At the outset of the last Herricks School Board meeting Herricks Superintendent Dr. Jack Bierwirth announced that he met with the CEO of Abilities to apologize for the damage that occurred in his facility during the Middle School graduation. Dr. Bierwirth said that he accepted his apologies and would like to see a closer working relationship with Herricks Schools on a variety of things. Dr. Bierwirth said, "I feel that one chapter has been put to bed."

One resident wanted to know the extent of the damage at Abilities and he said that mainly soda was sprayed on the ceiling and the walls, but that the issue is now closed.

In the "question from the public" session one resident wanted to know if anything could be done in an effort to ward off the usual outbreak of "head lice." He wanted to know if coats and personal belongings could be contained in plastic bags so as not to spread lice to the home. Herricks President Sutz said she would address the proper personnel and see what could be done.

A senior citizen again objected to the fact that Herricks would hold its Middle School graduation at the Tilles Center in the amount of $6,300, plus. Further, she said that she felt that each graduate's family from last year's graduating class at the Middle School should be charged $25 for restitution to repair whatever damage had been done at the Abilities facility. Once again Dr. Bierwirth commented that ordinarily that would be the way to handle this kind of situation, but since an apology has been given and accepted the subject is closed.

The board read the new policy referring to Pesticide Notification and Integrated Pest Management. This policy states that pesticides may be used periodically throughout the school year or summer school session, but that the district has requested a 48 hour prior written notice of pesticide application along with the instruction on how to register for the priority written notification. Plus the name and phone number of a school contact person must be listed and this person can respond to inquires for further information. Further, the district is using a substance that will have the least impact on persons with allergic reactions and a written document will be provided to staff and parents regarding the kind of pesticides to be used.

The board also approved a policy on the use of the district interoffice mail system. A system is in place to clearly outline who may or may not use the interoffice mail. Any community organization wishing to avail themselves of this form of communication, must be approved by the building principal.

There was also a Conditional Appointment and Emergency Conditional Appointment for a Student Safety Policy. In that policy it states that no district employee who holds a conditional appointment or emergency appointment is of a lesser moral character or engaged in criminal or nefarious conduct. The purpose is to protect the students in the district. Further, no employee who holds a conditional appointment or emergency conditional appointment shall be in contact with students other than to provide the specific instruction or other services for which the employee was hired except as deemed appropriate by the building principal.

No district employee who holds a conditional or emergency conditional appointment shall teach a class or provide services to students with his/her classroom or office door closed unless the building principal has provided express prior permission to do otherwise.

The building principal or his/her designee shall provide heightened administrative supervision of such employees while on school district property during the period of their condition or emergency conditional appointment including for example: unannounced classroom visit, touring the hallways and or other activities the principal determines to be appropriate. Failure to comply with this policy will result in appropriate disciplinary action.

Student Extracurricular Club Policy was also discussed and the role of the faculty auditor has been modified. That policy may be obtained at the superintendent's office. Superintendent Bierwirth said he would like the policy as written now to go into effect and when school starts he wants to sit down with advisors and members of the various clubs to see if further modification is necessary.

The board awarded its uniform guard service bid to Garrison Protective Services which was the lowest responsible. President Sutz said this was because to date, the board is satisfied. She added, "There is always room for improvement, but the move we made last year was moving in the right direction."

The Harbor Child Care Lease has been modified to defer rent until March to compensate for the flooding in the spring. It is also hoped that all classes will return to the Community Center as soon as possible.

The board also voted for a fee and salary adjustment of the Saturday Recreation and Swim Program. The recommendation was that the fee be increased by $3 per course, from $70 to $73, and that the salary paid to the Saturday Recreation and Swim Program instructors be increased by 3 percent.

The board also voted to include the position of assistant director of Pupil Personnel Service be added to the HAAS salary schedule of Chairperson of Guidance/Administrative Assistant/Director of Athletics.

There was a first reading of a new policy for the Fingerprinting of New Employees. Due to the backlog of fingerprinting and checking at the FBI level of new employees a conditional or emergency conditional appointment must adopt a policy for the safety of the children who have contact with employees and who have conditional appointment status. Covered schools are free to develop a policy that best meets the needs of that particular situation.

This means that for conditional clearance when an employee has been fingerprinted, the state must respond within 15 days and then they can work with that conditional clearance for a designated number of days. For emergency clearance the school board must agree to hire them and pass a "student safety policy" which means particular attention will be paid to those employees who have not yet received clearance stating they may not teach with the door closed and that they may be visited during the day...In addition all employees hired without clearance must sign a paper stating that they have not been convicted of a crime. Assistant Superintendent for Personnel Dr. Ronald Barnes, said that with this policy in place, along with extensive reference checks, should ensure safety for the children until the massive number of fingerprinting checks can be completed. Dr. Bierwirth added, "We will suffer through this because the intent is good." President Sutz said, "As usual it's another instance when the state mandates a policy and nothing is in place to facilitate that policy and requiring the district to pay for the policy."

The board is still searching for someone to manage the Community Center. It was established that certification is not necessary for this job but a list will be provided to anyone who calls the superintendent in his office. The position would be for a non-competitive civil service position.

In answer to a question regarding construction, Dr. Bierwirth said that as soon as the approval comes from the state to start building, a notice will be sent, school by school, outlining exactly what will be done, what areas will be fenced in and what impact it will have on that school and the children in that school.

A question was asked if the students could still enter the grounds by way of I.U. Willets Road. It was established that seniors may still use the parking lot and students may still enter through the back entrance. Dr. Bierwirth said that they have been working on alternative configurations for students to enter from I.U. Willets. But no construction can begin until state approval has been received by the district.

Since there were no more questions from the public, the board closed the meeting and retired into executive session. The next regular meeting will be held on Sept. 20 at the Community Center at 7:15 p.m.