December 10, 2020

The Waterford-Halfmoon Union Free School District Board of Education District Facilities Committee Meeting dated December 10, 2020 was called to order at 5:30pm by Mrs. Ricci.

Present: Marcia Ricci, Jack Cantanzarita, Denise Carutasu, David Lee, Carolyn Bell, Jamie Maloney

Also Present: (in person) Patrick Pomerville, Rachel Ingalsbe

Also Present: Mary Cecil (BCA), Taylor Woolf (BCA), Jason Schwartz (BPD), Nicholas Barcellona (BPD)

Mrs. Ingalsbe reviewed that the Facilities Committee was meeting to make a decision on whether to move forward with the Capital Project as a one phase or a two phase project.

Ms. Cecil and Jason Schwartz reviewed the financial impacts of going with one phase versus two phases for the Capital Project.

Mrs. Ingalsbe shared the following information;
From pre-vote discussions, building aid for incidental expenditures is limited by a maximum cost allowance or MCA. MCA is not a per-project limit, but a District level limit and meaning that SED tracks and includes projects approved in the last 5 years in their MCA calculations that current/future projects are subject to.

The District has known from the beginning that this project will exceed our MCA for incidentals, but the amount it is exceeded depends on which other projects are already being counted against that MCA.

Specifically, the District’s MCA for incidentals is about $5.4 million but about $710K of that has already been spoken for by project incidentals for two projects approved in the last 5 years. This means the MCA for this project is only about $4.7 M, as of today. Those two projects will fall off of SED’s MCA analysis in 2022, meaning that on that date, our MCA for incidentals would go back up to about $5.4 million.

It’s important to note that when BPD prepared pre-vote analyses, they assumed that the District would be waiting until 2022 when these projects fall off – this was factored into the information that was disseminated to our taxpayers.

The District has since evaluated the possibility of going with one phase, as opposed to two phases. There are pros and cons to each:


Pros

Cons

One Phase

1. Spending direct to costs of construction rather than administrative costs (i.e., architect, legal, etc.)

2. One construction season (shortened timeline)

3. Greater bid flexibility (funding not split between two projects)

1. Risk exceeding prevote aidability assumptions (which may result in more of the debt being taxpayer funded).

2. Potentially lose out on State aid

Two Phases

1. Maximize aidability without risking exceeding prevote limits

2. Potentially receive more aid than pre-vote assumptions (greater taxpayer savings)


1. Spending directed more toward overhead and less toward actual costs of construction/improvements

2. Longer timeline (track replacement delayed with deteriorating conditions of existing track)

3. Less bid flexibility (due to funding being split between two projects)

 

The Board is concerned about not going forward and getting the track and soccer field in the first phase.  The group feels the voters approved the project with the expectation of the sports fields being completed as soon as possible. The Committe will have BCA and BPD revise the items in Phase I and Phase II so that the track/field will be placed in the first phase and the parking lot renovation will take place in Phase II. 

The Facilities Committee will meet again on January 7, 2021 at 5:30pm to review potential changes to a Phase I and Phase II proposal.
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The Waterford-Halfmoon Union Free School District Board of Education Regular Meeting dated December 10, 2020 was called to order at 7:03pm by Mrs. Ricci, who then led those in attendance in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Present: Marcia Ricci, Jack Cantanzarita, Denise Carutasu, David Lee, Carolyn Bell, Jamie Maloney

Also Present: (in person) Patrick Pomerville, Rachel Ingalsbe, Chris Scanlan, Joel Richardson, Jennifer Bull, Courtney Edwards

Also Present: (via Webex) Joe Siracuse, Heather Lewis of Marvin & Co., C. Rich

There were no comments from the public regarding items on this evening’s agenda.

Comments from Administration

Mr. Scanlan reported on the following:

  • Mr. Scanlan wanted to extend his thanks to the teachers that stepped in to cover the maternity leaves of two of their colleagues. Mrs. Bridgers, Mrs. Kosar and Mrs. Spulnick have successfully covered art classes for the last six weeks, and Mrs. Spulnick and her seventh grade class were able to complete the unfinished mural from last year that is located in the stairwell.
  • Anthony’s Kindness Closet sponsored by the Blaauboer family is continuing to be very successful in helping our students with many of their needs. Multiple donations have been made. Mrs. Finley has done a fine job monitoring the closet and the work done by high school students Olivia Adams, Jordan Carutasu and Gabriella Gagliardi who volunteered to organize the closet and place six foot separation markers on the floor leading up to the closet to promote social distancing.

