Pearl River Schools Provide Updates on Preparations for Start of School

The Pearl River Board of Education worked through a busy agenda at Tuesday's meeting. 

In addition to announcing the state's approval of the district's APPR plan and hiring Andrew Trust as the high school's new assistant principal, the administration provided updates on preparations for the start of school Sept. 5. 

Superintendent of Schools Dr. John Morgano spoke about the two utility poles that fell in one of the parking lots a Pearl River High School Monday. No one was hurt in the incident and the fallen poles are not causing any interruption in electrical or phone service to the high school.

"The poles were rotted. That is why they fell," Pearl River Superintendent of Schools Dr. John Morgano said. "O&R cleaned up everything (Monday). They took the wires out and the poles out. They are being replaced over the next two or three weeks.

"There will be some diminished lighting in that lot for a couple of weeks. We'll try to get that done as quickly as possible. O&R owns those poles and owns the cost of replacing them, so there is no cost to the district. Thankfully, it happened at a time when no one was around and no one got hurt."

Morgano also said the district's buildings should be ready for the first day of classes, including the four new classrooms at the high school. 

"The buildings and grounds crew did a great job," Morgano said. "(Director of Operations Quinton) Van Wynen and (Director of Facilities Bob) Nelan have been very busy. We will be ready, including the classrooms at the high school. That gives us more room, which (high school principal William) Furdon can use."

Pearl River has been making use of the new ImPACT (Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing) system, which has been added this year as part of the district's concussion management plan. More information about that can be found in . 

"As of today, we have tested every junior varsity and varsity team member for a total of 387 athletes over a five-day period," said Sue Wheeler, Pearl River's assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction. Modified sports will have ImPACT testing during the first week of school. We will make sure everything is in place so they are tested prior to participation in any competition.

"In addition, all but three modified coaches have completed the online concussion management course. They will all be done before their seasons begin. We are on target and have tested who we need to test."

To be useful, ImPACT tests must be given before a season starts so there is a baseline to compare to if an athlete suffers a concussion.

The school board also approved the appointments of nearly 30 advisors for extra-curricular activities and approved a series of board policies Tuesday.

The meeting also included the second reading of a series of board policies. Most were simply reviews of existing ones, though there were some minor changes due to changes in state regulations and improvements in the language of some procedures. 

For example, foreign language is now referred to as World Language and English as a second language was changed to English language learners. One item on policy for Curriculum Development now reads "The curriculum shall be aligned with the learning standards set by the New York State Education Department" in place of more specific details of the standards so it will not change each time the state changes those standards.

The full agenda for Tuesday's meeting, including the policies and extra-curricular appointments, is attached to this report.