BOARD NOTES - North Shore Board of Education, January 30, 2013
- Recognition of All-County, LIFSA, and All-State Musicians
- Northport and Locust Valley Seniors Share their Experiences in the International Baccalaureate Program
- Principal Cousins Presents on IB for a Sixth Time 

PRESENT:   Board President Herman Berliner, Vice President Tom Knierim, Trustee Amy Beyer, Trustee Sara Jones, Trustee Toni Labbate, Trustee Michael Nightingale, Trustee Marianne Russo, SO Representative Adriana Rubertone, Superintendent Ed Melnick, Assistant Superintendent Rob Cheblicki, Assistant Superintendent for Business Olivia Buatsi, District Clerk Betty Ciampi

STUDENT RECOGNITION – Dr. Melnick, Board President Herman Berliner, and Arts Director Terryl Donovan recognized North Shore School District All-County, LISFA, and All-State Musicians

MINUTES – Trustee Maryanne Russo asked that the Minutes for the January 18 meeting be amended to read that she had said that the district has commenced litigation seeking to be designated a third party beneficiary in matters regarding LIPA and its efforts to amend its power supply agreement.  She said there is no litigation regarding section 1803 of real property tax law which limits to 1% or 5% the shift from one property tax class to another.

SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT – None.

SO REPORT – Adriana Rubertone reported that high school students had been taking midterms the past three days and that the Senior Play had gone very well.

IB DISCUSSION – High School principal Albert Cousins said that his presentation would not be another review of the IB program, as he has done on previous occasions, but rather an opportunity to address questions raised by the school board.  Saying that it was important to hear about IB from a student’s perspective, he welcomed two students from Northport High School and four from Locust Valley High School to talk about their experiences in the IB program at their respective schools.  

The first question Mr. Cousins posed was whether or not students “still had a life” as a high school student and teenager while being enrolled in the diploma program.    Each of the students replied that in addition to being diploma candidates, they were engaged in many extra-curricular activities including clubs, charitable works, school plays, and sports.  A Locust Valley student said that there is a lot of school work whether one is in AP, Honors, or IB and that he did not notice any significant difference in the workload from 10th grade to 11th grade when he entered the IB program.  He added that the program did not interfere with social activities on weekends.  All six students emphasized the importance of being able to effectively manage one’s time, and one stated that being in the program helped encourage the development of that particular skill.    

Trustee Labbate asked the students to explain how colleges had responded to their being in IB during the application process.  All of the students emphasized how the program had helped them with writing and that they found that particularly useful when writing their college essays.  A Northport student who will be attending Brown in the fall, said that IB helped him write concisely – getting to a point and supporting it.  The students said that they have found that schools do not accept credit for IB Standard Level Courses (1 year classes) but often will for High Level classes (2 year course of study).  When the classes are not accepted for credit, students are often able to place out of lower or introductory level courses. Another student said that there is a certain prestige to being in the IB diploma program and that it allows students to differentiate themselves from others. A Locust Valley student said that the downside of IB is that it appeared to him that colleges seemed to be more willing to offer college credit for scoring well on the AP exams than for IB. 

Trustee Beyer asked if any of the students had taken an AP exam after having taken an IB course.  A Locust Valley student said that students have the opportunity to take the AP US history exam and the English Literature exam.  However, that while it is nice to have that choice, the IB and AP courses do not always overlap.  A Northport student said that at her school, students are co-seated in AP and IB Biology.  Much of the courses overlap, she said.  The only significant difference is that there are special labs and special lab forms for IB.  The other Northport student said that the IB mathematics foundational course went along well with the Calculus BC course.

Trustee Knierim, said that he had a list of colleges that accept IB HL courses for credit, and while Brown was not on the list, other elite colleges such as Harvard and Yale were.  He asked the students about their understanding of how receiving college credit worked.  A Northport student said that Brown does not take AP credit either, that it just helps with placement.  A Locust Valley student said you need a 6 or 7 on IB or a 5 on the AP, and that he believed it was easier to get a 5 on the AP.  He said that with regard to his foreign language assessments, he did better on the IB (6) than on the AP (3).  He said the courses are different, with AP being much more grammar based.  The AP will dictate the tense that is to be used, whereas IB gives students the flexibility to communicate in the language in a way they find more comfortable.

