District looking for volunteers for facility committee

by Kathleen Duff

At its Monday evening meeting, the Grand Island Board of Education discussed the composition of the capital project planning committee.

Board Vice President Tak Nobumoto wants to extend a second invitation to Grand Island residents to become community members of the committee. (Seven out of the current 34 members are from the community.) Nobumoto feels the committee need to "be more transparent" with residents. Interested parties should email the district clerk at [email protected] or call 773-8801. Deadline is Aug. 2. The next committee meeting is Aug. 3.

In other business, Assistant Superintendent for Business and Finance Loraine Ingrasci told trustees that a "blister" has developed on the middle school roof and that repairs would be made under warranty with no cost to the district.

Additionally, trustees approved the certification of the 2011-12 tax rate of 1.7 percent and heard a report from Connor Middle School Principal Bruce Benson that he has removed the Readers/Writers and Peer Review "extracurriculars" from his fall schedule due to budget considerations. Budget cuts have also changed the format of the annual school calendar. Only a limited number of calendars will be available in school and district offices. The most up-to-date version of the calendar will be posted to the district website: www.k12.ginet.org. Superintending of Schools Robert Christmann said that not printing and mailing the calendars to parents is saving the district thousands of dollars.

Christmann informed the board that administrators will be trained in annual professional performance reviews through Erie 1 BOCES. These mandated evaluations of principals and teachers will come from standardized test scores and observations.

The superintendent commented on senior passing rates, too, stating that 91 percent of all seniors passed their courses in the fourth quarter.