that race matters for all involved in education and to recognize the multiple ways in which race intersects with educational opportunity and practices. The particular challenge for teachers is to move beyond individualized ideas about race and racism to an understanding of how systemic barriers related to racism can shape opportunity.

• Work through and transform cultural conflicts. Successful teachers understand that cultural conflicts are inevitable in the classroom. Opportunity gaps can persist because teachers’ cultural ways of knowing, which are often grounded in Eurocentric, middle-class cultural notions and ideologies, take precedence over those of their students, especially students living in poverty, those whose first language is not English, and those who are of color. Teachers must understand the important role culture plays in curriculum development and teaching and engineer learning opportunities that speak to and from the point of view of students.

• Understand meritocracy. Successful teachers understand that student performance depends on factors and opportunities other than hard work, ability, skill, intelligence, and persistence. In other words, situations far beyond students’ control and merit can affect their access to opportunities and consequently their performance. Educators need to become mindful of, or at least willing to acknowledge, the many factors beyond merit that shape students’ academic and social success, including factors that are passed down from one generation to the next in students’ families.

• Reject low expectations and deficit mind-sets. Successful teachers focus on student assets. Some teachers focus on what students do not bring to the classroom rather than the many tools, abilities, and skills they do bring. Teachers need to keep in mind that students will generally meet the expectations that are set for them—both high and low.

• Avoid context-neutral thinking and practices. Successful teachers understand nuances and idiosyncrasies inherent in their particular teaching environments. Teachers must understand the state, city, and local community surrounding the school, as well as the school itself. For instance, teachers may learn to teach a subject such as math, language arts, history, or science, but fail to understand how to teach that subject well in the social context of a particular location. They must become aware of the complex social norms and inputs that influence their ability to teach effectively.

...Teachers are not born with the insights shared here. But they can learn them, and they should be empowered and supported (not vilified) in doing so. Teachers must start where they are, but not stay there.

H. Richard Milner IV is an associate professor of education at Vanderbilt University, in Nashville, Tenn. He is the author of Start Where You Are, But Don’t Stay There: Understanding Diversity, Opportunity Gaps, and Teaching in Today’s Classrooms (Harvard Education Press, 2010). He can be reached at rich.milner@vanderbilt.edu.

*Among HCSD 2009-10 completers 25 percent went on to four-year colleges; in 2008-09, 20 percent; in 2007-08, 29 percent.

Questar budget approved

2011-04-27T00:21:00.015-04:00

Board also green-lights the 2011-12 school calendar and creates more than 30 summer positions

HUDSON -- The Hudson City School District Board of Education approved the Questar III BOCES 2011-12 tentative administrative budget in the amount of $4.12 million, in a special meeting, Tuesday. That resolution -- along with a resolution to reappoint four incumbents to the Questar III Board of Education -- was passed unanimously, without discussion, as part of the consensus agenda.

John Hill of Valley Falls (Hoosic Valley Central School District), James Keegan of Claverack (Hudson City School District), Joseph Garland of Coxsackie (Coxsackie-Athens Central School District) and Marilyn Noonan of Catskill (Catskill Central School District) will serve three-year terms, effective July 1 through June 30, 2014.

The night began with a Booster Club raffle, conducted by club president Cathy Bartolotta. The group awarded a total of $2,000 in cash prizes to five individuals.

The board was next updated on the upcoming Hudson Children's Book Festival by festival coordinator and M.C. Smith Intermediate School teacher Lisa Dolan. The May 7 festival is expected to attract 111 writers, according to Dolan. This year's event, the third annual, is sponsored by HCSD, Investments in Youth, Hudson-Catskill Newspapers and Children's Book Week.

Superintendent John F. Howe offered his thanks and congratulations to Dolan and to the many volunteers who "make the event possible." He noted it was "nice to start a [board] meeting hearing from two positive community groups."
,
The board next discussed two potential 2011-12 school year calendar scenarios offered by Howe for the board's consideration. The first -- a 189-day year -- included six snow days and eliminated the February break. The second, three days shorter at 186, allowed for only three snow days and retained the traditional winter break. Under both scenarios, the first day for faculty and staff is Sept. 6; students will report Sept. 7.

The board approved the 186-day, three snow day scenario on a vote of four to two. Mary Keeler Daly and Peter Meyer voted "no," expressing concern that the plan underbudgeted time off for weather.

The schedule for the current school year budgeted four snow days but six were needed. As a result, students lost two of the five April vacation days. At a point later in the meeting, Howe provided attendance figures (at Meyer's request) for the two snow make up days of April 20 and 21. District-wide attendance was 76 percent, Howe said. In response to a question, Howe said the "regular" attendance rate was "around 92 to 94 percent." Among district schools, Hudson High reported the lowest rate of attendance on those two days at 63 percent.

Assistant Superintendent Maria Suttmeier provided a cursory summary of April Academy, a two-day academic support program offered during the spring recess for qualified students enrolled at the intermediate and junior high schools.

Students in grades 3 to 6 were recruited based on English Language Arts test results -- any student that tested barely at grade level was eligible to participate. Of 90 students identified, 61 registered; 41 attended the first day, 39 the second. At the junior high (grades 7 and 8), more than 100 students were recruited because their scores were below or just at grade level in math. Twenty-five of those students registered; 16 attended the first day, 18 the second.

Following a half-hour executive session, the board returned and unanimously approved (without discussion) a personnel agenda that included the creation of more than 30 new summer positions. The approvals included:

Summer School (July 11 to Aug. 19)

Principal - $340 per day (35 days) - $11,900
School nurse - $46/hour - $7,590
Reading teacher - $46/hour (part time) - $3,795 (estimated)
Substitute teachers (unspecified number) - $46/hour - $7,590 (each)
Special education teachers (8) - $46/hour (instructional), $42/hour (prep) - $65,760
Teacher aides (10) - $8/hour - $13,200
Teaching assistants (4) - $10/hour - $6,600

Positions to cover CSE/CPSE (Committee on Special Education/Committee on Preschool Special Education) summer meetings

Special education teachers - unspecified number at contractual rate
Regular [sic] education teachers - unspecified number at contractual rate
Occupational therapist - at contractual rate
Physical therapist - at contractual rate
Psychologist/social worker/counselor - at contractual rate
Speech pathologist - at contractual rate

The positions created will be filled by current HCSD employees and the stipends specified are paid in addition to base salaries.

Board member Elizabeth Fout was not present at the meeting due to illness.

The board will next meet 7 p.m., May 9 for the public hearing on the 2011-12 school budget.

Looking at the budget

2011-04-26T15:31:00.007-04:00

The 2011-12 Hudson City School District budget, as approved by the Board of Education, April 11, totaled $41,249,180 (an increase of less than one percent) and mandated a 9.8 percent tax levy increase. The proposal constructed by Superintendent John F. Howe and district Business Manager Daniel Barrett reduced various budget lines, including repairs to buildings and grounds and K-12 instruction -- 27.5 positions were eliminated, districtwide.

At the same time other budget lines were augmented. Salaries for substitute teachers are budgeted to increase next year by $50,000, or 59 percent. Electric costs -- already a substantial sum of $430,000 per year -- is projected to go up 40 percent as a result of the newly constructed junior high school.

The district's Social Security contribution is projected to grow by three percent ($38,000). And while the cost of medical and hospital insurance is a large one (more than $6.7 million), the increase budgeted for 2011-12 was $43,700, less than one percent.

The annual budget vote and school board election will be held 12 pm to 9 pm, May 17 at five polling locations throughout the district.

Questar III budget vote tonight

2011-04-26T10:39:00.005-04:00

HUDSON -- The Hudson City School District Board of Education will hold a special meeting, 7 p.m., Tuesday in the Hudson High School cafeteria. The primary purpose of the meeting is approval of the Questar III BOCES 2011-12 budget.

The Hudson board, along with the boards of all participating Questar III BOCES districts, will be asked Tuesday to approve a tentative administrative budget for the educational cooperative in the amount of $4.12 million, an increase of $138,000 over the 2010-11 spending plan.

The board is also expected to reappoint four incumbents to the Questar III Board of Education: John Hill of Valley Falls (Hoosic Valley Central School District), James Keegan of Claverack (Hudson City School District), Joseph Garland of Coxsackie (Coxsackie-Athens Central School District) and Marilyn Noonan of Catskill (Catskill Central School District). The three-year appointments are effective July 1 through June 30, 2014.

Also on the agenda: "The Hudson Children's Book Festival and Literacy" by faculty member Lisa Dolan and an unidentified presentation by the Booster Club.

