Report to the Kent Board of Education
April 2010
Reg. 1 Board of Education
Re: Region One
From: Jonathan Moore
On March 16th, Patricia, Sam, and I attended the Kent Board of Finance meeting to present the Region One budget to them. The board seemed to appreciate the effort and I think this kind of thing done throughout the Region helps explain why there was virtually no public at the public hearing on April 6th. I think most people were already fairly well informed.
On the 6th, the budget process was finalized and approved for $14,396,304 (1.79% increase). It now goes to referendum on May 4th, 2010.
On the 5th, the regular board meeting took place.
Grease played to three sellout crowds March 18–20th and Brook Kallstrom of Kent played Jan, one of the Pink Ladies (hope I am not missing someone).
The ABC committee agreed to continue pursuing Aetna's insurance proposal, which would save the Region approximately $400,000. Now, the proposal will be taken to the various unions for their input.
The 21st Century Long Range Plan has been completed and after a little polishing will be published.
The seat belt legislation is proceeding. It has been altered to requiring belts on new buses only, which should help reduce the immediate cost impact. Sam Herrick pointed out that the state rates our carrier, All Star, as the safest bus company in the state.
There was a presentation on PBIS. Some of you may be aware of this program but it was new to me. Basically, the program is designed to teach proper behavior. It is in its third year and seen a 38% drop in disciplinary referrals. It has also achieved a 86% acceptance level among teachers who are using it in the classroom. Housy has also been teamed up with Wyndham, Ct. This has helped them develop the program as Wyndham is right near UCONN where the originator of the program now teaches. Housy now is a model program and they teach other towns how to utilize the program. The towns come to Housy to view the program in action.
There was also a second presentation highlighting the preschool program that is related to PBIS in a lot of ways.
The last item of note is that the Alpine Ski Team won the Mid-Hudson Valley Ski League Championship for 2010. The Mountaineers are the only public school in the seven-team league.
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