Attendance: Mackenzie Barton, Shane Barton, Marion Burghart, Kevin
Calacone, Tom Clayton, Lisa Devaren, Michelle Griffin, Pam Guest, Paula
Monarch-Palmieri, Lindsay Peterson, Nancy Stewart, Carrie Styles,
Stephanie Weinlein
1. Standing item: High School Building Renovation Project
a. Still awaiting NYSED approval, even with expedited third-party
review.
b. This pushes our anticipated starting timeline into March.
c. Counselors have come up with a way to eliminate the need for
temporary HS classrooms in the ‘52 Gym.
d. HS teachers moving classrooms will be notified after project
approval.
Outcome: Continue to work with Shawn Gathen and the Building Project
Committee throughout this process.
2. Follow up topic: School Climate
a. Eight (8) Jr/Sr. High School students attended the Students
Together Opposing Prejudice (STOP) Conference on January
11th at Siena College.
b. Our district’s cultural advancement committee is exploring a
partnership with Generation Ready to assess the issues of
diversity, equity, and student access across the district.
Generation Ready representatives will attend the next
committee meeting on February 6th.
c. Cultural Proficiency curriculum – we are looking at a push-in
teacher model during social studies classes rather than a
separate time period for junior high students to receive this
instruction.
d. Our building principals and superintendent will be attending a
Generation Ready meeting at Niskayuna CSD on Wednesday
1/30/19.
Outcome: Keep school climate as a standing item and focus for future BLT
agendas.
3. Other topics
a. PBIS program – Mikey Dady is working with the School Climate
Committee to create a Google Form to capture teachers’
perceptions of student behaviors to focus on this school year.
b. Tackling Absenteeism Conference (January 2019 @ CASDA)-
Mrs. Griffin attended sessions on Restorative Practices (Circles),
and the importance of building relationships with students.
Should we consider this as a more student-centered approach to
student discipline? The response from the BLT was favorable.
c. Updates with Academic Success Plan – Is the three-failure rule
too much? Athletes still seem to be impacted more than others.
IST meetings have been successful for students and families.
Currently we have the same number of failures but far fewer
sheets being submitted.
d. Senior Lounge updates – Senior Lounge remains closed until we
can come up with a more proactive supervision approach. The
current supervision scheme is not working adequately. Dr.
Calacone and Mr. Spicer are open to suggestions from students
and staff on how this can best be accomplished.
Outcome: No other new topics at this time.
Next meeting: Monday February 25, 2019 (3 – 4:30 p.m. in the High
School Library).