The joys of jargon

2011-04-25T18:43:00.008-04:00

by John Merrow

At Harvard recently a young graduate student asked me a tough question: “Mr. Merrow, you have been interviewing educators for 35 years. How do you know when an educator is sincere and can be trusted?”

It’s a great question, but before I tell you how I answered her, let me admit that, once I got back to New York, I queried other education reporters on the subject. Is there language — jargon — that makes you suspicious of educators, I asked?
The flood of responses surprised me. It seems that a lot of reporters have had it up to here with educational jargon. Their (non) favorites include phrases like: ‘at risk,’ ‘scaffolding,’ ‘value-added,’ ‘best practices,’ ‘state of the art,’ ‘laser-like focus,’ and ‘raising the bar.’

For about half a dozen reporters the absolute nails-on-the-blackboard term is ‘stakeholders.’

I can’t resist stringing together expressions, like so: “Aligned instruction with buy-in by highly qualified teachers for authentic inquiry-based learning and student engagement in professional learning communities will produce 21st Century skills in our youngsters.” [...]

Does jargon disguise vacuity? Anne Lewis, a veteran reporter, offered this analysis: “I have come to the conclusion that it exists because of a professional lack of esteem. Other professions requiring college degrees have a specific language — medicine, the sciences, engineering, law. But educators only have plain English, so they change it into a ‘professional’ language that sounds fancy and inaccessible when it ought to be the most accessible profession of all.”

Do some educators obfuscate because they think it makes them sound more professional?

Are some educators so deep in the weeds of their profession that they have forgotten how to communicate with ordinary folks?

And are some being duplicitous, saying, ‘We know what works’ when in fact they do not?

I suspect it’s “Yes” to all of the above.

So how did I answer that young woman?

I told her that two terms make me hyper-vigilant: rigorous and ready to learn. ‘Ready to Learn’ tells me one of two things: either the educator hasn’t thought about the difference between being ‘ready to learn’ and being “ready for school” OR she actually believes they mean the same thing. If the latter, that’s remarkable arrogance. If the former, let’s hope the leader can be taught the difference.

[...]

I advised the young woman that one cannot simply ask educators which way they look at the world, because they will spit back the politically correct response. Instead, I said, watch and listen carefully. Cut through — or even ignore — the jargon, which at the end of the day is a nuisance and a distraction. It’s the core beliefs that matter.

The importance of school food

2011-04-13T09:05:00.010-04:00

by Kim Marshall
The Marshall Memo

From University of North Dakota professor Marcus Weaver-Hightower in Educational Researcher: We need to pay more attention to school food. He’s addressing researchers, but what he says applies equally to principals and district officials:
School food affects student achievement. Studies are increasingly showing a link between good nutrition and academic success.
School food affects teaching. Many educators eat school food, so its nutritional value is important to their performance.
Food affects school spending. The money earned from junk food sales benefits schools, which is why some administrators are unwilling to curtail such sales.
Schools teach children about food. There’s a “hidden curriculum” in current practices, which can be counteracted by more explicit teaching (and actions) on nutrition.
School food is a window into identity and culture. In the school cafeteria as in society at large, food is a means of identifying and separating people, says Weaver-Hightower. In too many schools, junk food is what students eat and healthy food is for adults. “To eat healthy food was almost viewed [by the children] as a rejection of the intrinsic meaning of being a child,” said the authors of a study of school food in England. They found that students used food as a kind of “social camouflage” to fit in and avoid bullying.
School food affects the environment. Because of the massive number of meals served in schools every day, what’s on the menu has major environmental consequences – the fuel used to transport food, refrigeration costs, plastic containers, the energy involved in raising livestock, use of chemical fertilizers, etc.
School food is big business. The food served in school cafeterias and vending machines makes up a significant part of the economy, and is stable even during economic downturns (kids still have to eat every day). “Schools are corporations’ prime targets for getting children to try new products, view advertising, and develop brand loyalty,” says Weaver-Hightower.
School food can be a wedge issue politically. Conservative politicians in Great Britain and the U.S. have sometimes tried to cut back on school meals – President Reagan caused a stir when his administration began to count ketchup as a serving of vegetables. First Lady Michelle Obama’s campaign against obesity has been attacked by some as unwarranted government intrusion into people’s lives.
School food affects social justice. In 2009, the U.S. Department of Agriculture found that nearly 15 percent of households had insufficient food at some point during the year. In the recent economic downturn, record numbers of children qualified for free and reduced-price school meals. School food is an important leveler when it comes to combating food insecurity.

Why Education Researchers Should Take School Food Seriously by Marcus Weaver-Hightower in Educational Researcher, January/February 2011 (Vol. 40, #1, pp. 15-21)

BoE to meet; budget vote on agenda

2011-04-11T14:21:00.004-04:00

HUDSON -- The Hudson City School District Board of Education will hold a special meeting 7 p.m., Monday to discuss and vote on the district's proposed $41.3 million 2011-12 spending plan.

As of the final budget workshop April 4, that plan included a tax levy increase of 14.3 percent along with the elimination of 29 jobs. A lower levy increase -- 12.6 percent -- was a reported possibility but is solely dependent on taxpayers' agreement to allow the use of the district's $300,000 capital reserve fund to mitigate the increase.

The job cuts include: 19 teachers, five aides, two custodians, one secretary, and an associate principal position currently vacant will not be filled. Also included: A 10 percent reduction in materials, supplies and textbooks, and the elimination or consolidation of select athletic programs. In all, the cuts as proposed total $1.66 million.

If the board chooses to act on the budget Monday, it will also formally eliminate the targeted positions. The list of effected jobs as published in the agenda for Monday's meeting is largely the same as the one released last week, but there were changes. Howe is now proposing the elimination of two additional elementary teachers (K-6) to preserve a high school science spot and a custodial job.

It is also rumored the projected tax levy increase is now in the 10 percent range. Health care costs were over-estimated during the budgeting process and the difference will now be applied to the tax levy.

The meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the high school cafeteria.

The raw numbers

2011-04-10T19:15:00.006-04:00

HUDSON -- Primary among the powers and duties of school boards is “the employment and management of necessary professional and support staff....”

All appointments -- “...superintendent of schools, such associate, assistant and other superintendents, directors, supervisors, principals, teachers, lecturers, special instructors, medical inspectors, nurses, claims auditors, attendance officers, secretaries, clerks, custodians, janitors and other employees and other persons or experts in educational, social or recreational work or in the business management or direction of its affairs...” -- are mandated by law to go through the board of education.

As a result, personnel matters take up a good portion of the board’s time. Twice a month the board is presented with a personnel agenda. It deliberates behind closed doors, then emerges to approve new positions, make appointments, transfers or accept retirements, and just about every action taken comes with a price tag.

What follows is a sampling of personnel items -- all approved by the Hudson City BoE in the three-month period between Jan. 10 and Mar. 28.

Jan. 10
Six of seven members present (Peter Meyer absent); all items unanimously approved

Appointment of afternoon detention supervisor (high school), $39/hr, total (estimate) $1,716
Appointment of six teachers for Regents review (high school), $47/hr instructional, $42/hr prep, total (estimate) $1,914
Over the Top Program appointments (intermediate school), six teachers for seven positions (one coordinator, seven instructional), $47/hr instructional, $42/hr. coordinator and/or prep (program runs 13 weeks), total (estimate) $31,164
Creation of four [additional] Over the Top positions (grades 3-6 for ELA and math), $47/hr instructional, $42/hr. prep, total (estimate) $16,848
Creation of four Math Boost Camp teaching positions (junior and senior high school), $47/hr. instructional, $42/hr. prep, total (estimate) $6,608
Creation of 15 April Academy positions (intermediate and junior high school), $47/hr. instructional, $42/hr. prep, total (estimate) $6,432
Creation of 1:1 aide position (for after-school program), transferred aid at junior high to fill position, calculated at $9/hr., total (estimate) $1,800
Appointment of temporary cafeteria manager (junior high), $15.60/hr., approval of 52-week probationary period, total (estimate) $28,392 over 52 weeks
Long-term leave replacement appointment (high school), $85/day, total (estimate) $2,720
Approval of six substitute teachers, uncertified ($65/day), one substitute teacher certified ($85/day), one substitute certified/retired ($100/day) and two substitute teaching assistants uncertified ($10.83/hr.)

