Sewanhaka Board of Education Notebook: Dec. 20

If you missed the Board of Education meeting on Monday, here are some of the highlights:

• At the outset of the meeting, Superintendent Warren Meierdiercks encouraged the board meeting attendees to check out the art work in the meeting room, which was supplied by students at Elmont Memorial High School. 
• The attendance rate was 96 percent district-wide, Meierdiercks said.
• Meierdiercks wished everyone a happy holidays. "May 2011 be filled with good health, joy and peace," he said.
• Students in the choirs of each of the five high schools in the district for the crowd.

Payments

• There will be an out-of-district staff development workshop for the district's music staff to be conducted on Jan. 25, 2011. This workshop will include David Dolgon, a music clinician, conducting a three-hour Finale and Smart Music clinic. The workshop costs $400 and is funded through Title II. 
• There will be another staff development workshop for the Career/Technology Education staff on Jan. 26, 2011. This workshop will be done by CareerSmarts, will cost $375 and is funded through the Perkins Grant.
• An out-of-district staff development workshop on ecological changes in the Galapagos Islands will be done on Jan. 25, 2011. This workshop will be conducted by Dr. Juliana Chase, it will cost $350 and is funded through Title II.
• Sixty-seven New Hyde Park High School, Sewanhaka High School and H. Frank Carey High School to attend the Model United Nations Conference in Washington, D.C. at American University. This conference is from Feb. 2 through Feb. 6. The students costs will be paid by themselves, but chaperones costs of between $828 and $1096.20 for lodging, $186 for meals and $82.20 for transportation is paid by the school district.

Contract

• The district has entered into a one-year contract with Princeton Review to provide SAT prep classes in the spring of 2011.

Purchases

• Entertainment books for the varsity soccer club for a fundraiser totaling $3,500.
• The New Hyde Park High School music club has $9,303 in fruit for a fundraiser.

Donation

• The  donated $200 to the Sewanhaka High School cosmetology program.

Changes to School Board Policy

• The board upped the amount of money that equipment must cost that requires a competitive bid to be sought. The amount went from $10,000 to $20,000.
• The maximum amount for purchasing supplies and equipment other than through an authorized bid was changed from $9,999.99 to $19,999.99. 
• The cost for public works contracts that need to have a competitive bid went from $20,000 to $35,000.
• The amount for transportation contracts was upped from $10,000 to $20,000.