The New Hyde Park/Garden City School Board meeting, scheduled for 8 p.m., did not start until almost 8:30 p.m. due to the board’s late arrival. They apologized profusely due to the executive session that they would have to resume after the meeting ended.
Because of the nature of the executive session, Superintendent Robert Katulak said he was not able to discuss the topic of the session with the public.
The board went right to all the reports scheduled for the evening and one of them was the Building, Grounds and Transportation Report – Five Year Plan given by Robert Moss and Architect John Grillo.
Moss started the report by announcing that a new Ford F250 Pick Up truck with snowplow had been purchased to replace the payloader bucket on the John Deere Tractor.
Further, a field scraper has been replaced to maintain ball fields along with the replacement of two weed trimmers, one gas hedge trimmer and salt spreaders for the Garden City Park and New Hyde Park Road School.
Moss said, “At the Manor Oaks School we surfaced the playground and replaced interior doors. At Garden City Park School there was a partial concrete replacement, steps were repaired, thermostats repaired, room No. 207 bathroom renovated and the gym office exterior doors were replaced.
“Further, at Hillside Grade we were able to make the nurse’s office ADA compliant, replace the exterior doors, repair the cupola and install pavement.”
Moss went on to say, “District-wide projects included gas conversion and temperature control upgrades. Plus, we worked with the Technology Department in coordinating the installation of SmartBoards and we were able to remove the obsolete PCs from classrooms to be recycled and we went on to paint classrooms in Hillside Grade, New Hyde Park Road, Garden City Park and Manor Oak schools.”
In an effort to consolidate services, both Moss and Grillo worked with other districts to improve purchasing power of equipment. Moss explained, “We worked with other districts to consolidate transportation and reduce expenses and joined the BOCES consortium for transportation bids.”
In an effort to continue “going green” the district is still collecting recyclable materials at all schools including paper, plastic, etc. The district is also purchasing green cleaning supplies to assist in protecting the environment and they have recycled old and obsolete PCs from all the buildings in the district.
The ongoing Capital Projects Reserves projects was addressed by Grillo, including the PA speakers that had been installed in the gym and custodial workshop and a intercom phone that was installed in the workshop at Garden City Park School.
Grillo said, “At New Hyde Park Road School we installed new fence/gates to increase the parking area closest to the building. At Manor Oaks School we installed blacktop between the gym and library and at Hillside Grade School we replaced the baseball field backstops, regraded the ball fields and reseeded the fields.”
Additional projects attributed to the Capitol Projects include the replacement of plug-in emergency lights at Manor Oaks and Hillside Grade School.
Gym lights were replaced at Hillside Grade School and the gym floor was replaced at Hillside Grade School. At Garden City Park School the boiler room sink was repaired. At the New Hyde Park Road School the stair tread replacement is in progress as is the stairway lighting replacement at the Hillside Grade School.
Superintendent Robert Katulak Explains The District Testing Audit
Superintendent Katulak explained at the last school board meeting what the very complicated New York State Testing document, that was mailed to the district.
Each school is tested in the various disciplines such as English, math and science.
The state then grades each school in all the subjects and in various ways. Fortunately, all of the New Hyde Park/Garden City Park Schools, including New Hyde Park Road, Garden City Park, Manor Oaks and Hillside Grade all tested in AVP status and therefore each has gained the title of a “school in good standing.” Any school that does not, for two consecutive years, will be placed in need of improvement status.
The same formula applies to both math and science and once again the New Hyde Park/Garden City Park district scores in the “school in good standing.”
Progress of the students is monitored every 6 to 8 weeks as grade level teams meet together to examine the student’s progress on benchmark tests or teacher created tests.
Item analysis of student results is done and regrouping takes place.
Teachers share research-based instructional practices to increase student performance.
At the New Hyde Park/Garden City Park School District the following current academic common core programs are in place:
ELA-K-6-Scott Foresman
Mathematics K-2 Envisions
Scott Foresman 3-6 Harcourt
Science-K-6-Scott Foresman
Social Studies-K-6 Harcourt
It was explained that the reason there are only two publishers listed is that they have bought all the other publications.
Superintendent Katulak said, “These books will help our students in “Race To The Top.”
Other courses which are also part of the New Hyde Park/Garden City Park well-rounded education curriculum are: General music, chorus, orchestra, strings, stage band, band, visual arts and physical education.
The meeting came to a close as the board exited back into executive session. The next board meeting is set for Monday, November 14 at 8 p.m. at the Manor Oaks School.
