Oct. 5, 2022 minutes

The Regular Board of Education Meeting was called to order at 6 p.m. at the Herkimer Jr./Sr. High School Library Media Center by President Crandall and the Pledge of Allegiance was said.

President Crandall explained that the Board of Education welcomes public comment and community input at meetings. However, we caution that we are not authorized to engage in conversations pertaining to individual students, faculty, staff, or administrators. Topics of this nature may only be discussed during executive session and must be coordinated with the Superintendent of Schools prior to a BOE meeting.

Public Comment:

The Board of Education heard no comments from the public.

Approval of the Agenda:

Mr. Lamanna moved, and Mr. Verenich seconded a motion to formally approve the consent agenda. All voted in favor; motion carried 6:0.

Board Recognitions:

President Crandall acknowledged the student artwork on display, as well as the brochure submitted regarding the New York State School Board Association Virtual Art Exhibit 2022. A brief discussion followed.

Approval of the Minutes:

Mr. Petucci moved, and Mr. Lamanna seconded a motion to formally approve the Board of Education meeting minutes from Wednesday, September 14, 2022. All voted in favor; motion carried 6:0.

Business Reports:

Upon recommendation of Superintendent Carney, on a motion made by Ms. Gilbert seconded by Mr. Lamanna, the BOE accepts receipt of the August, July and Adjusted June Treasurer’s Reports, Revenue Status Report, Appropriation Status Report, September General Warrant totaling $1,758,891.48, September Capital Warrant totaling $44,338.63, the September Exceptions Report and one (1) budget transfer under the $5,000 total. All voted in favor; motion carried 6:0 (Material filed in the supplemental file dated 10-05-22).

2021-2022 Final BOCES Contract (AS-7):

Mr. Petucci moved, and Mr. Verenich seconded to approve the following Board resolution:

“BE IT RESOLVED, that the Board Of Education of the Herkimer Central School District does hereby approve the final AS-7 Agreement from the 2021-2022 school year between the Herkimer-Fulton-Hamilton-Otsego BOCES and the Herkimer Central School District; and

WHEREAS, it is the Districts desire to authorize President Crandall to sign the agreement on behalf of the district.

All voted in favor; motion carried 6:0 (Material filed in the supplemental file dated 10-05-22).

Dissolution of Club Resolution:

Ms. Gilbert moved, and Mr. Petucci seconded the following Board resolution:

“BE IT RESOLVED, that by the Herkimer Central School Board of Education, the Class of 2022 extracurricular account will be dissolved due to inactivity. The remaining balance of $265.96 in the class account will be donated to the Herkimer High School Student Council account.”

All voted in favor; motion carried 6:0 (Material filed in the supplemental file dated 10-05-22).

Donations to School Resolution:

Ms. Gilbert moved, and Mr. Verenich seconded the following Board resolution:

“BE IT RESOLVED, that the Board of Education of the Herkimer Central School District accepts the anonymous donation of musical instruments, as presented, to the Jr./Sr. High School Music Department, as well as a donation of an Alma Mater banner from the Class of 1970”.

All voted in favor; motion carried 6:0 (Material filed in the supplemental file dated 10-05-22).

Little Falls CSD – Combining Sports Resolution:

Mr. Lamanna moved, and Ms. Gilbert seconded the following Board resolution:

“BE IT RESOLVED, upon the recommendation of the Superintendent of Schools, that the Board of Education hereby authorizes the combining of the Herkimer CSD and Little Falls City School District modified and varsity wrestling teams”.

A brief discussion followed. All voted in favor; motion carried 6:0. (Material filed in the supplemental file dated 10-05-22)

Notre Dame HS– Combining Sports Resolution:

Mr. Lamanna moved, and Mr. Petucci seconded the following Board resolution:

“BE IT RESOLVED, upon the recommendation of the Superintendent of Schools, that the Board of Education hereby authorizes the combining of the Herkimer CSD and Notre Dame High School Ice Hockey teams”.

A brief discussion followed. All voted in favor; motion carried 6:0. (Material filed in the supplemental file dated 10-05-22).

District Audited Financial Statements:

District Financial Independent Audit Report Resolution:

Acceptance of 2021-2022 Independent Audit Report

Upon the recommendation of Superintendent Kathleen A. Carney, and the District Audit Committee, on a motion made by Ms. Gilbert, seconded by Mr. Lamanna, the Board accepts the district’s 2021-2022 Independent Audit Report as presented, and approves the submission to the New York State Education Department.

A brief discussion followed. All voted in favor; motion carried 6:0 (Material filed in the supplemental file date 10-05-22).

