Pearl River School Board Approves Policies, Field Trips

The Pearl River Board of Education did more than just focus on the budget in Tuesday's meeting. 

The board held the second public reading that was necessary to approve its new policy regarding trespassing on school property, restricting access of people not engaged in school activities or other approved functions on district grounds in Pearl River.

The times are different for the various school properties due to the variations in the hours they are used. Access is restricted at the following hours:

• District Administration Offices: 1 hour after dusk to 6 a.m.
• Pearl River High School: 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.
• Pearl River Middle School: 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.
• Evans Park, Franklin Avenue and Lincoln Avenue Elementary Schools: 1 hour after dusk until 6 a.m.
• Central Avenue Field: midnight to 6 a.m.

The board also approved a field trip by the varsity football team to the KSA Events National Football Summer from July 21-25 at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla. at no cost to the district.

"It's a 7-vs-7 tournament, a passing tournament," said Pearl River football Head Coach Jeff Michael. "The offensive and defensive linemen are welcome as well for clinic work. It is all non-contact. There will be teams from around the country, so we could play schools from Ohio, Pennsylvania or Texas.

"In the mornings, we are guaranteed five games. They are in the morning before the Florida sun kicks in. There are team-building exercises in the parks during the day."

Among other board business:

• The addition of parents Evelyn Doorley and Donna O'Brien to the district Committee on Special Education and Committee on Preschool Special Education.  
• Resolve that the Civil Service Employees Association has exclusive rights to negotiate for employees in the district's custodial and maintenance labor unit.
• Noted that Kindergarten registration was relatively low again, with less than 160 incoming students. That would likely lead to keeping the number of Kindergarten units among the three elementary schools at eight rather than nine, which it had been in the past. 

Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction Sue Wheeler described the impact of changes in state literacy standards on social studies. 

Part of the shift is a greater focus on sending students out to gather information to share with their classmates.

"There is independent research going on," Wheeler said. "The kids go to find the information before the unit begins."

Wheeler cited the example of second graders being sent on a scavenger hunt for symbols of citizenship.

"One way at the high school is the Socratic Seminar," Wheeler said. "In that setting the students actually orchestrate the discussion around a central text. They use it to debate and question each other. The teacher is a facilitator.

"What we are seeing is students are then learning more and being more engaged in the learning at the same time. That's what's happening relative to the core standards in Social Studies."

More Information For The Public

Tuesday's meeting was the first since with the new state regulations in place as of Feb. 2 requiring schools and governments to provide to the public the same materials the board members will be using during meetings. 

The materials will be posted on the school district's website ahead of time, most often the day before the meeting. For example, the slides to Director of Operations Quinton Van Wynen's budget presentation were available Monday.

The materials for this week's meeting are also attached to this article.