Present: Cheryl Halliburton-Beatty, Helen Greene, Helen Kotzky, Gail Nedbor-Gross, Don Scarl, Kurt Schmeller
Election of officers: The slate of officers was accepted. The new officers are: Helen Kotzky, president, Larry Fischer, vice-president, Don Scarl, secretary, Lorri Prince, treasurer.
Safety: Since the reports of gunmen in schools, parents worry about safety in the Glen Cove schools. Parents might be somewhat reassured to have a report of the measures that have been taken to avoid intruders, such as security cameras, guards, locked school doors, numbered room doors, cell phones in classrooms, and teacher emergency training.
Speakers at upcoming Coalition meetings: There are new principals at the high school, Deasy School, and the middle school. Perhaps the three new principals would like to speak at one meeting. There are new coordinators for math, science, English, English as a Second Language, foreign languages, and guidance. Helen Kotzky will invite the principals and the guidance supervisor first.
Some students meet with their guidance counselor only once a year
Some 10th and 11th graders do not take the Preliminary Scholastic Ability Tests. Students and parents are not aware of the importance of PSATs
Some parents can’t fill out long complicated guidance forms
Many football players’ grades drop off after the football season
Nassau Community and City College of New York campuses are good schools that guidance counselors may neglect
Guidance advice on how to get to college should start in 7th grade
Even one disruptive student in a class prevents a teacher from teaching. New and inexperienced teachers are especially affected by this
Third year Spanish seems to have 36 students in one class
Advanced Placement students need more advice and help
AP courses sort of dissolve after the AP exams in May
Students could visit Glen Cove Senior Center, retirement communities, and assisted living centers more often to talk about programs in the schools
School information could be posted in churches and Laundromats. Many of the people who are otherwise hard to reach use Laundromats.
Provide more useful school board meeting agendas with each action item explained in a sentence or two. Put agendas on website.
Provide school board meeting notes or minutes at next school board meeting and post on website. The district seems to have good meeting notes available on request but does not make them widely available.
Some administrative decisions do not seem to be made public. Could administrative decisions be put on website?
Some people who attend school board meetings still believe that some important decisions are made in private at special board meetings.
Could the building principals contribute more information to the district Knightlines?
People appreciated that several teachers contributed in an articulate way to Shari Camhi’s report at a school board meeting
The lack of continuing education has been an issue for years. Dr. Screnci chaired a committee that advocated strongly for it several years ago
Locust Valley, Syosset, and Roslyn have strong continuing education programs that seem to pay for themselves.
Continuing education brings people into the schools and creates favorable feelings toward the schools.
Many parents need information about child rearing, preparation for college, discipline, and student job possibilities,
The registration table was deep within the high school and parents had to go through halls that were dirty and had furniture piled up while custodians were cleaning and painting classrooms.
Some landlords do not cooperate in giving tenants information
Submitted by Don Scarl 22 October 2006