The City of Beacon Recreation Department, led by Director Mark Price and support staff Heidi Harrison and Nate Smith, started a hoodie fundraiser last year, and has kicked off its second year this month. Proceeds will go to the Rombout Middle School Washington DC Trip Scholarship Fund.
This year, the Recreation Department wanted to get a little wild with it. Instead of featuring their city logo on the hoodies, they decided to pursue the style that features something iconic in Beacon. They chose longtime Beacon local Leman, driver of the truck with a seemingly homemade metal container on the back that is very identifiable in Beacon, and is usually in the right place of need at the right time. The Recreation Department partnered with Beacon local artist Daniel Weise, who has produced such art before for fundraisers.
Said the Beacon Recreation Department: “This truck and its owner are known to spread the good wherever they go!! It's been rolling the streets of Beacon for decades and in that time, helped countless people with every turn of the wheel.”
The hoodies start at $47, and $10 of each sale will be donated to the Rombout Middle School Washinton DC Trip scholarship fund. The Recreation Department printed a very limited run, some sizes of which have already sold out, despite a December 17th cutoff given by the Recreation Department's Director Mark Price, who goes by BugChucker76 in Instagram, who was reporting in the inventory count as it happened.
Leman driving his truck, “Snoopy,” which he uses for work helping people haul and move things as they need it.
About Leman And His Truck, “Snoopy”
Leman can be seen everywhere, from neighborhood streets to the Transfer Station to Pete and Toshi Seeger Riverside Park for Beacon Hoops camp, and more. He says that the department approached him for permission to use his truck’s iconic likeness for the fundraiser. Surprised, he said he wasn’t expecting it, and said he is “happy to along with it” to help out. He said he is looking forward to seeing the sweatshirts.
Leman showing a snoopy card he received from someone. He ponders where to put it in or on his truck, which has named “Snoopy.”
Did Leman build the truck himself? Turns out he bought it from his brother-in-law, who insisted he call it “Snoopy.” To this day, people leave random Snoopy trinkets in or on his truck as gestures of good-will. His truck is the vehicle for his business, which is helping people move and haul things. All business is conducted through his flip phone, and he prefers no email and prefers no texts. If you need him, you can flag him down, or call once you get his number and into his rotation. He also prefers to only go by his first name.
Leman’s Message For Safe Driving
Being in Beacon’s streets often, Leman wanted to be sure to get the word out about a few traffic safety issues:
Reduce Speed Limit On Main Street to 25mph. “We went down to City Hall to ask them to reduce the speed limit from 30mph to 25mph,” he told ALBB while interviewing for this story. He and others think the speed limit is too fast. While answers at the City Hall level indicate that this issue is at the state level, with the 30mph limit not being able to change. Councilmembers Dan Amar-Blair and Terry Nelson are passionate about lowering the speed limit, and Councilmember Dan has continued raising legal reasons to be able lower the speed limit, stating that the “state allows surgical decisions.” During City Court Judge Timothy Pagones’ reelection campaign, Leman donated his truck to be used as a moving billboard for the relection effort. Leman recalls talking to Judge Pagones about the speed limit: “Judge Pagones said that he has been getting a lot of complaints about it.”
Pedestrians Have The Right Of Way at Intersections and Crosswalks. Leman sees people all of the time crossing the street. According to New York State, the pedestrian has the right of way to cross at an intersection, even if there is no marked crosswalk. When he is driving, he is known to stop for people to cross, and encourages people who are standing and waiting to cross. If there is no marked crosswalk, New York State says: “If there are no crosswalks, the safest place for pedestrians to cross the road is at an intersection. Motorists have the right of way at all locations other than intersections and marked crosswalks.”
Dehumidifiers and HEPA air filters have been installed, and cleanup continues after mold surfaced at the beginning of the school year at J. V. Forrestal Elementary and Beacon High School. The elementary school passed inspection with a “Satisfactory” air quality grade, and now Beacon High School has received a “Satisfactory” air quality grade as well. Meanwhile, cleanup will continue in the high school’s theater. Beacon’s Superintendent, Matthew Landahl, issued an update to the Beacon City Schools Website, which was emailed to parents on Friday, September 21, 2018:
“Adaptive Environmental Consulting tested seven different locations, either hallways or classrooms, throughout Beacon High School on Monday, September 17 and then repeated the testing on Wednesday, September 19. All results came back with low amounts of mold and a Satisfactory air quality rating. ServPro will continue to clean the theater in the high school and we will update you when that work is complete. Again, thanks for your patience and support as we work through this.”
Matthew Landahl, Superintendent of Beacon City Schools, started off the new school year by getting in touch with parents and guardians of children in the district. His email to the Beacon school community spoke to his plans for the future, and enhancements to the programming that are happening this year.
They are as follows:
Fourth-grade instrumental music will begin for the first time ever later this fall, as a result of the grant we won last June.