Jan. 24
Seven members present; all items unanimously approved

Appointment of four teachers to previously created (Jan. 10) Over the Top instructional positions total (estimate) $16,848
Retroactive increase in the days/hours for after-school detention (high school), eff. Jan. 6 and simultaneous appointment of two teachers as "PM detention" supervisors $39/hr., total (estimate) $2,500 to $5,000
Approval of three substitute teachers, uncertified ($65/day), two substitute teachers certified ($85/day), two home instructors certified ($20/hr.) and one substitute teacher's aide ($10.83/hr.)
Appointment of girls varsity track assistant $2,996

Feb. 14
Five members present (Jeff Otty and Peter Rice absent); all items unanimously approved

Another Over the Top instructional appointment (intermediate school), $47/hr. instructional, total (estimate) $2,256
April Academy appointments (filled 12 of 15 positions) (intermediate and junior high schools), various rates, total (estimate) $5,952
Math Boost Camp appointments (filled 3 of 4 positions) (junior, senior high schools), $47/hr. instructional, $42/hr. prep, total (estimate) $4,956
Create and transfer staff to fill 1:1 aide position for student returning to district (intermediate school), calculated at $9/hr., total (estimate) $5,670
Recall personnel to fill vacated position (shared aide) (intermediate school), $8.44/hr., total (estimate) $4,937
Staff appointment, laborer (intermediate school), total (estimate) $7,220.46
Change (increase) in work hours, teacher aid (high school), total (estimate) $405
Substitute staff appointments: one substitute teacher uncertified ($65/day), two teaching assistants uncertified ($10.83/hr.) and two teacher aides ($8.44/hr.)
Board of Registration appointments: chairperson ($8/hr.) and two members ($7.50/hr.)

Feb. 28
Six members present (Peter Rice absent); all items unanimously approved

Appointment of Saturday school supervisor (junior/senior high school), $39/hr., total (estimate) $1,800 to $3,700
Appointment of mentors for new teachers (all schools), one coordinator ($1,500), four full-time mentors ($1,200/ea.), four part-time mentors ($600/ea.), total $8,700
Substitute staff appointments: one administrator ($200/day), one teacher certified/retired ($100/day), one teacher uncertified ($65/day) and one teacher aide ($8.44/hr.)
Appointment of election inspectors, machine custodian and machine preparer, total (estimate) $1,800

March 14
All members present; all items unanimously approved

Approval of an administrative substitute stipend, effective Mar. 14, $50/day
Appointment of swim instructor (high school), $12/hr.

March 28
All members present; all items unanimously approved

Accept two resignations for the purpose of retirement (high school and intermediate school), teachers, one with 37 years of service (earned $87,338 in 2010) and one with 28 years of service (earned $83,398 in 2010)
Creation of seven Regents review positions (high school), $47/hr. instructional, $42/hr. prep, total (estimate) $2,597
Creation of unspecified number of academic tutorial positions, eff. dates Mar. 28 through June 30, $45/hr, seven students qualify, total (estimate -- two hrs/week) $8,190
Substitute staff appointments: four teachers uncertified ($65/day), three teachers certified ($85/day), two teaching assistant uncertified ($10.83/hr.), four teacher aides ($8.44/hr) and two food service helpers ($8.55/hr.)
Appointment of girls JV softball volunteer, total $0

The cost of instruction

2011-04-09T12:05:00.001-04:00

Under New York state law and the Commissioner's regulations, a copy of a district's New York State Report Card, along with ratios of expenditures for general education and special education must be attached to the annual budget proposal. The required ratios were calculated -- based on data from the 2008-09 school year -- and published by the New York State Education Department in March.

Instructional expenditures for general education cover K-12 classroom instruction, plus a prorated share of the costs of building-level administrators and instructional support. These also figures include expenditures for special education students taught in the general education setting. Not figured in: Transportation, debt service and central administration costs. The total instructional expenditures for 1,961 general education students enrolled in the Hudson City School District during the 2008-09 school year were $23.2 million, or $11,818 per student.

Instructional expenditures for special education are defined by the same criteria as they relate to K-12 students with disabilities. The instructional costs for Hudson's 421 special education students in 2008-09 totaled $8.9 million, $21,338 per student.

The total expenditure per student is the sum of all costs -- general and special education instructional expenditures, plus transportation, debt service and central administration -- divided by the total number of students. In 2008-09, expenditures per HCSD pupil were $20,278, a sum larger per student than schools in a similar district group ($17,634) and more than the total for students statewide ($19,281).

HCSD has the highest students with disabilities classification rate in Columbia County, at 19.71 percent. The classification rate for similar districts was 14 percent; for all schools in New York, 13.2 percent.

The table below (click to enlarge) contains expenditure ratios and the disabilities classification rates for K-12 public schools located in Columbia County.

Letter to the membership of the Hudson Teachers Association

2011-04-07T18:38:00.008-04:00

April 7, 2011

Dear HTA member,

On June 30, 2011, the collective bargaining agreement between the Hudson City School District and its teachers’ union will expire. Under the current status of the law, when that agreement expires all terms and conditions of employment will continue until a successor agreement is negotiated, including the following:

1. Those teachers who are on the step schedule would, in effect, continue to receive salary increases during the pendency of negotiations as they will be advanced one step on the salary schedule for each year of service. Out of approximately 197 teachers district-wide, 160 receive an automatic step increase ranging from approximately 2.21% to 5.76%. Overall, it will cost the District approximately 2.16% of payroll to fund this step increase.

2. The District is still legally obligated to fund health insurance at the current rate of contribution, which is 90% of the premium. The District’s share of health insurance premiums is projected to increase by approximately 7% in 2011-2012.

3. The District is still required to fund the employer’s contribution to the state-administered pension. The District has been advised by New York State that pension costs are expected to increase from approximately 8.5% of payroll to approximately 11.5% of payroll.

Without a successor contract, these three factors alone will cost the District over an additional $900,000 per year, generating an approximate 4.7% per year increase in the District’s budget for teacher salary and benefits. As salary and benefits for teachers comprise approximately one-half of the District’s overall budget, the impact on the taxpayer will be significant.

In addition to these costs, state aid is being drastically cut, and the District will no longer be receiving federal stimulus money. The total losses in both state and federal aid are projected to total approximately two million dollars.

To reduce the impact of these cuts, the District approached the Union several months ago asking for help. The District explained to the Union that with the cost of salary step increases, the rising cost in health insurance and pension, the projected loss of federal and state aid, the District had no choice but to cut program and layoff staff. District representatives explained to the Union that it is currently preparing a budget that would include the elimination of 20 teaching positions, and that the District could save five or six jobs with a small sacrifice, as described below.

Approximately two months ago, the District proposed that the Union accept a true freeze on salary for the 2011-2012 school year. This means that those teachers who are legally entitled to receive a step increase would forego that raise, and no other member of the Union would receive a wage increase for this upcoming school year. This would save the District approximately $275,000. The District would still be obligated to fund the rising costs in both health insurance and pension.

The District has been advised by the Teachers’ Union that it is rejecting this proposal. Instead, the Union proposed that the salary schedules be increased by one percent and that all teachers who are entitled to receive a step increase on July 1, 2011 receive such increase. Additionally, the Union proposed that to help the District through this economic crisis, its members would lend the District money at an interest rate above what the District would have paid on a short-term loan. The Union proposed that each unit member have one day’s pay deducted from his/her salary until a total of ten days are deducted. The teacher would then be able to cash-in these days at a later date at the teacher’s rate of pay at the time of cash-in. This proposal effectively would result in the District acting as a “bank” for the teachers, allowing them to defer compensation for a period of time, resulting in the teacher receiving an annual return of up to approximately 40%.

The District explained to the Union that its proposal provides no savings and would put the District in a worse financial position for the future. It was further explained to the Union that time was running out – the budget process was in motion and that the Board will be approving a budget at its meeting of April 11th.

The current financial conditions in our district and state will have a devastating impact on our students, staff, schools and community. We face a budget gap of approximately $3.6 million that will not be resolved by any single action. Rather, we must all work together and do our part to build a budget with concessions and sacrifice that is shared by all in the school community.

We greatly appreciate the salary concessions made by aides, secretaries, custodial, maintenance, administrators and central office staff, led by the salary give-back for two years by the Superintendent. We must do the right thing – always!

/s/ John F. Howe, Superintendant
/s/ Emil J. Meister III, President, Board of Education

[Emphasis added]

A request for comment and/or clarification from Hudson Teachers Association President Jack Beyer about the issues raised in this letter went unanswered.

Steiner on his way out

2011-04-07T16:23:00.003-04:00

ALBANY -- New York State Education Department released the following statement concerning the resignation of Education Commissioner David Steiner late Thursday afternoon:

As the end of the school year and the legislative session approaches, I am immensely proud of the reforms we've achieved -- guiding New York's successful Race to the Top application, designing a new teacher and school leader evaluation system, reforming teacher preparation and certification and implementing a tough re-setting of our 3-8 tests. With the anticipated approval of a final teacher evaluation program in the coming months, I have informed Chancellor Tisch and members of the Board of Regents that I intend to leave the State Education Department later this year. Together we will begin to plan for a seamless transition.

