Herricks Board of Education Notebook: November 15

The Herricks Board of Education held a meeting on Thursday, November 15. Here are some of the things you may have missed.

NY State Assessments

• Educational Vistas will be grading the district’s New York State Assessment tests in English Language Arts (ELA) and Math for grades three through eighth for the 2012-2013 school year.
• The board approved of paying them no more than $45,000 to do so.
• Superintendent Dr. John Bierwirth explained that with so many additional mandates and requirements of teachers, outsourcing the grading of these tests gives the teachers more time in the classroom.

Audit Plan

• The board approved the corrective action plan that was given by the auditor, R.S. Abrams & Co., for the 2011-2012 school year.
• Assistant Superintendent Helen Costigan said that there were only two recommendations from the auditor, which is a small number of recommendations.

Other Board News

• Meenakashi Krishna and Benjamin Pleat were named the high school’s valedictorian and salutatorian respectively.
• The board of education was honored for its service with a photo for school board recognition week.
• The board approved of allowing a trip to Italy from March 21 through March 29 for high school students at a cost of no more than $3,998 a student.
• Five lunch tables at the Denton Avenue School that could no longer be repaired were declared obsolete by the board.
• The board approved an addendum to its agreement with Teachscape for training and reviews that are needed for Annual Professional Performance Review (APPR). The addendum states that the contract is “not to exceed 30 teachers at a cost of $100 per teacher.”
• The board declared an emergency to fix Searingtown’s hot water heater, which is irreparable. The district will be buying a GSX100 water heater that will not exceed $1,900.

The next meeting of the Herricks Board of Education will be on Thursday, December 6 at 7:15 p.m. at the community center.