ImPORTant Updates: School Board Meeting October 3rd

Photo+Credit%3A+Michael+Puglisi

Photo Credit: Michael Puglisi

Michael Puglisi, Contributor

This board meeting began in executive session at 5:00 to discuss a resolution, but the board meeting that took place in front of the public started at 7 and was a relatively  routine meeting. The most notable aspects were the public comments and the accomplishments of staff and students session.

After a small digression into whether board counsels should be mentioned in the minutes recorded online, Superintendent Robert Banzer introduced Robin Rann, District Chairperson of Math, to recognize Danielle Levanti, the Math Student of the Month. 

Previous recognitions of Students of the Month have been accompanied by teacher speeches, however, this time recognition was accompanied by a video of Math Department teachers explaining why Danielle was the best choice for this award. This was followed by a live speech by Danielle, who talked about her affiliation with math and how she hopes to use that in her prospective career as a biological engineer, Danielle also discussed her work at a lab: mapping the structure of TRMD with protein crystallography.

At this point, the meeting was opened to public comments. Nicole Raganella asked frustratedly about the progress of promised security measures that seem to have gone nowhere. Grace Centamore, a former student at the High School, asked if they could review the policy that bars unvaccinated students with religious exemptions from attending school clubs and afterschool activities. Joe Centamore, Grace’s father, also spoke up, asking for a timeline on that policy review.

After that, Board members mentioned minor points. Board President David Badanes said that the school safety plan is being discussed in a public hearing on November 7th. Badanes then read off 3 retirements. Trustee Licopoli asked for some clarification on which curriculum is being changed. Board Counsel Dana Boshnak clarified that the science and social studies curricula had minor revisions due to changing state standards. After a bit more discussion, the board adjourned.