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C-D board debates nonresident student policy

By David Gordon

CAIRO — A revised policy on non-resident students met the objections raised by one board member of the Cairo-Durham Central School District.

The policy, passed for a first reading at the school board meeting Thursday, June 12, outlines the policy on determining the residence status of a student and on students who move out of the district.

Greg Koerner-Fox said he had raised questions at the last meeting about the procedures used to determine several families were not residents of the district. He brought these questions up again, and asked why the discussion he had initiated about the student residence policy was not in the minutes of that meeting.

Regarding the minutes, school board president August Freemann said the details of discussions are rarely included in minutes. Minutes are generally limited to action items, resolutions and decisions, he said.

School Superintendent Sally Sharkey said the procedures were followed, but the families in question did not avail themselves of their right to appeal. In fact, one family declined to fill out a packet of information designed to allow the family to prove its residence, she said.

“We sent them a packet, and they didn’t want to fill it out. It offers an opportunity to prove they live in the district,” she said. Freemann offered Koerner-Fox a copy of the form letter that is sent to families believed to be out of the district. Koerner-Fox replied that he had received a letter from one of the families. “I wish I had brought it with me,” he said.

However, Koerner-Fox said, following the meeting, the new policy answers his objections. In particular, the policy states that when a student leaves the district, the student can continue attending Cairo-Durham schools until the end of the current term. However, the policy requires that the student was a bona fide resident of the district at the time he or she moves.

The policy also establishes that non-resident students will not be admitted to Cairo-Durham schools.

The school superintendent is given the authority to determine whether a student is a resident. Adverse decisions may be appealed to the school board.

The board also approved a policy regarding school board membership qualifications. The policy reiterates state law on the matter, and acknowledges that the board does not have the authority to add to the requirements. Board members must be able to read and write. The must be qualified voters in the school district, and must have lived in the district for at least a year. No more than one person living in a given household may be a member. District employees may not be members. No board member may hold another elective office that is incompatible with membership on the school board.

Koerner-Fox said he attended a field trip to the Bronx Zoo with a fourth-grade class on Wednesday. The trip went so well, he said, that it should be a template for all district field trips.”

Another field trip, however, raised questions. Advanced Placement (AP) students visited New York City, including several museums and a Broadway show, without prior board approval. Sharkey explained that the opportunity to take this trip came up unexpectedly, and it would have been lost had the faculty waited for the next board meeting. She acknowledged that the policy is for trips to be booked at least 21 days in advance for transportation arrangements to be made. If the board meeting is more than 21 days away, the trip must take place after board approval has been obtained. However, Sharkey said, this was the one exception; hundreds of field trips followed the policy.

The board approved a student calendar for next year that includes a superintendent’s conference day on Friday, April 3. This will allow the first performance of the high school musical to take place on Thursday, April 2. Earlier this year, a group of students involved in the play asked the board to allow it to hold a Thursday performance this year, as was done in the past. Sharkey told them she was hesitant to change the school principal’s determination that the students should not be up late on a school night. The scheduling of the conference day allows for a Thursday night opening.

The board voted to approve three grant requests. This is money the school district makes available to faculty members for special projects. The board granted Diane Parette $500 update a web page giving parents information about web sites their kindergarten students can use, along with instruction for parents on how to work with their children. The board also approved a grant for $1,250 to research and develop a program for integrating writing into the math curriculum. The board approved a $1,600 grant to English teacher Rosemary Lewis to start a middle school newspaper. The grant is to pay Lewis a stipend for developing and running the newspaper, which would be published monthly starting in October.

During the public discussion period, Beth Phillips asked whether the approval of the budget means that the board will work to complete contract negotiations with the district’s teachers. Freemann said negotiations are ongoing, and the board is seriously working to develop a contract that both sides can approve. The teachers have been working without a contract for the past two years.

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