Ms. Bull reported on the following:

  • The Life Skills class is up and running nicely thanks to the creativity of Mrs. Falasco and Ms. Daniels in developing the program. The Life Skills students are now participating in specials classes with Mrs. Gervasio, Mrs. Mercier, Mrs. Rishel and Mrs. Reynolds.

Mr. Richardson reported on the following:

  • Cohoes-Waterford Elks donated dictionaries for all of our third grade students as well as a check for $1000.00.
  • Gigi Colett Cruz, a ninth grader her at Waterford-Halfmoon, has been accepted to the Puerto Rican/Hispanic Youth Institute, an innovative collaboration with the NYS Assembly/Senate Puerto Rican/Hispanic Task Force in conjunction with the annual SOMOS El Futuro conference, Office of Bilingual Education and World Languages, the New York State City Board of Education, and other agencies as appropriate. The overall purpose of the Institute is to promote student empowerment. Congratulations to Miss Colett Cruz on her accomplishment.

Mr. Siracuse reported on the following:

  • The elementary school has welcomed 23 virtual students back to in-person learning on Tuesday, December 8, and it is nice to see their faces in the building. Seven students have transitioned from in-person to virtual for this semester.
  • Mr. Siracuse wished to thank all the staff and faculty that stepped up to fill in any gaps the school has had due to staff being out and a shortage of subs at this time.
  • Mr. Siracuse also thanked Mr. Pomerville and Mrs. Ingalsbe for the job they did in making sure meals were prepared and distributed to students while we had a staff shortage in the kitchen.
  • On Thursday, December 10, Mr. Siracuse had the pleasure of joining Mrs. Clark’s class for music and accompanying them on the tambourine while high school student Julia Spretty and Music Teacher Mrs. Ricci filmed it. The students did a beautiful job and Mr. Siracuse thoroughly enjoyed himself.

Mr. Pomerville reported on the following:

  • Arrangements are being made to have Patrick Longo from NYSSBA offer a professional development workshop free of charge to help the Board with self-evaluation, setting goals and strengthening the team’s knowledge to promote good Board governance.
  • On Monday, December 7, 2020 it was decided to keep students home and to provide virtual learning for all students due to an employee’s exposure to COVID-19. That afternoon, after Mr. Pomerville discussed the situation with the Saratoga County DOH and received guidance, it was decided that in-person learning could resume the next day. The employee has since tested negative. Two employees are under a precautionary quarantine at this time and several families have chosen to self-quarantine their students due to possible exposure. The District appreciates how seriously parents and employees are responding to the health situation.
  • The District is preparing for the possibility of New York State designating our area a Yellow Zone and we are in a good position at this time. Consent forms have been sent out to parents and staff for random COVID-19 testing, and 142 students and 82 staff members have consented to being tested, so the 20% threshold for testing can be met. The District has signed a contract through WSWHE BOCES to have Adirondack Health and Wellness administer our COVID testing on site. At this time Wednesday December 16, 2020 has been tentatively scheduled to do the testing for students and staff, however, if the state does not label our area a yellow zone, testing will be pushed off until the next week. The contract through BOCES will allow the District to receive aid payments to cover the cost of testing. Mrs. Carutasu asked on behalf of some in the community why the District doesn’t just close to save on the cost of testing. Mr. Pomerville replied that there is a great value in keeping students in school in-person when possible. The cost of testing is worth keeping students engaged. Mrs. Ingalsbe added that having kids in school, allows parents to keep working and our economy running.
  • Testing for lead in the school water system is underway, should be finished later in the week, and the entire process should wrap up by the end of December in order to qualify for aid.
  • David Mahoney of Noble Gas Solutions, and a Waterford-Halfmoon alumnus, made a generous donation of $2500 to the Waterford-Halfmoon Elementary Student Council to purchase a water bottle filling station for the elementary school.