The Locust Valley student continued that a complaint he has with the way IB is done at his school, is that because the HL classes are two-year courses, it limits his opportunities during senior year. 

Trustee Knierim asked the students to talk a bit about the Theory of Knowledge course.  One Locust Valley student said that he does not care for it, but that he knows other students who love the course because it encourages students to challenge basic assumptions.   A Northport student said the course raises the questions – “What is Knowledge?” and “How do we know things?”  He said that it is interesting to “get down to the bare bones” concerning where assumptions come from. He said he likes the discussions and explained a particularly interesting one recently that addressed the question “What is art?”  The other Northport student added that the course was “obscurely helpful” – that it taught her to question a lot and to be objective.  She said that it also gave her an appreciation of math.

Mr. Knierim asked students to talk about their thoughts concerning the 4,000 word essay that they are required to write.  A Northport student said that her’s was a comparison of Ayn Rand’s Anthem and Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451.  She said it “felt good” to write the essay – that it helped her to examine literature in much greater depth.  The other Northport student said that his paper was a Math piece, that required a proof, and that in those cases, the paper can be considerably shorter.  He said that his was 2600 words. 

Amy Beyer asked the students to reflect on whether or not they believed they had made the right choice in pursuing the IB diploma over taking AP courses.

A Locust Valley student responded that at her school there really aren’t many AP offerings, and so the IB Diploma program offered the most competitive route.  She said she has come away with the ability to write a coherent essay and to be precise with language.  One of her classmates responded that IB provided a high level of rigor and feels that he is well prepared for college.  He said he advises against the diploma program in favor of taking individual IB certificate courses, which he said would have given him more course options. 

A student from Northport said she is happy she went the IB route, and feels as if she received a college level education.  Her classmate said that Northport provides both an AP and IB route and that he would not have done anything differently.  He said that the program requires students to “get their feet wet” in every subject.

After the questioning of the students was completed, Mr. Cousins explained that the program is implemented differently in every school, as was evident from the students’ responses.  He said that at North Shore students will have the option to take AP math courses (Calculus AB or BC) during their senior year, with the IB courses providing a foundation in their junior year.  The program has to be able to meet the school’s value system, he said.  He said that the program is neither more nor less rigorous than what currently exists, but that it is a different type of rigor.  He said that no additional position was being created, that the internship segment would be covered by the current intern coordinator, that the School Librarian would be the essay coordinator, with subject area teachers providing mentoring to students. 

With regard to the offering of credit, Mr. Cousins said that SL courses are comparable to Honors level classes and that some colleges will offer credit for those classes if the student is in the diploma program.  Both AP English and AP US history will be replaced by the two year IB HL equivalents; in all the IB sciences, students will be prepared for the AP exam he said.  IB math will be offered in the 11th grade giving students the option of taking AP Calculus AB or BC in the 12th grade, which is the way Northport has implemented the program.  He said that in Locust Valley, students are given the option of taking the Foreign Language AP after one year in the IB course.  At North Shore, the option to take the AP exam would be offered after the second year.  

Mr. Cousins said that North Shore would be more closely following the Northport model, which he said offers more flexibility.  The one difference between the two programs he said, is that while Northport offers A.P. U.S. history,  North Shore would only be offering the two year IB course.  After Trustee Beyer followed up, Mr. Cousins said that the district may need to offer a section of A.P. U.S. history for students who are not in the diploma program.  Trustee Russo said that perhaps the solution would be to offer an “honors” level U.S. History Course.  Mr. Cousins replied that he did not know if that would help students.  He said 60% of students are currently enrolled in the course and that they do very well on the AP exam. 

Trustee Jones asked Mr. Cousins to address the Locust Valley students’ comments that the IB program limited the flexibility of students with regard to course options in the 12 grade.  Mr. Cousins said that, unlike Locust Valley, North Shore has addressed that issue by offering the SL (one year) courses in math and science during Junior year, which allows students to satisfy diploma requirements while giving students a good deal of flexibility in senior year to pursue high level AP or other courses.   

