WV BOE swears in new members, talks teacher hiring and evaluations

As it closes out the current school year and gears up for the next one, the Warwick Valley Central School District Board of Education swore in its newly elected members at its annual organizational meeting on July 11: Bill Fanos, and newcomers Mandy Blanton and Tara Cruz.

The board then transitioned to its regular monthly meeting, where it covered plans for the upcoming school year, a new process for evaluating teachers, the extended school year program for special education students, as well as discussing universal pre-K, and the status of ongoing capital projects in the district.

Teacher hiring process

WV is in the process of hiring new teachers, beginning with an online application system used to screen applicants, set up interviews, check references, and whittle the list of hopefuls down to likely candidates.

According to Superintendent of Schools Dr. David Leach, the district has added about 16 people to the teaching staff since this past spring.

New teachers are matched with current teacher-mentors during their training. The process includes a “video selfie,” where the newbies introduce themselves, followed by a kickoff message from the superintendent, then icebreakers, followed by meetings with school psychologists and social workers, to get a feel for the kinds of challenges some kids face clinically.

The new teachers then visit their prospective school buildings, culminating in a presentation at the high school, on how to work with kids who are homeless; addressing problems with students: when to call home, versus sending an email; and safety drills.

Measuring the teachers

The district is transitioning to a new teacher evaluation system, to comply with a law signed by Governor Kathy Hochul on June 28. The new law stipulates a new standards-based system, under the acronym “NYS-STEPS,” that will give school districts more flexibility to design locally relevant plans that “reflect expectations for teaching and learning.”

One of the changes of the new law provides districts the ability to customize teacher evaluations: a probationary or early-career teacher would have a differentiated plan from a tenure-track or mid-career teacher, for example.

The New York State Education Department (NYSED) is still refining the rules; the WVCSD anticipates getting a final version of them by the time students return to class this fall.

Extended school year program

The WV district offers Extended School Year (ESY) instructional programs and/or related services to special education students in July and August; these programs held at Sanfordville Elementary are provided to students with profound disabilities, in order to prevent regression in their learning.

Students with an Individual Education Plan (IEP) have a yearly review to determine whether they qualify for this program, based on their performance (qualitative and quantitative) during the regular school year. The goal of this summer program is to keep these kids on track, in terms of emerging skills, maintaining those skills, and self-sufficiency skills.

Currently there are about 100 students in the special ed class, 11 special ed teachers, one administrator, seven Encore teachers, two psychologists, three speech teachers, two greeters, two security guards, one nurse, and 31 teachers’ aides.

Universal pre-K

WV is closing out its Universal Pre-K (UPK) program for the current school year. There were 125 kids enrolled. The total cost of the program was $871,386, of which $297,000 came from state aid, and $415,800 came from a federal grant, leaving the remaining $158,586 coming from the WVCSD general fund.

The district is gearing up for the 2024-25 UPK program year, with a grant submission deadline of August 29, 2024.

Currently there are 134 students enrolled at a projected cost of $955,661, of which $723,600 will be provided by federal aid, with the balance to come from the general fund.

Leach told the school board that he has met with Senator James Skoufis to get UPK fully-funded: “He’s cognizant of our concerns... He’s gaining traction.”

Capital projects update

Assistant Superintendent for Business Timothy Holmes gave the status of current projects happening district-wide. at Park Avenue Elementary, windowsills are being installed and should be done in the next couple weeks, with exterior masonry done by summer’s end. All windows and doors have been installed and exterior doors reinforced. WV will apply for Safe Act funds in the amount of $75,000 for the exterior doors.

In the high school auditorium, the old chiller has been removed and a new chiller was scheduled to be installed on July 17. The district expects the auditorium project to be finished by the end of summer.

Small HVAC units, called PTac units, are being installed at the high school, and are anticipated to be up and running in the next few weeks.

UV-C lights should be done by end of summer as well, according to Holmes.

Middle school unit ventilators for the locker rooms have been installed, and are waiting for the contractor to complete the controls. “The company [doing this job] is a little slow, but they do good work,” Holmes said, adding that all that work should be done by August 9.

Various seal coating and paving projects are taking place during this month, including paving of the middle school lot.

Both the high school guidance and Sanfordville main offices will be getting new floors, and new lockers will be installed at the middle school around the middle of August.

School employees will be working on the following projects over the summer: installing electrical sheds at the high school, installing a storage shed near the transportation metal building and a student walkway to the playground at the old Pine Island Elementary, with BOCES picking up most of the costs. WV will lay the foundation for paving.

District staff are also installing interior security doors at Sanfordville: the wiring is essentially done, and hardware is “in progress.” Once the project is completed there will be 77 new doors.

Holmes was “very impressed by the quality” of the interior doors. “You can lock all doors with the push of a button, if, God forbid, you have an intruder,” Leach added.

Staff will install security doors at Park Avenue after the second- and third-floor doors are installed. The district is awaiting vendor quotes for hardware for the middle school and high school.