|
|
THE STATE
EDUCATION DEPARTMENT / THE UNIVERSITY
OF THE STATE OF |
|
TO: |
Full Board |
|
FROM: |
Jean C. Stevens |
|
SUBJECT: |
Status Report on Roosevelt Union Free |
|
DATE: |
November 15, 2006 |
|
STRATEGIC
GOAL: |
Goals 1 and 2 |
|
AUTHORIZATION(S): |
|
|
|
|
SUMMARY
Issue for Information
Monthly status report on key
issues for the
Reason(s) for Consideration
Requested by members of the Board
of Regents.
Proposed Handling
For information.
Procedural
History
Not applicable.
Background
Information
Section 1 of the statute authorizes the Commissioner of Education to
appoint and supervise the superintendent of schools; he may disapprove the
appointments of assistant or associate superintendents, building principals and
other school administrators and supervisors, including tenure appointments. Furthermore, the Commissioner exercises
fiscal and educational program oversight.
The interim BOE must provide a five-year education plan with annual
updates and a five-year financial stabilization plan for the district, which
shall ensure that revenues and expenditures are in balance. The interim BOE must also provide the
Board of Regents with periodic updates of the educational progress of the school
district.
Recommendation
Staff recommends that the
Regents review the attached status report and SED/Roosevelt monthly meeting
agenda that provides information on the operations and oversight of the
·
Attachment A: SED Status
Report on Roosevelt Union Free
·
Attachment B:
Timetable for
Implementation
Not applicable.
Attachments
ATTACHMENT A
SED STATUS REPORT ON ROOSEVELT UNION FREE
The following provides information regarding five areas of continued Department focus during this reporting period.
1. State Education Department (SED) Oversight and Support
The State Education Department continues to provide ongoing and sustained oversight of the Roosevelt Union Free District. A Department team, consisting of program, legal and fiscal staff, meets monthly with the Superintendent and his administrative cabinet. The next meeting is scheduled on November 21, 2006. The agenda is developed each month with input from all members of the SED Roosevelt team and with the opportunity for input from the district. The agenda for the November 21, 2006 meeting is included in Attachment B.
During this report period, the Department received complaints that some
high school students do not have school schedules and that appropriate
instructional materials are not available to students attending the
At the high school, it was determined that some students did not have schedules and this matter was brought to the attention of appropriate school administrators and has been resolved. The investigation of instructional resources was completed through a site visit on October 25. During the site visit, the school principal acknowledged the insufficiency of instructional materials, with editions of grade 4 materials ranging from 1980 to 1996. The matters of student schedules and instructional materials are included as agenda items for the November 21 SED/Roosevelt monthly meeting (Attachment B).
The Commissioner met with Ronald Ross, Roosevelt Superintendent of Schools, on November 7, 2006, to review performance for the period 2005-06 and to present expectations for 2006-07. Although the superintendent has successfully established a number of new programs which may be expected to improve student engagement and performance, significant barriers to progress, such as those noted above, continue to come to the attention of SED. For this reason, the Commissioner has directed Department staff to conduct a comprehensive review of the district and each of its schools.
On November
27-28, 2006, SED will dispatch teams of experts across program areas to conduct
central office and school-level reviews to determine progress and needs related
to the following areas: general education (ELA and mathematics) resources,
special education services, Academic Intervention Services, student support
services, child nutrition, early childhood services, bilingual education,
facilities, technology and data, fiscal administration, leadership, governance
and professional development. The team will also conduct a
district-wide review of instructional resources. The review team will
complete their respective reviews and prepare a final report which will include
recommendations to be shared with the Commissioner and district staff. In December 2006, SED plans to call a
Community Meeting to be held on-site in the
Mr. Edward McCormick has announced his resignation as Member and
President of the Interim Board of Education for the
2.
Academic
·
Five-Year
Education Plan
The Department has completed a preliminary review of the Five-Year Education Plan and will work with the district to enhance certain sections. Additional recommendations will be provided subsequent to the November coordinated site visit to the district. A final revised plan is subject to the approval of the Commissioner. When the Commissioner approves the plan, the revised plan will be presented to the community at a public meeting by the Roosevelt Board of Education and the Commissioner or his designee. SED and the district will discuss the date and time for this public meeting.
