Please stay, don’t go: Board of Ed plans open house to keep Island students local

Concerned about students who, with their parents, have opted for education off-Island, the Shelter Island School’s administration and Board of Education are trying to get a handle on their motivations and what can be done to entice them to attend Shelter Island School.

Toward that end, School Superintendent Len Skuggevik announced Monday night at the board’s meeting that plans are afoot for an open house program, likely in February, to bring those parents to the school to show them programs offered here.

Last May, a parent whose son attends Shelter Island School, told the board she was speaking on behalf of other parents who doubted their children would get the opportunities here they can get by studying off-Island, some at Catholic schools and others at private schools on the South Fork.

Board member Elizabeth Melichar-Lechmanski said she hopes the district will find a way to increase pay for substitute teachers, many of whom earn $110 a day while neighboring districts are paying substantially more.

The advantage of increasing pay is to attract the best substitutes possible with the hope that when permanent jobs open in the district, a number of candidates will have already been vetted by their performance here as substitutes.

At the same time, Shelter Island Faculty Association President Brian Becker noted that a lack of good substitutes is plaguing many districts, even those where the compensation is substantially higher.

It’s an issue the board will be looking at as it begins budgeting in January for the 2017-18 school year.

New teacher assessments loom

The system of appraising teachers’ performances is in transition and local teachers are facing what one teacher described as unfair assessments.

English teacher Lynne Colligan told the Board of Education Monday night that she and another teacher share responsibilities for students in high school, and when she has a class of honor students and her colleague has one that does not, she will shine due to her student’s results on standardized tests. But when her colleague has the honors class, it’s a year when those tests aren’t administered. The result is Ms. Colligan can be expected to achieve a higher ranking based on student performance while her colleague is likely to achieve a lower ranking because she has non-honor students during test years.

The current plan for assessment weights teacher performance at 60 percent for observations made by the school superintendent; 20 percent on growth of student learning on a local basis; and 20 percent on the standardized state tests. By 2019, local observation of teachers will count for 50 percent of the assessment and 50 percent on student performance on the state tests.

“It’s very imperfect,” Ms. Colligan said about the system due to be in place in 2019.

When board members asked what would work Ms. Colligan responded that students should be tested at the start of the school year on their current knowledge and again at the end of the school year to demonstrate what they have learned.

However, that’s not a decision the local district can make.

Mindfulness

If you were to walk down the school corridor and glanced into classrooms in the year ahead, you might wonder what’s going on as students appear to be asleep.

It’s all part of a mindfulness program that teachers Laura Leever and Ms. Colligan have brought to the school and hope to see expanded to a regular part of each day.

The two teachers conducted a six-hour program over two days with a select group of students demonstrating methods of meditation so students can improve their focus and let go of anxieties.

Student Olivia Yeaman, who participated in the pilot program, told the board she’s been tense about college applications and found that the two-day program enabled her to let go of stress.

Students surveyed after the program gave it high marks. By shaving off about one minute from each day’s classes, Ms. Colligan suggested that a 15-minute per day period might be set aside for all students to engage in a mindfulness program. Board member Kathleen Lynch endorsed the idea of making the program part of the school’s culture.

Plugging the leak

At a time when school administrators are finishing two building projects, the board had to spring for $20,151 to pay for repairs related to water damage to the ceiling in a third floor classroom and roof. The money was transferred from the New York Schools Insurance Reciprocal.

The damage was discovered during the installation of energy performance improvement equipment when water leaks in the roof damaged a portion of a ceiling and surrounding walls.

Work is expected to be done this week to correct the situation.

As for the projects being concluded, the building now has a new heating and cooling system to replace one that broke down in the fall of 2013. Solar panels have been installed on part of the building and new vents are in place in all classrooms.

Performance contractor Johnson Controls, based in Syosset, has made energy changes that will save the district more money over the 16-year life of the project than it cost to do the work. Under the agreement, if the expected savings fail to materialize, the contractor that would make up the difference, not the school district.

In other business, the board:
• Learned that the school will share in a $68,000 grant awarded to all North Fork schools and Shelter Island in a “Farms to School” state program. Mr. Skuggevik said the money the Island receives should pay for some materials for the cafeteria and garden as well as training for the chef. He also noted that Shelter Island students benefit from Sylvester Manor internships, some paid, that help them develop agricultural skills.
• Agreed to tape budget meetings scheduled for January 9, 17 and 30; February 13, March 20; April 19; and May 8. All those meetings are at 6 p.m. in the Board of Education conference room.
• Appointed Margaret Colligan as a member of the Shared Decision Making Committee.
• Approved a change in the senior class trip from January to attend the presidential inauguration in Washington, D.C. to May 10 through May 13 to visit the nation’s capital.
• Accepted an $1,100 contribution from Shelter Island Presbyterial Church to be used to offset the cost of college trips.
• Accepted a $300 contribution from the Shelter Island Friends of Music Program to launch a new ukulele program that will start with fifth graders learning the instrument. The aim is to start the students on a program that could lead to learning other instruments as well and plans call to expand the program in future years.