Elementary students will experience Physical Education class every other day instead of two out of every six days.
Elementary class sizes are further reduced with the addition of three additional teachers.
Rombout Middle School will have a fully 1:1 learning environment with every student receiving a Chromebook this fall.
Interactive teaching screens will be added to Rombout Middle School and Beacon High School.
Create and facilitate a student advisory council for the district.
Create and facilitate a strategic planning process including forming a strategic planning advisory committee.
Increase and improve the quality of district communication in a variety of formats.
Help to create building and department leadership teams including the participation of parents and community members.
Facilitate equity leadership work in the district.
Maintain a high level of community and staff engagement through open forums, individual conversations, and online tools.
Already, parents of elementary students have been invited into the Parent Portal, which is an app that lets the parent and child log in to see homework and comments from the teacher. Older students used to be the only ones with access to this.
In terms of communication with parents at least, Dr. Landahl has been busy emailing updates about pesky mold that has been springing up in the Beacon High School and at J.V. Forrestal Elementary during these 100% humidity days, and steps the district is taking to remove it and prevent future problems.
The highly anticipated day has arrived - the vote for the proposed 2016-2017 Budget for Beacon City Schools, which includes a salary increase for teachers, the purchase of three buses and a van, and the vote for three open seats on the Board of Education, who include incumbent Tracy Antalek Everett; Meredith Heuer, chairperson of the Beacon Arts & Education Foundation and professional photographer; Antony Tseng, an environmental engineer with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and volunteer for the Beacon Volunteer Ambulance Corps and for the River Pool at Beacon (floating rainbow pool that sits in the Hudson River in Riverfront Park); and Michael Rutkoske, a capital asset program manager for Entergy Corporation.
Follow the signs to know where to vote at the Beacon High School today, Tuesday May 17, 2016.
Photo Credit: Katie Hellmuth Martin
The Highlands Current published an informative article about the budget contents from Beacon beat reporter Jeff Simms that covers the bulk of what is in the budget increase for the following school year. Interim Superintendent Ann Marie Quartironi, who has worked within the district on the budget since 2005 as former Assistant Superintendent for Business, says that the budget maintains all existing programs and staffing levels, while delivering modest salary increases for teachers. She also notes that the proposed increase is the lowest it has ever been.
To achieve this, Quartironi says, whose career in the private sector includes being an Auditor for Earnst and Young, which means she likes a good budget, the District needs to dip into its reserves by $2 million, a trend that several schools are following due to state tax caps that limit property tax increases to 2%. Additionally, the District is losing a $50,000 grant it once had for being on the Focus List, the status of which has now been lifted due to improvements in carefully measured and targeted areas of students and curriculum by the state, or a $50,000 grant for school improvement. On the other hand, "the state legislature, increased its overall aid to the Beacon district by 2.5% — about $650,000 — over last year," according to the Highlands Current article, of which includes a lot more budget numbers that you should check out.
Polls are open from 7:00 AM to 9:00 PM. There are two voting locations: Beacon High School
For citizens who reside within the city limits of the City of Beacon.
Glenham Elementary School
For citizens who reside within the portions of the Town of Fishkill and Town of Wappinger that are within the Beacon City School Distict.
For assistance on determining your voting location please call 845-838-6900 ext. 2032.
Early morning at the Beacon High School, moments after the polls opened.
Photo Credit: Katie Hellmuth Martin
Really, it's just so cool. When you think about public schooling, the first things that may come to mind are red tape, dysfunction, and Common Core confusion, thanks to repeated news coverage on those dramatic topics. But what is really happening inside of a lot of public schools are programs and initiatives that people have started, that get past that red tape, to work with whatever state and federal regulations that exist for the moment. Like the gardening program run by Hudson Valley Seed at each of the four elementary schools in Beacon, three elementary schools in Newburgh, and one elementary school in Garrison. This week at South Avenue Elementary School in Beacon, Hudson Valley Seed expanded the garden to add a gathering space for classes in the garden, a pollinator patch with flowers, and more growing space for vegetables. All of this with the help of a team from United Way. And you won't believe what kids get to do during their school days with this garden, which is explored in this article, in pictures!
Photo Credit: Hudson Valley Seed
About the Gardening Program for Beacon's Elementary Schools
Hudson Valley Seed educates children using school gardens, empowering students through curriculum-integrated lessons focused on healthy eating, food literacy, outdoor learning, and academic success.
Photo Credit: Hudson Valley Seed
Elementary schools in Beacon go from Pre-K to 6th Grade. In Hudson Valley
Seed's program, 1st and 2nd Graders get weekly garden time, out in
the garden during Spring and Fall, and in the classroom in Winter.
Kindergarten, 3rd, 4th, and 5th Grades also visit the garden and get
indoor garden time three to six times throughout the school year. During
garden time, kids taste and learn about the vegetable of the month, and the
cafeteria serves it a few different ways throughout the month. The
month culminates with a school-wide taste-test in the cafeteria, which
allows students to vote on whether they like the dish or not. Parents are even sent home a recipe to try in their own kitchens. In March for St. Paddy's Day, parents got a flyer with a recipe for cabbage soup.
