2006-09-26

Community Education Council 24 P.S. 91 Room 119 68-10 Central Avenue Glendale, New York 11385 Phone: 718.418.8160 / Fax: 718.418.8168/ [email protected]

New York City Department of Education Nick Comaianni President

Dmytro Fedkowskyj 1St Vice President

Council Members Cecilia Chavez Dan Creighton Bill Kregler

Lelani Bomani 2nd Vice President

Ernest Cury Treasurer

Marge Kolb Secretary

Department of Education Region 4 Officials Reyes Irizarry Regional Superintendent Charles Amundsen Deputy Superintendent Catherine M. Powis Community Superintendent

FINAL BOARD APPROVED MINUTES Minutes of Calendar Meeting September 26, 2006 At PS 58, Maspeth, New York 1) Call to order and Roll Call -- The Calendar meeting convened at PS 58 at 7:00 PM Roll Call – Present Cecilia Chavez Nick Comaianni Dominic Coticchio Ernest Cury Dmytro Fedkowskyj Marge Kolb

• • • • • •

Roll Call – Absent •

Lelani Bomani

Roll Call – Late • •

Daniel Creighton Bill Kregler

Also in attendance

Catherine Powis, Community Superintendent 2) Approval of Minutes On motion duly made and seconded, the minutes of the August 16, 2006 meeting were unanimously approved. 3) Report of the President Nick Comaianni stated that Bill Kregler has been appointed by Queens Borough President Helen Marshall. Mr. Comaianni also stated the member Dominic Coticchio will no longer serve on the council as his children are now attending a school in District 30. Mr. Comaianni announced school liaisons as follows: Marge Kolb: PS 19, PS 153, PS 13, IS 5 and IS 61 Bill Kregler: PS 16, PS 199, PS 229 and IS 125 Dmytro Fedkowskyj: PS 102, PS 49, PS 128, PS 58 and IS 73 Ernest Cury: 51st Street Academy, PS 28, PS 12 and PS 14 Nick Comaianni: IS 73, IS 119, PS 88, PS 91 and PS 113 Lelani Bomani: PS 239, PS 81 and IS 77 Dan Creighton: PS 89, PS 7, and PS 87 Cecilia Chavez: PS 68, PS 143 and PS 71 Mr. Comaianni then announced the Chairs of each committee as follows: English Language Learners, Mr. Ernest Cury Curriculum Committee, Ms. Marge Kolb Website Committee, Ms. Lelani Bomani Building and Zoning Committee, Mr. Dmytro Fedkowskyj Legislative Committee, Mr. Nick Comaianni Special Education Committee, Mr. Bill Kregler Mr. Comaianni announced that the Community Education Council District 24 will be looking at the zoning for IS 119, IS 77 and IS 73 to see what changes need to be made to update that zoning. For example we want to make sure that a child is not going to IS 119 who lives closer to IS 77. Mr. Comaianni further stated that he has yet to receive an answer from Mr. Scarpa regarding buses between Middle Village and Glendale. Mr. Comaianni stated that it is a dangerous walk between IS 119 and Middle Village due to the underpass at Cooper Avenue, the new Atlas shopping mall and the railroad tracks. 3) Report of the Community Superintendent Ms. Powis stated that according to Chancellor Klein, , all schools will have an on-site quality review this year. The quality review is one aspect of the accountability initiative

announced by the Chancellor last April. The purpose of the quality review is to help raise student achievement by assessing how effectively schools use the information at their disposal to monitor student performance and progress, set individualized teaching and learning goals, create environments conducive to teaching and learning, to adjust teaching to meet student needs. The on-site quality review also provides a structured opportunity for review and feedback, support and encouragement for ongoing selfevaluation and a springboard for school improvement planning. Ms. Powis also stated that beginning September 25th quality reviews will be scheduled by Regions or Empowerment School Networks for every school. Schools will be notified of the quality review start date several weeks in advance, and principals will complete a school self-evaluation from prior to the start date. Quality review orientation sessions will also be scheduled in advance of the start date to provide principals with an opportunity to learn about the process and raise questions. Ms. Powis also reported on the newly reorganized Office of Youth Development and Student Services, which offers information and services to principals and their school communities in a wide range of areas, including guidance and counseling, attendance improvement, crisis intervention, school health services, meeting the needs of students living in temporary housing, working with community-based organizations, substance abuse and violence prevention and intervention services, college planning and access, and youth leadership. She also reported on Supplemental Educational Service and stated that the No Child Left Behind Act enables students in Title 1 Schools in Need of Improvement to receive free tutoring in the areas of math, reading and language arts. SES packages have been sent home to all eligible students. The enrollment process will continue until October 16, 2006. The following schools are providing SES services: PS 14, 89, IS 5, 61, 73, 77 and 93. Schools will be conducting information sessions for interested parents from October 6th the October 16th. The program will begin on October 30, 2006. Ms. Powis also reported on the extended day stating the 37 _ minute extended time sessions started on the first day of school. However, the deadline for adding students to the rosters has been extended to October 6th. These sessions will enable schools with a unique and important opportunity to provide additional targeted instruction in small group settings to students who are in danger of failing to meet grade level standards. Schools are serving as many students as their capacity allows, considering the need to maintain a 10:1 student-to-teacher ratios (5:1 for self-contained special education classes). Ms. Powis also reported on choosing a high school. She stated that the DOE will host Borough High School Fairs on Saturday, October 21 and Sunday, October 22 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. focusing exclusively on the high schools located in the borough. The Queens High School Fair will take place at Francis Lewis High School. In February, the DOE will conduct a series of fairs specifically for the new schools that will open in the fall of 2007, locations yet to be determined.

