Lew-Port BOE hears food service update, good news on audit

by Janet Schultz
Lewiston Porter Sentinel, October 24, 2009

After only three meetings, the Lewiston-Porter Board of Education subcommittee on food service has made strides in making sure that Lew-Port students have healthy choices at lunchtime, according to board member April Fideli, chairperson of the committee.

At this point, the committee has focused on the Primary Education Building and has worked whole wheat, 1 percent milk and fresh fruit into a menu that says Lew-Port is proud of using locally grown produce. In addition, the group has a color-coded menu selection on the serving line to make it easier for children to make healthy choices.

“The other big announcement is that the high school will be adding a salad bar,” said Fideli.

The Lewiston-Porter BOE, which in previous years has been criticized for not working as a cohesive unit, held a retreat, which included school administrators.

“This was a landmark activity,” said Board President Keith Fox.

Board member Wendy Swearingen said at the retreat the board listed its accomplishments, looked at current issues facing them, reviewed its priority list, came up with ideas they would like to pursue, and looked at the outcomes they would desire.

Among those seen as issues to address are overcoming the lingering mistrust the Lew-Port district has for the board; focusing on their goals, defining their role as board members and that of the superintendent, and reaching consensus. Board members realize Lew-Port is facing financial issues in the coming years, but that they must maintain an open and honest communication system and focus on student achievement and outcomes to be successful.

“It was a good experience, and we learned a lot,” said Swearingen.

“There was a lot of discussion about the previous board members suing each other and we, in a gentleman’s agreement, agreed not to sue each other,” said board member Ed Waller.

The board then received the auditor’s report from Richard Ertel, who informed district taxpayers and the board that Lew-Port is in good shape; the audit was clean.

“The fund balance is within the state requirement. The state requires it be at 4 percent of your budget and yours is at 3.8 percent. The main things that you will be dealing with in the coming years are an increase in the retirement system, increases in health care and you don’t know what your state aid will be,” said Ertel.

Next, Fox took a moment to explain minor changes in the board’s agenda format. He reported the board would go into executive session from 6:30 to 7 p.m. at each meeting, followed by the regular meeting. The public comment session will follow committee reports and any special presentations. Persons wishing to speak would have an opportunity to sign up while the board is in executive session, rather than just prior to the meeting being called to order as before.

Janet Collesano, a resident of the district and nurse practitioner at Niagara University, questioned the school’s policy on influenza. She cited several statistics showing that there is not only an increase in the number of persons getting the flu, but in the severity of it.

Superintendent Chris Roser explained that a letter had gone out, detailing Lew-Port’s school’s policy on handling of illness, in May and that another went out two weeks ago. The policy states that students returning to school must be without a fever for 24 hours, without using a fever reducer, before returning to school. Any student that shows any signs of illness when they return is immediately sent to the school nurse.

“We have also purchased hand sanitizer and placed some in each classroom,” said Roser, who recently sat in on a statewide videoconference on the topic.

“We are also monitoring our attendance very closely,” he continued. “Our attendance has been around 90 percent with the lowest being the Friday before Columbus Day when it dropped to 87 percent.”

The district has posted information on the H1N1 flu and prevention on its Web site.

In other news, Roser discussed the new elementary schools’ day schedule, which has students arriving earlier. The instructional day now begins at 9:05 a.m., 20 minutes earlier than in 2008. In addition, both schools decreased the passing time between classes by one minute. By making these changes, they have significantly increased the instructional time over the year. No changes were made to lunch, the resource room or literacy instruction.

“This move actually gives us the equivalent of 10 days of additional instruction over the course of a year,” said Roser. “The work day for the teachers remains the same.

“The teachers now have more common time together to collaborate on instruction and talk about the children and activities,” he continued.

In the Primary Education Center, art and music are now getting an additional 2.5 hours of instruction over the year. Lew-Port is meeting the state physical education requirement of meeting daily for 30 minutes rather than 40 minutes twice every six days, an increase of 1.25 days per year.

In the Intermediate School, there is a significant increase in the time spent by students in math – 40 minutes per day last year is now 60 minutes per day. Time spent in both art and music has declined over the course of the year; however, students are still receiving art, music and physical education daily.

Roser said there is no down time this year for buses, which used to have to wait several minutes to begin their primary/intermediate/elementary runs after dropping the high school students off.

“In the end, the schedule benefits the students and the teachers,” said Roser, who also announced he will be posting the schedule on his Web site shortly.

Touching on IDEA Grants, Roser spoke of the financial importance of using these grants and the impact the district will have if they are no longer available. Much of this funding is used for teacher salaries and the rest for supplies and equipment.

“We are OK for the next two years, but the 2011 budget will be a hard one if the federal monies are not available,” he said. “Education could change in the next couple of years, and we need to look at what we do. Making cuts will be hard. Some of what we offer now we may not be able to offer then.”

In other board news, it:

•Reached an agreement with CATCO for earlier work, and approved payment. Roser said the district reached an agreement rather than a settlement. No amount was made public.

•Accepted the audit report as presented by Amato, Fox and Co.

•Approved requests for staff development as submitted by the administrators. Board member Jim Sperduti questioned the number of days that substitutes would have to be hired to cover for those attending development activities and the effect on the student. Roser explained that the highest number substitutes in for a day would be eight, and that October is a busy month for development activities because conferences and such are not usually held during the winter months.

•Approved an agreement with Sodexo Management Inc. to manage the outdoor concession stand for fall sports.

•Accepted the resignation of cleaner Dina Loverdi.

•Approved co- and extracurricular assignments for Scott Mueller, JV girls basketball, and James Burritt, high school musical production and show chorus.

•Approved teacher mentor appointments for Eileen O’Neil, Joseph Lauzonis, Denise Scinta, Mary Ellen Aureli and Heidi Kazulak.

•Approved after-school assistance program teachers Diane Bernat, Kristian Ruggiero, Alan Ingraham, Joseph Conti, Michael Kankolenski, Theresa Sondek, Joanne Besant, Cathy Hall, Kim Wailand, John Stodolka, James Coyle and Karen Pax.

In a lighter moment, Roser recognized the Lew-Port Board of Education for their work. They were presented with a “Board of Education Survival Kit,” which included a pillow to protect them from destructive criticism, a budget development device (calculator), budget reduction device (red pen), frustration repair implement (tape), superintendent action motivator (Hi-Liter), cohesive unit cement (permanent glue stick), forget me nots (Post-it notes) and an administrative inadequacy recorder (very small note pad). They also received a Lewiston-Porter lapel pin and flowers for their “at-home” spouse.

“This is a thankless job and a difficult one,” said Roser. “We thank them for their work.”