Photo Credit: Hudson Valley Seed
Vegetables grown in the gardens outside of the schools are woven into classroom curriculum. Like this worksheet, showing a monster vegetable made up of a tomato, turnip, cabbage, squash, kale, and string beans. Kids can name the creature and define its personality.
Photo Credit: Hudson Valley Seed
The New Garden at South Avenue Elementary School
At the beginning of Spring, after school each day for about a week, work began on the expanded garden. First was the delivery of mulch.
Photo Credit: Katie Hellmuth Martin
Next was plotting out the new beds and area for the fencing. Just days before, the new fence posts were in the bed of a parked truck of a Hudson Valley Seeder, and were stolen. A plea for help went out on a Facebook group that many in the Beacon community belong to, and after several people offered to donate to replace the fence posts, the stolen posts mysteriously reappeared. #soweirdbutgreat
Photo Credit: Katie Hellmuth Martin
Little did that thief know that a huge group of volunteers from the United Way and the local community was scheduled to come to install the fence posts. Thanks to the thief's change of heart, a lot of work commenced and the fencing was finished in a day. It was beginning to feel like a story pulled from the pages of a Nancy Drew Mystery.
Photo Credit: Katie Hellmuth Martin
Voila! New fencing is up, and the new garden is ready for adventures, imaginations and learning!
Beacon is booming with class options for kids, both after school and during the day from private businesses run by creative types, but there is no official after-school program from the City of Beacon. Until, perhaps, now. Parks and Recreation Director Mark Price has been listening to residents' requests for such a program, and has put together a proposal on behalf of the City of Beacon Recreation Department for a self-sustaining, "enrichment-based" after-school program for grades K-5, which he plans to present to City Council during an April 25th City Council meeting. His proposed programming would include Homework Enrichment time, rounded out with themed days like Ninja Class, Cooking School, Yoga, Artists and Musicians
However, Price needs to show the council strong indication that parents will buy into the program before he is granted city money to get funding and staff to kick off the program. "This program is a big deal. It gives me goosebumps," says Price. Residents are being encouraged by Price and by Beacon's Interim Superintendent, Ann Marie Quartironi, to answer a four-question survey about the program so that Price can have the data to analyze the level of interest he is working with. Parents are also encouraged to email support to their council representative (if you don't know what Ward you live in and who represents you, you can click here for an interactive map, and then here for a list of council members and email addresses).
Track Record of City Funding
Price's recent track record of using city funds to start a program was proven successful last summer when he received city funding to re-open Beacon's public pool, after years of it being dry and forgotten, overgrown by weeds at the Settlement Camp on 9D (aka Wolcott Avenue). Season passes sold out last year, and often the pool was so well-attended that capacity maxed out and people waited on the lawn outside the pool in order to get in. So far, 100 of the 200 season passes to the pool have been sold, with day passes available, which help the public pool remain self-sustained.
Is Beacon Catching Up to Other Cities and Towns?
Fishkill has a successful after-school program that works with one of the four elementary schools in Beacon, Glenham Elementary. The health club All Sport has been promoting its new after-school program with busing for kids in the Wappingers District. For Beacon parents who need busing and full-day coverage while at work or commuting, the only option is to have children bused from their respective elementary schools to a daycare center in the area. For parents who work from home or have flexible schedules, the work day pauses at 3pm so that children can be picked up and taken home or to afternoon classes in other programs, like at Tri-Arts, Beacon Craft Workshop, the Howland Public Library or even to Fishkill's Recreation Center (for a list of kids classes, please see A Little Beacon Blog's Kids Classes Guide).
What Will the After-School Program Look Like?
Photo Credit: Clarice Allee
Both Price and Quartironi have expressed a desire to take advantage of the creative talents who live in Beacon, who already offer programs to kids. Each of the three elementary schools (South Avenue, J.V. Forrestal and Sargent) would have a program within their building that is run by the Beacon Recreation Department, so that no busing would be necessary. Glenham's program with Fishkill's Recreation Department would not change. It is undecided at this time if it will include kids who are "Busers," which defines kids who need to wait in designated areas of their school for their bus to take them home or to another after-school program, and often have long wait times for their bus. There will be snack time, homework encouragement time (not a formal tutoring session at this time), and then programming that could involve recess time, arts and crafts, ninja-based activities, cooking, etc.
There will be a fee of $13-$15 per day and care would run until 6pm. Parents can select which days they sign up for, and do not need to commit to five days a week. It is undecided at this time if the days that a family picks can be changed as needed.
If approved, the after-school program would start in the 2016-2017 school year. "With a program like this, everyone wins," says Price. "It helps the Recreation Department get more programs and staff to run and promote those programs." Price estimates that he needs more than 105 families to participate.