Commissioner David Steiner

We recruited David because he is one of America's leading education reform visionaries, and as Commissioner he has delivered -- leading New York's successful Race to the Top application and guiding this department through an amazing array of reforms. As he approaches the end of his second legislative session and second school year as Commissioner, he has informed me of his desire to return to a role outside of state government where he can continue to champion reform. I know he is weighing a number of exciting options. In the weeks to come the Board will begin an orderly transition and continue to move forward with our reform agenda.

Chancellor Merryl H. Tisch

Board and community grapple with budget reality

2011-04-05T18:55:00.016-04:00

HUDSON -- The Hudson City School Board held its fifth and final budget workshop of the year, Monday, in the high school cafeteria. As anticipated, the $41.3 million proposal put forward by Superintendent John F. Howe calls for a tax levy increase of 14.3 percent. A lower rate -- 12.6 percent -- is a possibility but only if taxpayers agree to allow the use of the district's $300,000 capital reserve fund to mitigate the increase.

Howe's plan cuts 29 positions district wide -- 19 teachers, five aides, two custodians, one secretary, and an associate principal position currently vacant will not be filled. Also included: A 10 percent reduction in materials, supplies and textbooks, and the elimination or consolidation of select athletic programs. In all, the cuts as proposed total $1.66 million.

"This has been a very, very difficult process," Howe said. "...These were not easy decisions."

The budget process began in February but this was the first substantive budget proposal laid on the members' desks. The board has not formulated an alternative plan for consideration.

Howe advised that use of the remaining $500,000 fund balance and the $300,000 capital reserve this year will deplete the HCSD cash reserves, a reality faced by districts throughout the state. With no more cash on hand and the near certainty of continued decreased funding at the state and federal levels, Howe warned that the district could be in an equally difficult financial position next year.

Hudson's fiscal stability is highly dependent on state aid. The budget for the current school year is $40.9 million -- 50 percent ($20.6 million) was derived from state aid. With increased expenses and a $1.37 million reduction in aid, the resulting 2011-12 budget shortfall is more than $3.6 million.

Howe called the restoration of approximately $130,000 in funding after the state budget agreement was reached last week, "disappointing." But, he said, "we'll take it." The additional funding was applied to reduce the proposed tax levy from 14.9 to 14.3 percent.

If district voters agree, the $300,000 capital reserve fund will be applied against the tax levy increase as well, bringing it down to 12.6 percent. That specific question will appear as a separate item on the May 17 ballot. District business manager Daniel P. Barrett said the request was sure to be approved when people know "it will cut their taxes."

Additional personnel cuts will be necessary to lessen the tax levy any further, Howe said. The board has approved two instructional retirements to date; Howe said he was unaware of any others on the horizon. "There have been no additional incentives from the state," he said. There are no concessions from the union but "[salary] freeze considerations are ongoing," Howe said.

"Not much left to cut but people," he said.

Although the board was supplied budget impact statements for each school as part of the meeting packet little was offered from those reports, nor were administrators in attendance. During the previous workshop board members requested -- and Howe agreed -- that building administrators be available for the purpose of discussing the plan's impact on personnel and programs. However, only John L. Edwards principal Steven Spicer -- who spoke in support of the Universal Pre-K program -- was present. The board made no reference to the administrators' absence, nor did Howe.

Following Howe's remarks, Peter Meyer observed, "There were no cuts to central administration, no cuts to transportation, no numbers for [what would be saved with] the salary freeze and no number for the sale of Greenport School in here. The sale of JLE has also been brought up. There's at least a million dollars in savings in these areas."

Meyer said there was still information missing. He expressed some frustration that the transportation budget was not looked at more closely. Overall, Meyer said, "we could have done a better job."

It is rumored -- but nothing is "official" -- that administrators and aides have agreed to a salary freeze in the coming year, but attempts to get the Hudson Teachers Association on board have failed. Howe alluded to the difficulty in his response to Meyer. He said the failure to get concessions from the teachers' union was "nobody's fault -- not the board or central [administration]," Howe said. It was, he said, "a missed opportunity."

An emotional Elizabeth Fout calculated her own potential tax increase at 12.6 percent and called it "heart wrenching."

"I don't want to limit kids' opportunities," she said. "But this is a huge, back-breaking amount of money."

For the most part, the remaining board members sat stone faced and said little. President Emil Meister, a retired teacher and former HTA president, looked especially strained. At the close of an exchange with Meyer about the board's failure to look at the transportation budget more seriously, Meister suggested that a plan to expand the mandatory walking distance around each school could be an important cost-saving measure to explore next year. "Are you being sarcastic?" Meyer asked. "I'm perfectly serious," Meister said. "It could be your ace in the hole.... I won't be here next year."

During public comment, high school Italian teacher Anna Barletta made an argument to save the 7-12 Italian position on Howe's list. She said cutting that spot would severely undercut the Italian program and eventually lead to Hudson becoming a one-language district.

Chuck Peters, teacher, parent and coach, questioned the plan to eliminate boys and girls junior varsity volleyball. He said any idea these teams were "not viable" was very wrong. Peters also questioned why the $2 million transportation budget was not "touched at all."

Barletta later asked the board and administration consider instituting measures to save on utility bills. She suggested turning off lights, recycling and rationing paper and lowering the thermostat to save on heat. "Get the kids to wear sweaters," she said.

Meyer pointed out the cost of utilities will rise from $430,000 to $600,000 next year, an increase of 40 percent. Asked why the huge increase, Barrett answered, "Probably because of the new junior high."

If approved, either a 14.3 or 12.6 percent tax levy increase will be the highest in recent history. Tax levy increases approved over a the past 14 years averaged 3.44 percent. The largest increase ratified by voters during that time was 9.9 percent, in 2004.

The budget now under consideration is a final draft; a vote is expected next week. It must be approved by the board no later than April 22. The annual budget vote and school board election is May 17.

2011-12 budget: Classroom cuts and an unprecedented tax levy increase

2011-04-04T10:53:00.008-04:00

Board will vote next week
HUDSON -- Hudson City School District Board of Education will have a substantive budget proposal to consider when it meets for its last budget workshop of the season, Monday.

According to information widely circulated within the school community (hard copies of various documents were received by unmuffled early Saturday), the board will be called upon to approve a $41.63 million spending plan put forward by Superintendent John F. Howe. The final draft calls for non-restoration of 12 teaching positions (previously cut then reinstated with federal aid), along with the elimination of an additional 16 jobs (teachers, aides and staff), a loss of 28 positions overall.

The plan is dependent on taxpayers’ approval of an unprecedented $2.51 million increase in the tax levy (14.3 percent).

HCSD is currently operating with a budget of $40.9 million for a student body of 1,917 in grades PK-12; the district employed 200 teachers during the 2009-10 school year. Class size varies, but averages 20 or fewer students per classroom at the K-6, 8th and 10th grade levels. Due to increased expenses and a loss of $1.37 million in state aid the district is facing a budget shortfall of more than $3.6 million again next year.

Increased expenses for 2011-12 include: payroll ($775,000), Social Security ($60,000), retirement ($200,000), health benefits ($440,000), Questar III BOCES special education costs ($125,000) and electricity ($170,000).

On the revenue side, the New York State Education Department calculated HCSD’s foundation aid ($14,307,265) and Universal Pre-K allocation ($161,330) at the same rate used for 2010-11. Reductions were made in transportation aid (-$47,530), software, library and textbooks (-$4,571), hardware and technology (-$2,127) and in the aid provided to cover expenses for students with disabilities attending public schools or BOCES (-$35,896). The state increased the amount of aid provided to the district for public school students attending private schools for students with disabilities by $57,896, to $455,864.

Under Howe’s plan, nine positions will be eliminated at John L. Edwards Primary School, including four classroom teachers. At the intermediate school, seven positions are on the block, including two classroom teachers, one art teacher and a reading teacher, among others. Howe proposed cutting nine positions in grades 7-12. Reductions proposed at that level include positions in the English, math, science, social studies, foreign language and physical education tenure areas.

Although both Howe and board president Emil Meister repeatedly assured the public during the budgeting process that “everything” was fair game, the cost-saving measures recommended by Howe focus on the classroom. None of the cuts will result in an average class size greater than 30 students (class size is contractually limited), but the loss of personnel will have an impact, especially at the primary level. According to data provided by administrators, the reductions proposed at the K-2 level will result in a 28 percent increase in class size.