Ms. Powis closed her report by stating that the DOE has released the Sec. 254 City Council Resolution A Funding Allocation for FY 2007. District 24 was awarded $1,045,000.00 from our City Council and our State Assembly members. Ms. Powis took questions from the council. Mr. Comaianni stated that last year, students were given 2 days off so teachers could score math tests and he has come to find out that the teachers still do not have the official results of the tests. Ms. Powis replied that the teachers only graded part of the math tests; furthermore teachers were not grading tests of their own students, nor of their own schools. The city should be getting those particular scores from the state very shortly, probably within the week. Ms. Kolb asked if the state is promising that the test scores will come quicker than this year to which Ms. Powis stated that she was not aware of any promise made. Ms. Kolb also asked about quality review and wanted to know if there is a parent component and if so would the CEC liaisons be able to attend to which Ms. Powis answered that regarding the quality review, CEC participation never came up in the discussion and may remain to be seen. Ms. Kolb also asked if the DOE ever got a consultant in regards to District 24’s DINI status to which Ms. Powis answered that the Chancellor approved the firm just 4 days ago and she will report on that at a later date. Ms. Kolb further inquired about the preliminary test scores of the students who were pushing District 24 into DINI and wanted to know if they had improved in Spring 206, to which Ms. Powis informed her that she will get that information and report back to the council. Dmytro Fedkowskyj asked if there was an unfavorable change in scores from the year before to which Ms. Powis stated she did not have the numbers with her but she knew that from 2004-2005 there was a jump in numbers. 5) Guest Speaker, Mr. Herman McKie of School Food and Nutrition Mr. Comaianni introduced Mr. Herman McKie. Mr. McKie stated that his offices primary responsibility is to produce hundreds of thousands meals per day. The goal is to feed students nutritious meals and we have been making great strides in doing so. New standards regarding fat, calorie, and cholesterol content have been established. Many government agencies hold the School Food accountable for serving more fruits and vegetables and healthier meals in general. School Food will offer salad and pasta bars, low fat and skim milk, whole grains and whole wheat bread. School Food is looking very closely at the quality of the food we serve and strives to keep each meal healthy as well as appetizing. Mr. McKie took questions from the audience.

Marge Kolb asked if there are federal guidelines as to the amount of calories there should be in any given meal to which Mr. McKie responded that those guidelines have not been changed or adjusted in the past 20 years and when the government does its 5 year check of our lunch program sometimes they tell us the calorie count is too low to which we point to the state of obesity in school age children. School Food is trying to change the federal guidelines but that is very hard. Mr. McKie further stated that School Food is currently in the process of cutting out trans fats as well as corn syrup on menu items. He further stated that they have also begun to work with local farmers markets. Cecilia Chavez stated that after each summer she notices her children getting heavier. She suggested that School Food join forces with the Physical Education department to which Mr. McKie agreed and further stated that unfortunately his department is on the bottom rung of the ladder, the first priority of the DOE is education the second is transportation and the third is school food. He invited anyone who would like to work with his office to contact him. Dmytro Fedkowskyj asked if students can come back for seconds and thirds to which Mr. McKie explained that if a student is still hungry, due to the price of the meal we can only offer them peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. 6) Resolutions -- None 7) Report of the Committees Dmytro Fedkowskyj, Chair of Building, Zoning and Maintenance Committee stated that School Construction is moving forward with the plans that were implemented in the 5 Year Capital Plan and further stated he would have a more detailed report in the coming months. Ernest Cury, Chair of the English Language Learners Committee stated that he had nothing new to report. 8) Old Business – Marge Kolb reminded the council that it had passed a resolution against the DOE’s cell phone ban and she reported that CPAC is a plaintiff in the lawsuit against the DOE. Parents are concerned that their children are traveling far from home and prefer that they carry a cell phone for their safety, to coordinate sibling pick ups, etc. The council, specifically Nick Comaianni and Dmytro Fedkowskyj agreed that children who have cell phones should be able to carry them. Mr. Fedkowskyj reported on the busing situation between Middle Village and IS 119 and stated that if the council receives another unsatisfactory response from the Office of Pupil Transportation that the council and the parents involved should take the situation to our State legislators.

9) New Business – Dmytro Fedkowskyj stated that he would like to have someone at our October meeting from facilities to explain request for maintenance procedures in light of the 5 Year Capital Plan coming out it in November. 10) Public Agenda Session – The council took questions from the public 11) Adjournment – Nick Comaianni motioned to adjourn, Dmytro Fedkowskyj seconded, and meeting was adjourned at 9:15 p.m.