If you are interested in seeing this program happen, three actions are encouraged:
Attend the City Council meeting on April 25, where Council Members will be looking to see how many people would actually financially buy into this program.
Attending the Beacon Players production of "Peter Pan" at the Beacon High School this weekend will be like watching a college-level production. Why? Because of the dozens of uber-talented student makers who are involved in putting it together, from the costume department to the set design and construction. Beacon is a community of rolling-up-the-sleeves creative talent in so many areas, from carpentry to film to photo to dance (
so many areas!
), and this show has provided a trifecta opportunity for students, teachers and parents to unite those skills, working together all over the high school, setting up on hallway floors to draw patterns onto Tiger Lily's skirt, to building the set, to collecting props from flea markets, stores, and homes all over the community.
Involving students as much as possible has been integral to director Anthony J. Scarrone's vision. His assistant director is student Henry Wyand. Even the PR and marketing arm of the student production has stepped up. Two students in particular, Sierra Caban and Michael Bonanno, have been hard at work doing media outreach, organizing sneak previews for the press, and distributing free tickets in a 600-egg Easter egg hunt. All of this with the guidance of newly involved parent advisor Kelly Ellenwood, a grassroots organizer for many local organizations, as well as Nicole Paoli, Janira Quiñones, and Irina Siegel.
Photo Credit: Katie Hellmuth Martin
A special touch that will have your visual senses soaring is seeing Peter Pan (played by BHS junior Rhiannon Parsaca) fly out of the nursery (pictured below) with new recruits to Neverland. This year, the Beacon Players have invested in the rental of a flying apparatus. The contraption,
to answer the aggressive vision of Mary Martin in the full musical version of "Peter Pan" in 1954. "Martin wanted her Peter Pan to fly higher, faster and farther than had ever been attempted before," according to the company. This allowed for Martin's "soaring aerial choreography [that] thrilled audiences and ushered in a new era in stage flying." Student choreographer Emily Kidd, pictured and interviewed in a Beacon Players video below, had that special opportunity to choreograph for the air as well as the stage floor.
The Foy flying director is Perry Fertig, with Randy Benson as flying supervisor; running the flying crew are P.J. Devine, D.J. Goodall, Zach Rodgers, Chris Richards, Connor Sgorbissa, Mark Murphy, and Mike Zingone. It will be quite busy in those wings!
Photo Credit: Katie Hellmuth Martin
The Flying By Foy technology has been used in many productions you know, including "The Wizard of Oz," "A Christmas Carol," and even "Ice Capades." Beacon students will join the ranks of stars who have been strapped into it, including David Bowie, Lucille Ball, Diana Ross, Sally Field, Howard Stern, and even Sean Connery!
Photo Credit: Katie Hellmuth Martin
In last week's issue of The Highlands Current, Parsaca
of being flown away by Peter Pan. Now she gets to play that role, and actually fly.
Photo Credit: Katie Hellmuth Martin
Students Design Costumes for 'Peter Pan'
The adults involved in the designing of the costumes are costume crew advisor Karin Zdrojewski with costume crew coordinators Jayne Warner and Irina Siegel. Digging into the design and construction of the costumes for Peter Pan, Wendy, the Lost Boys, Tiger Lily and her tribe were students on the costume crew: Cynthia Carmona, Ali Caruso, Elyse Istvan, Kindeya Green, Marin Kacur, Jessica McTeer, Jana Medley, Dana Miller, Kailee Montross, Grace Sanker, Marissa Schiller, and Jillian Warner.
, one of the costume designers and creator of Peter Pan's costume, describes what it was like to prepare for and produce the costumes. Jillian began sewing at a young age, keeping her skills honed long after a sewing class she attended with
below to see how they did it. Says Sierra Caban, student media contact for the show, about the costumes: "For some costumes, they were put together using pieces of costumes that have been used in the past. They re-hem old costumes to fit the person that's wearing it in the current show, pin pieces together so that costumes won't fall apart, sew new pieces of fabric onto costumes, find shoes for some characters, and so much more. This show was very hard to costume because our director wanted everyone to be different, he wanted LOTS of color; but of course, [the] costume crew delivered. All of the costumes are so unique and wonderful because they've spent almost every day of the week leading up to the show at the school from 3pm to 9pm."
Photo Credit: Beacon Players video screenshot.
Choreography Is Huge Opportunity for Students
Most students in high school may get an opportunity to choreograph something as an end-of-the-year exam. But this year, student Emily Kidd got to choreograph for a real life play, and star in it as Tiger Lily herself. "I’m so honored to be and happy to be the choreographer for 'Peter Pan,' " says Kidd in this video interview produced by the Beacon Players, "because even though I’ve been worried that dances wouldn’t be as good as if an adult had done it, it’s still exciting. It’s scary, but I’m honored to do it. It’s a challenge. I’ve gotten more confident after people have been encouraging me."