Twelve of the positions included in Howe’s master list of cuts were in reality eliminated one year ago -- in April 2010 -- but later restored after passage of the Education Jobs and Medicaid Assistance Act (EduJobs). The $10 billion, one-time federal aid program was intended to “save or create” 160,000 teaching jobs nationwide and the funds were earmarked for use during the 2010-11 school year (districts have until Sept. 2012 to spend the money). HCSD chose to use its allocation to restore 12 positions cut as a result of the 2010-11 funding gap. If those 12 positions were retained during the 2011-12 school year, the cost to the district would be an additional $584,579, according to data released by the district. Howe has consistently stated that those positions would be the first to go this time around.

The superintendent’s draft plan suggested no cuts to central administration (currently 20.5 FTE -- full-time equivalent -- positions). Howe did include one building level administrator (associate principal at M.C. Smith Intermediate) on the list. That position was vacated mid-year and never filled.

The 2011-12 budget process has been contentious, in large part due to the financial position the district finds itself but the traditional annual budget stress between the superintendent and the BoE was exacerbated this time around by a dearth of detailed, substantive data and creative problem-solving ideas. Unlike previous years, public briefings offering fiscal details by department or program did not occur. Departments with a significant impact on district expenses -- most notably transportation and Student Services (Special Education) -- were a non-presence during the workshop process. Fiscal information was kept away from public scrutiny. Few non-personnel related budget-cutting suggestions were part of the public discussion. Staff ideas submitted for consideration included transportation and facilities related cost-cutting measures, but were never made a part of the discussion during the board’s five public working sessions that began in late February.

If approved by the BoE, a 14.3 percent tax levy increase will be the highest in HCSD's recent history. Tax levy increases approved over a 14-year period averaged 3.44 percent. The highest increase ratified by voters during that time was 9.9 percent, in 2004.

The plan scheduled for discussion Monday is considered a final draft; a vote is expected next week. It must be approved by the board no later than April 22. The annual budget vote and school board election is May 17.

Executive budget cuts aid to local districts

2011-02-03T23:05:00.000-05:00

ALBANY -- Gov. Andrew Cuomo unveiled his 2011-12 executive budget Tuesday, and as expected the plan contained some significant cuts to education -- a total of $1.5 billion statewide. Under Cuomo's proposal, Columbia County's six school districts will receive $53.8 million, a reduction of $5.3 million from last year.

The severity of cuts put forward by the governor varied among local districts. Ichabod Crane Central School District is slated for the largest cut at 13.3 percent, followed by Chatham (10.7 percent), Germantown (9.8 percent), Hudson (8.1 percent), New Lebanon (6.5 percent) and Taconic Hills (4.3 percent).

Districts will not know the full extent of the cuts until a state budget is approved.

The New York State Education Department awarded $20,993,870.00 in state aid to the Hudson City School District for the 2010-11 school year. Under the governor's plan, HCSD will receive $19,292,336 in 2011-12, $1.7 million less than the previous year.

The amounts awarded to HCSD in foundation aid ($14.3 million), universal Pre-K ($200,000) and high tax aid ($219,000) will remain unchanged, at 2008-09 levels. Reductions were made in transportation aid, BOCES/special services aid, hardware and technology, software, library and textbooks.

According to NYSED's data, as published by the state budget office Wednesday, HCSD's total general fund expenditures (estimated) for the 2010-11 school year will total $40,932,878.00.

HCSD Superintendent John F. Howe anticipated a reduction in state aid and has projected a $3.6 million budget gap for the district in 2011-12.

Happy Holidays

2010-12-24T23:00:00.001-05:00

Spicer will replace Gans at JLE; Gavin to stay at HHS

2010-12-14T23:00:00.006-05:00

HUDSON – The Hudson City School District Board of Education put an end to its short-lived co-principal experiment Monday, when it voted to appoint Steven Spicer principal of John L. Edwards Primary School. In an immediate subsequent vote, the board then made Spicer's co-principal, Thomas Gavin, the principal of Hudson High School. Spicer was present in the Hudson Junior School cafeteria for the vote before a packed house; Gavin was not.

Both appointments were made effective Jan. 3, at their current annual salaries – Gavin, at $118,002.00, and Spicer at $103,636.00.

Antonio “Tiney” Abitabile will remain acting assistant principal at Hudson High for an indefinite period of time.

The proposal to re-assign Spicer narrowly carried on a vote of four to three – board members Mary Keeler Daly, Peter Merante and Jeff Otty voted “no” on the first of two hand-carried resolutions.

The board was in greater agreement on the second – to keep Gavin at HHS. Board member Peter Meyer declared Gavin “an amazing administrator....” He further remarked that Gavin's appointment as high school principal was a “great move for high school students, parents and staff.” The resolution passed six to one – only Daly voted “no.”

Although the public agenda indicated a “JLE principal search update” was in the offing, the board clearly understood more than a report was forthcoming and it adjourned into a 20-minute executive session early in the evening, after citing "personnel matters" as the reason.

When the board emerged from behind closed doors, Howe reported that plans to replace Carol Gans were ongoing. Gans, long-time JLE principal, resigned in August after 39 years with the district. Howe said a question and answer session between "the candidate," and JLE staff and parents was scheduled for Thursday. In short order the resolution to appoint Spicer was put forward. Board president Emil Meister then noted the board's potential approval of the appointment was contingent upon “the completion of a school and community question and answer forum with the parents, faculty and staff.”

During the discussion preceding the vote Daly said she was “hoping for an experienced elementary administrator,” and later expressed a greater “hope” that the Spicer appointment was consistent with district goals.

Elizabeth Fout said in her opinion, Spicer was the most experienced candidate. She also noted that because of the district's tenuous financial outlook it would be irresponsible for the board to bring in an additional administrator at this time. “We don't need another principal,” she said. “That's equal to [the cost of keeping] two teachers.”

Meyer also acknowledged Spicer's professional qualities and further noted the district now had “a perfect number of principals and a perfect number of schools.”

Otty and Merante dissented – both felt it inappropriate to appoint Spicer before the community Q&A took place. “This is backward,” Otty said.

“This is putting the cart before the horse,” Merante said.

Howe said he had done all he could to take everyone's concerns into account as he made this choice. “Being in a leadership position sometimes means making unpopular decisions,” he said. Howe endorsed Spicer as the best possible candidate – someone with “strong ties to students and the community, and a strong leader.”

“His appointment will be great for everyone – for staff, parents and students,” Howe said.

Later in the evening, representatives of the JLE PTA (Parent Teacher Association), rose to express a profound disappointment with the board's decision to appoint Spicer prior to the Q&A, Thursday. “We are blindsided by this appointment tonight,” they said. “We were led to believe parent input would be taken into consideration.”

Although Spicer has been a high school administrator since 2002, he has extensive experience with younger students. Prior to joining HCSD, he taught for more than 15 years at the pre-K, elementary and middle school levels. He holds two masters degrees (special education and migrant education from SUNY New Paltz, and in education from the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts). Spicer holds a permanent K-12 teaching certification, and SAS (School Administrator and Supervisor) and SDA (School District Administrator) certifications.

Gavin joined the district during the 2001-02 school year as principal of the former Montgomery C. Smith Middle School. In 2006, Gavin was made principal of the district's Alternative Learning Program, where he served until the program was terminated by the HCSD board in June 2010. Upon Howe's recommendation, the BoE appointed Spicer HHS Co-Principal, Instruction, and Gavin Co-Principal, School Management in July.

On Monday, the board also amended its employment contract with Gans to extend her interim status through Feb. 18, to allow for the leadership transition at the K-2 school. Gans has been employed as a consultant to the district since Sept. 7 at the rate of $1,000 per week (defined as five days). The agreement can be terminated at any time by either party, with 10 days written notice.

A Message from Superintendent John F. Howe

2010-11-29T14:18:00.004-05:00

Delivered to Hudson High School students Monday morning.

I hope everyone enjoyed a restful Thanksgiving with family and friends.

As you know, the past couple of weeks at Hudson High School have been difficult for all of us. We have had fights, suspensions, arguments, accusations of bad behavior and negative stories in the press. It is important for our school and community to know that the Board of Education, administration, faculty, staff and I are working to resolve the issues that challenge us as a building and district. Our top priority is to maintain a safe and orderly learning environment in which all of our students can learn and work to achieve their goals and dreams.

Our administrative structure for the high school until further notice will be as follows: Mr. Spicer is the High School Principal for Instruction, Mr. Abitabile will be the Acting Associate Principal and Mr. Gavin will be working in the District Office. I will be in and around the building, as I was last week, offering support and assistance.

