Dear Residents,
I would like to thank all of the community members who have showed their support through phone calls and emails regarding the direction of the district and the Board of Education. I also want to express my thanks to the community, Administration and Board for your collective faith in me as President for my second year.
As volunteers elected to serve you and your children, we will continue to be student and community-focused first and allow the educational professionals (Administration, teachers) to chart the educational direction and delivery. As I said nearly one year ago, the Board is serious about our energy use, saving tax dollars, the well-being of our students and staff, and last, but certainly not least, the environment. We continue to move in the right direction, and in the last year, just look at what the community and the school district have accomplished:
An Energy Audit has been completed and our building systems (heating, ventilation, electrical) are running more efficiently, saving precious tax dollars and operating in a more environmentally conscious manner. The new recycling program is also in place.
Thanks to your support and the dedication of our Buildings and Grounds staff, our buildings have never looked better, both inside and out. Our athletic facilities are safer, ADA compliant, and can now accommodate multiple sports. We also thank the PTA for the beautiful new playground at JQA. Additionally, the EXCEL projects to complete the upgrade of our fire alarms, technology wiring and hardware, and science lab renovations are close to receiving NYS approval. Once again, thank you to our community for supporting this much-needed state grant.
The administration and teaching staff have demonstrated a responsible vision with our new reorganization. We have many new faces (curriculum associates) in our buildings and some familiar faces have transitioned to different buildings. We have a great teaching staff and strong teacher assistant staff. I feel as if all the pieces have come together and the new restructuring works in the best interest of our children.
A new student information system is about to be implemented and will allow parents to keep track of everything they need to know about their child, from attendance to scheduling. You will be receiving a mailing on how to sign up for the Infinite Campus Parent Portal. It’s a very good system and our staff will cooperate to help you get acclimated. This will be a big rollout, and your patience will be much appreciated during the learning process.
Under the leadership of our new Technology Director, we have purchased 130 new PCs and Mac Book computers, upgraded the memory in more than 200 existing computers across the entire district, and upgraded servers, thereby reducing power consumption and the cost of future upgrades, while increasing the speed of the network and allowing students to maintain their portfolios as they move from one school to the next. We are also using new Rosetta Stone software and have installed 50 wireless access points across the various district buildings to allow students to work on their laptops in a mobile fashion.
Additionally, we are in the process of redesigning our district website (scheduled to be launched by January) to make it more user-friendly, and are integrating podcasting, wikis and various multimedia projects into the curriculum to enhance our students’ 21st Century skills and give teachers the opportunity to post schoolwork for the community to view online.
A very positive Financial Audit Report (conducted annually) shows the district’s overall financial health is in good shape and our bond rating is high. Furthermore, I’d like to dispel the notion that school districts and school boards are responsible for the high property tax issue you have been reading about in the media. Lawmakers in Albany must be held accountable for the unfunded mandates that have been dumped on local districts and the outdated laws that were instituted years ago to appease lobbyists rather than constituents. The media should, but usually fails to, report this.
We have a caring and dedicated teaching staff that strives to ensure our children receive the best education possible. Our staff needs your support and the best way to help them is to be an involved parent. I ask all parents to become part of the education process. We can do this by attending parent-teacher meetings, checking that assignments are completed, and following our students’ progress on the website and at home.
I wish you all health and happiness for the upcoming school year and I pray every student finds the success they are looking for.
Thank You and God Bless,
Dennis Ryan, 274-8891
