The anxiously anticipated academic Board of Education work session associated with the proposed re-configuration of the Berner Middle School was held on Jan. 12 in the Baldwin Auditorium. There has been much discussion in the community regarding the merits of moving the sixth grade from the elementary setting into the middle school. Back in the fall, the district held parent focus groups at each elementary location to gather the concerns the community had in regard t
o this recommendation Superintendent Lucille F. Iconis made during the presentation of the board’s goals for the 2015-16 school year. Many voiced apprehension about the social/emotional implications, the actual academic program that was unable to be offered at the elementary level and the costs associated with such a re-configuration.
The academic benefits and the vast opportunities that would be afforded to sixth grade students a year earlier at Berner were clearly evident during this presentation. At the end of the meeting, all four board of education trustees, Jane Ryan, Maryanne Fisher, Gary Baldinger, and Joseph LaBella, concurred that the academic benefits with the increased opportunities met their expectations. Trustee Timothy Taylor was not present due to illness. LaBella expressed that he had come in expecting not to agree but after hearing the presentation, now agrees with the academics and has changed his mind. Baldinger shared that he was blown away by the presentation, especially “the enthusiasm that is displayed from our staff.”
Iconis began by saying that the focus is how to capitalize on the district’s structure and resources to benefit all students.
“This is not just about sixth grade students but about all students. This will have a ripple effect,” she said, sharing that many Long Island districts moved their sixth grade to middle schools due to space constraints, but continue with a 6-8 model today. In addition, New York State Curriculum is designed in a grade 6-8 band and requires the longer secondary academic day to fully deliver the curriculum successfully. Currently, the sixth grade receives 240 minutes of instruction time in the elementary setting. If moved to Berner, the instructional time will increase by 80 minutes per day, which translates to one full school day more per week. When factoring in the entire school year, sixth grade students will receive 36 additional instructional days per year.
The proposed academic program would also include a world language, technology, health, family and consumer science, access to science labs and a specially developed organizational course, MS101. This course will be designed to focus on physical and digital skills such as navigating Chromebooks, creating Google docs, study skills, social/emotional learning and digital citizenship.
The panel of administrators shared common themes in their presentations, which included more time in instruction for teachers to cover material in depth, teachers ability to confer with a team of content area specialists, the benefit of having students one year earlier to make decisions on their placement into accelerated tracks, opportunities to participate in a vast array of clubs and activities that will expand their experiences and help them to find peers with like interests.
“In the past there were initiatives brought before the board with community push back but the history of how well those initiatives have been implemented and their success should make the community confident of this one, if it were to go forward,” said Fisher, who in thanking presenters, added that it will “allow the board to make an informed decision.”
Marguerite Ryan, a community resident in attendance shared that “the presentation addressed all the issues that were raised in the various parent meetings and I feel a thorough analysis and strong academic plan was put forth for the board’s consideration.” She looks forward to hearing the financial proposal.
“If the vote is yes I can assure you we will deliver the best possible program we can and for all those points of pride, this will be the crowning jewel,” said Iconis to end the meeting.
The financial work session is scheduled for Jan. 26 at 7 p.m. in the Baldwin Auditorium and will be the deciding factor for the board of education as well as community.
