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Superintendent's Report
At each meeting, Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Shine, presents a report to the Board of Education. The report he shared highlighted various achievements throughout the District and noted that the Rye-Harrison football game will be held this Saturday.
Dr. Shine announced the following news: The Crew Team held its third annual Ergathon fundraiser, rowing a total of 847,908 meters and raising over $12,000; seven High School music students (David Cirillo, Trevor Hele, Madeline Junkins, Danny Keller, Rob Keller, Ariella Reidenberg, and Emily Tepler) were named to Area All-State performing groups; the Parson Street Players will present Our Town on October 21 & 22 at 8 p.m. in the Performing Arts Center; the next Heard in Rye presentation will be held on October 20 with a follow up conversation the next morning; Milton second graders recently visited Oakland Beach for a lesson about marine life; and Osborn students have been enjoying learning about and working in the new school garden. |
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Gifts to the District
The Board approved two gifts from the Osborn PTO; one for $1,500 to support Heard in Rye, the other in the amount of $1,575 for a year subscription to BrainPOP, a program used for SMARTBoards. Board of Education President Laura Slack expressed gratitude for the work the PTOs do to make the District a better place. A $1,200 gift was accepted from the 2012 Senior Class for the purchase of a television, and a $2,000 gift was approved from the Niehaus family for scholarship renewal. Mrs. Slack noted that the Niehaus family's generous donations to the District are greatly appreciated. |
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District Capital Planning Update
The Board tabled four agenda items: Resolution for SEQRA, Resolution of Necessity, Bond Resolution, and Resolution to establish December 6, 2011 as Election Day. Mrs. Slack presented the following statement:
"As the community is aware, the Board has carefully planned a proposed bond referendum for the construction of an addition to the Rye High School/Middle School Campus to address the District's increased enrollment and the fact that we are currently at 104% of functional capacity in this building. In connection with the proposed bond referendum the Board prepared and published an Enhanced Environmental Assessment Form in connection with its obligations under the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act. Unfortunately, on Thursday, the City of Rye wrote a letter to the School District raising traffic concerns regarding the proposed addition. It is unfortunate that the city chose this course of action instead of speaking to us directly especially since it was just three days after the Mayor, City Manager, President of this School Board and the Superintendent of Schools met face to face to discuss issues. The City did not ask for an additional meeting or call the District or give any sort of notice of their issues in advance of sending their letter. Nonetheless the Board of Education has forwarded this correspondence to its environmental consultants for review and comment. Unfortunately, in light of the City's actions, the Board of Education is not able to proceed tonight with its intended action authorizing a vote on the proposed bond referendum. We therefore must table the action items related to the proposed HS/MS capital improvement and bond items 1301, 1302, 1303, and 1304. This delay is regrettable because we are concerned about jeopardizing the completion of the necessary addition in time for the September 2014 opening of school."
[A meeting has been planned between the City and District officials for the week of October 17, 2011 in the hope of resolving issues and moving forward with the project.] |
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Presentation of Independent Audit
The District's independent auditing firm, O'Connor Davies Munns & Dobbins, presented a summarized report of the fiscal year ending 6/30/11. The independent auditors announced that the District received an "unqualified opinion," which is the best review a school district can receive. The independent auditors have also provided a letter and report on communication of internal control matters identified in the audit, as well as financial statements and supplementary information with the independent auditors' report. |
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Next Regular Meeting
October 25, 2011
Rye Middle School Multipurpose Room |
Visit our District web site for complete information on Board of Education meetings, minutes, policies and actions.
www.ryeschools.org
can be accessed on the District web site. Videos should be available 2-3 days after each Board meeting. Past meeting videos are also accessible. |
Watch the video of Board of Education meetings on Cablevision channel 77 and
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Board Notes