From the GI BOE: Thank you to district personnel for going above and beyond

The Grand Island Board of Education held the first workshop of the school year on Sept. 28. This initial workshop session enabled board members to examine district plans in order to use resources wisely. Progress on board goals from the 2019-20 school year was discussed, and we reviewed the elementary math curriculum maps for grades pre-K-5. Curricular alignment for grades 2-5 at Kaegebein and Huth was part of the summer curriculum work. Thank you to the following teacher participants for working collaboratively on this important work: Maureen Roussi, Linda Samland, Sue Andrews, Molly Ehlenfield, Dana Santospirito, Melissa Aldridge, Karen Koslowski, Rhonda Taylor, Maria Seibert, Janice Ahne, Jillian Wood, Jeannie Percival, Patti Kwarciak, Kathy Chadwick, Tricia McDonald, Carilyn Gallagher, Karen Schauger, Jen Centola, Frances Reid, Michelle Graziano, Stacey Zahradnik, Casey Steck-Comeau, and Jill Gregson. The newly completed math curriculum map will be posted on the school website.

Thank you to all of our SRPs who worked tirelessly in order to help us open safely on behalf of the school board. The school administrators have noted how instrumental our SRPs were in getting schools ready for opening. As noted by Mrs. Dunbar, “All you have to do is walk our buildings to see how much effort has gone into making our school spaces safe.” As the plastics were coming in slowly and needing to be assembled, the teamwork by the SRP unit was evident. They worked together to not only assemble 12,000 pieces of plastic to act as dividers and barriers to keep students safe but also to make sure that edges were covered, partitions were appropriately placed, that the work was quality before leaving the job. The custodial crews went above and beyond the call of duty to help each school get ready for reopening. Mrs. Pallaci has noted that on top of their regular duties the custodial staff at Kaegebein performed throughout the summer; they were extremely flexible and willing to stay late to implement needed changes. Every classroom has received a new HealthMate Air Purifier from Austin Air Systems, and we would like to thank Jim Rozler, director of facilities, for researching and procuring these devices.

The board would also like to recognize reopening subcommittees as the year progresses. Mr. Fitzpatrick, middle school principal, has expressed how members of our health and safety subcommittee met tirelessly over the summer in numerous meetings and countless emails to develop protocols and procedures within the state guidelines and district resources to contribute to reopening schools. The members of this committee were Julia Fuchs (Sidway elementary teacher), Jeff Green (high school science teacher); Jennifer Chowske (high school physical education); Sharyn Mudd (middle school librarian); Nicole Oursler (middle school sixth-grade teacher); Margie Cammarano (middle school monitor); Sherry Steffans (middle school nurse); Scott Perry (SRP union president); Adam Buffomante (middle school assistant principal). Grand Island teachers, as a whole, went above and beyond this summer and were hands-on with reopening planning and preparation. New thermal temperature scanners on a portable cart are utilized at each of the buildings’ main entrances. Thank you to our IT department, as well as our school nurses, for working together in an effort to add one more additional layer of screening as our students enter school each day. Information on reported COVID-19 cases in schools can be found using the following: https://schoolcovidreportcard.health.ny.gov/#/searchResults.

Please look for a parent survey that will be made available shortly in order for the board and district to review how the school year is progressing.

Thank you for taking an interest in the Grand Island Central School District. The next upcoming Board of Education special meeting and workshop session will take place at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 26, at Grand Island High School.

President Ashli Dreher

Vice President Susan Marston

Trustees: Nicole Novak, Glenn Bobeck, Robin McCreary, Joy LaMarca and Jay Grover