Community Education Council 24

P.S. 91 Room 119/68-10 Central Avenue/ Glendale, New York 11385/Phone: 718.418.8160/Fax: 718.418.8168/ Cec24@nycboe.net
New York City Department of Education
Nick Comaianni Dmytro Fedkowskyj Nancy Carbone Ernest Cury Bill Kregler
President 1St Vice President 2nd Vice President Treasurer Secretary

Council Members: Reyes Irizarry

Dominic Coticchio Regional Superintendent
Marge Kolb Charles Amundsen
Joe Pahl Deputy Superintendent
Marcellino Rodriquez Catherine M. Powis
Joanne Scichilone Community Superintendent

FINAL BOARD APPROVED MINUTES

Minutes of Calendar Meeting
June 20, 2005
At P.S. 128 Annex, Middle Village, New York

1) Call to order and Roll Call -- The meeting convened at P.S. 128 Annex, Middle Village,
NY at 7:00 PM

• Roll Call – Present

• Nancy Carbone
• Nick Comaianni
• Dominic Coticchio
• Dmytro Fedkowskyj
• Marge Kolb
• William Kregler
• Joe Pahl
• Marcellino Rodriguez
• Joanne Scichilone
• Katelyn Ranzie, CEC High School Member

Roll Call – Absent

• Ernest Cury

Also in attendance:

Community Superintendent,. Catherine Powis; Office of Pupil Transportation

Representative, Richie Scarpa; and Director of Operations, Regions 4 and 5, Sandy
Brawer
2) Approval of Minutes

On motion duly made and seconded the minutes of the May 24, 2005 meeting were
unanimously approved.

3) Report of the President

• Mr. Comaianni informed the audience that the guest speakers in attendance were
Mr. Richie Scarpa of the Office of Pupil Transportation and Mr. Sandy Brawer,
Director of Operations Regions 4 and 5 (who will be on hand in the event anyone
has questions regarding the Metropolitan Avenue Complex). Mr. Comaianni also
gave a brief review of the working meeting which included a discussion regarding
Resolution #9 concerning the Metropolitan Avenue Complex in which would
endorse two high schools serving our community as opposed to one high school
and one K-8 school as proposed by the Department of Education. Mr. Comaianni
announced that everyone on the Community Education Council District 24 will be
returning except for Joe Pahl whose children are no longer in District 24; Joanne
Scichilone is moving from an elected parent slot to a Borough President appointee
slot. He also announced that two new parent members will be joining our Council,
Lelani Bomani and Cecilia Chavez. Mr. Comaianni announced that Region 4 will
be expanding the Gifted and Talented program and that the Community Education
Council District 24 will also form a Curriculum Committee which Marge Kolb will
chair.

4) Report of the Community Superintendent

• Ms Powis stated that the DOE has expanded the 2005 Summer Success Academy.
Programs will be offered for selected students in grades 2 though 8. Students with
Interrupted Formal Education (SIFE) in grades 4 and 5 will be invited, and other
selected ELL students based on class progress will also be invited. In addition,
focused academic intervention will be provided for all summer school students.
The Summer Success Academy will run from July 5th through August 10th except
for grade 2 which will end on August 4th. There will be 4 _ hours of classroom
instruction per day, Monday through Thursday. Ms. Powis also stated that other
offerings include an 8th and 9th grade Brigade program focusing on upcoming 9th
grade students and the 9th grade Intensive Literacy Course for 9th grade students
who need support in transitioning to 10th grade English. In high schools, the
majority of opportunities will be designed for students who needed additional
credits and passing scores on Regents examination in order to advance to the next
grade and/or graduate on time. High school students and parents may access the
Regional Program Listing at
http://www.nycenet.edu/OurSchools/SummerSchool/default.htm for information
about each Region’s program offerings. Ms. Powis stated the hours of the Summer
Success Academy as well as the summer breakfast and lunch program. Ms. Powis
also informed those in attendance that a School Wide Enrichment Model will be
piloted in PS 58 and PS 128. Selected staff from the above mentioned schools will
 be participating in summer professional development that will prepare teachers for
the Enrichment Program rollout in September. The plan is for selected children to
attend workshops/clubs with teachers who have an expertise in an area that is of
interest to the children and/or will expand their interests. This is part of the
Department of Education’s expansion of the Gifted and Talented program in the
city. Ms. Powis also gave an update regarding construction in District 24. She
stated that we are awaiting the results of feasibility studies from the School
Construction Authority regarding additions to selected elementary schools. She
also stated that a new site in Elmhurst will be the home of one or more schools to
house 2,000 students, most likely high school students. She further stated that the
Metropolitan Avenue Complex is slated to house one high school and one K-8
school for District 24. The K-8 will have a choice and overflow pattern (i.e. it will
not be a zoned school). She closed her report by stating that PS/IS 260, Elmhurst,
PS 246, Sunnyside and PS 245, Ridgewood are all scheduled to break ground over
the next few months.

• Katelyn Ranzie, High School CEC member gave her report on the happenings in
high schools in District 24.

Ms. Powis invited questions from the Council.