Mrs. Ingalsbe reported the following:

  • Thank you to Heather Lewis from Marvin & Co. for presenting at the Board meeting regarding the final report for the District’s 2019-2020 Audit. Mrs. Ingalsbe assured the Board that there are plans to address any of the issues that come to light during the presentation.
  • Courtney Edwards will be making a presentation to the Board regarding the findings of the Administrative Review and recommended corrective actions to be taken by the Food Services Department.
  • The risers that have been requested to be surplussed are too small for our purposes.
  • Joe Spretty was able to negotiate a new lease for our copiers through WSWHE BOCES saving the District about $70 per month. This lease will also allow us to apply for aid to help cover the cost.
  • The District needed to modify the Transportation Contract with Durham Transportation for the Saratoga County, Warren County and Washington County Region due to an unforeseen need for Durham to cover absent Waterford-Halfmoon bus drivers and monitors. 
  • Mrs. Ingalsbe echoed the previous administrators’ comments in thanking the administrators and staff that stepped up to help out during a staff shortage in Food Services.

PRESENTATION

  • District Audit presentation by Heather Lewis from Marvin & Co. (see attached). District Audit Presentation - Marvin & Co..pdf
  • Comments from Mrs. Ingalsbe on the Presentation
    • The District agrees with the findings and has plans in place to address all findings. To ensure the findings were placed in proper perspective, Mrs. Ingalsbe shared the following related to the findings: 
      • Finding 2020-001: Mrs. Ingalsbe reported that she has already implemented a monthly reconciliation process with business office staff to ensure the records are maintained accurately throughout the fiscal year. She does not foresee this finding occurring again. 
      • Finding 2020-002: Mrs. Ingalsbe shared that this will be corrected by delegating administrative rights over the accounting software to an individual outside of the Business Office.
      • Finding 2020-003: The District is in the process of transitioning to solely using the electronic time clock records and electronic approval of those records. 
      • Finding 2020-004: Mrs. Ingalsbe explained that she had projected that the District would exceed the statutory limit during the budget process and that the District felt that this was, in these unprecedented times, fiscally prudent. The District foresees using a significant portion of this fund balance to fund unforeseen costs related to COVID-19, to fund appropriations in the event of State aid reductions and to fund the tax certiorari reserve to make the final tax refund payment to MPM silicones LLC.
      • Finding 2020-005: Mrs. Ingalsbe noted that the District significantly reduced the balance in this reserve with the 2020 retirement incentive but also noted that because the reserve is restricted by statute, the balance can only be reduced by using the reserve to make sick leave payments to employees upon retirement. As such, the reserve may exceed the statutory balance for multiple years before it can be reduced to the amount within the statutory limit. 
  • Administrative Review  Summary of Findings and Corrective Actions by Courtney Edwards, School Lunch Manager
  • Direct Certification Notification Letter
  • Documentation to support the information was not maintained
  • State Ed was notified by Courtney and corrective documentation will be maintained when letters are sent home to parents.  
  • Verification of Certification and Benefit Document
  •  No Confirmation review was conducted on the applications selected for verification 
  • Free and reduced-price meal benefits for students of households that failed to respond to the verification request were not terminated.  
  • The letter sent to families who have been selected for verification contains outdated, missing or incorrect information.  
  •  Corrective action will be taken place for any verifications obtained.
  • Meal Components and Quantities
  •  Production records were not maintained and required 
  •  Standardized recipes were not completed consistently and/ or accurately.  
  •  Crediting documentation was not maintained as required.  
  •  Corrective action has been taken.  All meals components and Quantities are documented.  
  • Offer Versus Serve
  •  Proper signage did not indicate what students can take
  •  Due to COVID, all meals are being served in the classroom.  
  • Civil Rights
  • The USDA Non-Discrimination Statement is not included on all program documents 
  •  Corrective action has been taken on documentation 
  • Local Wellness Policy
  • Local Wellness Policy Requirements are not met
  • Corrective action has been taken.  Wellness Committee has been approved
  • Smart Snacks being sold will be in compliance.  
  • Professional Standards
  •  The SFA is not maintaining the appropriate documentation necessary to demonstrate that all staff meet the annual training.  
  •  State Ed has been contacted and the proper documentation requirements will be met.  
  • Deborah Mackey from Mechanicville will come in to provide staff with professional development
  • Buy American 
  • The District bids through BOCES to meet the requirement that 50% of the products we serve are grown and produced in the United States.
  • Reporting and Recordkeeping 
  • Overall the staff is working well together. The District is providing meals for twelve remote learning students with a bus dropping off food to a drop off point in the community or parents are coming to the school to pick it up.

