During the 11/26, 12/10, and 1/14 Board of Education meetings, there were a few interesting topics and situations brought up. On the 11/26 meeting, an assistant head coach presented on how he had filled in for the head coach position for a school team. Due to trouble with an individual, however, he was ready to quit. When he finally had the opportunity to meet with said individual, the assistant coach expressed his concerns with the individual’s actions, especially over him being called a racial slur by the individual. By the end of the meeting, the assistant head coach found out that he would be terminated. He explained that he felt discriminated against and that he had been called a racial slur for doing the job he had been given. The board didn’t have a clear resolution for him and explained that they couldn’t say anything about it publicly, as it was something they had to discuss.
The 12/10 meeting had no public comments.
On 1/14, there were a few public comments. A man brought up his thoughts regarding the accelerated system and how the Ithaca City School District should encourage more gifted/accelerated programs. There was also a woman who brought up her concerns and disappointments regarding the lack of funding for New Roots. Other than that, there was a woman who was concerned about the lack of jerseys for the boys’ basketball team and how it seemed like certain students were almost always benched. She attempted to talk about how one of the players needed to play because of a bad tragedy, but she was cut off. The board was relatively limited in its response. Doctor Brown stated that more information about New Roots and other similar programs would be presented on the 1/28 board meeting. He emphasized that they have paid every cent they are legally allowed to give to New Roots Charter School and that there are external processes where the state steps in and decides what goes where. Regarding the woman with the basketball jersey issue, the board said that talking about student stories is a privacy violation that they had to shut down.
The main points of discussion during the 11/26 meeting were the curriculum visit and the policy committee’s update. Lily Talcott led instructional rounds for a few of the board members throughout Ithaca High School. They presented their thoughts on some of the courses. The English class, they thought, had an extraordinary facilitation of learning, and in the biology and social studies classes, extensive student engagement was seen and they were really impressed with the preparation that went into the classes. The policy committee stated that the discussion largely had centered on the use of care animals in buildings and the regulations surrounding them. Not only that, they went through the 8000 series of policy, a collection of policies including policies like the Fire Drill Policy and the Hazard Communications Policy, in order to keep everything up to date.
During the 12/10 meeting, a few notable things happened. The first wasn’t by the board but was a presentation of the Aspiring Educators Program by Mr. Mitchell. He explained how they were working to learn about educators of color and would get a chance to collaborate with Ithaca College in the future. A few of the students taking part in the program were there and they presented their reasoning behind wanting to become educators. In response, the board responded that seeing kids wanting to be educators inspired them as educators as well. There was also an update from the Early Childhood Advisory Council Committee. They discussed the Pre-K attendance and schedule. Apparently, the number of absences on Fridays averaged sixteen versus absences on the other days of the week, which averaged six. This is likely due to the half-day on Friday for some Pre-K classrooms. There was some discussion on the amount of education that such absences were affecting and how changing the schedule might be part of the solution.
Finally, in the 1/14 meeting, there were two especially notable presentations. The first was by two tech teachers: Mr. Breigle and Mr. Buchner. Recently, an article was published naming ICSD the second-best STEM school in New York State. The technology system is seen to be a major contributing factor to this commendation. They presented on the tech programs that they have in the middle schools and the high school, including clubs like TSA and Science Olympiad. They discussed increasing female attendance of tech programs and getting greater overall participation from students as goals. A few of the board members talked about how their children had positively benefited from these tech programs and how other minorities should also be reached out to. Lastly, there was a discussion about possibly instituting a new tax, but there was disagreement on doing it with or without a vote. There are numerous pros and cons regarding both sides, but according to the board, they need funds.
Overall, the three board meetings were fairly eventful, with some important discussion regarding the schools, but no significant action is being taken immediately.