• Dmytro Fedkowskyj asked where the money will be coming from for the
Schoolwide Enrichment program at PS 58 and PS 128 to which Ms. Powis replied
that it will come from Project Arts money. Mr. Sandy Brawer confirmed that the
money would be coming from extra funding from Project Arts but also added that
schools must fund programs out of their own money which is why it is crucial that
we get the CFE funds.

• Marge Kolb stated her concerns as to why District 30 is getting 3 or 4 schools

involved in the Enrichment program yet District 24 is only getting two. She also
stated that she was told by Cheryl Quatrano, who is the Director of the Gifted and
Talented program that all the principals were asked to participate. Were they
selected or did they apply? Ms. Powis replied that the offer went through the LIS’s
and that it was a conversation between them and their network of schools, so she
couldn’t tell exactly how Lillian (Druck) and Diane (Kay) presented it to their
principals. Marge Kolb then asked Ms. Powis if she had supervisory duties over
the LIS’s or if they all reported equally to Mr. Irizarry to which Ms. Powis stated
that they all report to the Superintendent and that she has no supervisory duties
over the LIS’s. Ms. Kolb then inquired as to why the two LIS’s do not attend our
monthly meeting on a regular basis. Ms. Powis replied that the DOE does not
mandate the LIS’s to attend these monthly meetings. Ms. Kolb then inquired about
the surplus money in District 24 and whether the principals knew about this money
in the event they wanted to use it in the current school year. Mr. Brawer replied
that the offer was made to schools that do have excess funds at the end of the year
to carry them over so to the next year.
5) Mr. Nick Comaianni introduced guest speaker, Richie Scarpa, Office of Pupil
Transportation.

• Mr. Scarpa immediately opened the floor for questions. He stated that he’s been
asked two questions already, one being the price of a bus on a daily basis to which
he informed the Council that the cost of the bus ranges from $400-$450 for a
general education bus and about $500-$600 for a special education bus. The second
question that was asked was why some schools do not have service (e.g. after
children graduate from PS 128 in Middle Village, they cannot get yellow bus
service to IS 119, even though they would have to take three public buses to which
he explained that whether or not a student gets service depends on whether or not
the school requests service and whether or not the students live far enough from the
school to warrant service. Any school that wants service that doesn’t have it now
should ask the principal to send an e-mail to RScarpa@nycboe.net and the process
could be started for next year.

• Mr. Comaianni asked if based on the above daily cost of a bus is it fair to say that
one bus cost roughly $80,000 to $90,000 per year to run? Mr. Scarpa answered in
the affirmative.

• Marcelino Rodriguez asked if after school programs are provided with

transportation services for the students to which Mr. Scapra replied that the rules
for after school programs are that if a program has been in existence and has
received busing then that will continue, however no new funding has been
identified either this year or next for busing in District 24. The rules are slightly
different for special education student versus general education students.

• Dominic Coticchio stated that the bigger bus companies which have contracts with
the city are monitored, but what about the smaller mom and pop operations that
pick up children whose buses have no seat belts (nor are required to have
seatbelts). Mr. Scarpa agreed that those small bus companies are not monitored by
the Office of Pupil Transportation but the companies that are monitored by us have
excellent safety records. OPT cannot speak for those other companies, but if the
Region wanted OPT would assist in monitoring them. Mr. Coticchio stated that he
never sees representatives from OPT on site checking on buses to which Mr.
Scarpa replied that you may not seem them but they go to schools every day and
check buses. Mr. Scarpa went on to say that if there are any specific problems
individuals should call the OPT customer service number to log a complaint. The
customer service unit is open from 6AM until whenever the last child gets home.
They will take your complaint and direct it to the correct area within the
organization. The telephone number is 718.392.8855.

• Dmytro Fedkowskyj asked if there is a minimum number of general education

students to be on a bus; Mr. Scarpa replied that when students service first starts
there is a minimum number of eleven. It is part of Chancellor’s Regulations A801,
 however that once a school has service it isn’t taken it away. The eligibility for
general education students to receive bus service is on a sliding scale, so students
in grades K-2 must live a half mile from school, grades 3-6, one mile, and grades
7-12 one mile and a half, (though they are expected to use metro cards). Mr.
Fedkowskyj then asked if there are 8 kids from the PS 128 zone that want to have
buses to IS 119, they couldn’t get a bus? Mr. Scarpa replied that it was likely that
IS 119 already has bus service and OPT would look at the entire service route for
the school. If they build a brand new school then the 11 minimum would come
into play. The information is given to OPT and they will look at it and get back to
the CEC about what could be done.

