The Onteora Central School District is currently contemplating a reconfiguration of its three elementary schools -- a process that could result in the closing of a school, or a new division of the grade levels.
The Onteora Board of Education recently sent an open letter to the community about the reconfiguration, which was the topic of a recent public meeting at the Woodstock Elementary School. The next meeting of the Board of Education, on January 10 at the Bennett Elementary School, will include a public presentation by Superintendent Phyllis McGill about the reconfiguration options.
The letter is printed below. --Ed.
We would like to take this opportunity to clarify the role of the Board of Education and update our Community about possible changes in the Onteora District.
The Onteora Board of Education is comprised of seven District residents who serve three-year terms on a rotating basis. Elections are held at the Budget vote, in May. Board Trustees are required by law to receive financial training and basic training. As well as preparing for, attending and voting at their required regular school board meetings, Onteora Board members, like most across New York State, sometimes must attend additional Board meetings called for timely issues; attend various County-wide board meetings, State and National conventions, seminars, workshops, presentations and annual dinners; serve on Board and District committees (most of which invite public participation); read and study their State and National school board magazines; digest a weekly management letter from their Superintendent; engage in conversations with their electorate as they attend school functions and go about the community; and keep a dialogue with, and lobby, their own elected officials on education funding and policy. All of this helps provide a proper perspective on the issues affecting their own School District.
Over the last several years, the Onteora Board of Education has also held “coffee chats” and visited town board meetings, and local community groups across the District during budget season, introduced an annual High School Board Meeting for students to better understand the school board’s function, and kept the community informed via regular letters to the local papers and in the district newsletter. School Board trustees are volunteers; they are the only unpaid elected officials in New York State. Of the current Onteora board, six trustees either have or have had children or grandchildren in the School District, at every grade level.
At the beginning of 2011, after an extensive and rigorous search for a new Superintendent who could work with the Board in achieving all of its publicly stated Annual Goals, the Board unanimously appointed Dr. Phyllis McGill. Her first year as District Superintendent has coincided with a drastic cut in State spending and the additional imposition of the “Tax Cap Levy,” but this has not reduced the Superintendent’s professional requirement to improve the quality of our students’ education. (The Board’s first goal for 2011- 12, entitled “Educational Vision,” seeks to “Promote a stimulating, healthy and safe environment conducive to learning, which improves the educational experience for all students, creates a stimulating learning environment that teaches beyond the test, and increases graduation rate and aspirational performance measure, while meeting State and Federal requirements.”)
The Board also has fiscal duties to uphold, and at the Superintendent’s request, it approved a long-term Financial Report by Bernard P. Donegan Inc., which was presented to the public at a Board meeting in September. The board has now begun considering reconfiguration options: a presentation was made to the Board by the Superintendent at its December 13 meeting entitled, “Improving the Elementary student experience and improving Elementary student learning with reduced financial resources.” This presentation looked at the impacts of three different reconfiguration plans, with the desire to address areas of concern in our educational system, and to find a path forward that also falls within the financial constraints of our district. The impacts on each of us vary, but the overall success of the Onteora Central School District is our primary responsibility. A reconfiguration will not be approved by the Board of Education if it can not demonstrate that it will help achieve the Board’s Goals. (The second Board Goal, “District Configuration/Facilities,” seeks to “Promote a district configuration which best supports District education policy for all students across the District, and which takes into account local community support for local community elementary schools.”)
It is not the Board’s desire to approve change for change’s sake, nor do we want to rush to eliminate the things about Onteora that parents treasure – such as music and arts education, after-school activities, sports, high school electives, or their elementary school community.
While we can perhaps put a price on everything within the district, it is harder to attach a precise value, and we understand that this is where the conversation becomes difficult.
The Board has made its recent presentations public via the District web site (http://onteora.k12.ny.us – follow the top menu link to BOE for additional resources and for the full list of Board Goals). If you have any problems accessing this information please contact our District Clerk, Fern Amster at famster@onteora.k12.ny.us or via phone, 845 657-6383.
At the next Board of Education meeting, at Bennett Elementary School on January 10, Dr. McGill will present a more detailed look at the education benefits of the three plans under consideration, and will further address the transportation issues that are an inherently complicated aspect of any reconfiguration change. No date has yet been set for a Board vote on these plans; we know that there are many questions that need to be answered before we can do so. We will hold another Public Forum after the next presentation, which will allow for further dialogue; all board meetings, regardless, have two Public Be Heard sections.
If you wish to contact the Board directly, please do so via OnteoraBOE@onteora.k12.ny.us or via postal mail to the Central School Office.
With best wishes for the Holidays,
The Onteora Board of Education:
Ann McGillicuddy, President, Tony Fletcher, Vice President, Tom Hickey, Rob Kurnit, Michael McKeon, Laurie Osmond, Dan Spencer