The Code of conduct is in effect and will be enforced according to the rules that support it in the Student Handbook. I understand that a large majority of our student body already follows the rules and are not responsible for some of the bad behaviors of the past two weeks. Unfortunately, there are times when the behavior of a small number of students can cause a large disturbance.

My message to the students is this: “Do the right thing – always!” It is that simple. When a teacher or staff member directs you to pull your pants up, take your hat off, put your phone away, pay attention in class, do your homework, or any other reasonable request, then you must do it. “Do the right thing – always!” It is a reasonable expectation that all students will follow the rules of the Code of Conduct, the Student Handbook and common sense to insure the safety and well-being of everyone.

The Code of Conduct lists “failing to comply with school rules related to cell phones, iPods and other electronic devices” as an example of student conduct that is insubordinate. The Student Handbook rules to enforce the Code of Conduct are as follows:

1. First Offense – warning and/or confiscation of item until student is ready to leave school grounds for the day.
2. Second Offense – PM detention, confiscation of item until such time as parent/guardian of owner can pick up and take item off school property.
3. Third Offense – suspension; confiscation of item until released to parent/guardian after the end of the semester.

All students are expected to follow the rules related to electronic devices. “Do the right thing – always!”

Another example from the Code of Conduct of insubordinate student behavior is “leaving school grounds without permission.” The Student Handbook clearly states that “no students are to leave the school property at any time during the school day without permission from the Principal or by following the proper procedure for signing out.” The penalties for violation include PM detention and more severe penalties for repeated instances of leaving school grounds without permission. “Do the right thing – always!”

A final example of insubordinate student behavior from the Code of Conduct is “failing to comply with the reasonable directions of teachers, school administrators or other school employees in charge of students or otherwise demonstrating disrespect.” Students must comply with reasonable directions from school employees at all times. “Do the right thing – always!”

Hudson High School has a proud tradition of academic, athletic and extra-curricular achievement and success. We must all work together with “Bluehawk Pride” to continue the tradition of excellence for our students, school and community!

I know that we have experienced some difficult times – but now is the time for all of us to work together to create and maintain a safe and orderly learning environment in which all of our students can achieve their goals and build the foundation for a great future!

We must all – “Do the right thing – always!”

Thank you and have a good day.

Comptroller: District failed to claim for services

2010-11-22T17:06:00.007-05:00

ALBANY – An audit by the Office of the State Comptroller found the Hudson City School District failed to claim eligible special education services totaling nearly half a million dollars during the 2008-09 school year, losing the district an estimated $115,064 in reimbursement revenue, according to a report released late last week.

As the result of an examination of records covering the period of July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2009, the Comptroller's team determined the district processed claims for less than 50 percent – 122 of 307 – of all Medicaid-eligible students enrolled in the four district schools.

Auditors further found the district lacked “written policies and procedures to define the responsibilities for collecting data, monitoring student eligibility, documenting services, submitting and reconciling claims and monitoring the receipt of payments.”

In an Oct. 28 letter to Chief Examiner Kenneth Madej, Superintendent of Schools John F. Howe acknowledged the recommendations contained in the report, and further noted that HCSD “recognizes the importance of maximizing revenue sources related to Medicaid and will focus improvement efforts in the areas noted in the audit report.”

The Madej's team's recommendations:

(1) The Board of Education “should establish written policies and procedures that comply with the new Medicaid requirements...” including: the establishment of “personnel responsibilities and guidance on determining student eligibility;” guidelines for the timely submission of claims; and “ensuring that employees who process Medicaid reimbursement claims understand the requirements and guidelines."

(2) District officials must monitor the process to ensure that all eligible services are properly documented and claims are prepared in compliance with regulations and submitted in a timely manner.

(3) Personnel should review documentation for every student identified as Medicaid-eligible in 2008-09 and submit retroactive claims for all allowable unclaimed special education services.

According to the report, HCSD had a student enrollment of 2,200 students during the 2008-09 school year; 422 (20 percent) were classified as students with disabilities.

Under the law, HCSD is eligible for partial federal reimbursement for special education services provided to Medicaid-eligible students. To receive this reimbursement, claims documenting the services provided must be submitted to the New York State Department of Health within two years of the date(s) the services were provided.

IEP-related (Individualized Education Program) services eligible for Medicaid reimbursement include physical and occupational therapy, speech therapy, psychological counseling and skilled nursing services.

The Director of Student Services oversees the district's special education program and reports to Assistant Superintendent Maria Suttmeier. The current director, Kim Lybolt, was hired by the Board of Education in Dec. 2009. Lybolt's predecessor, Barbara Boyce, managed the department during the 2008-09 school year.

Baldwin appointed NYSED Chief of Staff

2010-09-14T19:00:00.002-04:00

ALBANY -- The Board of Regents today approved the appointment of Questar III BOCES Superintendent James N. Baldwin as Chief of Staff of the New York State Education Department, effective Oct. 14.

As district superintendent of Questar III since 2002, Baldwin was responsible for the overall administration, operation and financial planning of the organization.

Baldwin became a household name among Hudson City School District staff, parents and alumni when he was tapped in 2005, by then NYSED deputy commissioner James A. Kadamus to lead a team of 11 educators in a full review of the district. Kadamus cited issues of safety and order within the district, the over-classification of black students as students with disabilities and "continued academic problems in the district" when he assigned Baldwin the task of conducting the review. The team's findings and recommendations -- known locally as "The Baldwin Report" -- was released in Feb. 2006.

According to a statement released by NYSED Tuesday, Baldwin's "career in public service spanned more than 30 years."

Baldwin served as "Executive Deputy Secretary of State for New York State from 1983-1995 where he was the chief operating officer of the Department of State, overseeing programmatic, administrative and legal functions. Previously, he was counsel to the New York State Assembly. He has also served as Deputy Corporation Counsel for the City of Troy. Prior to his appointment as District Superintendent, Baldwin was school attorney and then chief operating officer for Questar III. He was an elected member of the East Greenbush Central School District Board of Education from 1996 to 2002."

Baldwin is a graduate of Union College; he holds a law degree from Albany Law School, and a doctorate in Education Administration from the Teachers College at Columbia University.

Junior/senior high school in improvement status

2010-08-30T12:00:00.003-04:00

ALBANY -- Hudson Junior/Senior High School has been designated a School in Need of Improvement, year one, for performance deficiencies in math. The notification, released to districts by the New York State Education Department Aug. 18, did not provide specific performance data by grade or sub-group.

The school's designation was a result of its failure to make Adequate Yearly Progress in math for two consecutive years. According to the state, Hudson's SINI status falls into the "basic" category, an indication that one of the school's accountability groups scored below acceptable performance levels.

With the addition of HJ/SHS to the state's improvement list, two of the district's three buildings are in improvement status. Montgomery C. Smith Intermediate School is currently in corrective action based on student performance in English Language Arts.

An Aug. 27 letter from Superintendent John F. Howe to parents concerning the junior/senior high school SINI status advised that the district "...is working to develop programming that addresses student needs in the area of math. The district's K-12 Math Committee has been realigning the curriculum, a task that will be ongoing during the upcoming school year. A two-year course, Integrated Algebra Curriculum, has been developed for students who need additional time to master the Regents level material. Additionally, Academic Intervention Services (AIS) will be provided during the school year for students scoring below proficiency."

Howe reportedly intends to restore at least two secondary math positions at the junior/senior high school using funds provided by the federal Education Jobs Fund program.

Under Title I, all income-qualified students enrolled in a SINI designated school -- regardless of academic need -- are qualified to receive Supplemental Education Services, a program of academic instruction delivered in the after-school hours by NYSED approved providers. The cost of the service is born by the district. Based on HCSD's 2010-11 Title I, Part A allocation ($948,926) and the district's poverty count (559 students), the district can spend up to $1,698 per qualifying pupil for SES services during the coming school year.

According to Howe, HJ/SHS students (and MCS students, as well) must declare their interest and choose a provider no later than Sept. 17. Howe's letter did not include a list of providers; instead, he referred parents to the general NYSED site address. The catalog of approved providers that serve Columbia County can be found here.

Special BoE meeting tonight

2010-08-30T09:00:00.000-04:00

HUDSON -- The Hudson City Board of Education will hold a special meeting 7 p.m. Monday, in the Hudson Junior High School cafeteria. At that time, the board will discuss the instructional positions to be restored with funding provided by the $10-billion federal Education Jobs Fund program, created early this month "to save or create education jobs." HCSD is projected to receive $580,000.

