School board report: Consolidation plan update released

Report released by the city school district:

Highlights from the Batavia City School District Board of Education meeting on Feb. 6 include the following:

School Consolidation Update

On behalf of the BOE’s Buildings and Grounds Committee, Board Member Steve Mountain presented their completed feasibility study and a recommendation for consolidation of schools. The report also will be shared with the Budget Ambassadors as they review the district’s preliminary budget  and make recommendations to the board. The committee’s recommendation takes both fiscal and educational progress into account and includes:

-- Selling the Administration Building and relocating staff to available spaces around the District;
-- Utilizing the Jackson Elementary building for students in pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, and grade one;
-- Utilizing John Kennedy for students in grades two through four;
-- Placing grade five students at the middle school;
-- Revising the transportation policy so that all K-8 students who live farther than one mile from their school would be eligible for free busing; and,
-- Maintaining the Robert Morris building, making its classrooms and offices available for rental or lease.

Among the considerations behind their recommendation were the advantages of a “cluster model” for schools in which all students in a specific grade level are in the same building, providing for a more focused and deeper instructional plan. Research indicates that students benefit when curriculum is more consistent, and having all students of each grade in one building will facilitate this consistency as well as regular collaboration and sharing of strategies and resources. It also enables greater balance of class size as well as balancing concentrations of students with disabilities and economically disadvantaged students among classrooms.

While this cluster model would also describe the middle school, part of the recommendation is to have fifth-grade classrooms in a different part of that building, set off from the older students. Another suggestion is to create a house model --  a school within a school that has its own educational program, staff and students -- for both fifth- and sixth-graders. The study also noted several nearby districts which currently and successfully have fifth grade as part of their middle schools.

Jackson and John Kennedy elementary were designated as the sites for lower grades after all three of the current elementary buildings were analyzed in regard to number and size of classrooms, parking and parent drop-off/pick-up, bus loops, gymnasiums, cafeterias, library media centers, and size of the school grounds.

In regard to the finances, overall, the committee estimated an anticipated net savings in the first year of slightly more than $1 million. A reduction in staffing would have the greatest impact, followed by lower utility costs for the Robert Morris building. Relocating the Information Technology Department from the Administration Building, which involves moving the fiber optic cables that make up the district’s computer network, would be a one-time expense increase. This is recommended only upon the event of the sale or lease of the Administration Building, in which case the proceeds from the sale or lease could be used to mitigate the impact of the expense. Transportation costs would increase if more students become eligible and if those eligible students use district transportation, but, using current formulas for NYS transportation aid, approximately 90 percent of the costs would be returned the following year. 

BMS Comprehensive Educational Plan

More after the jump (click on the headline to read more)

Batavia Middle School (BMS) Principal Sandra Griffin presented highlights of the middle school’s Comprehensive Educational Plan (CEP), as mandated by NYS Education Department for all schools designated as being a School in Need of Improvement (SINI). BMS was classified as a SINI for not making adequate yearly progress (AYP) in meeting the higher proficiency targets in English Language Arts (ELA). While BMS has already begun implementation of practices to improve 
ELA proficiency, the CEP requires official board approval before being sent into the NYS Education Department.

The CEP includes three parts. Part I is a comprehensive school profile consisting of data on various topics -- such as enrollment, attendance, demographics, assessment data and survey results -- related to students, teachers, the district, the community, and the subject area of concern. Part II consists of the CEP team’s analysis of the data whereby patterns and root causes of low performance are identified and plans for improvement emerge. In Part III, the section for a detailed action plan, Mrs. Griffin highlighted two major strategies. First, the ELA staff will improve literacy instructional practices and make progress toward the college- and career-ready standard by more tightly aligning curriculum with the implementation of the Common Core State Standards in reading, writing, speaking and listening. Secondly, the BMS community will learn, practice, and model research-based literacy strategies by having all departments taking responsibility for improving student literacy skills and increasing opportunities for students to interact with informational text.

Mrs. Griffin stressed that utilizing data analysis, interim assessments, and an interdisciplinary approach while increasing the scope, span and rigor  of expectations will help more students reach the raised bar of achievement.

Superintendent’s Summary

In addition to other reports on various current district projects, Superintendent of Schools Margaret Puzio, briefly noted the following:

-- While the board had recommended a zero increase in the district budget for 2012-2013, so far, the preliminary numbers are at approximately a 3-4 percent increase, which reflects an approximate 5 percent increase in the tax levy. Budget Ambassadors will begin reviewing the preliminary budget this week, and their recommendations as well as those from administrative reviews will be forthcoming.

-- A committee of district employees representative of the variety of staff positions has come together to investigate ways to reduce health care costs in order to preserve more jobs and programs. Rising health care costs continue to be a great concern in budget projections.

-- The district is well on its way to implementing the new Common Core State Standards (CCSS) adopted by NYS in 2009. A recent training was held in Syracuse, and every department chair will be part of an upcoming district-wide presentation to staff on what and how CCSS are implemented.

School Board Association Awards

Superintendent Puzio formally thanked board members Patrick Burk and Amy Barone and congratulated each for receiving a Board Achievement Award from the NYS School Boards Association (NYSSBA). The NYSSBA’s School Board U recognition program is meant to acknowledge the extensive time and effort invested by members as they continually strive to expand their knowledge and skills for better board governance.

