Area 6 Director Dana Smith Represents the Following School Districts:

Au Sable Valley, Beekmantown, Brasher Falls, Brushton-Moira, Canton, Chazy, Clifton-Fine, Clinton-Essex-Warren-Washington BOCES, Colton-Pierrepont, Crown Point, Edwards-Knox, Elizabethtown-Lewis, Franklin-Essex-Hamilton BOCES, Gouverneur, Hammond, Harrisville, Hermon-DeKalb, Heuvelton, Indian Lake, Keene, Lake Placid, Lisbon, Long Lake, Madrid-Waddington, Malone, Massena, Minerva, Moriah, Morristown, Newcomb, Northeastern Clinton, Northern Adirondack, Norwood-Norfolk, Ogdensburg, Parishville-Hopkinton, Peru, Plattsburgh, Potsdam, Putnam, Raquette Lake, Saint Lawrence-Lewis BOCES, Saint Regis Falls, Salmon River, Saranac, Saranac Lake, Schroon Lake, Ticonderoga, Tupper Lake, Westport and Willsboro

Area Director Electronic Newsletter

Welcome to the February 3, 2009 issue of the Area 6 electronic newsletter. The electronic newsletter is designed to facilitate communication between members of your NYSSBA Board of Directors and the Areas they represent. The newsletter contains information about Area 6 and NYSSBA. I hope you find it informative. I would appreciate your sending comments and suggestions for future newsletters to me at area06director@nyssba.org. If any of your board colleagues do not have computer access, a copy will be sent to the district office for distribution. If others with email did not receive their own copy, please submit their e-mail address to NYSSBA at info@nyssba.org.

The January meeting of the Clinton-Essex-Warren-Washington School Boards Association was held, as usual, at Cricket's in Peru.  Regent Dawson made a fine presentation regarding The Five Promises as part of the America's Promise Alliance, and Commissioner Mills spoke about the challenge of student engagement and dropout prevention.  After his presentation, the Beekmantown and Plattsburgh staff presented several students who were excellent examples of the successes that can be gained through student engagement.  That was followed by a conversation with the Commissioner in a Town Hall Meeting format.

Later, there were presentations from two District Superintendents regarding their BOCES' dedication to Educational Excellence.

A rewarding evening was experienced by all in attendance.  Don't miss their next meeting in March.
 
FRN is February 1-3 in Washington.  Our attending board members will be busy preparing for and meeting with our Congressional Delegation.  We hope there will be great numbers present from New York again this year.  Chris Belair will be representing us from Area 6.  
 
SLN is coming up in March--the 1st, 2nd and 3d.  NYSSBA has made it more attractive this year by foregoing registration fees and covering most of the meals.  It is hoped that we have at least one member from every NYSSBA member board in attendance.  More would be even better.  Make sure your registration is in so you don't miss it.  See below for more details.
 
The SLLCSBA will be holding their annual Legislative Breakfast March 14 in Canton.  Our legislators are happy to oblige us by answering challenging questions and meeting their board constituents.  Our new Assemblywoman, Adde Russell, has committed, along with Dede Scozzafava, Senator Aubertine and Representative John McHugh.  It should be an enjoyable Saturday morning.   Please plan on attending.
 
If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact me.  Thank you for your continuing support.  
 
State Legislative Network Conference Update

By now you should have received notice of the many changes NYSSBA is implementing for the 2009 State Legislative Network Issues Conference, March 1-3.  In addition to free registration for all members as a member benefit, the conference will be held in downtown Albany at the Empire State Plaza.   As of  today, the three downtown hotels are sold out (Hampton Inn Albany Downtown, Crowne Plaza Albany and 74 State Street Hotel).  However, there are rooms available at the Hilton Garden Inn (518-396-3500) and the Town Place Suites by Marriott (518-435-1900).  These hotels are just outside the downtown Albany area.  NYSSBA will provide shuttle transportation from conference hotels to the conference site at the Empire State Plaza.
 
The check in time for most hotels is 3 p.m. but the State Issues Conference will begin early Sunday afternoon.  You can drive directly to the Empire State Plaza and park in the garage underneath, and check in at your hotel after the day’s activities.  Please have your identification ready when you pull into the garage, as the entrance security is monitored by the State Police.

