OSWEGO – The Oswego City School District Board of Education met last night, Tuesday, May 17, with all members present, when it discussed the arts program and intramurals.
Also yesterday, results of the annual budget vote were released and can be found here.
To begin the meeting, Board President Heather DelConte opened the floor to the public, and the board was addressed by Jim Eckman, a parent of district students and a volunteer wrestling coach. Eckman expressed his displeasure with the fact that the OCSD wrestling team has only one paid coach, and questioned the decision making practice that led to this.
OCSD Superintendent Dr. Mathis Calvin III opened the superintendent’s report with congratulations directed to the participants in the recent Oswego County Olympiad, held at Phoenix Central School. Calvin stated that “quite a few” students represented OCSD, and that he was very proud of their accomplishments.
“It was absolutely phenomenal,” Calvin said. “I was just very proud.”
Calvin also congratulated participants in the recent OMS Top 50 celebration, the Fitzhugh Park School Carnival, the recent school concerts, and the OHS Envirothon team for its recent win in the county wide event.
Calvin then presented the board with a review of the district’s participation in the Arts COSER, a regional cooperative service accessed through CITI BOCES. Calvin displayed a graphic outlining the various aspects of the COSER, and asked Paul Brewster to speak to the board regarding the district’s benefit from this program.
Brewster said that the list of programs displayed on the monitor represented only approximately one third of the usual offering, this being the result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Brewster listed a number of events and learning opportunities the district has participated in during the 16 years of his involvement, including visiting artist programs.
Brewster informed the board of the financial benefits of the program with regard to the reimbursement of non-staff instructors being paid by the COSER.
“This has probably saved us about $22,000 dollars a year for the last 10 years,” Brewster said.
DelConte asked Brewster if he had received any student feedback regarding the program, and Brewster said that he had received many positive comments ”anecdotally,” but that no formal assessment had been conducted.
Board member Tom Ciappa thanked Brewster for all of his efforts to promote the arts within the district over the years. Calvin also thanked Brewster for many years of helping to organize the District’s participation in the COSER.
“This is a great example of someone who not only educates our students, but inspires them,” Calvin said, ”He brings in folks to inspire them, and by the way, he does it for free, he’s done it all these years, all of this organization, and I just want you to know that I really appreciate it.”
Calvin then directed the board’s attention to intramural sports in the district, stating that a new intramural program will be introduced during the summer.
Calvin said that the district is hiring a new director of PE, Health and Athletics, and that the interview process should end in about a week. Intramural programs will be offered to all students after school, and transportation will be provided.
The district is exploring offering options such as volleyball, basketball, tennis, lacrosse, biking , swimming, soccer and golf. Calvin said that staffing and scheduling issues will be solidified during the summer.
Calvin introduced three recently hired administrators to the board and the public. Dr. Karen Humphrey will be joining the district as executive director of curriculum and instruction, Robert Siracuse will be taking the role of executive director of personnel, and Lisa Carter will be the district’s new executive director of special education and student services. All three were in attendance and exchanged warm greetings with the members of the board.
The agenda can be found here.
Moving to the consent agenda, items A-I passed unanimously.
Two items on the curriculum agenda, two new course offerings, passed unanimously.
Items A-L on the personnel agenda passed unanimously.
Items A-K on the finance agenda passed unanimously.
Student representative Zachary DeMott announced an assembly to celebrate the winter and spring sports teams that will take place on June 2. DeMott congratulated the jazz band for its recent performance at Sharkey’s in Liverpool, New York, as well as announcing the Wind Ensemble’s upcoming performance. DeMott echoed Calvin’s congratulations to the students participating in the recent Olympiad.
DelConte requested items from the board, with Board Member Pamela Dowd thanking Laura Bateman and her team for putting on the recent Port City Connection.
“It was fabulous, “ Dowd said.
The board then moved to executive session to discuss the performance and work history of an individual.
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What are the new courses? I have seen the agenda and watched the meeting. Never once were the names of the courses provided nor was a course description given. How does the public know if these are worth while courses? Are these just other courses for easy pay or actually challenging courses that will prepare the kids for future work? I hope they are but why can’t we see more information about them? Hoping they aren’t another ‘honors lab’ at the high school where kids usually sit around and play on their cellphones while the union president ‘overseas’ it. It is an alternative to study hall??