Update on Evaluation Procedure for Teachers and Principals

Deputy Superintendent Christopher Dailey provided an update on the emerging evaluation procedure for teachers and principals, noting that the State Education Department has requested permission to utilize pieces of our district plan as an example for other districts throughout the state.

The plan is in response to new legislation, first reported to the board by Puzio last fall (Nov. 1, 2011). At that time she noted:

-- Chapter 103 of the Laws of 2010 added a new section (3012-c) to the Education Law regarding annual professional performance reviews of all classroom teachers and building principals.
-- The new law applies first to all evaluations conducted by school districts on or after July 1, 2011, of teachers of “common branch subjects” (any or all of the subjects usually included in the daily program of an elementary school classroom) or English language arts or mathematics in grades four to eight, and principals employing such teachers.
-- By July 1, 2012, the process will be phased in for all classroom teachers and principals conducted by school districts or BOCES.
-- The new section of the law builds on current performance reviews, as opposed to replacing them.
-- The evaluations are intended to be a significant factor for employment decisions including but not limited to promotion, retention, tenure determination, and termination.
-- Performance reviews will yield a single composite effectiveness score (1-100) that incorporates multiple measures of effectiveness.
-- The measures used for scoring include student growth data on state assessments (initially 20 percent of the score, then 25 percent); locally selected measures of student achievement (initially 20 percent of the score, then drop down to 15 percent); and locally developed and negotiated criteria (for 60 percent of the score).
-- If a teacher or principal is rated as either developing or ineffective, the district must formulate and implement an improvement plan including such elements as the needed areas of improvement, timeline for achieving improvement, the manner in which improvement will be assessed, and differentiated activities to support improvement in those areas.
-- Districts must have an appeals procedure, established through negotiations, for teachers and principals to challenge their reviews.
-- This education law also establishes separate rules and for a Teacher Tenure Hearing related to charges of teacher or principal incompetence based solely upon an alleged pattern of ineffective teaching or performance (i.e., two consecutive annual “ineffective” ratings). In order to expedite the process of being able to remove an ineffective teacher or principal, the charges are to be heard by a single hearing officer within seven days after the pre-hearing conference and completed within 60 days thereafter. (A limited and time specific adjournment beyond the 60 days is available only if the hearing officer determines the delay is attributable to a circumstance or occurrence beyond the control of the requesting party and that an injustice would result if the adjournment was not granted.)

In a later update to the Board of Education (November 1, 2011), Mr. Dailey and Robert Morris Principal Diane Bonarigo outlined progress in working with the Batavia Teachers Association to determine measuring points and effective methods of evaluation for the locally determined 60 percent portion of the scoring measures. Utilizing ideas from the work two educational experts, Kim Marshall and Charlotte Danielson, Mr. Dailey and Mrs. Bonarigo presented a model that consists of approximately five annual, unannounced, mini-observations lasting 5-10 minutes, looking for evidence of “highly effective” to “ineffective” practices in three of the Four Domains taken from Danielson’s work: Planning and Preparation; Classroom Environment; Instruction; Professional Responsibilities. Then, within 48 hours, the principal would either provide written feedback, and/or have a conversation with the teacher to discuss that particular “snapshot” of teaching as well as invite the teacher to reflect.

The most recent report to the board included an update on the appeals process being negotiated, and on the 20-percent portion of the scoring measure. This portion of the measure is focused on defining the Student Learning Objective (SLO), which is particularly important for those subject areas in which there is no state assessment that can be used for teacher evaluation. Mr. Dailey outlined the five decisions that need to be effectively addressed before June 2012:

-- Assess and identify priorities and academic needs;
-- Identify which grades/subjects will have state-provided growth measures and which will require SLOs  as “comparable growth measures";
-- Determine district rules for how specific SLOs will get set;
-- Establish expectations for scoring SLOs and for determining teacher ratings for the growth component;
-- Determine district-wide processes for setting, reviewing and assessing SLOs in schools.

Booster Fundraising Proposals

Superintendent Puzio noted that, with the anticipated reductions in the number and in the scope of individual school programs, several parents have requested approval for forming booster groups to provide financial support for activities. Noting that difficult budget years are likely to continue, so too are these requests. As such, Mrs. Puzio suggested that the board consider formalizing a policy to handle such requests, and she asked for members’ initial thoughts and concerns. Some of the thoughts expressed by individual board members during this preliminary and exploratory discussion included:

-- The board should do whatever it can to preserve programs, including creating booster policies that would enable the preservation or support of activities;
-- A note that programs cannot become “pay to play” and that participation cannot become hinged on the ability to raise funds;
-- Any plan would need to consider the timeline for planning and scheduling (For example, any athletic group would need to be able to secure funding before the district could commit to scheduling competitions for the team.);
-- Breaking down all related expenses and forecasting the cost of activities could be burdensome;
-- Recently, some board members had expressed a concern about fundraising becoming too much of a burden for parents, yet this policy would likely increase the amount of fundraising that occurs.

Mrs. Puzio will consolidate the ideas and concerns in preparing a proposal for discussion next month at the March 26 school board meeting.