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
November 23, 2004
At P.S. 7, Louis Simeone School

1) Call to order and Roll Call -- The meeting convened at P.S. 7, Louis Simeone School at
7:00 PM

♦ Roll Call – Present

♦ Nancy Carbone
♦ Nick Comaianni
♦ Ernest Cury
♦ Dmytro Fedkowskyj
♦ Margaret Kolb
♦ William Kregler
♦ Joseph Pahl
♦ Marcellino Rodriguez
♦ Joanne Scichilone
♦ Katelyn Ranzie, CEC High School Member

♦ Roll Call – Absent

♦ Dominic Coticchio

Also in attendance

♦ Catherine M. Powis, Community Superintendent

2) Approval of Minutes
Nick Comaianni motioned to approve minutes of October 26, 2004. Marge Kolb seconded.
Motion carried, minutes approved.

3) Report of the President

Nick Comaianni stated the remainder of the CFE meeting dates and locations. He also stated
the remaining meeting dates for the City Councils Commissions on the Implementation of the
CFE. Mr. Comaianni further stated that a letter was written by Steve Sanders to Chancellor
Klein on behalf of various CEC boards regarding, among other things, misconceptions
between CEC members and regions regarding the powers and abilities of CEC councils. Mr.
Comaianni cited the PS 87 survey as an example.

4) Report of the Community Superintendent

Catherine Powis stated that the parent/teacher conferences were successful and well attended.
Ms. Powis further stated that the numbers of attendees were much higher than last year. Ms.
Powis then introduced Dan Nugent, Regional Instructional Specialist for Physical Education.

♦ Mr. Nugent's stated the new initiative in Physical Education would get all students involved
in an effort to control the obesity problem. He cited a study done in Bushwick that found a
47% level of obesity, Mr. Nugent reiterated that the new initiative would get everyone
involved in physical education.
♦ Mr. Nugent stated that the Department of Education plans to implement a new curriculum
which will incorporate fitness into the sports based curriculum. Mr. Nugent informed the
Council that a new software called ‘Fitnessgram’ will be utilized in all schools and will
generate report cards on a child’s fitness levels, targeting 5th, 7th and 9th grades.
♦ Mr. Nugent stated that ‘Champs’ program is a middle school after school program and will
start as a pilot in every region in January.
♦ Mr. Nugent stated that there will be extensive staff development and the Department of
Education will collaborate with the Department of Health, he further stated that the
Department of Education will hold health and fitness fairs.
♦ Marge Kolb stated her concern regarding children’s schedules and limited space to which
Mr. Nugent stated that if kids must do calisthenics at their desk then that’s what they’ll do.
He further stated that whatever would have to be done to cut back on obesity will be done.
♦ Nick Comaianni supported Marge Kolb’s statement by reiterating that children’s schedules
are very tight, but he supports after school programs.
♦ Dan Nugent stated that as the Department of Education rolls out after school programs
starting January 14, 2005 schools will be allocated money for teachers to stay after school 3
times a week for 5 weeks for 3 seasons a year.
♦ Dmytro Fedkowskyj asked if these programs would be a school based expense to which Mr.
Nugent stated that it will not affect the school budget, it is a set program.
♦ Nick Comaianni stated that district 24 has the biggest population in region 4. He then asked
what input would be used to pick the first of the schools to receive after school programs and
further stated that he would like to have some input as to which schools get it first to which
Mr. Nugent stated that the first time they would have to pick buildings which would be
easiest to facilitate the program.
♦ Joanne Scichilone asked if there was any screening process for teachers that they will be
implementing and asked as well if kids will do exercise in a gym or in class to which Mr.
Nugent stated that only physical education teachers will be trained in ‘Physical Best’ and
added that region 4 was the first region to be completely trained.
♦ Marge Kolb stated that there are classes that never have a gym period, she further stated that
students need physical activity every day not once a week. She added that classroom teachers
need to exercise kids so that they are better able to concentrate on academics to which Mr.
Nugent stated that the Department of Education wants gym classes everywhere, however it
will not happen overnight.
♦ Nick Comaianni stated that as far as elementary school kids something as simple as 10
minutes a day of jumping jacks would be beneficial. Mr. Comaianni further stated that
teachers could do something simple that doesn’t require much training, to which Mr. Nugent
stated that they are looking into it, it is something they want to accomplish as well.
♦ Joanne Scichilone stated that all students need movement to learn. Ms. Scichilone cited
Freud’s theory which places emphasis on movement to curtail physical violence. Ms.
Scichilone further stated that children who do not have the opportunity to release energy will
explode; not being given the opportunity to exercise leads to aggressive behavior.
♦ Pat Grayson inquired about the privacy of the health and fitness records, to which Mr. Nugent
stated that ‘Fitnessgrams’ track the physical fitness levels of a child not the health of a child.
♦ Bob Cermeli inquired as to whether or not the physical education teachers will convey
information to other teachers to which Mr. Nugent stated that the physical education
instructors are turnkey instructors.
♦ Mike Enfitamedes asked if there will be a parent component concerning nutrition to which
Mr. Nugent stated that he would look into it.
♦ Nancy Carbone asked if every school in district 24 has a physical education instructor to
which Mr. Nugent stated that the majority of physical education instructors are common
branch, and conceded that the majority of elementary schools do not have a licensed physical
education instructor
♦ Marge Kolb inquired as to whether physical education instructors will target over weight
students to which Mr. Nugent replied that each case will have to be handled very closely,
physical education teachers will not single kids out. Ms. Powis added that this is a new
frontier for the Department of Education, she further added that obesity is a sensitive and
very serious issue.
♦ Public Speaker Norma Quinzi stated that currently there are two classrooms in the gym at PS
89 and asked how that situation may be remedied, to which Ms. Powis replied that it’s a
facility question that she will bring forward.
♦ Ms. Powis closed the Speaker session by thanking Mr. Nugent and wishing everyone a happy
and healthy Thanksgiving.

