The Greenport Board of Education elected Daniel Creedon as its president Tuesday night following a split nomination. READ
Tag: Southold Board of Education
After announcing in November that David Gamberg would continue as the shared superintendent of both Southold and Greenport school districts after his initial contract ends this June, a three-year contract was approved by the Greenport Board of Education on Tuesday and the Southold Board of Education the following night.
The Greenport and Southold school boards struck a unique deal in September 2013 to share a superintendent, something unseen in the 120 other kindergarten through 12th-grade districts on Long Island. READ
Diane O’Neill enters court in Riverhead last Wednesday. (Credit: Paul Squire, file)
The Southold High School math teacher arrested on a drunken driving charge after she fatally struck a pedestrian in Jamesport last week has retired.
The Southold Board of Education unanimously approved Diane O’Neill’s retirement without discussion in a resolution listing several other personnel items at its meeting Wednesday night.
Police said Ms. O’Neill, 65, of Farmingville was driving her 2007 Mercedes-Benz westbound on Main Road near Herricks Lane shortly after 7:15 p.m. on Jan. 13 when she struck George Kurovics, a 90-year-old beloved barber and war veteran from Jamesport.
His family believes Mr. Kurovics had stopped after he spotted one of the family’s cats dead on the roadside.
Superintendent David Gamberg said after the meeting that Ms. O’Neill, who’s worked in the district for 21 years, is eligible for her benefits and will be granted them.
“It’s a very unfortunate situation,” he said, when asked for comment. “My heart goes out to everyone involved.”
Ms. O’Neill was arraigned last Wednesday and released on $10,000 bail. She’s due back in court next month.
Southold Superintendent David Gamberg, right, and Greenport Superintendent Michael Comanda (Credit: Katharine Schroeder, file)
Both the Greenport and Southold school boards are set to approve a shared-superintendent contract that’s expected to save each district more than $100,000. (more…)
Southold school board member Scott DeSimone, left, with board vice president Judi Fouchet.
And then there were none.
No incumbent school board members are facing a challenge in the five Southold Town school districts this year after Southold Board of Education trustee Scott DeSimone withdrew his petition for candidacy this week. (more…)
FILE PHOTO | Greenport Superintendent Michael Comanda, left, and Southold Superintendent David Gamberg recently announced a joint agreement to share a technology director.
The Southold Board of Education is expected to discuss its transportation contract and a shared-service agreement with Greenport at tonight’s regular school board meeting.
There’s a resolution on the agenda to approve a contract extension with Sunrise Busses for the 2013-14 school year. The proposal includes a 2 percent increase or the consumer price index, whichever is lower.
The board is also likely to vote on a joint agreement with Greenport schools to share a new technology director for at least the next three years.
The Greenport school board approved the agreement during its May 14 meeting to appoint Ryan Case to the post, which takes effect July 1.
The public portion of tonight’s Southold school board meeting starts at 7:30 p.m.
Scroll down to view the complete agenda. Read more in the May 30 issue of The Suffolk Times.
JENNIFER GUSTAVSON FILE PHOTO | Tonight’s Southold school board meeting is at 7:30 p.m.
The Southold Board of Education is expected to adopt Superintendent David Gamberg’s proposed $28 million budget at tonight’s 7:30 p.m. meeting.
His spending plan is about a $1 million increase compared to the current school year’s budget.
The school board has also reached a tentative retirement incentive agreement with the Southold Faculty Association not to exceed $580,000, according to tonight’s agenda. Many school districts strapped for cash have offered retirement incentives because replacing employees with new hires is a cost-effective move.
Scroll down to view the complete agenda. Check back later for an update.
SUFFOLK TIMES FILE PHOTO | Tonight’s Southold Board of Education meeting is at 7:30 p.m.
Southold School District Superintendent David Gamberg is expected to give a presentation on his 2013-14 preliminary spending plan at tonight’s 7:30 p.m. school board meeting.
According to the agenda, Mr. Gamberg will go over the district’s budget process, revenue, expenditures and give a review about the state-mandated tax levy cap.
Under Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposed budget for the next fiscal year, Southold would receive about $1.4 million in state aid, down nearly 12 percent compared to the current school year.
During last month’s Longwood Regional Legislative Breakfast in Middle Island, local elected officials told a group of Long Island educators they believe the majority of cuts in the governor’s preliminary spending plan will be restored.
The state Legislature is expected to approve its budget by April 1.
In May, the district’s $27 million budget carrying a 2.93 percent increase in the tax levy passed by a 534 to 289 vote.
Scroll down to view the complete agenda.
BETH YOUNG FILE PHOTO | Southold Superintendent David Gamberg teaches kids how to do flower arranging at a celebration of the school’s garden next spring. Mr. Gamberg says his district is working to keep the focus on these types of integrated classes even as New York State imposes more and more tests.
Southold school officials estimate the district will spend more than $165,000 next year to institute a new state-mandated teacher evaluation program, and school board members wonder if it’s worth the extra money the federal government is offering for its implementation.
This year the state has set a series of rigorous new standards for teacher assessments, known as the Annual Professional Performance Review, which requires more tests to measure student progress throughout the year. Those tests are then used to evaluate the effectiveness of teachers.
Southold Superintendent David Gamberg said at a school board work session Nov. 14 that the new tests will cost about $20,000, plus another $145,000 to train teachers and administrators over the course of the school year.
The new requirements are part of the federal Race to the Top program, the successor to the No Child Left Behind program. Race to the Top awarded $700 million to New York State in exchange for creating new teacher assessments.
But school districts throughout the state and the North Fork complain that very little of that money is making its way out of the bureaucracy in Albany to individual school systems.
In his presentation, Mr. Gamberg cited a recent SUNY/New Paltz study that compared the program to the Spruce Goose, Howard Hughes’ huge World War II-era wooden airplane, which turned out to have no practical use.
“It’s one of the most cumbersome plans you can create on this planet,” said the superintendent. “There are serious challenges to the federal program’s validity and the research on which it is based. This is a grand and costly experiment that has the potential to take public education in the wrong direction.”
Among the issues with the new requirements, he said, is the fact that schools must create their own assessments for subjective study areas such as art and music, in which students are not often tested.
Board members, unanimously opposed to the new requirements, wondered aloud what would happen if the district decided to “go renegade” and not institute the new program.
“If enough people refuse to comply, how will these laws be enforced?” asked board member John Crean.
Board president Paulette Ofrias asked Mr. Gamberg to discuss the district’s responsibility with state Senate education committee chairman John Flanagan.
“Ask the senator what would happen if Southold goes renegade,” Ms. Ofrias said. “I think we need to find out what the consequences are.”
“The entire Board of Education wants to know,” added vice president Judi Fouchet. “Every single one of us feels this.”
Ms. Fouchet added that it sometimes takes students longer than one school year to absorb subject matter, making it difficult to evaluate whether their teachers have been effective.
“What if they’re working on something in May and it shows up the following October?” she asked. “Their own individual development is so critical to how they learn.”
Mr. Gamberg said the district has complied fully with the new regulations so far, but “we are going to keep our priorities straight. We’re not abandoning robotics or the school garden. Those are the types of things that are on the chopping block” in other districts, in order to pay for the new tests, he said.
“Not all has been negative,” he added. “In the process of having teachers collaborate, there are good healthy discussions about education.”