Board of Education Business Meeting
Cohoes, New York
November 16, 2022
LGI Room, CHS, 6pm
(The Board of Education may entertain a motion to enter into an executive session subject to Board approval.)
MINUTES
The Meeting was called to Order by the Vice President, Mrs. Carey at 6:00 p.m.
ROLL CALL
Present:
- Mrs. Carey
- Mr. Jackson
- Mrs. Snyder – excused
- Mrs. Gendron
- Mrs. Paradis
- Mr. Nadeau
- Mrs. Giller – excused
Also Present:
- Ms. Peggy O’Shea, Superintendent of Schools
- Mr. Dan Martinelli, Assistant Superintendent for Educational Services
- Mrs. Stacy Mackey, School Business Official
DISTRICT REPORTS
Superintendent’s Report –
Employee Recognition/Staff Development Day – Mr. Martinelli presented the Board with a recap of the recent Employee Recognition/Staff Development Day. Board President, Mrs. Giller, thanked the staff for their dedication and staff were recognized for their years of service. The Staff Development portion of the day was broken into AM and PM sessions. The morning included choice-based sessions and elementary teachers attended iReady training. The afternoon consisted of grade level and content area meeting to focus on curriculum mapping and standard based report cards.
Elementary Standard Based Report Cards – Mr. Martinelli shared a copy of the report card and the parent letter, which each principal will personalize and send home to parents.
Ms. O’Shea thanked Jenn Sangiacomo for all of her hard work preparing for the Staff Professional Development Day. She also thanked Mr. Martinelli, elementary principals’ and teachers for all of their hard work on report cards.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee – Ms. O’Shea shared with the Board an overview of the recent Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee meeting. She will share the data with the board in the near future. Mrs. Carey remarked that it was a very good meeting; the subgroup committee is making progress. There is hard work to go and hard conversations to have to move forward, however, she feels everyone is committed to the committee.
Ms. O’Shea mentioned numerous upcoming events. The Polar Plunge for Special Olympics will take place on November 19th and as of this morning the district teams have raised over $4,000 to donate to this organization, bringing them to first place in the school division. She thanked Kim Casso and Sarah Adkins for spearheading this effort.
Cohoes High School has five (5) students who have been invited to participated in the New York State School Music Associations’ All State Music Festival on November 19th and wished them good luck!
Business Update – Ms. Mackey shared with the Board the Office of State Comptroller Audit status; the exit interview is complete and the district response has been submitted. When the report is made public the Board will act upon the Corrective Action Plan. She also provided an overview on the Food Service Administrative Review, which required data collection, an operational questionnaire, a purchasing manual, a history of vendors for the 21-22 school year as well as district wellness policies.
Ms. Mackey welcomed Amber Oliver, the newly hired Payroll Clerk. Amber has been training and will submit her first payroll on 11/25/2022.
She advised that the recent fire inspections were complete and are on track for a timely submission to the New York State Education department. Ms. Mackey thanked Director of Facilities Jim Stapleton for his assistance.
Mr. Nadeau asked what progress we have made in cross-training personnel in payroll. Ms. Mackey shared that she is working with our Internal Claims Auditor to update the payroll manual on or before December 30, and we will then cross train.
A. BOARD OF EDUCATION DISCUSSION OF AGENDA ITEMS – None
B. COMMUNITY DISCUSSION OF AGENDA ITEMS – None
C. OLD BUSINESS – None
D. REPORT FROM MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION
A. THAT the Board of Education accepts the Minutes of the Board of Education Meeting of November 2, 2022
B. THAT the Board of Education accepts the Minutes of the Committee on Special Education for the following meeting dates: 7/29/22, 8/10/22, 8/15/22, 8/25/22, 8/29/22, 8/30/22, 9/1/22, 9/2/22, 9/19/22, 9/27/22, 9/30/22, 10/3/22, 10/4/22, 10/5/22, 10/12/22, 10/14/22, 10/17/22, 10/18/22, 10/20/22, 10/26/22, 10/27/22, 10/28/22, 11/1/22
C. THAT the Board of Education approves the Agreement between the Cohoes City School District and the Preferred Groups Plans, Inc. for Flexible Spending Plan Services from October 1, 2022 through September 30, 2023 in accordance with the terms and conditions herein.
VII. RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT – PERSONNEL
INSTRUCTIONAL
A. THAT the Board of Education amend item VII (DD) of the August 24, 2022 Agenda to read as follows:
BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Board of Education of the Cohoes City School District appoints the following individual as a Long-Term Substitute Teacher.
Ashley Dolan
- Position: Long-Term Substitute Art Teacher (HH/AL)
- Tenure Area: Art
- Effective Date: August 31, 2022 through December 31, 2022 June 30, 2023
- Salary: Step 1 of the current CTA contract
B. THAT the Board of Education accept the resignation of Reilley Blue from her position as Long-Term Substitute Mathematics Teacher (CHS).
Effective: December 22, 2022
C. BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Board of Education of the Cohoes City School District appoints Lauren Rockenstire to a four – year probationary term in the tenure area of Special Education, effective January 3, 2022 and expiring on January 2, 2027. Rockenstire holds Initial Certification in the areas of Childhood Education (grades 1-6) and Students With Disabilities (Grades 1-6).