In a press conference held Aug. 10, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said that while the funds are intended for use during the 2010-11 school year, districts will have until Sept. 2012 to spend the aid. Districts must use the funds for salaries and benefits for teachers and anyone else that "facilitates the educational process," Duncan said. The money cannot be used for facilities or capital projects; it cannot be used for administrative salaries at the district level.

At its Aug. 24 meeting, the board restored one full-time special education teacher and one full-time reading teacher, effective Sept. 1. The funds to underwrite the restoration of the two positions were derived from the savings created by recent staff retirements. (This is often referred to as "breakage," the difference between the cost of salaries and benefits paid to veteran teachers versus those newly hired.)

Also tonight, the HCSD board is slated to appoint Carol Gans interim principal of John L. Edwards Primary School, effective Sept. 7 through Dec. 31. Gans' retirement -- after 39 years of service to the district -- was made effective at the close of business, Friday.

A good week for NYSED

2010-08-24T12:55:00.001-04:00

WASHINGTON D.C. – U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced Tuesday the 10 winning Phase 2 Race to the Top applications: the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Ohio and Rhode Island.

“While peer reviewers rated these 10 as having the highest scoring plans, very few points separated them from the remaining applications. The deciding factor on the number of winners selected hinged on both the quality of the applications and the funds available,” according to a statement released by ED.

New York will receive nearly $700 million; $348.3 million will be distributed among participating local districts and charter schools.

On Monday, Duncan announced an additional $814,624,071 is now available for New York under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. According to ED, the state has received $6,277,589,038 in ARRA funds to date, and “recovery dollars have been used to provide funding for more than 29,000 education jobs from April 1 to June 30, 2010, while also supporting programs that drive education reform.”

Excerpts from the New York State Education Department's RTTT announcement:

The United States Education Department today announced that New York State has been awarded $696,646,000 as a winner in the second round of the federal Race to the Top competition. Of the 10 states named winners, only Massachusetts’s application scored more points than New York’s.

[…]

The funding that New York State receives from the competition will help advance the Regents reform agenda through 27 projects over four grant years. $348.3 million of the RTTT funds will be awarded to participating LEAs (school districts and charter schools) over the course of the grant to support implementation, while $348.3 million will be used to build the capacity of educators statewide and directly support new curriculum models, standards, assessments, teacher and principal preparation and professional development, and the statewide student data system.

New York State’s Race to the Top application incorporates reforms enabled by legislation enacted earlier this year. The legislation: (1) establishes a new teacher and principal evaluation system that makes student achievement data a substantial component of how educators are assessed and supported; (2) raises New York’s charter school cap from 200 to 460 and enhances charter school accountability and transparency; (3) enables school districts to enter into contracts with Educational Partnership Organizations (the term for non-profit Education Management Organizations in New York State) for the management of their persistently lowest-achieving schools and schools under registration review; and (4) appropriates $20.4 million in capital funds to the State Education Department to implement its longitudinal data system.

New legislation mandates anti-bullying policy

2010-08-16T18:00:00.001-04:00

HUDSON -- One of the first items on the agenda for the newly reorganized Hudson City School District Board of Education Policy Committee this year will be the creation of a districtwide anti-bullying policy. Superintendent John F. Howe, a member of the committee, brought the task to the attention of the full board during two recent public meetings. Elizabeth Fout is chair of the committee.

The Dignity for All Students Act, signed by Governor David Paterson in June, went into effect July 1. A decade in the making, New York was the 43rd state to pass such a law. The legislation prohibits harassment by "employees or students on school property or at a school function," based on an individual's "actual or perceived race, color, weight, national origin, ethnic group, religion, religious practice, disability, sexual orientation, gender, or sex..." The law applies to all New York public schools.

Under the new legislation, each BoE must craft specific policies to "create a school environment...free from discrimination or harassment..." Boards must also approve guidelines for school training programs "to raise awareness and sensitivity of school employees" to bullying behaviors that will "enable employees to prevent and respond" to incidents of discrimination or harassment. Boards are responsible for "the development of nondiscriminatory instructional and counseling methods," as well.

An "age-appropriate," plain language version of the law's anti-bullying provision must be approved by the BoE, and incorporated into the district's Code of Conduct.

For its part, the New York State Education Department must develop and implement a system for the reporting of incidents of discrimination or harassment.

The legislation did not include a clause prohibiting cyberbullying (harassment via the Internet, digital or interactive technologies and mobile phones).

On Monday, the U.S. Department of Education launched a new Web site, bullyinginfo.org, in the aftermath of the department's first ever National Summit on Bullying, held Aug. 11 and 12 in Washington, D.C.

The new site provides "one stop" access to a variety of federal resources on bullying prevention and response. In a statement released Monday, the department noted "a reinvigorated Office for Civil Rights means complaints of bullying and harassment will be vigorously investigated."

"As educators, as state and local officials, and at the federal level, we simply have not taken the problem of bullying seriously enough," U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said. "It is an absolute travesty of our educational system when students fear for their safety at school, worry about being bullied or suffer discrimination and taunts because of their ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, disability or a host of other reasons. The fact is that no school can be a great school until it is a safe school first."

ED established the $27-million Safe and Supportive Schools grant program last year, a pilot to "enable states to measure school safety at the building level and to provide federal funds for interventions in those schools with the greatest needs."

Money is on the way

2010-08-10T20:32:00.006-04:00

Duncan calls House vote a 'tremendous victory' for students
WASHINGTON DC – The U.S. House of Representatives approved legislation Tuesday, to “save or create” 160,000 teaching jobs nationwide. H.R. 1586, the Education Jobs and Medicaid Assistance Act, was approved on a vote of 247 to 161, and signed into law by President Obama shortly thereafter.

In a press conference following the vote, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan praised House members for their decisive action.

“This was the right thing to do for our children. This was the right thing to do for education,” Duncan said. “Everyone worked together to get this job done....This is a huge step in the right direction.”

Representative Scott Murphy (D, Glens Falls) voted “yes” on the bill. In a statement released after the vote, Murphy said the decision was about setting priorities. “I feel strongly that we should not be forcing our local governments to raise property taxes or choose mass layoffs of teachers,” he said.

Representatives Peter King (R, Long Island) and Chris Lee (R, Clarence) were the lone dissenters among the New York delegation.

Duncan said the $10 billion in federal aid will create or save an estimated 160,000 jobs nationwide. New York is eligible to receive $608 million, which is expected to fund 8,200 jobs, according to the Education Department.

The NEA (National Education Association) calculated the distribution of the $10 billion aid package based on the formula used to award Title I Part A funds, and arrived at similar numbers for New York. By Congressional district, the NEA estimated the 20th District -- which includes Columbia County -- could receive $9.1 million, enough to underwrite 125 jobs.

Duncan was careful to point out this funding initiative is "not a competition. This money can and will go to every state and the District of Columbia," he said.

ED will distribute the funds as soon as possible. “The applications are drafted and will be released in the next week,” Duncan said. “We will be working hard to get the money out the door.”

A "streamlined" process means applications will take only one day to complete, Duncan said, and once the paperwork is submitted, ED will respond within two weeks. Funding could reach the local level by early September, he said.

While the money is intended for use during the 2010-11 school year, districts will have until Sept. 2012 to spend the aid. Districts must use the funds for salaries and benefits for teachers and anyone else that "facilitates the educational process," Duncan said. The money cannot be used for facilities or capital projects; it cannot be used for administrative salaries at the district level.

Distribution of the $10 billion is based “on each state's relative population of individuals ages 5 to 24, and of each state's share of the total population,” according to the office of Representative George Miller (D, CA), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee. Governors of each state will distribute funds to individual districts using the state’s primary funding formulae for K-12 education or each district’s share of Title I.

In the spring, ED projected teacher job losses for the 2010-11 school year at close to 300,000, but according to the department's newest calculations the number is much smaller. Duncan was asked Tuesday “how comfortable” he was with the new projection.

“The 300 figure was the high end of the estimate. I think this number is really solid; it's a good estimate of the potential cuts we will save with these funds,” Duncan said.

According to ED, the number of education jobs determined to be at risk was “based on analysis from the Council of Economic Advisors of projected state budget shortfalls for FY [fiscal year] 2011," or “100,000 to 300,000 jobs” during the coming school year.

Duncan said districts have acted responsibly but noted this year was a very difficult one. “The vast majority of districts around the country have been cutting for five or six years in a row...but they have never seen a time this tough before,” he said. “We were concerned children were going to really get hurt this year.”

Duncan rejected the idea that schools were on a “hiring spree” during the past couple of years and the instituted cuts were a “right-sizing,” of sorts. He said 75 percent of U.S. schools will open with fewer teachers this year than last.