• Marge Kolb asked if a yellow bus used during the day for trips costs extra? Mr.
Scarpa replied that sometimes it does and sometimes it does not. He stated that
they try to use buses that already service that school. Ms. Kolb then inquired as to
why the bus contracts cannot run from July until the end of June to avoid
disruption to the children in January to which Mr. Scarpa replied that the drivers
and the escorts are employees of the bus companies and it’s in their contract, which
the DOE has no say in. Ms. Kolb inquired as to the procedure when a bus is in a
minor accident, her son was on a bus and it hit a car, a minor accident yet the kids
were not allowed to get off the bus for an hour until a police car arrived to file a
report. Her concern is that the kids were sitting on the bus for more than an hour
and when the police arrived they didn’t even check the children. Mr. Scarpa replied
that every day they put 6,400 buses on the road to transport over 170,000 children.
Their position is that the driver does not have the medical ability to make a
decision about whether or not a child should be checked or not. What we require
is, even in the slightest accident, for the driver to contact the dispatcher, who
contacts the police and the police make the decision. Ms. Kolb then asked if OPT
saves money when there are two morning runs for a bus; some children are arriving
to school more than a half hour early because their bus has to make another run.
Mr. Scarpa replied that it does save money, and they allow a half hour window. It
also provides an opportunity for children to have breakfast. If there is a bus that
gets to school too early please call 718. 392.8855 and let the office know what is
happening.

• Bill Kregler inquired as to how much money was in the budget for the Office of
Pupil Transportation to which Mr. Scarpa replied about $3 million for employees
and for the bus contracts about $670 million.

• Joanne Scichilone asked what kind of training is provided for the escorts? Mr.
Scarpa replied that they currently receive 30 hours of standardized training, and
OPT just finished working with D75 on developing a whole new training module
which they think will standardize everything and do a better job of training the
escorts. In addition in new contracts OPT is going to have the drivers and the
escorts available to meet with the schools each year to discuss the needs of the
individual children. Ms. Scichilone asked if the Community Education Council
District 24 could get a copy of the curriculum of what they’ll be learning in the 30
 hours? Mr. Scarpa replied yes, they’ll make a note of it. Ms. Scichilone then
asked if the training will be mandatory to which Mr. Scarpa replied that it would.
• Mr. Fedkowskyj asked if all the buses were equipped with video surveillance to
which Mr. Scarpa replied that none of the buses are, however it is being
considered. In the next few years OPT expects not only surveillance cameras but
that the buses will be equipped with GPS tracking systems.

The Council, together with Mr. Scarpa took questions from the public. Mr. Comaianni
asked the public to copy the Community Education Council District 24 when
corresponding with the Office of Pupil Transportation.

6) Resolution #9

Moved, seconded, and unanimously approved to add the following resolution to the
agenda:

Resolution ## 9

Be it resolved that the Community Education Council for School District 24 strongly
recommends to the Department of Education and School Construction Authority that
their plans and designs drawn for the Metropolitan Ave. School Complex Site be
amended to provide District 24 with two locally zoned High Schools in lieu of the High
School and K-8 school.

Be it further resolved that the Community Education Council for School District 24
stressed to the Department of Education and the School Construction Authority, based on
the school community input, there is a greater need for more High School seats for the
Middle Village, Maspeth and Glendale area students.

Mr. Comaianni asked the public to comment.

On motion duly made and seconded, the above resolution was passed as read, 8 yes, 1 no.

7) Report of the Committees

• Joe Pahl, Chair of the Website Committee stated that we have a new webmaster,
Nancy Carbone who has worked on some new and exciting ideas. Mr. Pahl stated the
web site address as being www.myschoolonline.com/ny/cec24.

• Dmytro Fedkowskyj, Chair of the Building, Zoning and Maintenance

Committee stated that the feasibility studies for the five schools in our district are in
the process of being completed and should be ready by the end of the month. We
should be able to provide an update at our July meeting. We submitted both
favorable and unfavorable comments to Kathleen Grimm’s office on June 6th relating
to the school budgets that were presented, the report is available at the entrance table
or could be obtained by calling our office at 718.418.8160.
• Marge Kolb, Chair of the Legislative Committee, announced that she was elected
to chair the newly formed Curriculum Committee for the next term. She stated that
over the summer she will devise a plan for a meeting in the fall. Ms. Kolb also stated
that she had spoken with Ms. Powis regarding high school registration and the fact
that last year the registration centers and the hours in which they operated were not
sufficient and apparently that has been addressed for this year and the DOE is moving
the high school registration process to actual schools so there will not be such limited
hours as there were last year.

• Joanne Scichilone, Chair of the Special Education Committee announced that she
was appointed by Queens Borough President Helen Marshall for the next CEC term.
She stated that the Special Education Committee is doing a comparison study on
special education classrooms in the district for this year and we can compare them to
last years. Ms. Scichilone stated that she has received many complaints from parents
that there are not enough zoned schools opening up classrooms and as a result parents
must travel farther or put their children on buses longer. The fact that a school such as
PS 58 is not planning to open a kindergarten special education class, especially when
they are a barrier free school, they’re a brand new school, they have beautiful
facilities, they have all the equipment, is a big concern for her. Hopefully in
September we will have some results to report.

8) Old Business – None

9) New Business – None

Nick Comaianni introduced members of the School Construction Authority who

explained the Metropolitan Avenue Complex. The Community Education Council
District 24 opened the floor for questions from the public regarding the Metropolitan
Avenue Complex

10) Public Agenda Session – The Council took questions from the public

11) Adjournment – Dmytro Fedkowskyj motioned to adjourn, Nancy Carbone seconded

the motion. Meeting adjourned at 9:30PM.