September 2014

Vol. 4, Issue 1

Dear Board Colleagues:

It's a privilege greeting you all as we start a new school year. Expectations at the beginning of any endeavor are high, and this year is no different.   

Susan Elion Wollin

Our job as school board trustees is a bit of an amalgamation.  We're expected to be professional, in keeping with our fiduciary responsibility overseeing multimillion dollar budgets.  We're expected to be visionary, setting the course for our school districts and putting in place talented superintendents to ensure this happens.  And most importantly, we're expected to be inspirational, in keeping with the high calling of our overarching endeavor, that of educating our community's children.

     It's this latter responsibility I'm certain we would acknowledge is our true purpose.  We believe profoundly in public education.  We believe in helping kids to find their canvas that interests them, discovering the tool that fits their hand the best, be it a pencil, a keyboard, a brush, a crayon, and then encouraging them to start drawing.
     Quite simply, our work is about the art of the possible.  I invite you to continue to do what you do so well, to do what is possible for our students.  Whatever community we are in, we are most fortunate, because we have a privilege few others are given: we help our students shape the future ... for all of us.  And that is thrilling.
     I'll leave you with an old Irish blessing:  "May the best day of your past be the worst day of your future."  
     Here's to our wonderful future, and let's have a great year.

Tablets, cell phones, the Cloud, Google chat, Skype, and other forms of technology and communication are part of our daily life and are being integrated into our classrooms. Experience classroom technology in action at the WPSBA Technology Summit.

Presented with the Lower Hudson Regional Information Center (LHRIC), the summit will include:

• The Changing the State of Technology in Education: Educational strategies and technologies for the next generation of learners
• Ignite Sessions by Practitioners in the Field: First-hand look at the ways our districts are integrating technology in classrooms & schools to engage students                  
• Emerging Technologies... What's Next?

DATE:   Thursday, October 23

TIME:    7:15 pm - 9:30 pm (7:15 pm Registration & Refreshments; 7:30 Program)

PLACE: WPSBA/SW BOCES, 450 Mamaroneck Avenue, 3rd Floor, Harrison, NY 10528

This program is free and open to WPSBA member districts.  To register, CLICK HERE

Changing the Paradigm: Leadership Strategies to Reclaim Public Education is the topic of this year's 37th Annual School Boards & Superintendents Joint Dinner.  Join colleagues from across our four county region for a timely panel discussion of the issues and next steps.  The panel to date includes: Anne Byrne, President, National School Boards Association (NSBA) and Nanuet BOE;  Morton Sherman, Superintendent in Residence, American Association of School Administrators (AASA); and Jere Hochman, Bedford Superintendent and co-author, Public Education Matters! (NYSCOSS publication)

DATE:    Thursday, November 13

TIME:     6:30 pm - 9:30 pm ( 6:30 pm Reception; 7:00 pm Program)
PLACE:  DoubleTree Tarrytown, 455 South Broadway, Tarrytown, NY 10591

COST:    $50 per person (Fee event - Register through your District Clerk)

Artwork by Tricia O'Neill - P/NW BOCES

MONDAY, September 29 - Legislative Advocacy Meeting

7:30 pm - 9:00 pm

Pleasantville HS Library, 60 Romer Avenue, Pleasantville, NY 10570

To register, CLICK HERE

If you're interested in legislative advocacy join us as we jump start our advocacy efforts for the year.  We will brainstorm how we can develop a strong regional advocacy effort and best utilize our resources.  The public education landscape is becoming ever more challenging, and we need to hit the ground running and join forces if we are to impact what happens in Albany and in Washington DC.

Thursday, October 30 - WPSBA Board of Directors Meeting

6:00 pm - 8:00 pm

White Plains CSD Education House, 5 Homeside Lane, White Plains, NY 10605

Our board meetings are open to all.  To register, CLICK HERE

Full WPSBA 2014-15 Program Calendar

     On a Saturday in early September, 22 new board members and one veteran board member (who attended along with a new board colleague) spent the day learning and interacting together at the WPSBA Governance Seminar to fulfill the NYS 6 Hour Mandated Training requirement (WPSBA is an official SED approved provider!). 

      We thank our top notch presenters: John Chambers, retired superintendent; David Shaw and Margo May, partners at Shaw, Perelson, May and Lambert; Marilyn Terranova, retired superintendent; and Susan Elion Wollin, WPSBA board president,  Lisa Davis, WPSBA executive director, and Marguerite Guglielmo, program manager, for their efforts to make this such a valuable primer on  school board governance.  We hope you'll consider participating next fall alongside your newest board member(s)!