Mt. View revises calendar

BY VIRGINIA CODY

Students attending classes in the Mountain View School have already missed five days of school.

“This is only our third attendance day,” Superintendent Andrew Chichura said at Monday night’s school board meeting.

As a result of flooding associated with Tropical Storn Lee, several communities within the Mountain View district had been swamped causing the schools to close.

“This was unusual and out of our control,” Chichura said.

But, as a result of the closures, Chichura said the three built-in snow days on the school calendar have been spent. To compensate, the calendar is to be revised and two days will be made up at the end of the school year.

In other district business, the school district is getting ready to refinance a $7.1 million bond.

James Mirabelli said that current interest rates are favorable to this option which would be accomplished in February.

“Over the eight years left on the bond, we could save an estimated $200,000,” Mirabelli told the school board Monday night.

The first step, however, is to select a financial advisor.

Mirabelli said that he and Chichura had already interviewed a number of applicants and would propose a name for board approval at the Sept. 19 meeting.

Mirabelli explained that once a financial advisor is approved, the school district will gather statistics so that a bond rating can be established.

“That will be to see our credit worthiness,” Mirabelli said.

The next step in the process, he said, would be to establish an actual interest rate that would hold for the next eight years.

Chichura said that rate could be locked in up to 90 days before the February “call” date.

Once the interest rate is established, he added, the board can approve the refinancing.

“The sooner we can move on this the better,” he said.

On the academic side of things, there was lengthy debate about whether to allow teachers to attend a special in-service seminar conducted by the creator of Kid Writing.  Members of the public and school board members challenged whether the cost of attendance for six first grade teachers was worth it.

Karen Voigt, Director of Curriculum and Instruction, said the training was particularly necessary in light of the fact that several of the first grade teachers scheduled for the training had been displaced from their positions teaching at other grade levels.

“We’re trying to give them strategies to use in the classroom,” Voigt explained, adding that Kid Writing is nothing like “inventive spelling,” and does not utilize computers as previously used instructional programs did.

Also debated on Monday was why the district continues to employ two special education teachers not deemed “highly qualified.”

According to Susan Pipitone, Director of Special Services, in order to be highly qualified in special education, a teacher has to not only be certified under PRAXIS testing in special education, but he or she has to be certified in the subject area he or she teaches.

The two special education teachers in question are certified in special education but have never taken PRAXIS exams in reading or in math.  Therefore, she explained, they are unable to teach core courses for the district.

Pipitone said the two teachers are teaching intervention courses, but students should not receive credit for taking those courses.

Also under discussion Monday were several policies currently being revised by the school board.  Several members of the public in attendance requested copies of the proposed changes.

Chichura said they would be provided if the requester filled out a Right to Know form.

Whether anRTKform should be required by the superintendent was also debated, and board member Richard Griffiths pointed out that the information desired by the public “is more under the Sunshine Act than under the Right to Know law.”