Trustee Russo  commented that Northport is a large district and that North Shore is more akin to Locust Valley.

Mr. Cousins said that North Shore could learn from Locust Valley.  There, he said, kids are actively discouraged from taking AP classes – and that is a philosophical issue.  That would not be the case at North Shore.

Trustee Beyer asked Mr. Cousins if the cost projections for IB included continuing to offer some of the A.P. courses.  Mr. Cousins said that they did – that the projections are based on maintaining both IB and AP.

Trustee Knierim commented that people have expressed concern that the diploma program is only for a small group of students, and asked Mr. Cousins to address that. Mr. Cousins said that a large percentage of students will be taking IB certificate and AP courses and  that the IB program would bring about a cultural change in the school. Mr. Knierim asked if any thought was given to having an essay requirement for all students. Mr. Cousins said there is something similar in 10th grade Honors English course, and said objectives comparable to those for the extended essay, that are grade-level appropriate, are being developed for 9th graders.

Trustee Russo said that she went through the budget and believed that the total cost from last year through full implementation was $530,000 for IB alone, and asked whether that figure sounded right.  Mr. Cousins said that it did not, and asked for clarification of where those figures were coming from.  Ms. Russo then said that the figure included the coordinator's salary, “sitting fees," curriculum development fees, and clarified that the numbers were through the end of the 2015-16 school year.  Mr. Cousins said the sitting fees would not be an expense until 2017.  IB Coordinator Candace Brody added that “sitting fees” are paid only for seniors - not juniors.  There also seemed to be some confusion as to whether the figures that were presented for staff development were exclusively for IB.

Board President Herman Berliner said that lumping several years of expenses together  is looking at the costs out of context, as it does not show the amount relative to five years of total expenditures. Dr. Berliner asked that Mr. Cousins come back with numbers that show cumulative costs as well as annual costs.  

PUBLIC COMMENT –

Eileen Stanton of Glen Head asked if students had a choice of whether or not to take the Theory of Knowledge Class.  Mr. Cousins replied that the course was required for diploma candidates.  He added that the Northport student was also taking a separate philosophy offering. 

Carol Muddy of Sea Cliff held up a full page advertisement that appeared in the Gold Coast Gazette and that was paid for by an anonymous group or individual and asked Mr. Cousins about the claim that the program would benefit only 5% of students and that two districts had rejected IB because of its costs.  Mr. Cousins said that based on current AP enrollment, that 15% would likely enroll in the IB Diploma program and that an additional 60% of students would take at least one IB certificate course.  Dr. Melnick pointed out that the claims were made in an anonymous advertisement that no one had signed making it difficult to ask the author where he got his figures from.  Dr. Melnick said that the program would not add any “new money” to the budget.   He said there is no school district that has adopted IB that would say that it benefits only 5% of students.  The Superintendent explained that in addition to students who enroll in the diploma program, greater numbers enroll in certificate courses.  Because of the high quality staff development, he continued, all students benefit, even those who do not enroll in any IB class.  Mr. Cousins added that IB is implemented differently by different schools.  For instance, in Northport, he said, 100% of students in take IB English.  He said that while that was not what was being done at North Shore, it illustrates that how different IB can be depending on the school. 

Alison Moss of Sea Cliff said that she received a letter from her mortgage company indicating a $6000 escrow shortage.  She said that it was because her school taxes have gone up $2500 dollars the past year.  She said that “as a competitive school district we should be looking at this [IB],” but questioned why,  with all the possible implications of LIPA, the district would consider it at this particular time.  Dr. Berliner said that district was acting in the most fiscally responsible way possible while trying to provide the best quality education for the students.  Ms. Moss said she believed the district needed to hold off on the program at this time.