Students have been rehearsing for weeks. When most families were on Spring Break, Beacon Players were in the Pete and Toshi Seeger Theatre in the Beacon High School building the set, rehearsing dance moves, sewing costumes, and putting on other finishing touches for this weekend's opening.
Set Design Opportunities
The set/stage crew chief is Mark Murphy Jr., with Randy Caruso as advisor. The two have led a student crew consisting of Michael DeChent-Robertin, Elyse Fox, Ella Lewis, Stevie Hulse, James Olson, Anya Sendelbach, Kevin Steger, Sebastian Uribe, and Brandon Wansor. Take note of the beautiful paintings on canvas, by Lori Christie, that hang in the nursery..
Photo Credit: Katie Hellmuth Martin
To get
really
behind the scenes with this and all productions from the Beacon Players, you can
You'll see details that reveal to you who is making the magic happen, like this update: "Mrs. Siegel has been working on a vacant store front window display to advertise the show."
It's been fun to glimpse some of the behind-the-scenes action required to put on this performance that gives Beacon students such a unique experience. For many, involvement in high school starts to define what careers they carve out. It's easy to see how your support for the Beacon Players gets used.
Happy Times... A Little Beacon Blog is supporting Peter Pan, the high school play put on by Beacon Players, with a page in the playbill! Curtains go up April 7th, and Peter will actually be flying! It's all very exciting to watch proud parents take pictures of their kids practicing their makeup and Lost Boy hair styles in social media. Last year's production of Aladdin was very impressive, with very large elephants and other animals (fret not; they were puppets) walking through the aisles of seats in Beacon High School's theater.
You may be a new family in town, or a family who moved to Beacon a few years ago, and now your child is almost 4, and is ready for Beacon's Universal Pre-K Program! And if you do not have kids, or your kids are grown but you have neighbors who do not know about Beacon's Pre-K option yet, pass along this article to them because the time to register is now. After registration, acceptance letters go out at the end of July, according to a flyer from the Beacon City School District (BCSD). (By July, BCSD will know its guaranteed funding from New York state.)
Meet Gail the Registrar with Paperwork Neatly Stacked
Your child must be 4 years of age by December 1, 2016. You will need:
Registration Packet from the Beacon City School District (BCSD). Click here for the links to download and print the packet and handbook (scroll all the way to the bottom) and follow all directions. Note: If you are a mother who is married and did not change her last name, Gail may ask for your marriage license. This item is not included in the 2016 Packet that you are printing out, but it may come up during your appointment. There are other notes in that packet for different parenting situations, including unmarried parents of the child being registered who live together, so do read it carefully so that you have everything that the Registrar is asking for.
Two Proofs of Residency. The parent or legal guardian of the child needs to reside in Beacon.
Birth Certificate. Child's original birth certificate
Proof of Immunization
Call Mrs. Gail Morgan to set up your appointment at (845) 838-6900, extension 2002.
Program Times, Snacks and Busing
You can select between two sessions: Morning (8:40am-11:10am) or Afternoon (12:40pm-3:10pm). Busing is available to children who live at least 1.5 miles away from their school. Breakfast or lunch are offered for a fee, or your child may be eligible for free or reduced-price lunches. Buying lunch at school is as slick as it is for college students who have meal plan cards. Your child is assigned an ID number, and you can refill their meal plans online.
Limited Seats
There are a limited number of seats available for kids in each of Beacon's four elementary schools:
J.V. Forrestal, Glenham, South Avenue, and Sargent. You are assigned to whichever school you live in the zone for. However, if capacity is reached in your child's "home school," as it is known by the district, then the next closest school with an available opening will be offered to your child for placement.
Satellite Schools Offering Universal Pre-K
There are several very good, privately owned Pre-K programs in Beacon for kids ages 3-5. A Little Beacon Blog will be producing a Guide that showcases these schools so that you have them all in one place. Private programs do have the option to offer Beacon's Universal Pre-K from within their walls, should your child already attend that child care center or preschool and you'd like a price break. In order to do so, schools must apply to the program, and "meet or exceed" standards. Not all private programs apply to Universal Pre-K, as they would need to meet certain requirements or jump through a lot of hoops to be accepted.
For the 2016-2017 year, two such programs are offering Universal Pre-K for their 4-year-old programs: Rose Hill Manor Day School and Cedar Street Day Care. If you are already attending either of those schools, do let your administrators know of your desire to be a part of the program at their facilities. Keep in mind, that there are limited seats for Universal Pre-K in the private satellite programs, and approval of participation at the state level of those facilities can always delay or change plans. Please note that each year is different in terms of which daycares offer it, and how many slots they get.
Something has been brewing in Beacon for quite some time, and it is all coming to a head now. The escalating situation - discussed among parents, teachers, and district administrators over several years - has now caught the attention of regional media after a parent (who is also a lawyer) filed a petition asking that the board remove Beacon's current superintendent.