Also new this year - NYSSBA is making all of the legislative appointments for the March 3 Lobby Day.  The NYSSBA staff is doing this so duplicate appointments are not scheduled with legislators and because first time conference attendees may not be be familiar with the scheduling process.  This approach is designed to provide enough board members to enable legislators to meet with folks from their own legislative districts.  In the past a more regional approach was used, but with increased attendance at the conference, the new method should make for a more easily understood and more efficient and personalized meeting schedule.  NYSSBA will soon provide you with a complete schedule of all Assembly and Senate meeting times for Lobby Day.

Contact Mary Metheny, Executive Assistant, at mary.metheny@nyssba.org or 800-342-3360 if you have any questions about the State Legislative Issues Conference.

Celebration of Teaching and Learning

Preparations are being finalized for NYSSBA to have booth space at the upcoming Celebration of Teaching & Learning Conference at the New York Hilton on March 6 and 7.  The Celebration is a K-12 professional development conference focusing on educational trends.  For more information, visit www.thirteencelebration.org.

Annual Convention Update

The Call for Proposals postcard, seeking Annual Convention presentations, was mailed on January 13 to approximately 2,000 individuals.  This year’s call for proposals will be open from January 12 – March 16, 2009.  The information is also posted on the NYSSBA website at www.nyssba.org. 

NYSSBA’s Convention and Training Coordinator Billi Loomis is currently reviewing meeting space at the Sheraton for the 90th Annual Convention and Educational Trade Show.  NYSSBA plans to reduce the length of the in-depth workshops from 3 hours to 1 ½ - 2 hours.  In-depth workshops will be held in smaller meeting rooms located on the lower level of the hotel and the larger meeting rooms on the 3rd floor of the hotel will be used for “hot topic” legal and legislative sessions.

Conference and Workshop Update

Recently, the first of six workshops entitled “School District Auditing: What Every School Board Member Needs to Know” was held at the NYSSBA Headquarters.  This half day workshop is intended to supplement the mandatory Fiscal Oversight training with more in-depth analysis of school district financial operations.  The second workshop will take place on February 13 at Nassau BOCES. 

Site selection is underway for the 2009 New Member Academy.  The first session will be held June 19 & 20 on Long Island.  This year’s new member training academies will also include the mandatory fiscal oversight requirement.

Please note that the dates have been changed for the full day School Foundation Trainings.  The first training will be held in Fairport on March 3, the second in Latham on March 4, and the last on March 5 in Islandia. 

Planning is underway for the 2009 Joint BOCES Workshop.  This year’s event will be held on May 1 and 2 at a location to be determined.  The focus of this year’s conference is what the future of BOCES should be.  

Registration is open for the first three sessions of the Fiscal Oversight Online course.  The first session is scheduled to begin on February 18 and run until April 1.  At this time, the first session is almost full; the second session will begin April 15.  Each session can hold a maximum of 50 participants.   Contact NYSSBA at 800-342-3360 or www.nyssba.org for more information on any of these conferences and workshops.

Teacher Contract Survey/Pulse Poll

The annual teacher contract survey has been sent to all superintendents.  The deadline is February 20 so be sure to return your survey to NYSSBA.

The January Pulse Poll, which asked board members to grade former President Bush on education issues, how NCLB can be improved, and if President Obama should lead the federal government into a more active role in education policy, received 677 responses.  Thank you to all who responded!

2010 Teacher of the Year

The NYS Education Department has posted the application for the 2010 New York State Teacher of the Year Award online.

The purpose of the Teacher of the Year program is to recognize and celebrate outstanding teachers throughout New York State.  It is run in conjunction with the National Teacher of the Year program.  To be eligible, a teacher must be appropriately credentialed within his or her current teaching area, working directly with students (pre-kindergarten through grade twelve) in a State-approved public, private or charter school and have a minimum of five years teaching experience.

For more information and to access the application, go to http://www.highered.nysed.gov/kiap/TEACHING/toty/totyindex.htm.  To access a letter from Johanna Duncan Poitier, Senior Deputy Commissioner of Education, P-16, go to http://www.nyssba.org/clientuploads/nyssba_pdf/EXEJohannaletterforTOTYApplication.pdf.