On motion by Mr. Lee, seconded by Mrs. Maloney and by a vote of 6-0 the Board approved the minutes of the November 19, 2020 Board of Education meeting.

On motion by Mr. Lee, seconded by Mrs. Maloney and by a vote of 6-0 the Board approved the following Warrants and Corresponding Claims Audits:

    • General Fund 25 for $36,225.27
    • Special Aid  8 for $158.00
    • School Lunch 7 for $5,101.66
    • General Fund 27 for $323,404.37
    • General Fund 28 for $262,355.43
    • Special Aid 9 for $15,426.12
    • School Lunch 8 for $3,521.50
    • Capital Fund 6 for $53,354.35

Mrs. Carutasu asked about a notation on the Audit for General Fund 5 regarding a missing quote for work. Mrs. Ingalsbe responded there was no quote because the vendor that supplied the work to repair the freezer has worked on this issue multiple times, there weren’t a lot of options to obtain other quotes, and Mrs. Ingalsbe determined that this work order did not require a quote.

On motion by Mr. Lee, seconded by Mrs. Maloney and by a vote of 6-0 the Board approved the Extra Classroom Fund Report.

On motion by Mr. Lee, seconded by Mrs. Maloney and by a vote of 6-0 the Board approved the Treasurer’s Report.

On motion by Mr. Lee, seconded by Mrs. Maloney and by a vote of 6-0 the Board approved the Appropriations Report.

On motion by Mr. Lee, seconded by Mrs. Maloney and by a vote of 6-0 the Board approved the Revenue Report.

On motion by Mr. Lee, seconded by Mrs. Maloney and by a vote of 6-0 the Board accepted the Audit ending June 30, 2020 as presented by Marvin & Company.

On motion by Mr. Lee, seconded by Mrs. Maloney and by a vote of 6-0 the Board approved the 2020-2021 transportation contract with WSWHE BOCES for $771.77 to transport various students who attend WSWHE BOCES on related field trips.

On motion by Mr. Lee, seconded by Mrs. Maloney and by a vote of 6-0 the Board approved the updating of the District Academic Calendar to make Friday, January 29, 2021 a full day of school for grades 7-12 due to the cancellation of New York State January Regents testing.

On motion by Mr. Lee, seconded by Mrs. Maloney and by a vote of 6-0 the Board approved the appointment of Anthony Brooks as high school substitute teacher for the 2020-2021 school year; salary per the policy on substitute teacher pay; pending fingerprint approval.

On motion by Mr. Lee, seconded by Mrs. Maloney and by a vote of 6-0 the Board accepted the resignation of Amy Atwood, Hall Monitor; effective November 30, 2020.

On motion by Mr. Lee, seconded by Mrs. Maloney and by a vote of 6-0 the Board approved the following elementary substitute teachers for the 2020-2021 school year; salary per the policy on substitute teacher pay; Crystal Alesio, Jon Bessett, Diana Buffa, Faith Caster, Bryana Eves, Haley French, Brian Halliday, Kerri LeMay, Alexis Leuci, Williams Lindau, Megan Moran, Akila Morris Smith, Jessica Mosher, Samantha Myers, Joseph Palladino, Ghazala Shahid, Sarah Webber, Ashley Williams

On motion by Mr. Lee, seconded by Mrs. Maloney and by a vote of 6-0 the Board approved the surplus of 23 risers with carts to be sold.