Federal Single Audit Resolution:

Acceptance of 2021-2022 Federal Single Audit Report

“Upon the recommendation of Superintendent Kathleen A. Carney, and the District Audit Committee, on a motion made by Ms. Gilbert, seconded by Mr. Lamanna, the Board accepts the district’s 2021-2022 Federal Single Audit Report as presented, and approves the submission to the New York State Education Department.

A brief discussion followed. All voted in favor; motion carried 6:0 (Material filed in the supplemental file dated 10-05-22).

District Extraclassroom Activity Fund Audit Report Resolution:

Acceptance of 2021-2022 Extra-Classroom Audit Report

Upon the recommendation of Superintendent Kathleen A. Carney, and the District Audit Committee, on a motion made by Ms. Gilbert, seconded by Mr. Lamanna, the Board accepts the district’s 2021-2022 Extra Classroom Activity Fund Audit Report as presented, and approves the submission to the New York State Education Department.

A brief discussion followed. All voted in favor; motion carried 6:0 (Material filed in the supplemental file dated 10-05-22).

District Audit Corrective Action Plan:

Acceptance of 2021-2022 District Audit Corrective Action Plan

Upon the recommendation of Superintendent Kathleen A. Carney, and the District Audit Committee, on a motion made by Mr. Verenich, seconded by Mr. Mihevc, the Board accepted the 2021-2022 District Audit Corrective Action Plan as presented, and approved their submission to the New York State Education Department.

All voted in favor; motion carried 6:0 (Material filed in the supplemental file dated 10-05-22).

District Extraclassroom Fund Corrective Action Plan:

Acceptance of 2021-2022 Extra-Classroom Audit Corrective Action Plan

Upon the recommendation of Superintendent Kathleen A. Carney, and the District Audit Committee, on a motion made by Ms. Gilbert, seconded by Mr. Lamanna, the Board accepted the district’s 2021-2022 Extra Curricular Audit Corrective Action Plan as presented, and approved their submission to the New York State Education Department.

A brief discussion followed. All voted in favor; motion carried 6:0. (Material filed in the supplemental file dated 10-05-22).

Business Office Update:

Ms. Frasier gave an update from the business office, including an update on the bus auction, the filing of the STAR report and that payments were beginning to come in from State Aid. She also informed that Board that although legal notices have been posted for the Clerk of the Works position, no resumes have been received to date. A discussion followed.

Superintendent Report/Update:

Superintendent Carney welcomed the students that were in attendance from Mrs. Scalise’s social studies 12 class.

It was noted that it is Board Appreciation month and Superintendent Carney expressed how appreciative she was of our Board members and the countless time they spend for an unpaid position. She also noted that it was World Teacher Day and spoke of her positive affirmations she was sending to all staff daily.

Superintendent Carney wanted to make sure everyone knew of the upcoming middle school performance of Seussical the Musical and was very excited to go see it. She spoke of the Counselor’s Corners that are being held monthly and encouraged all to attend them.

The Ride for Missing Children came through Herkimer and it was very exciting to see them and support them as they rode by our school.

She commented on many other exciting things that have been happening in our schools including a Red Cross Blood Drive, homecoming festivities, new Alma Mater banner, students’ participation in Youth Summit, staff participation in Out of the Darkness walk and elementary field trips and assemblies.

No news on Land Swap.

Superintendent Carney mentioned that the Policy Committee agreed that a representative from the Policy Service could come out and speak to the Board on November 16 if wanted. The Safety committee met on October 4 and the meeting went well. October 7 and November 16 are early release days, and the District plans to practice lockdown drills on November 16 when students will not be present.

Administrative Reports:

Mr. Abbe, Ms. Tomaso and Ms. Vogt gave an overview of their reports, which were all reviewed by the BOE.

Staffing Recommendations:

Upon the recommendation of Superintendent Carney, on a motion made by Ms. Gilbert, seconded by Mr. Petucci, the BOE approved the following personnel actions as presented. All voted in favor; motion carried 6:0:

Retired Substitute Appointment:

• Name: Bryant, Cheryl
  Position: Licensed Teaching Assistant
  Location: District-wide
  Effective Date: September 6, 2022 – June 23, 2023, as needed
  Salary: 2019-2020 Active Hourly Rate ($17.87/hour)

Coaching Recommendations:
2022-2023 Winter Interscholastic Coaching Appointments*

• Name: Blask, Mark
  Position: Boys Varsity Basketball
• Name: Carney, Michael
  Position: Boys JV Basketball
• Name: Alberts, John
  Position: Boys Modified Basketball
• Name: Appley, Daniel
  Position: Boys Modified Basketball
• Name: Shepardson, Kelli
  Position: Girls Varsity Basketball
• Name: Scalise, Laura
  Position: Girls JV Basketball
• Name: Maldonado, Marissa
  Position: Girls Modified Basketball
• Name: Maxam, Roger
  Position: Girls Varsity Volleyball
• Name: Denton, Heather
  Position: Girls Modified Volleyball
• Name: Judd, Ryan
  Position: Girls Modified Volleyball
• Name: Richard, Jason
  Position: Boys/Girls Varsity Indoor Track
• Name: Krutz, Darryl
  Position: Boys/Girls Indoor Track Assistant
• Name: Steele, Zachary
  Position: Boys/Girls Varsity Bowling

