The BoE Meetings of 12/13 and 1/10

The Board of Education met on December 13, 2022, and
January 10, 2023. The December 13 meeting discussed retiree
health insurance, a presentation on Learning Forward ICSD, as
well as a discussion brought up by the Representatives to the
Board of Education (BoE) regarding the Legislative Advocacy
Committee, the new Code of Conduct, student access to IHS, and
parking at IHS. Meanwhile, the January 10 meeting discussed the
work that the Representatives to the BoE have been doing in
implementing mental health days at IHS and improving mental
health support, the Human Resources (HR) Committee meeting
from January 3 at which concerns about teacher retention and
recruitment were presented, questions about the district’s response
to an incident where a student threatened to shoot up a bus in
October of 2022, and an update from Grace Lim ‘23 on her work
regarding sexual harassment and assault prevention and education.
The December voting meeting was preceded by a public
hearing on the new Code of Conduct, which aims to focus on
restorative practices and “challenge non-traditional ideas.” For
instance, one of the primary goals of the new Code of Conduct is
to reject suspension or expulsion except when required by law.
Many students, caregivers, and members of the community at the
meeting voiced their support for the new Code of Conduct. Some
attendees did bring up concerns, including inadequate
representation of teachers and staff members on the advisory
council for the Code of Conduct since it wasn’t possible for
educators to participate at the level expected due to teacher
demands.
The voting meeting that took place in January, opened with
public comment, where a member of the community who had
spent her career teaching primary students in ICSD brought up
the district’s decisions in retiree healthcare. This topic has been
discussed at board meetings several times in recent months, with
retirees bringing up issues with Aetna’s advantage plans—which
they were switched to by the district. While the BoE defends its
choice of the Aetna advantage plans, they state that they are trying
their best to gather information on the issue.
Public comment was followed by a presentation on Learning
Forward ICSD by Mary Grover, the district’s Inclusion Officer,
and Lily Talcott, the Deputy Superintendent. The presentation
stressed student review of the curriculum over the summer, and a
goal to connect with students in the curriculum.
The Student Representatives to the BoE also presented their
work with Jason Trumble, the principal of IHS, and Jennifer
Dobmeier, the Student Activities Director, to streamline systems
for planning events and fundraising. A student and advisor
handbook is being developed to support class and club officers,
and orientations for new officers are also in the works. The
Representatives also brought up the dissolution of the Legislative
Advocacy Committee, which had been working in part to
introduce student voting to BoE elections. The Board responded
that there were not enough resources to continued the
Committee’s work at this time, but that they are willing to explore and help
address student voting in Board elections. In response to the
shortage of teaching substitutes that the Student Representatives
brought up, the Board responded that staffing issues are widespread
and that they are working to solve the issue.
A separate update on bathrooms by the Capital Project informed
the community and the BoE that work on IHS bathrooms had
commenced, as many students at IHS already know. All four
multi-stall bathrooms in G-building are currently unusable and
under construction. They will likely be completely renovated at
some point in February.
At the January 10 meeting, the Student Representatives brought
up their further work with mental health days and mental health
support at IHS. New ideas that will potentially be implemented in
the future include: an improved system with the addition of direct,
online scheduling of appointments by students, and a designated
office specifically for drop-ins during the school day. The Student
Representatives also raised concerns over the results of the January
3 HR Committee meeting, where the ITA (Ithaca Teachers’
Association) Solidarity Committee and the ITA presented an array
of statistics on poor teacher retention and recruitment in the
district. In response, the Board of Education stated that they are
still trying to “unpack” the results of the HR meeting, and
emphasized that their HR department has been working hard on
recruiting new teachers. They added that their goal is to be
“collaborative.”
After the Student Representatives questioned the Board on
ICSD’s response to the bus shooting threat made by a student in
October—district officials including District Superintendent Dr.
Brown were recently subpoenaed to a case in the New York
Supreme Court regarding the district’s response—the Board
rebuked the District Attorney for stating that there was “no excuse
for the school district not to immediately alert law enforcement.”
Moira Lang, the Vice President of the Board, stated that the
situation was not “black and white.” The Representatives also
raised student concerns over the new bathrooms at IHS, which will
all be gender-neutral, and the potential for increased sexual
harassment or assault.
Committee and voting meetings of the BoE are open to the
public, and those who wish to attend voting meetings should
arrive at the Board building around 7:00 pm, as the Board will
likely be in executive session until that time. Additional
information including the BoE’s agenda, times of meetings, and
more can be found on the ICSD homepage.