Paul Echausse of Glen Head asked Mr. Cousins if he knew the annual cost of the IB program.  Mr. Cousins replied he has shared the costs with the community at previous presentations – that the cost in the first year of implementation will be $144,000 to $148,000 which includes the IB registration fees, coordinator’s salary, school fee, and staff development.   Dr. Melnick added that the district was deciding what its instructional priorities are and will be moving funds from other areas to cover the programs cost.  Mr. Echausse said that what Dr. Melnick said was being “disingenuous” – that the costs that were being shifted are from expenditures that are not necessary in the first place.  Dr. Melnick said that the CAS coordinator would be helping students with their internships, the librarian would be the research coordinator and that these are shifts.  In addition,  if staff development funding was not going towards IB workshops, it would be going to other staff development.  Mr. Cousins said that his job is to make recommendations where the school can improve its educational program.  Mr. Echausse, said that Lawrence and Garden City rejected the program.   He said that rather than asking students who do not represent the typical student about the program as was done earlier in the meeting, perhaps the district should be asking adults in those districts why they rejected the program, and “have an adult conversation – not a teenage conversation.”  Mr. Euchase said people are being priced out of the community and are embarrassed to come to the meetings and say it publicly.  This is a "moral issue", he said.  He asked if one person loses their house because of the district spending $150,000, is it worth it?   

Trustee Nightengale expressed concerns that money is not being saved.  He said that year one cost is $140-150,000 and that that is the cost of a teacher, and said that there are also start up costs.    Just as with gas stations, he said, there are start up costs for the IB program.  He asked Mr. Cousins what those costs were.  Dr. Melnick responded that all of the start-up figures have been shared publicly and given to Mr. Nightingale and the board previously.

Roger Friedman, Sea Cliff, thanked Mr. Cousins for his presentation.  He said that his family moved here from Brooklyn because of the school district and the great quality education it provides.  He said that $150,000 for the program is not expensive in context.  He said he supports the district trying new programs to keep the district competitive and on the cutting edge.  If you don’t try something new, he said, of course you will never fail. But, it is important to move forward and that improvement helps property values and helps our kids.   

Dina Epstein of Sea Cliff said that she has a Junior and a freshman at the high school and that her Junior daughter has had a wonderful educational experience with excellent teachers in her AP and other classes.  She said she now fears her freshman child is going to be “tortured” with IB and that it will affect her child’s overall school experience.  She said she has a friend in Upper Saddle River New Jersey who said she should “move out of the district” if IB is introduced in North Shore. Kids there, she continued, are under so much pressure, that many are on Prozac.  "Anyone who can breathe” can earn a certificate, she asserted, and that the IB certificate is “useless” .  She said the diploma program is the only program that has value but that it is too rigorous.  In her opinion, she continued, because the AP courses are created by the College Board, they also prepare students for the SAT 2 exams.  She added that if improving student writing is a goal of the district, that that could be done without the IB program.  She said that in 9th grade honors social studies, rather than creating models with oak tag for a project on Roman Civilization, and making WANTED posters for diseases in a Middle School Health class, a project she characterized as "ridiculous," students should be writing essays. “Don’t throw away the baby with the bathwater . . . AP is great, and I think we should leave it in place,” she concluded.

Eileen Stanton of Glen Head asked about the $144,000 cost for IB and whether the same costs were incurred with the AP program.  Dr. Melnick said the costs were as follows – He said that there is a course registration fee, which the district anticipates will be $56,000 for IB;  annual membership fee - $10,400, and that with that the school receives resources and curriculum materials; Teacher training - $2500-$6500/year.  IB coordinator position is $75,000, a part-time position which comes from making some class sections 2 or 3 students higher from the elimination of a Social Studies position in this year's budget.  The district, he said has always believed in strong staff development, and that staff development is a cost whether or not there is IB.

Trustee Beyer said that it is very difficult to come up with a figure of what would be saved if the IB program were not implemented, assuming that funds being transferred from other areas to IB, were simply eliminated from the budget.  As an example, she said that if the district did not create an IB coordinator position, and cut .6 from the budget, it would not likely save $75,000 because the position being cut would be a teacher at the bottom of the pay scale.  . 