[UPDATE] 1/22/16: After a Special Board of Education meeting was called on 1/21/16, Dr. Walkley handed in her resignation. A statement was given by the board via press release stating that they "accepted, with regret" her resignation and that they appreciated her work for the students of the Beacon City School District over the course of different periods where she served in interim positions. The Board of Education has appointed Deputy Superintendent Ann Marie Quartironi to serve as Interim Superintendent as the Board considers their options for hiring the next Superintendent of Schools.
BOARD OF EDUCATION MEETING CANCELED
A regularly scheduled Board of Education (BOE) Meeting on January 11, 2016, was canceled when only three of the nine board members showed up, not enough to qualify as a quorum as required to make decisions on agenda items. This happened the same day an article was published in the Poughkeepsie Journal highlighting the above-mentioned petition, which was filed on December 1, 2015. Dr. Barbara Walkley, Beacon's current superintendent, was initially present at the meeting. The meeting was canceled after the remainder of the board members did not arrive, as seen in this Twitter video by Nina Schutzman, who wrote the article highlighting the petition. Schutzman is an investigative reporter at the Poughkeepsie Journal who often covers Board of Education meetings in other districts, and also live-tweets them, which means that she gives play-by-plays of what is being said in an event on Twitter. Should you need to follow other meetings or court hearings, check out her twitter.
While the BOE meeting was canceled, most in attendance stayed. This included some Beacon City School District staff, parents, teachers, state Senator Terry Gipson, and others. More than 370 people were in the Seeger Theatre at Beacon High School, the setting for these meetings. The security staff, who usually have a mellow night of greeting people and pointing to which door they should walk through, had a very active evening as more and more people showed up. There was one outbreak of an almost-fight between two or three very grown men, with several other men intervening, a few flipping of birds, and then disbanding.
Parents and other concerned parties delivered speeches and remarks as planned until 8pm, at which point the meeting ended. Normally these speeches would have taken place during the official "Public Session" portion of the evening, which is when members of the public can sign up to present a one-sided comment, question, praise or grievance. After a Public Session, the Board offers a one-sided response to the comment. Sometimes, the comments make it into the official minutes, but to be fully informed, it's best to watch the Board of Education meeting videos. (Between keeping up on those as well as recordings of the City of Beacon Planning Board and City Council meetings, it's not clear when we'll get back to binge-watching regular Netflix or Amazon shows.)
Three people also announced their candidacy for trustee seats on the Board of Education, including Meredith Heuer, the Chair of Beacon Arts and Education Foundation (BAEF), an organization that since 2004 has existed solely to raise money for Beacon City Schools through different initiatives including the Calico Ball, and pursuing grants, and is credited with buying new musical instruments for students among other improvements for the schools. Over the years, BAEF has raised a total of $80,000 for the Beacon City School District.
Antony Tseng, a director of the Beacon Volunteer Ambulance Corps, also announced he was running. The third candidate, Michael Rutkoske, is the husband of the filer of the above-mentioned petition, and also announced his candidacy for a seat on the board.
NEXT STEPS
A Special BOE Meeting is scheduled for Thursday, January 14, at 8:30pm. According to Kelly Pologe, Administrative Assistant to the Deputy Superintendent and Clerk of the Board: "The meeting is open to the public but the board will immediately adjourn to Executive Session to review the employment history of a particular person. The Executive Session is not open to the public. The Board is not expected to take action after Executive Session. The meeting agenda is posted on Board Docs, which is located under the Board of Education section of the school district website."
UPDATE [1/15/16]: The January 14th Special Board of Education Meeting was held and attended by parents, staff and community members. Most attendees held signs of protest silently in the audience. During a comment session in front of the public before the adjournment, a few board members implied that they did not know that their absence would affect the quorum requirement, because of the amount of others who were also not able to attend. The full audio for this can be heard in a Poughkeepsie Journal article dated January 14th, 2016.
The next regularly scheduled BOE meeting is on Monday, January 25, with "the anticipated return to Public Session at 7:45 P.M. or sooner," as stated on the Beacon City Schools' website.
A BRIEF BACKGROUND:
Issues have been mounting over the years to bring the district to this point. Here is a brief background to help give recent events some context.
TEACHER TRANSFERS
The Beacon City School District is enduring one of its toughest years as it entered a new era of "Focus Lists," involved parents, modern administration systems and pleas for increased communication. Last year, 27 teachers were "transferred" to other schools within this district. Beacon has six schools - high school, middle school, and four elementary schools. Teachers were informed of the transfers by Dr. Walkley in a group setting, which did not go over well during that meeting, or outside in the community.
