Huntington School Board Notes

Huntington School Board members approved acceptance of a general purpose grant-in-aid secured by New York State Senator Carl Marcellino in the amount of $40,000. The monies will be used to cover general expenses in the district. Trustees took the action during their public business meeting this past Monday night in the Jack Abrams STEM Magnet School auditorium.

Trustees unanimously approved using a higher than expected assessed valuation to lower the earlier projected tax rate increase to 3.22 percent from the 3.52 percent estimated at the time of last May’s budget vote.

Trustees also approved allocating $6,156,376 in surplus monies to five different reserve funds, including a total of $3,656,376 to the 2008 and 2013 capital reserve accounts. A resolution authorizing the issuance of up to $22 million in tax anticipation notes also passed without a dissenting vote. School districts routinely issue so-called TANs in order to have operational funds while awaiting receipt of property taxes from the local tax collection municipality.

Trustees also took the following actions:

·   Approved a budget transfer in the amount of $27,844.04 to cover a retirement incentive award for an employee that retired at the end of the 2012/13 school year. The transfer was required by the district’s auditors.

·   Approved a salary schedule change for Huntington High School physical education teacher Adam Sherrard and increased his assignment from .4 FTE to .5 FTE.

·   Approved long-term substitute teacher assignments for Maria Lorandini and Lisa Caporusso. Ms. Lorandini will work as a Huntington High School foreign language teacher from October 20 to approximately December 13. Ms. Caporusso will work as a high school special education teacher from October 1 to approximately November 6.

·   Approved Camille DeCanio and Bernadette Walsh to serve as Huntington High School internship program advisors.

·   Approved Richard Liebowitz, Veronica Mainville, Nicole Lynch, Giulia Marino and Martha Garland to work as piano accompanist during the 2013/14 school year. They will be paid $24 per hour.

·   Approved Joanne Kavanaugh to work as a part-time elementary integration coach during the 2013/14 school year. Her salary of $24,618 will be covered by a STLE (Strengthening Teacher and Leader Effectiveness) grant.

·   Approved Karen Lombardo to work as a three-hour monitor at Jack Abrams STEM Magnet School during the 2013/14 school year. She will be paid $12.26 per hour.

·   Approved Huntington High School students Megan Boyce, Alex Castillo, Fiona Geier, Matthew Rosenbauer, Summer Rudish, Matthew Weinschreider and Lenni Joya Amaya to work as lab assistants during the 2013/14 school year. They will be paid $7.25 per hour.

·   Awarded bids to Graphically Speaking for district stationery (various prices); Tobay Printing for 1,500 copies ($2,297) or 1,800 copies ($2,626) of the Huntington High School curriculum guide; Tobay Printing for the J. Taylor Finley Middle School curriculum guide ($440). The district received two responses to its request for bids on the work.

·   Authorized Superintendent James W. Polansky to attend the fall conference of the Long Island Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development at Nassau BOCES on October 4. The conference will focus on “education at the crossroads.” The keynote speaker will be Merryl Tisch, Chancellor of the New York State Board of Regents. A panel discussion will be held on “What are the implications of the tax cap and reform agenda for our students?”

·   Approved an addendum to a contract with Avatar Counseling Innovations, PC for attendance at district Committee on Special Education meetings (on-site or via telephone) and staff consultations/staff development. The company will be paid $90 per hour.

·   Approved a letter of agreement with Developmental Disabilities Institute of Smithtown for two-hours of parent training per month. The company will be paid $126 per hour.

·   Approved a special education services contract with the Oyster Bay-East Norwich Central School District for a Huntington School District resident attending school there.

·   Approved a contract with The Summit School in Jamaica Estates for the education of a Huntington School District resident attending classes there.

·   Authorized teachers Brendan McGowan, Donna Moro and Jessica Castaneda and Director of Fine and Performing Arts Sarah Loveland-Gill to be reimbursed for the district related travel between buildings.

·   Approved a field trip request from the Huntington Highsteppers competitive dance team. The team will travel to Orlando, Florida in March for the National Dance and Cheer Championships at Universal Studios. The group will be accompanied by coaches Samantha Natalello and Allison Greenstein and several parent chaperones. The trip will be privately funded.

·   Approved a field trip for seven Huntington High School student-musicians to the All-State Music Conference and Festival in Rochester, New York. The students have been selected to perform with fellow top young musicians from across the state. The group will be accompanied by Huntington High School orchestra director Lisa Leonardi. They will depart on December 5 and return on December 8.

·   Approved teachers Helen Guarino (English 10R/11R/12R), Erik Bruckbauer (Global 9R/10R), Craig McKee (Earth Science/lab), Frederick Bisogno (US History) and Jordan Gould (Participation in Government and Economics) to work in the alternative high school program. They will be paid $54.32 per hour.

·   Authorized Victoria Lombardi, Lauren Desiderio, Jordan Gould, Frederick Bisogno, Kara Horn, Erik Bruckbauer, Nicole Cooper, Terrance Doran, Nancy Goddard, Kelly Quintero and Aimee Antorino to work as alternative high school program substitute teachers. They will be paid $54.32 per hour.

·   Approved Charles Paar to work as an athletic event supervisor. He will be paid $32.34 per hour.

·   Approved Huntington High School librarian Patricia Dillon and social studies teacher Camille Tedeschi to work up to two days per week as after school educators in the high school library. They will be paid $49.95 per hour.

·   Approved the addition of Jose Arevalo, Colleen Thompson, Jessica Lang, Patricia Quinn and Christine Schmiedecke to the district’s list of substitute teachers. They will be paid $90 per diem when their services are required.

·   Authorized Pasquale Cafiero (custodian) and Karen Lewis (teacher aide) to work as substitute employees. Sub custodians are paid $10.50 per hour. Sub teacher aides earn $9 per hour.

·   Authorized teachers Angela Berner, Kimberly Schiller, Martha Reilly, Christine Barresi, Christine Lofaro and Joanne Cicio to delivery professional development classes. The cost of the sessions will be funded through a Title IIA grant.