Education

Shelter Island School superintendent outlines initiatives

REPORTER FILE PHOTO Superintendent Leonard Skuggevik presented the Board of Education with a progress report on meeting goals for the 2015-16 school year.
REPORTER FILE PHOTO
Superintendent Leonard Skuggevik presented the Board of Education with a progress report on meeting goals for the 2015-16 school year.

“We’re looking at getting our kids college and career ready,” Superintendent Leonard Skuggevik told the Board of Education last week, reviewing steps he’s taken to ensure that students not college-bound are not being forgotten.

Toward that end, students from Shelter Island are serving internships, exposing them to fields to pursue after graduation, Mr. Skuggevik said at Wednesday’s meeting.

Michelle Corbett, president of the Parent Teacher Student Association, has worked with Mr. Skuggevik and guidance counselor Martha Tuthill to set up the internships that will include jobs at, among other places, Town Hall, South Ferry, the Shelter Island Police Department, Mashomack Preserve and with McClave Engineering and the district’s building and grounds director Mike Dunning.
While only a few students are engaged in the internships, the aim is to expand the program in the year ahead, Mr. Skuggevik said.
Ms. Corbett is scheduled to make a full presentation on the program at the Board of Education’s January meeting.

Mr. Skuggevik said the district is also developing opportunities for students to gain college credits for course work done here.

Among the superintendent’s other initiatives, he said, have been:
• The presentation of iPads to all students in grades nine through 12, funded with grant money. Walter Brigham and Jeremy Stanzione will discuss how the iPads are being used in the classroom at January’s meeting.
• Implementing an anti-bullying program, including a student/peer mentoring program being developed by Ms. Tuthill and Director of Physical Education and District Operations Todd Gulluscio.
• Expanding professional development opportunities for the faculty.

The Board approved resolutions to determine full-time and part-time status of its employees in regard to their eligibility for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act. District Business Manager Timothy Laube explained that the resolutions amounted to setting regulations necessary to identify each employee’s status so the district can comply with the law.

Policy adjustments
The board adopted a policy on public access to records, providing the records via email if they’re electronically available.

A policy change pertaining to field trips needs more work, said board member Elizabeth Melichar-Lechmanski. Mr. Skuggevik clarified the situation of funds raised for field trips, noting that when a trip is arranged, a per-student cost is calculated, with travel agents usually allowing chaperones to accompany students at no additional cost. If there is a need for more chaperones whose costs aren’t covered, that is added to the per student cost, he said.

Most of the money for the trips is raised by students, he said. Parents who accompany students must pay their own travel costs.

The current arrangement has been a long-standing practice in the district, Mr. Skuggevik said.

In other Board of Education activities:
• Appointed Donna Issenberg and Thomas Hashagen as additional substitute teachers at a cost of $110 per day.
• Appointed Kimberly Atkins as a substitute aide at a cost of $95 per day.
• Appointed Constantine Rando as a substitute nurse at a cost of $95 per day.
• Appointed Toby Green, Bryan Knipfing and Bryan Gallagher as joint advisors to the running club at a cost of $399 each.
• Amended the appointment of Peter Miedema as varsity girls basketball coach at a salary prorated to $508 instead of the original $6,096 since there were too few athletes to form a varsity team. Mr. Miedema was also appointed as a volunteer coach for the junior high and varsity boys and girls basketball teams.
• Accepted the resignation of Jerome Mundy as a school monitor.
• Accepted a $1,000 contribution from Shelter Island Presbyterian Church to offset college trips for juniors and seniors.
• Accepted a $2,000 contribution from the Shelter Island Educational Foundation for new equipment for the student newspaper.
• Accepted a $300 contribution from the Shelter Island Faculty Association to be used for materials and supplies related to the Academic Hall of Fame.
• Agreed to tape board budget sessions scheduled for January 11, February 8 and March 14, 21 and 28.  All Board of Education meetings used to be taped, but to save money this year, the board chose to tape only budget meetings.