When Dr. Walkley was delivering the news to the teaching staff, she could tell it was not going over well. I spoke with Dr. Walkley in August of 2015, and I asked her about the transfers. She reflected: "Here's my
learning: There is a paradigm that people get transferred
because they are not good at what they do. I didn't know about that
paradigm. That some people would think they were being moved out of
punishment, or that they weren't good. I was completely surprised about
the reaction because that is not my paradigm. I did not anticipate that.
Even by saying that the reasons were for a strength, I could tell that
the teachers did not understand what I was saying to them. I invited
people to come and meet with me one on one. I love the process of
working with teachers and students. It was never my intention to hurt
people."
That invitation for a personal sit-down with the superintendent was
written into contract by the teachers' union during that meeting. As for
reasons for a teacher transfer, Dr. Walkley points out that districts
can transfer staff for many different reasons, including matters of
enrollment. For instance, if one year there are 50 students in a class that
had two teachers, and the next year there are 25 students in that class, then
only one teacher is needed. That example did happen in this school year, yet no
teacher lost their job. Instead, a transfer was possible. "Not
one teacher lost a job," Dr. Walkley confirmed. "Sometimes teachers
request a transfer within their level of certification, to try a
different grade level for instance, or a different building, in order to spark
them."
BEACON AND "THE FOCUS LIST"
It is a surprise to many who do not regularly keep up with school district issues, that Beacon is on what is called a "Focus List." A district does not get added to the list for being awesome. Instead, it is added to the list for meeting certain indicators that point to troubling issues, such as a low graduation rate. A tough climb is involved with bringing a school off the list. During our summer interview, Dr. Walkley called being on the Focus List a "slippery slope." More about why she calls it that is in the section below. Beacon's schools are among 496 in New York to be put on this Focus List. The job of the
district then becomes to design and present plans to the state to show how
they are going to improve, earning their way off the list. Cue the paperwork
and Excel spreadsheets.
IF YOU WANT TO NERD OUT ABOUT THE FOCUS LIST...
Taking a crash course in the Focus List involves a quiet room with a lot of coffee and several browser windows open on your computer in order to follow acronyms and changing rules at the federal and state levels. Advocates for Beacon Schools have a pretty good breakdown of what it means to be on a Focus List on their website.
As part of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), a Bush administration law that started at the federal level, and
trickled down to the state and district levels in unexpected ways, demands were placed on student performance. In 2012, the Obama Administration
tried to fix NCLB by making a No Child Left Behind Waiver, which judged districts based on students' progress rather than their performance.
In
2012, the waiver put schools on lists to be identified as Priority,
Focus, and Reward schools depending on test results. Schools within the Beacon City School
District were put on the Focus List. This designation means that a school meets certain criteria from the State Education Department Memo, which has been republished here on ChalkBeat.org:
"Identified as a result of their low performance and lack of progress
in ELA (English Language Arts) and math combined[,] or graduation rates for
one or more accountability groups (racial/ethnic groups, low-income
students, English language learners, and students with disabilities).
Districts could also be identified as Focus if one or more Priority
Schools were identified within the district."
Beacon's high school and middle school were on the Focus List, and one
elementary school, Sargent, is currently on the LAP (Local
Assistant Plan) List. The middle school was eligible to come off the
Focus List in 2014. Instead of the Focus List, the middle school got
moved to the LAP List. According to Dr. Walkley, "If new schools or
schools that came off the Focus List fell into the Focus School range
based on performance, the school would be identified as a LAP school.
This means that instead of state-supported reviews, the school review
would be conducted at the local level and assistance would come from the
local BOCES." BOCES (Boards of Cooperative Educational Services) were created in 1948 by the New York state legislature to partner with districts to provide a
broad range of services that help meet the evolving educational needs
of students.
To get off of the lists, a school needs to test 95% of its students. Three factors need to be met in order to get off the list:
Student Performance
95% of Students Tested
Graduation Targets Met at the High School
Last year, there was an uproar for an opt-out movement among parents in Beacon, as well as in the entire country, to opt out of testing that began in 2002 when President Bush signed No Child Left Behind. Testing starts for students in third grade. Because of the high stakes involved, which include teacher evaluations and these Focus List measurements, some say that too much stress is put on the child. Many parents in Beacon wanted their child to opt out. However, Dr. Walkley enforced what she thought was law to have the child opt themselves out, despite having a note from parents. Months later, while speaking to parents during a Forum, which is a session that she initiated in order to have conversations with parents days after a more structured Board Meeting, Dr. Walkley was open to finding better answers to address the next round of testing.
THE SLIPPERY SLOPE
During a summer 2015 Board Meeting, Dr. Walkley alluded to Beacon being on a "slippery slope." Hearing that as a citizen did not sound good, so I followed up with Dr. Walkley by email with that question - "What does it mean to be on a slippery slope?" The response I received was an invitation to have a chat with her in her office, to better understand this big question. Happy to oblige and learn one on one, I left with quite a lot of information.
