BY WILL ROSS
PITTSFORD—On Wednesday, January 18, the RNESU School Board met at Lothrop Elementary School in Pittsford. The meeting opened with a discussion about community feedback regarding food service. The district is currently offering free breakfast and lunch; however, parents have brought up that kids are unsatisfied with the quality of food being provided. Superintendent Kristin Hubert informed the board that each school has been asked to appoint a robust food service advisory committee. As a 3-year contract with the Abbey Group is up for renewal, the board is waiting for a bid to go out to see who the possible contractors will be. Chair of the board, Laurie Bertrand, said that the district will be very clear about what they expect of the food-service company they hire.
The district plans to introduce new administrator evaluations in the 2023-24 school year. Superintendent Hubert pointed out that although teachers are supervised and evaluated, there is still a need for that process for the administration and building leaders. Hubert felt that just as they have the responsibility to support teachers, so too should they offer the same service for administrative staff. A comprehensive evaluation has been brought forward for the 23-24 school year that will enable these staff members to receive feedback, reflect on their performances, and identify goals.
Several policies were up for adoption, including one that applies to the RNESU staff chain of command. The policy is intended to help support the avenue of communication between parents or guardians and staff members and provide parents with a place to address their concerns.
The RNESU Board meeting adjourned and was followed up by an OVUU school board meeting. The meeting began with a presentation from principal Michael Ruppel to inform the board about state policies that support flexible learning pathways. Ruppel went on to explain the pathways that are currently in place at Otter Valley. OVUU offers in-house programs such as Moosalamoo, tech education, extended learning opportunities, internships, and work-based learning. Ruppel noted that the current pathways are being expanded to include a career pathway program. They are also beginning to implement pathways such as STEM and world language into middle-school programming to encourage students to explore passions at a younger age.
There was a discussion about a list of requests made by a group of Vermont teenagers who were involved in a local production. Listen Up is an original musical inspired, written, and performed by Vermont teens. The group responsible for the musical compiled a list of changes that these teenagers hope to see in their lives and communities. Board members noted they were impressed with the candid nature of the requests and the scope of the list, which covered many different areas. They agreed it is clear that these kids want to feel supported and heard. The board felt it would be pertinent to keep this list in mind when implementing new policies and discussed the potential to give students a chance to plan opportunities alongside the board.
Other News:
- RNESU board accepted a policy regarding class-size revisions The guidelines ensure compliance with state or federal requirements related to student-teacher ratios, special education, technical education, and English Language.
- The OVUU school board is preparing its budget statement for the year.
- A grant came through that will allow improvements to the Lothrop campus sidewalks including increased wheelchair accessibility.
- The town of Pittsford has requested reconsideration of the 2022 equalization study because of outlying sales influencing municipal and educational property taxes.
