A regular column from the president of the Beacon School Board
by Bill Zopf
President, Board of Education, Beacon School District
Quality of education, student safety, property taxes, home values, educated work force. What do these things have in come? Either directly or indirectly your school board makes decisions affecting these and other aspects of life in your community .
To help people better understand the policies and operations of a school district, the Beacon Dispatch and Beacon Free Press have agreed to present this forum to discuss the work of the Board of Education for the Beacon City School District (BCSD). This first column will introduce you to the school district, school board members, and exciting new construction work on the Rombout Middle School.
Communication
There are various ways a school district can communicate with district residents. In Beacon we have a Web site (www.beaconcityschools.org), a cable TV channel (Channel 22 for City of Beacon residents only), and a periodic newsletter mailed to all residents of the school district. For parents and guardians of students there are school newsletters, and principals and teachers send letters home with the students.
However, we’re always looking for new, more efficient ways of communicating with our constituents. This column, appearing at the beginning of each month, will provide another means of informing BCSD residents about school board issues and news. As the president of the board I will be writing the column with advice and input from my fellow board members and administrators.
Facts About BCSD
First, I’d like to share a few facts about the Beacon School District. Each school district has an institution classification which determines how the district operates. Some of the districts in our area are Central School Districts, such as Wappingers and Hyde Park. Others are Union Free School Districts, such as Spackenkill and Dover. The Beacon City School District is classified as an Enlarged City School District. This means the school district encompasses the City of Beacon and areas outside of the city’s boundaries, including portions of the Town of Fishkill and the Town of Wappingers. You may also hear the BCSD referred to as a small city school district. There are approximately 3,400 students in our district. We have four elementary schools, one middle school and one high school. Our budget for the 2006-2007 school year is $48,204,000.
The purpose of the school board is to set educational policy and oversee the operations of the school district. For most school districts in New York State, being a member of a school board is an unpaid position. This is certainly the case in all of the school districts in Dutchess County. Most members of a school board are elected at large by the residents of the school district. The school board ultimately has the authority and responsibility for the education of the students, welfare and safety of the students, establishing the budget for the school year, hiring and firing, contract negotiations and maintaining the physical plant (basically building and buses). School board members are typically not experts in the very complex task of running a school district. For this reason, they hire administrators, teachers, support staff, auditors, and attorneys to assist them.
The number of members of a school board can vary. The BCSD school board has nine members, each serving a three year term. Each year three members’ terms expire so we always have experienced members serving on the board. The board appoints a president and vice president each year at the first organizational meeting of the school year on July 1st. The current members of the board and the year in which their terms end are as follows:
William Zopf - President 2009
Deborah Sheers - Vice President 2007
Alyson Chugerman 2008
Cynthia Griffin 2009
Larry Cohen 2008
Carla Pettorossi 2007
Michael Riehl 2008
Mary-Beth Stephens 2007
Edward Tucker 2009
Working committees are set up to discuss various issues and make recommendations to the entire board. For our school district the standing committees are the Education, Policy, Finance, Buildings and Transportation, Personnel, Negotiations, Election and Audit committees. Ad-hoc committees can be formed for special circumstances. Membership in the committees is split between the members of the board with each board member serving on multiple committees.
When Does the School Board Meet?
Our board meetings are typically on the second and fourth Mondays of each month at 8:00 pm. The meeting date and time as well as the agenda is posted on the school district Web site as well as at the Howland library and City Hall. There are also copies of the agenda available at the meeting so anyone can follow along as the meeting progresses. There is a workshop from 7:00 pm until 8:00 pm where presentations are made to the board and the board discusses various topics.
During the school board meeting the superintendent reports on various aspects of school operations, the board committees report on their activities, board members comment, and various motions are voted on. There is also a period shortly after the start of the meeting where anyone in the audience can comment on the policies or operations of the school district. Comments are limited to three minutes per person so everyone has a chance to speak and we can finish the meeting at a reasonable hour. Questions may also be asked and if possible they will be answered. Sometimes questions can not be answered because the subject is a matter which the board can’t discuss in public (Negotiations, specific students, personnel issues are a few of these).
Committee meetings occur as needed with most meeting once a month. The public is welcome to attend these meetings but there is usually no public comment during these meetings. These meetings are announced at the board meetings and are posted in the same manner as the board meetings.
What’s New?
In current news, Beacon residents may have noticed the construction taking place at the Rombout Middle school. A few years ago the board and the superintendent determined improvements were needed at Rombout. The number of students in the district had been increasing dramatically and the middle school had reached its capacity. Technology now plays a larger part in educating our students and the Rombout facilities needed upgrading. We also had safety concerns regarding the drop off and pick up locations for the students.
Thanks to the referendum passed by the district voters two years ago, $8,500,000 was budgeted to improve Rombout and the track. A new wing has been added housing a large Library Media room, a large group instruction room, a class room and a computer lab for specialized instruction in math, science and technology. The main entrance to the building will be located in this wing with a foyer hosting a security kiosk to greet and direct parents and guests. There is a new parking lot outside the new wing for visitors and a student drop-off/pick-up area in front of the main entrance. This will separate the students from the bus and staff parking which will remain in the original lot.
The old library has been converted into three classrooms and a Student Service suite housing a psychologist, social workers and a conference area. The old guidance area has become the new main office in a more centrally located area of the building. The old main office has been converted to a new guidance suite with additional space. The cafeteria was enlarged by removing the old stage area. The former wood workshop was converted into two new classrooms and two additional classrooms were added at the back of the building. Assistant principal suites were located at two strategic areas of the building so administrators would be closer to the classrooms and more visible. An athletic weight room and a new athletic team room have been created from reconfigured space. There are many miscellaneous improvements such as new lighting, new paint, sealing of the existing parking lot, a new public address system, new fire alarm system, new storage areas and more.
All of these improvements are planned to be finished in time for the opening of school and certainly I hope they will be done by the time you read this. The Board of Education hopes everyone attending Rombout will enjoy the great improvements made there and we would like to wish success to our students, teachers, administrators and staff as the new school year starts.
I would like to thank the editor of this newspaper for publishing this column and their support of the district. Please reciprocate by patronizing the merchants who support the newspaper and by letting the editor know you read this column. If you have any suggestions for future columns you may contact me by email at [email protected].
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