Salary Per HFA Contract, may be pro-rated as negotiated

*Conditioned upon a sufficient number of schools participating to merit a season with sufficient student participation to field a team

2022-2023 Winter Interscholastic Unpaid Coaching Appointments:

• Clark, Scott – Boys/Girls Indoor Track Unpaid Volunteer Assistant
• Couchman, Brett – Boys/Girls Indoor Track Unpaid Volunteer Assistant

2022-2023 College Now Instructor Appointments:

Salary: Per HFA Contract $300 per course

• Name: Jones, Brooke
  • English I: College Writing
  • English II: Intro to Literature
• Name: Scalise, Laura
  • Intro to Psychology
• Name: McCutcheon, Heather
  • Into to Computer Graphics & Design
  • Intro to Ceramics (Fall & Spring)
• Name: Zorn, Leah
  • Basic Drawing
  • Basic Painting
• Name: Meyer, Chanel
  • Spanish I
  • Spanish II

2022-2023 College Now Instructor Appointments (Continued):

• Name: Watkins, Matthew
  • Public Speaking
• Name: Wolanski, Hollie
  • Pre-Calculus
  • Calculus
• Name: Beardsley, Sarah
  • Statistics

CSE/CPSE Program/Placement Recommendations:

Upon recommendation from Superintendent Carney, on a motion made by Mr. Petucci, seconded by Mr. Verenich, the BOE approved the Committee on Special Education, the Sub-Committee on Special Education and the Committee on Preschool Special Education program/placement recommendations as presented. All voted in favor; motion carried 6:0 (Material filed in the supplemental file dated 10-05-22).

Board of Education Reports:

Policy Review:

Mr. Petucci moved, and Mr. Verenich seconded the following Board resolution:

WHEREAS, it is customary practice of the BOE to have three readings of a policy prior to its adoption; and

WHEREAS, the BOE wishes to adopt several policies recommended by the Policy Committee, to wit,

• # 8300 Selection of Textbooks and Resource Materials;
• # 8400 School Sponsored Trips;
• # 8500 Special Education Programs and Services;
• # 8501 Transfer Students with Disabilities;
• # 8502 Programs for Students with Disabilities Under Section 504 of the Federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973;
• # 8503 Independent Educational Evaluations;
• # 8504 Preschool Education;
• # 8505 Skills and Achievement Commencement Credential;
• # 8506 Selection, Appointment and Compensation of Impartial Hearing Officers;
• # 8508 Prereferral and Declassification Teams;
• # 8509 Special Education Mediation;
• # 8510 Academic Intervention Services (AIS);

The following Regulations: #8300.1 Text Adoption Form; #8503.1 Independent Educational Evaluation; #8506.1 Selection, Appointment and Compensation of Impartial Hearing Officers
FUTHERMORE, per the Policy Committee’s recommendation, the Policy Service concurred with the Committee’s suggestion to remove the following policy: #8210 Safety Conditions and Programs; #8507 Twelve Month Special Services and Programs,

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the BOE hereby waives the BOE’s customary practice of three readings prior to the adoption of policies, and adopts the following policy, incorporated by reference in the minutes of this meeting:

A brief discussion followed. All voted in favor; motion carried 6:0 (Material filed in the supplemental file dated 10-05-22).

President’s Update:

President Crandall was delighted that the school year was running smoothly and happy to see so much happening again.

Future Meeting Dates/Agenda Items:

The next scheduled BOE meeting date is Wednesday, November 16, 2022, in the Jr./Sr. High School Library Media Center at 6:00 pm. All agreed on date and time.

Meeting Evaluation:

Mr. Lamanna, this evening’s meeting evaluator, presented his review of the October 5, 2022, Board of Education meeting. He felt it was an informative meeting and thanked the students who were in attendance.

Ms. Gilbert moved, and Mr. Petucci seconded a motion to move into Executive Session for the purpose of discussing personnel issues. The Board may take action in public session after the Executive Session ends and the Board returns to public session. All voted in favor; motion carried 6:0.

Executive Session:

The Board moved into Executive Session at 7:08 p.m.
The Board exited Executive Session at 7:35 p.m.

Adjournment:

On a motion made by Ms. Gilbert and seconded by Mr. Petucci, the BOE adjourned the public meeting at 7:35 p.m. All voted in favor 6:0.