Rather than put it into my own words, I will let you read how Dr. Walkley described it to me. This portion of our interview has been transcribed:
"We have a lot of targets to juggle. Not only do we have to have certain targets for [each grade level], we have targets by the district, by each school, and then we have targets for subgroups. Subgroups are made up of groups based on ethnicity, poverty, etc. Every district has different subgroups based upon their population.
"If we have a subgroup that [contains] a certain number of students, there are targets set for them as well. They include groups such as students with disabilities, students of poverty, and then certain ethnic groups. So we have to monitor those targets as well. So you’ve got your balls up in the air.
"One year, we may do really well with certain groups, and these other groups we need to work on. The tendency is to say ‘OK, let’s put all of our time over here.’ But guess what? We still need to monitor [another] group because their targets changed! The targets change! They get higher and higher. You can’t really rest on your laurels at all. That is The Slippery Slope, is managing all of the different targets that we have because what we want to do is accelerate This, but we have to do That while also working over Here."
I interjected her description with my own declaration: "You love numbers!" to which she answered, "Not necessarily. But I do have to work with them." Dr. Walkley later added: "The other reason that I talk about things that are boring, is that the state requires me to do so."
Back to the answer of The Slippery Slope:
"It is a slippery slope because it is so hard to manage. It’s hard to keep all of the balls up in the air. What you want to do is put all of your attention over here, but you can’t. Every district has these targets, regardless of presence on a Focus List or not.
"When you get to the point where you get to a target, and your performance is 20 or 30 points ahead of your target, you have a cushion there. When you are only a point or two away, that’s The Slippery Slope because it’s easy to digress and lose those few points. That’s why the state wants you to test 95% of your students. When you have a smaller population, it is statistically harder to maintain that target with a smaller population, than when we had a larger population.
"[Add to this, challenge:] If I miss a target one year by 5 points, they may change the target, and now we are off by even more. It doesn’t even make sense. It is a moving target.
"The gap, if you’re not attentive to every measure that you have, the gap can easily get wider and wider. When it gets so wide…to make up 5 to 10 points is a big challenge. You don’t normally see schools increase by 10 points. Sometimes you do, but it’s usually a smaller increment. If that target gets too far away from you, you’re never catching the train. It’s always ahead of you, and you can’t catch up. And then you don’t test everybody, and it changes your population.
"We have to work together as a community. We have to decide. Right now there are a lot of ethical things that are going on with politics, state funding, schools - to have public schools or charter schools - there are just a lot of agendas out there. As a community, we need to decide where we want to be in this.
"I am not saying that you need to be here or there. But let’s understand the choices that we make. Usually with any choice that we make, there are consequences. Knowing that, let’s make a choice and go forward."
BEACON AND EIGHT SUPERINTENDENTS IN EIGHT YEARS
During the start of the Focus List era, the Beacon City
School District was going through a chronic case of superintendent
turnover, with what was to be eight different superintendents in eight
years, two of whom were paid money upon resignation,
to the tune of “$183,000, not counting the cost of benefits, to buy out
the contracts of the last two ‘permanent’ superintendents, neither of
whom served for more than one school year,” according to documents the Poughkeepsie Journal obtained in a Freedom of Information Act request.
From
a logistics standpoint, if you work for a business that has a different
CEO every year, or a different manager every year, with changing board
members from time to time, you can predict what would happen: a
lot of confusion and lack of accountability. Beacon's current
superintendent is in her second year, and she had served as interim assistant superintendent in Beacon in years prior.
TEACHERS, COMMUNITY & COMMUNICATION
What has remained consistent in the Beacon City School District are very
good teachers who make astounding class projects and achievements using the resources they have, as well as dedicated students. Take a look around you,
and many of the business owners you frequent in Beacon, as well as in cities north
and south of Beacon, are graduates of the Beacon City Schools and have made
great lives.
The people in this area seem to
take it upon themselves to both fix things and create anew. Merging that do-gooder
habit with state and federal laws that cause restrictions or make this complicated can be a balancing act. The Beacon City School District is in the thick of it right now. We will all be looking for information as events unfold, but what remains unchanged is the caring nature that our kids receive from teachers, nurses and administrators, as well as the experiences they bring home to us each night from their experiences in Beacon City Schools.
A companion article to this one will be published soon that showcases what it is like as a student of different ages in Beacon City Schools. When reading about the politics of school, it can cloud what it is really like inside of the schools, and the opportunities the students do have. As a newbie parent in the district, I was hesitant to leave the comfort of our childcare center, which is a private business that has less hoops to jump through. But I have been amazed at the progress of my child in Beacon's schools, and I know I am not the only one who thinks that.
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A podcast from A Little Beacon Blog. Your hosts: Katie Hellmuth martin & Brandon Lillard.
The City of Beacon entered into a contract with Legal Services of the Hudson Valley to provide increased access to Beacon tenants facing eviction. They may also be able to help with sources of rent arrears assistance. Call the paralegal, Steven Mihalik at 845-253-6953 to inquire.
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