Lauren Rockenstire
- Position: 1.0 FTE Special Education Teacher (AL)
- Certification: Students With Disabilities (Grades 1-6)
- Tenure Area: Special Education
- Effective Date: January 3, 2023
- Tenure Date: January 2, 2027
- Salary: Step 2 of the current CTA contract
D. THAT the Board of Education approve the following student teacher placements from the following school (unpaid):
The College of St. Rose
January 17 through March 10, 2023
Sarah Haws with Brittany Willsey at Van Schaick Grade School
Erin Nagy with Megan Galarneau at Harmony Hill Elementary School
March 13 through May 10, 2023
Sarah Haws with Amanda Dorr at Van Schaick Grade School
NON-INSTRUCTIONAL
E. BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Board of Education of the Cohoes City School District hereby appoints Kaeliannah Waldron to the position of full-time Teacher Aide, subject to the rules of the Cohoes Civil Service Commission, such appointment is a probationary appointment.
Kaeliannah Waldron
- Position: 1.0 FTE Teacher Aide (HH)
- Effective Date: November 14, 2022
- Probation Period: May 14, 2023
- Salary: Entry-level per current CSEA contract (grant-funded)
F. BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Board of Education of the Cohoes City School District hereby provisionally appoints John Ricci to the position of part-time School Safety Officer, subject to the rules of the Cohoes Civil Service Commission, such appointment is a provisional appointment.
John Ricci
- Position: Part-Time School Safety Officer (Provisional)
- Effective Date: November 17, 2022 through June 30, 2022
- Salary: $20 per hour
G. BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Board of Education of the Cohoes City School District appoints the following individual as a Long-Term Substitute Teacher.
Keenan Jones
- Position: Long-Term Substitute School Social Worker
- Tenure Area: School Social Worker
- Effective Date: December 5, 2022 through June 30, 2023
- Salary: Step 1 of the current CTA contract (grant-funded)
H. THAT the Board of Education appoints the following individual to the coaching position listed below for the 2022-2023 school year, as per the CTA contract. Position is contingent upon acceptable program enrollment:
Co-Curricular Activity – Name – FTE
- Volleyball, Varsity, Andrea Lane, 1.0
- Football, Varsity Head, Daniel DeChiaro, 1.0
- Softball, JV, Bill Smith, 1.0
I. BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Board of Education of the Cohoes City School District hereby appoints the following individual to the Cleaner Substitute list, subject to the rules of the Cohoes Civil Service Commission, such appointments are a temporary appointment.
Jimmie White
Effective: November 16, 2022
DESIGNATION OF CONSENT AGENDA: THAT the Board of Education adopts the following resolutions of the November 16 ,2022 Agenda:
VI (A-C), VII (A-I), and IX (A)
- Moved by: Mrs. Gendron
- Second by: Mrs. Paradis
- All voted “Aye”
- Motion carried 5-0
VIII. RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT – BUSINESS/FINANCE
IX. REPORTS (Recommended by the Superintendent)
A. I recommend that the following reports be accepted by the Board of Education:
- Warrants-September – October 2022
- Budget Transfers- October 2022
- Budget Status Report- October 2022
- Revenue Status Report- October 2022
- Bank Reconciliation Report- October 2022
- Internal Claims Audit Report- October 2022
IX. INFORMATION AND CONSIDERATION
A. THAT the Board of Education accepts the donation from the Cohoes Waterford Elks in the amount of $1,250 dollars to be used for PBIS activities in all five (5) buildings.
B. THAT the Board of Education approves the following items to be removed from the fixed asset inventory for surplus:
- 2004 Dodge Ram 2500 pickup truck with Meyer Plow- VIN # 3D7KU26D34G217794 valued at $ 3,391.
- Green metal cabinet – tag number 02077 – fully depreciated
- Laptop /chrome book charging station – tag number 6242 – fully depreciated
- Chrome book charging towers – tag numbers – 20093834, 20093592, 20093904, 20093903, 20093428 and 20093833 – fully depreciated
- Chrome book charging carts – tag numbers 20140994 and 20093896 – fully depreciated
- Café table – tag number 20090050 – fully depreciated
- Cabinet – tag number 5021 – fully depreciated
- Toro Grounds Master 345 – tag number 000057 – fully depreciated
- File cabinet – tag number 00605 – fully depreciated
- Teacher desk – tag number 2012 – fully depreciated
- Music risers – tag numbers 1767, 1765, 0395 and 1766 – fully depreciated
- Office furniture (sofa) – tag number 04057 – fully depreciated
- Office furniture (table) – tag number 0311 – fully depreciated
- Office furniture (table) – tag number 0302 – fully depreciated
- Office furniture (lobby chairs) – tag numbers 04050 and 04053 – fully depreciated
XI. COMMENTS FROM BOARD OF EDUCATION MEMBERS
Mrs. Carey, on behalf of the Board, expressed gratitude to the Cohoes Waterford Elks for the recent donation.
XII. QUESTIONS AND STATEMENTS FROM AUDIENCE
XIII. BOARD POLICY REVIEW – None
XIV. DATES FOR FUTURE MEETINGS
- December 14, 2022, LGI Room, CHS & Livestreamed at 6pm
- January 4, 2023, LGI Room, CHS & Livestreamed at 6pm
XV. ADJOURNMENT
MOTION: To adjourn at 6:29 pm
- Moved by: Mr. Nadeau
- Second by: Mrs. Paradis
- All voted “Aye”
- Motion carried 5-0