Pelham Schools Set Goals for the School Year

Student performance will be the driver of the Pelham school board’s agenda this year.

Although student performance is a key issue for any school district, board members and administrators are hopeful they can give this area even more attention now that most of the work approved by district voters in a 2008 bond referendum has been been completed. Residents approved two proposals, totalling more than $26 million, in 2008 for various repairs and construction work throughout the district.

“I think the board, as much as any entity, is really happy that our construction is coming to a close and that members of the board of education can now focus on what, I think, we all intended to focus on when we decided to serve for the board—and that’s really academics,” Robert Eicher, president of the Pelham school board, said during Monday's school board meeting.

Here’s a brief synopsis of the five goals for the school year that the board adopted on Monday.

1.) To study and analyze academic programs based on the review of multiple measures of student assessment in order to improve student achievement.

2.) Develop and adopt a new multi-year district strategic plan.

3.) Develop a budget that addresses the tax implications of the new tax cap in conjunction with the potential reductions in state aid as they relate to programs, choices, staffing and operations.

4.) Finish reviewing the policy manual for adoption and ongoing discussion.

5.) Continue to implement efforts to enhance opportunity for community engagement, including the broadening off the use of public access television, the Web site, social media, etc.

“It should be pointed out that these goals that were discussed are in addition to the board’s annual obligation and throughout the year, the board plans to hold a variety of study sessions to gather information that is important to the budget, policy, program decisions that we make,” Eicher said.


Students Honored

The school board honored Pelham Memorial High School seniors Claire Yost and Omar Guoda during Monday’s board meeting.

Guoda, team captain of the Pelham Memorial High School Forensics Speech Team, took first place in a forensics league competition in New York City and won a slot for and oratory competition in Washington, DC. He also competed in the Grand National Tournament Championship during the Memorial Day weekend.

Guoda also won first place in original oratory and humorous interpretation categories at the New York state regional championships. In June, Guoda competed in the National Forensic League Tournament of Champions.

Yost  was honored for her work in the Tri-County Area’s State Science and Technology Fair, where she took first place in biology and third place overall, and New York State Science Congress of Teachers in Albany, where she took first place in chemistry and physics.

Other board actions

• The board accepted and independent auditor’s report from the firm of O’Connor , Davies, Munns & Dobbins.
• Approved rental agreement with Sarah Lawrence College and the College of New Rochelle. The District will pay Sarah Lawrence College a fee not to exceed $1,440 for the use of college’s pool for swim practice. The district will pay the College of New Rochelle $1,300 to use the college’s pool and locker room facilities.
• The board accepted $39,101 in donations from the Pelham Education Foundation, $4,300 from the Hutchinson School PTA and $1,000 form the Hutchinson Fifth Grade Class of 2011. Check back later this week for more information on what the grants will be used for.