END OF PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

ACTION ITEMS B AND C (PERSONNEL AND ACCEPTANCE OF SINGLE AUDIT REPORT) Approved unanimously.

ACTION ITEM D – Budget transfers.  Trustee Nightingale said that he and Trustee Russo were going through billing invoices for November and December from the Board’s legal counsel, and that there is a “tremendous amount of, and I would call it in a nice way, possible mistakes in this billing - but I can't say that it is intentional.”  He said it appears the district was being billed hourly in areas that should be included in the basic retainer.  He also said that there were “numerous line items where there is duplicate billing.” He said that with regard to one of the billing practices, he’s "never seen anything like it before.”  Dr. Berliner asked Mr. Nightingale if he would like to make a motion to table the action item.  Mr. Nightingale said yes and would also recommend that the district sit down with the law firm and negotiate the bill.  Trustee Russo added that in some cases the district was being billed on work that “was done unsatisfactorily to us” and then billed once again for another attorney to do the work in a satisfactory manner.  Dr. Melnick said that since the attorneys work at the pleasure of the board it would be appropriate for a sub-committee of the board to be created, and along with Ms. Buatsi, to sit down with the law firm and go over the bill.  The board voted unanimously to approve a $101,000 expenditure for academic summer school.  The Board voted to table the vote on the $75,000 expenditure for the legal services  with Trustees Berliner, Beyer, Jones, Labbate, and Nightingale voting yes, and Trustee Knierim abstaining.  The board agreed that a sub-committee to discuss the invoice with the law firm would be established during the New Business portion of the meeting.

ACTION ITEMS E-N were approved unanimously

There was discussion concerning Item I - Adoption of Board Policies. Trustee Beyer asked about the Media Relations policy, and asked about the BOE’s authority to monitor the Superintendent's blogs.  Dr. Melnick said it was NYSSBA’s recommendation.  Ms. Beyer said it seemed like micromanaging.  Trustee Russo said that she believed that the board made the language less heavy handed.  


Trustee Jones asked if the “Evaluation of Personnel” policy that was being adopted by the Board was consistent with the testing resolution that was passed in November.  Dr. Melnick said that the policy is a part of APPR and required under state law. 

CONFERENCE REPORTS – 


Trustee Russo reported on the Construction committee.  She said that the District is consulting with Celtic Energy for a solar energy contract and was looking into seeing if their cost was reasonable.  Track and field repairs were done over the winter and additional work would be done in May.  The Victorian House is on track, and the Middle School Kitchen is completed except for the Salad Bar, the installation of which had to be postponed because of the snow storm over December break.  Many of the drawings for phase one bond projects will be submitted to SED in March.  The Viking Foundation has contributed $50,000 for the Victorian house, and will be contributing another $50,000.

Trustee Nightengale sits on the BOCES advisory committee and reported on the BOCES budget.  He said things were a bit grim this year with regard to the BOCES budget and that it was a result of the tax cap that has been imposed on Districts.  BOCES services are down 11% because enrollment county-wide is down 11%.  He said that Districts that used BOCES for summer school, had a 30% reduction in summer school costs.  He concluded that the trend is that school districts are looking to consolidate services, which will be good for BOCES in the future.

NEW BUSINESS –

Trustee Knierim asked about the Governor’s proposal regarding universal pre-K.  Dr. Melnick said that he did not think it “had legs” because of its costs which include space, staffing, and pensions among other things. 

Board created a sub-committee to meet with legal counsel to discuss the November/December invoices.  Trustees Beyer, Knierim, and Russo will be sitting on the committee. 

MEETING ADJOURNED


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North Shore All-County musicians were recognized at Thursday evening's Board of Education meeting.

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BOARD NOTES - NS SCHOOL BOARD REGULAR MEETING, OCTOBER 10, 2013
- Minutes Approval Debate
- District Withdraws from Race to the Top - But Still Must Administer Tests 
- International Baccalaureate Program Presentation and Discussion
- Parents and Students Speak in Support of Gym Teacher and Coach
- Board Agrees to Procedure for Video Recording Public Meetings