Pearl River School Board Debates Trespassing Policy

The Pearl River Board of Education voted against setting an hour past dusk until 6 a.m. as the hours for a trespassing policy at the high school and middle school in December.

Board member Thomas DePrisco, who was one of the two votes for that policy, brought the issue up again during Tuesday's meeting, suggesting coming up with a compromise.

One issue with the previous version was activities going on at night at the high school, including sports, meetings and events such as the winter concert 7 p.m. Thursday night. Those make it difficult to sort out any trespassers from people who have a reason to be on the school campus.

"My thought is we would make the time match up with activity at the high school," said board member Rob Davis.

The result calls for 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. as the hours at the high school and 9 a.m. to 6 a.m. at the middle school. There will be a first reading of the policy at the next board of education meeting Jan. 24. New board policies must have public readings at two separate meetings.

"It's a resource the police department can utilize to deal with people on the property potentially causing a problem," DePrisco said.

Board member Bruce Bond also brought up the idea of locking the tennis courts and the track at the high school late at night, but that was not made part of the new policy.

The board also held the first reading for 35 policies Tuesday, many of them existing ones with only minor adjustments. District Clerk Mary Flanagan said that Policy 1143 was skipped because the district's lawyer was looking into changing part of the language.

Among other items the board approved were:

• District Director of Operations Quinton Van Wynen recommended signing a five-year lease between the district and ARC Rockland for the property at 37 Franklin Avenue in Pearl River. ARC Rockland has been leasing that location for approximately 20 years, though the current lease also allows for an upgrade to the parking lot.
• Assistant Principal Cindy Mantis was designated acting principal at Pearl River High School for situations when Principal William Furdon is not available. The purpose of the designation is to deal with short-term disciplinary matters. Assistant Principal Kristen Talleyrand was designated to act as principal in those matters if Principal Maria Paese is unavailable.

The administration also made announcements regarding upcoming events

Superintendent Dr. John Morgano said there will be an open house at the new administration offices at 135 W. Crooked Hill Road Jan. 28 from 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Light refreshments will be served.

Morgano said that art created by students at all five schools in the district will be used to decorate the walls at the new location.

"If we let (elementary school art teacher) Tom Price loose in the building, there will be artwork everywhere," Morgano said. "Student artwork will decorate these walls. We have to have something to remind us why we are here."

Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction Sue Wheeler said the district has added dates for ELA and Math testing for grades three through eight to its calendar. Those were not available from the state when the calendar was put together over the summer.

Both exams were two days and now will be spread out over three days, with a 90-minute block for testing each day. The ELA exam is set for April 17-19, with Math April 25-27.

"The tests are longer than they have been in the past," Wheeler said. "There will also be heightened security measures in terms of test questions and how we store tests, proctoring and scoring. All of this intended to get us as district results before end of the year so we can get them to parents and we can use them for planning purposes for classes and instruction going forward."

Morgano also spoke on Governor Andrew Cuomo's State of the State Address, primarily questioning Cuomo's claim that students in New York lack advocates. Those comments can be found here.

Remembering Daly

Franklin Avenue Elementary School Nurse Nancy Daly passed away last week. Daly had retired after decades as a nurse at Nyack Hospital before taking over at Pearl River High School last March. 

"She did a great job putting things in order at the high school," Morgano said. "Her sudden passing was really felt by everyone. 

"At the wake we saw pictures of her as a young nurse and we got to see her in a  whole new light. She wil be sorely missed."

Daly was 60 years old. 

Public comments

The board was asked about plans for the apartment building that came as part of the purchase of the Crooked Hill property. The current plan in discussion is to break it up and sell it as 10 individual condominiums.

"The board is looking at its best options to maximize their return," Van Wynen said. "The board feels it might be better served if it sells one unit at a time rather than sell the whole apartment. We have a lot of homework still to do. At the last meeting, I said it would take 18 months and I haven't changed that guess."

Van Wynen was also asked when the new classrooms at the high school would be ready. The space formerly occupied by the district administration's offices is being converted. Van Wynen said that project is still on target for September of this year.

Van Wynen also said that things are moving forward with approximately _$1 milion the district will receive in a settlement with Olympus_, which was announced at the December meeting. No plans have been made yet for the money.

"I assume that will be part of our upcoming budget process," Bond said.