Membership Update

To date,  658 boards of education have paid their 2009 NYSSBA dues. This number represents 96% of NYSSBA’s 2008 membership.

Thank you and Goodbye

NYSSBA Executive Director Tim Kremer presented a plaque of appreciation to former Area 10 Director Tom Knight of the Putnam-Northern Westchester BOCES.  Thank you, Tom, for all you do for children.

Goodbye and Good Luck!

We would like to wish NYSSBA Governmental Relations Representative Julie Marlette the best of luck as she leaves NYSSBA for a position with the NYS Senate as the Senior Legislative Analyst for the Education Committee.

Upcoming Events - 2009

School District Auditing Workshop
  February 13, Garden City, Nassau BOCES
  February 27, Rochester, Marriott Airport
  March 20, Buffalo, Hyatt Regency
  April 3, White Plains, White Plains
  April 24, Utica, Radisson Hotel

Fiscal Oversight Online
  February 18-April 1 (registration dates:  January 7-February 11)
  April 15-May 27 (registration dates:  January 7-April 8)
  April 29-June 10 (registration dates:  January 7-April 22)
  May 13-June 24 (registration dates:  April 1-May 6)
  June 10-July 22 (registration dates: May 1-June 3)
  June 17-July 29 (registration dates:  April 1-June 10)
  September 2-October 14 (registration dates:  August 5-August 26)
  September 16-October 28 (registration dates:  August 5-September 9)
  October 7-November 18 (registration dates:  August 5-September 30)

Fiscal Oversight Fundamentals Workshop
  February 28, Islandia, Marriott Long Island
  March 21, Rochester, Marriott Airport
  July 27, Westchester/Rockland area
  July 28, Westchester/Rockland area
  September 21, Southern Tier
  September 22, Southern Tier
  October 15, New York City (to be held during the 90th Annual Convention)
  November 7, Rochester
  November 14, Ulster/Orange County area
  December 5, Long Island

State Legislative Network Issues Conference
  March 1-3, Albany

K-12 School Foundation Training
  March 3, Fairport, Woodcliff Hotel
  March 4, Latham, NYSSBA Headquarters
  March 5, Islandia, Marriott

Celebration of Teaching and Learning
  March 6-7, New York Hilton

Need Help Passing Your School Budget?
  March 11, Latham, NYSSBA Headquarters
  March 17, Islandia, Islandia Marriott
  March 25, Syracuse, Onondaga-Cortland-Madison BOCES
  More date and locations are being scheduled

Open Meetings Law Workshop
  March 19, Johnson City, Traditions at the Glenn
  March 20, Plattsburgh, Holiday Inn
  March 26, Buffalo, Hyatt Regency
  March 27, Syracuse, Sheraton Syracuse University
  April 17, Latham, NYSSBA Headquarters
  April 30, Garden City, Nassau BOCES
  May 1, Nanuet, Hilton Garden Inn

Advanced Board Training
  March 27-28, Latham
  April 17-18, Long Island
  May 29-30, Fairport

National School Boards Association’s Annual Convention
  April 4-7, San Diego, CA

Joint BOCES Workshop
  May 1 and 2, location to be determined

NYSAWA Conference
  May 3-4, Albany

Special Education Law Conference
  May 21, Albany
  May 28, Rochester
  June 11, Long Island

NYS Association of School Business Officials Conference
  May 31-June 3, Saratoga

New Member Weekend Academy
  June 19-20, Long Island
  July 17-18, Buffalo
  August 21-22, Ithaca
  September 11-12, Albany
  October 2-3, Lake Placid

Rural Schools Association Conference
  July 13-15, Cooperstown

Summer School Law Conference
  July 17, Albany
  July 23, Long Island
 
Board Officers Academy
  July 31, Fairport
  August 14, Latham, NYSSBA Headquarters
  September 18, Westchester
  September 25, Long Island
 
Education Law Conference
  August 7 OR 14, Syracuse

NYS Council of School Superintendents Fall Conference
  October 4-6, Rochester

School Board Institute Courses (3)
  October 15, NYC (during the 90th Annual Convention)
  Plus 2 other dates via video conferencing

Pre-Convention School Law Seminar
  October 15, New York City

90th Annual Convention
  October 15-18, New York City

School Law Conference
   December 9, Albany