Leaders of NYSUT (New York State United Teachers) urged New York lawmakers Tuesday, to "return to Albany and vote to expend the new federal funding. The union is also urging lawmakers to use the additional aid to restore funding to the state's network of teacher centers."

HCSD curriculum audit complete

2010-08-09T12:05:00.010-04:00

“Why is the curriculum important? It is a road map. Without a road map, you are sure to drive in circles and get nowhere.” Diane Ravitch, The Death and Life of the Great American School System (Basic Books, 2010)

HUDSON – The Hudson City School District's efforts to establish its own consistent and effective K-6 ELA (English Language Arts) “road map” is “generally on track” but there remains “much work to do.”

That was the conclusion drawn by Rochester-based Orion Educational Consulting LLC, following a state-mandated audit of the district's ELA “written, taught and tested curriculum” conducted during the 2009-10 school year. Orion representatives offered a brief summary of the company's findings to the HCSD Board of Education, July 19.

The audit conducted by Orion was triggered when Montgomery C. Smith Intermediate School was identified by the New York State Education Department as a school in corrective action (year one) in Aug. 2009, the result of an insufficient number of students with disabilities testing proficient in ELA. The district was eligible for – and received – a grant of $85,000 to cover the cost of the review.

According to NYSED, the recommendations contained within the curriculum audit report must be incorporated into the school's 2010-11 CEP (Comprehensive Educational Plan). The plan is approved by the district and subject to NYSED review “upon request.” HCSD is “responsible for identifying and providing [the] supports required to implement the recommendations of the ESCA in school year 2010-11.”

The presentation – made to the full board (minus Elizabeth Fout) and two dozen observers – focused on six pages of the 96-page report and included an overview of the process, eight findings and six recommendations.

The Orion presentation announced that:

The HCSD K-6 ELA curriculum is “generally on track;”
At the same time there is much work to do; and,
There have been some “particular efforts” of which the district should be “proud.”

The Orion representative advised the BoE that district administrators were handed the report only three hours before the public presentation and time was needed for Superintendent John F. Howe and his staff to fully “review and assimilate” the material. Howe will report back to the board on various initiatives at a later time. (Note: A “curriculum audit update” is the single item of business under the Assistant Superintendent's report on the agenda for the full board meeting, Monday.)

Board members were provided the opportunity to ask questions at the conclusion of the presentation but there were few asked. Unlike administrators, board members received the report minutes before the public meeting was called to order – it was not included in the packets distributed the previous Friday. Neither Howe or Assistant Superintendent Maria Suttmeier proffered questions or comments following the presentation.

“To have no curriculum,...leaves schools at the mercy of those who demand a regime of basic skills and no content at all. To have no curriculum is to leave decisions about what matters to the ubiquitous textbooks, which function as our de facto national curriculum. To have no curriculum on which assessment may be based is to tighten the grip of test-based accountability, testing only generic skills, not knowledge or comprehension." Diane Ravitch, ibid

The report

The report, as submitted, is a dense document and contains many of the same themes laid out in the Baldwin Report – released in Feb. 2006 following a NYSED-ordered districtwide review led by Questar III BOCES Superintendent James N. Baldwin – and a review completed last year (along with the subsequent draft report) completed by the board's own Task Force on Student Academic Performance. While the three documents vary in tone, all agree that HCSD “a written standards-based curriculum is not...in place.”

Orion's three-part task was to address the alignment of the HCSD K-6 ELA curriculum with the state learning standards, the “implementation and assessment” of that curriculum and the “alignment of the curriculum to instruction.”

The audit was accomplished through analysis of student data, curricula and systems, classroom observation and interviews of administrators and teachers.

The report carefully pointed out the ELA performance of students with disabilities “in virtually all situations, cannot be viewed separate from how all students perform....If instruction is delivered within the context of a written, taught and tested ELA curriculum,” then the performance of students with disabilities should improve. In other words, the issue is not the learning capability of a specific group of students, it is the lack of a schoolwide standards-based instructional framework. To paraphrase W.P. Kinsella, “If you build it, everyone will learn.”

Orion was not required to provide a comprehensive analysis of available data as part of the audit, but it did include some student performance information covering the past four school years, with some basic analysis thrown in. But in light of the Board of Regents' decision last month to recalibrate grades 3-8 exams and the cut scores for those exams, the analysis provided in the report is now inaccurate, to say the least. This will no doubt have to be taken into account by district administrators as they consider the implementation of Orion's recommendations. One example:

Considering grades 3-8, at best, 25 percent of all students are not reaching proficiency; at worse [sic], 50 percent. For Students with Disabilities, at best one half is achieving proficiency, at worse [sic], 3 percent. It will be important to determine whether the improved 2008-09 results represent an aberration or are part of a trend, and if a trend, to capitalize on those practices that are supporting student achievement.”

In reality, as we now know, the latest test data released by NYSED shows that less than half of all HCSD general education students tested proficient in ELA, a decline of 26 percent from the previous year. The data released was not reported by student sub-groups, so it is still unclear how Hudson's students with disabilities actually performed in 2009. However, the general education results seem to indicate HCSD is looking at Orion's worst case scenario.

The consultants promised “to laser its focus on curriculum, instruction and assessment." Overall the report emphasized skills, process and management structures, but no laser-like focus ever fell on the subject of content. Absent from the audit was a basic overview and evaluation of the actual content K-6 teachers are delivering (or not) in the classroom. No opinion or recommendation was offered as to the depth, quality or amount of instruction students receive in science, history, social studies, foreign languages, the arts, etc., and if those content areas were found to be in balance with, or dominated by the schools' current skills-based ELA focus.

In general, Orion found a lack of leadership districtwide. Board policies were found to be insufficient, central administration has failed to put appropriate structures in place to support curriculum development and instruction, and at the building level there is little or no supervision of teachers in the classroom.

“I have such a mixture of students; it is extremely difficult to know what to teach.” MCSIS teacher (Orion audit report, July 2010)

Orion's findings

HCSD does not have “a K-6 articulated, written taught, and tested standards-based ELA curriculum in place as of yet, although direction for this appears to be set and attainment efforts begun. Instruction in the classroom, although of quality, is not based on such curriculum.”

Orion found “quality instruction” at John L. Edwards Primary School. “There was also evidence of instruction that could be seen as a foundation for standards-based instruction, wherein the teaching reflected reading, writing, and listening for literary response and expression, for critical analysis and evaluation, and social interaction.” At MCSIS, there was instruction “in several classrooms that could be interpreted as standards-based instruction.” Orion cited the building principal's use of “student performance data to inform instruction” as a building block “for future development.”

At both JLE and MCSIS, decisions on what to teach were based in large part on the skill level of the students, not on a defined set of expectations. Teachers were asked, “How do you decide what to teach?” They responded, Orion said, with “a variety of strategies and programs but also consistently made mention of students' levels and needs; 'we/I look at student needs and where they are.'”

The audit showed significant gaps in curriculum scope and sequence implementation, making it virtually impossible to deliver consistent instruction to all students.

Student performance data “is not being used in a systematic fashion, K-6, to inform curriculum development and instruction.”

Various board policies are not comprehensively written and therefore “not yet adequate to direct and sustain...a highly articulated district ELA curriculum.” Orion specifically cited board policies 4000 (Student Learning Objectives and District Instructional Goals, approved July 2007); 4200 (Curriculum Management, approved July 2007); and 4511 (Textbook Selection and Adoption, approved July 2007) in the report.

The HCSD policies in question direct that specific individuals are responsible for various aspects of curriculum implementation. Orion found this to be a sort of micro-management (without using the term). The report acknowledged that while administrators and teachers alike have roles in curriculum implementation, board policies “generally should direct the superintendent toward the desired policy outcomes.” The superintendent is then to provide the appropriate direction to staff based on administrative regulations.

Orion also observed that it is virtually impossible for one individual – regardless of personality – to manage the ongoing districtwide process of curriculum development without an effective support structure in place. HCSD has two councils to address district needs, which, according to Orion, sent an “unclear message.” The report recommended the development of a new, single support structure, along with the accompanying board policies.

A significant lack of “purposeful communication" exists between JLE and MCSIS as it relates to curriculum, assessment and instruction. This point was expressed by teachers at both schools.

The professional development support offered is not yet aligned in a “comprehensive manner to provide for...increases in student performance.”

Issues with scheduling and planning hamper the effective instruction of ELA to students with disabilities. The late distribution of class lists (a hindrance to efficient planning) and the “highly disruptive” practice of pullout instruction were cited as issues by teachers interviewed.

No word on when – or if – the full text of the Orion report will be made available to the public.