5) Ken Lubetsky of the UFT Special Representative

Mr. Comaianni introduced United Federation of Teachers special speaker Ken Lubetsky, who
was invited to interpret the budget.

♦ Mr. Lubestsky stated that the budget is in disarray due to lack of candor from the Department
of Education in dealing with budget issues. The public does not know how much it costs to
operate Tweed or even Regional Operation Centers, and the Independent Budget Office in
New York City has done nothing regarding this subject.
♦ Mr. Lubetsky stated that according to the Department of Education it is good to separate
instruction and budget, which was why financial operations were moved to regional centers
yet principals are responsible for their budget and instruction.
♦ Mr. Lubetsky stated that there is much irresponsibility with in the Department of Education,
citing last years deficit of $156 million.
♦ Mr. Lubetsky stated that the Department of Education and the Chancellor are ignoring school
based budgeting regulations. He further stated the governance law requires the formation of
 school leadership teams and school based budgeting. He concluded that these laws were
followed for a few years, however in the last 2 years these laws have been largely ignored.
♦ Mr. Lubetsky stated that allocations are constantly changing making it difficult for principals
to organize their schools.
♦ Mr. Lubetsky stated that Community Education Councils and parents need to be involved at
the school level in decisions about how money is used and that the above mentioned need to
have a voice at the Regional Operations Center with the instructional superintendents and
further that the Councils and parents need to be heard citywide.
♦ Mr. Lubetsky stated that there were budget cuts in schools even though there was an increase
in state aid. The state gave New York City $287 million more than last year. Title I received
$50 million more than last year.
♦ Joanne Scichilone asked how to find out where principals allocate their money, and whether
people must file under FOIL in order to receive this information. Mr. Lubetsky replied that he
would be disappointed but not shocked that a person would have to file FOIL. He gave a web
address of www.nycenet.edu/offices/d_chanc_oper/budget/dbor where people can view there
individual budget.

6) Resolutions – Resolution #3

The following was unanimously added to the agenda;

WHEREAS, the Vice President has submitted to the Community Education Council for its
consideration a budget estimate to spend on the Ramon Suarez School Naming Ceremony in
February 2005; and

WHEREAS, the estimated cost to host this function will be about $950.00 with an understanding
that the actual cost may be slightly higher or lower but within reason to host the ceremony; be it

RESOLVED, that the Community Education Council for District 24 adopt the budget estimate to
host the Police Officer Ramon Suarez School dedication ceremony of February 16, 2005 (snow
date March 2, 2005) at PS 239.

On motion duly made and seconded, the resolution was unanimously approved.

7) Report of the Committees

♦ Joe Pahl, Chair of the Website Committee stated that the Community Education Council
District 24’s website is up, he further stated the address as being
www.myschoolonline.com/ny/cec24.
♦ Ernest Cury, Chair of the English Language Learners Committee stated that his committee
has already met with PS 89 and PS 19 and a liaison meeting is scheduled with PS 16 next
week.
♦ Dmytro Fedkowskyj, Chair of the Building, Zoning and Maintenance Committee stated
updates from the School Construction Authority and the Division of School Facilities.
♦ Marge Kolb, Chair of the Legislative Committee stated that a meeting took place on
November 12, 2004 at PS 229. The subject of the meeting was overcrowding. Ms. Kolb
further stated that the committee has no other meetings planned at this time.
♦ JoAnne Scichilone , Chair of the Special Education Committee stated that a parent liaison
meeting took place at PS 87 that included the principal and Diane Kay, topics included ELL,
PAF, CTT, Pre K being housed on the 3rd Floor and survey results. Ms. Scichilone further
 stated that the committee did not get any answers however they did get cooperation, and a
date was set for a follow up meeting on December 3rd.

8) Old Business – None

9) New Business – None

10) Public Agenda Session

♦ Gloria Paez of PS 7 asked what could be done about a roach infestation and contaminated
water in the nurses office. She further stated that roaches appear in the lunchroom and in the
classrooms to which Ms. Powis stated that she would follow up.
♦ Mary Kern inquired if Title I tutoring letters went out to which Ms. Powis stated the SES is
provided after school. Letters were sent out and parents opted in.
♦ Pat Grayson inquired if committees were having meetings without public input to which Nick
Comaianni stated that committee meeting are public.

11) Adjournment

Nick Comaianni motioned to adjourn, Dmytro Fedkowskyj seconded, motion carried,

meeting adjourned.