On motion by Mr. Lee, seconded by Mrs. Maloney and by a vote of 6-0 the Board approved the following resolution;

WHEREAS, The Board of Education of the Waterford-Halfmoon UFSD desires to authorize the Washington-Saratoga-Warren-Hamilton-Essex BOCES to enter into a five year lease in order to furnish certain services to the District pursuant to Education Law 1950(4)(jj), those services being: CoSer 504 Instructional Technology Services.

NOW, THEREFORE, it is

RESOLVED, that the Board of Education of the Waterford-Halfmoon UFSD authorizes the Washington-Saratoga-Warren-Hamilton-Essex BOCES to lease, on the District’s behalf, for the provision of said services to the District not to exceed $30,300.00 plus related borrowing fees, plus yearly support and coordination fees during the term of this lease, subject to the approval of the Commissioner of Education, for a period of five years; 2021-2026.

On motion by Mr. Lee, seconded by Mrs. Maloney and by a vote of 6-0 the Board approved the appointment of Christian Kilmer as substitute custodian for the 2020-2021 school year; effective 12/14/20; salary per the CSEA contract; pending fingerprint approval.

On motion by Mr. Lee, seconded by Mrs. Maloney and by a vote of 6-0 the Board approved the appointment of Christian Kilmer as substitute teacher for the 2020-2021 school year; effective 12/14/20; salary per the policy on substitute teacher pay; pending fingerprint approval.

On motion by Mr. Lee, seconded by Mrs. Maloney and by a vote of 6-0 the Board approved the appointment of Cailee Navarro as high school substitute teacher for the 2020-2021 school year; salary per the policy on substitute teacher pay; pending fingerprint approval.

On motion by Mr. Lee, seconded by Mrs. Maloney and by a vote of 6-0 the Board approved the following list of books as surplus for disposal.

    • (6) Houghton Mifflin Grade 3 Reading  ISBN 0-618-24248-5
    • (5) Houghton  Mifflin Reading  Grade 4  ISBN 0618-24149-3
    • (5) Houghton Mifflin reading Grade 2  ISBN  0-618-22574-9
    • (5) Houghton Mifflin Reading Grade 5  ISBN 0-618-24150-7
    • (1) Houghton Mifflin Reading grade 1  ISBN 0-618-22569-2
    • (1) Houghton  Mifflin Reading grade 1  ISBN 0-618-22570-6
    • (1) Houghton Mifflin grade 1 reading   ISBN 0-618-22571-4

On motion by Mr. Lee, seconded by Mrs. Maloney and by a vote of 6-0 the Board approved the following list of Elementary PE equipment as surplus for disposal.

    • Record Player/Speakers/Square Dance Records 
    • Pommel Horse Inventory Tag # A00263694- Pommel Horse, Mfg. American, Yr acquired 01/01/1980.
    • Gymnastics Parallel Bars/Base/Feet 
    • Portable Wooden Gymnastics Horse
    • Lockers - Tall 4 unit locker set. 
    • Two large outdoor umbrellas. 
    • Metal Ball Cage
    • Foam Gold Mats

On motion by Mr. Lee, seconded by Mrs. Maloney and by a vote of 6-0 the Board approved the provisional and one year probationary appointment of Joseph Hogan to custodian; salary per the CSEA contract; effective December 11, 2020.

On motion by Mr. Lee, seconded by Mrs. Maloney and by a vote of 6-0 the Board accepted the resignation of Tawanda Banks as Bus Monitor effective November 13, 2020.

On motion by Mr. Lee, seconded by Mrs. Maloney and by a vote of 6-0 the Board accepted the donation to the Waterford-Halfmoon Elementary Student Council in the amount of $2500 from David Mahoney of Noble Gas Solutions.

On motion by Mr. Lee, seconded by Mrs. Maloney and by a vote of 6-0 the Board approved the revised 2020-2021 Transportation Contract for Saratoga County, Washington County and Warren County Region with Durham Transportation to now have a total anticipated cost of $30,000.

COMMENTS: There were no comments from the Board of Education, residents or staff.

On motion by Mr. Lee, seconded by Mrs. Maloney and by a vote of 6-0 the Board went into executive session at 8:18pm to discuss a personnel matter. They returned to regular session at 8:48 and adjourned.                                                                

                                                                     Donna Cramer                                                                          District Clerk