ROXBURY — Before last week’s monthly regular Roxbury Central School Board Meeting, the members took a tour of the entire school to review any issues that might exist, as planned last month.
The Treasurer's report was given with the mention from the President of the board, Edward Fersch that it contains all the information that is usually given and that there are still "outstanding checks." The extracurricular activities report was that it is early in the year, and was "the calm before the storm," (in that the extracurricular activities would start soon.)
After the minutes from the last meeting were approved, the President's report started with the NYSSBA Resolutions. NYSSBA is the New York State School Boards Association. a membership organization representing public boards of education and Boards of Cooperative Educational Services BOCES). The day after the board meeting this month, will be the annual meeting of the NYSSBA, where every district has the opportunity to appoint a delegate. Edward Fersch has been the delegate, and has provided the school board members with a booklet containing the resolutions, "which is the way NYSSBA drives its advocacy during the year." Fersch explained that the first five were self-explanatory changes to bylaws, and that the next few sunset after five years, and as some face sunsetting , they are coming up to be continued. He noted that there was a theme to this year's resolutions, a concern about "charter schools typically lasting up to five years ." Charter schools are independently run, tuition-free public schools that operate under a time-limited performance contract or charter.
Among the concerns are whether the directors have to be state residents and how the schools get their money. "There is a theme about health insurance," also a concern regarding the HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning systems) Bond Act, providing funds when schools are upgrading their HVAC systems. President Fersch directed the Board's attention to Resolution 12, a concern about young students having computer based testing as young as 3rd grade. Fersch points out that it would mean students having to learn to use laptops in K - 2nd grade. The resolution would provide an option that schools could choose to not use computer based testing. Resolution 24 concerns transportation aid,. The school gets aid to bring children to and from school, but not to sporting events. The resolution holds that sporting events are part of the educational experience and should be able to access state aid for the cost of transportation to them as well. President Fersch reminds the Board that these resolutions are areas of advocacy and they do not compel the state to listen or act on them.
Next, President Fersch presented three Board Goals he had drafted. He pointed out that there is a difference between board goals and district goals. Board goals are "what the board wishes to accomplish as a board and they may not be in line with the things which need to be accomplished in the district." The first one is to study the long term educational and fiscal stability of the district. He proposes that there be a committee to look into and present a preliminary report in February. The second goal is to develop charters for the boards' standing committees. The charter explains what the committee's responsibilities are, and give the parameters for approval. He proposes one or two board members work on creating this. He asked board member Dr. Deborah Fox to work on this and she has agreed. The third is to work with administration and technology teams to improve video conferencing for board meetings. The last item on the President's report was to propose a board retreat to discuss board responsibilities and protocols, to be held before the December meeting.
Superintendent Dr. Stacy Ward's report began with a planned sign for the parking lot, that the general public cannot park there during school hours and during snow emergencies. The