·
Title
I
The Title I Consolidated
Application for the
·
Performance Data
Accountability status:
Pursuant to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the school
district is designated as a District in Need of Assistance due to grade 8 ELA
and math performance of students with disabilities. Pursuant to No Child Left
Behind, the district and all elementary schools are in good standing; the middle
school and high school are in Restructuring status. Neither the middle school
nor the high school met Adequate Yearly Progress targets. Pursuant to the State
accountability system, both the middle school and high school are in SURR status
due to ELA and math performance.
The middle school performance is low and “flat”; SURR targets were not
met. The high school achieved SURR targets (by one point) in ELA and math, but
submitted data that were incomplete and will be reviewed by the Office Audit
Services.
3.
Finance
·
Fiscal
Administrator
Chapter 33 of the Laws of 2002 authorizes the Commissioner of Education
to appoint a fiscal administrator for the
· maintains a balanced budget;
· otherwise acts consistently; and
· continues to implement the District’s five-year financial stabilization plan.
The fiscal administrator started his assignment in early October. His first significant goal was to work with the district to close the books for the 2005-2006 school year and file the requisite State aid submissions by November 1, 2006. That goal has been accomplished. He is now reviewing the 2006-07 budget as well as the practices that impact the districts revenues and expenditures.
·
Fiscal
Deficit
The Department was made aware of a budget deficit:
- The deficit for 2005-2006 is approximately $5.7 million. Although the external auditors and the Office of the State Comptroller are finalizing their respective audits, no material adjustments to this operating loss are expected.
- The deficit is due to the following three factors.
(a) An approximate revenue shortfall of $1.9 million (the district miscalculated revenue).
(b) This was compounded when the district over-expended appropriations by an additional $2.0 million.
(c) The final component to the deficit is due to the appropriation of $1.7 million of fund balance.
The Department is working with the district to tighten fiscal controls to ensure that expenditures do not exceed the budget, and revenue projections are accurate. The Department is also striving to identify any untapped or previously unrecorded revenue sources.
In addition to the $5.7 million shortfall, the district also recognized a prior-period adjustment to the 2004-2005 financials of $1.6 million. The prior-period adjustment related to expenditures was not recorded in 2004-2005. As of June 30, 2006, the district’s cumulative undesignated fund deficit is $3,422,693.
4. Audit
- Final Audit Report (SD-0205-5)
The school district submitted its report on
outstanding audit recommendations on September 27, indicating that 23 of the 29
outstanding recommendations have been implemented. The remaining 6
recommendations will be implemented by February 2007. The Office of Audit
Services (OAS) will analyze the information provided by the district and prepare
a status report for the Board of Regents.
- Data Audit
OAS is continuing an audit of the
reliability of the District’s data. The last phase of the audit is an assessment
of the reliability of the 2002 cohort data which was submitted to the Department
in August. At the conclusion of the audit, a report will be provided to the
Board of Regents.
- State Comptroller
Audit
An audit by the Office of the State
Comptroller is ongoing and is scheduled to be completed by the end of November
2006. This audit was requested by
SED in September 2006, following the receipt of information of a significant
school district budget deficit.
5.
Construction
On November 2, 2006, SED Office of
Facilities Planning staff visited
In general, the projects are
progressing well and within budget.
One exception is the middle school, which is on budget with respect to
the construction of the facility, but significantly over budget with respect to
the unanticipated costs for remediation of the debris-filled site acquired from
The Office of Facilities Planning
is considering several possibilities to defray the cost of site
remediation. These include
negotiating with
- Centennial
Elementary
Phase I of this project is
complete and operational. Minor
“punch list” items continue to be evaluated and corrected. Phase II, consisting of the gymnasium
and cafeteria spaces, will be constructed after the completion of
·
Washington
The building masonry is complete. Some staining of the exterior split face block is under investigation. Final roofing is installed. Windows and doors are installed with final interior and exterior trim being completed. The elevator technicians have begun installing the elevator. Fire sprinkler work will begin shortly when approved by the Nassau County Fire Marshall. Site work continues with various areas receiving concrete walks.
It is expected that the building
will be completed on schedule and on budget, and ready for occupancy by the end
of December 2006. However, Superintendent Ross has recently determined not to
move into the new facility until mid-January, following the administration of
State assessments. This decision is
based on avoiding disruption and confusion just prior to exams. This will allow some additional time to
ensure the completion of “punch list” items and final adjustments are made to
the facility prior to occupancy.
- Middle School
At the middle school, all footings and sub-grade foundation walls are complete. As a result of the contamination and debris discovered on this site, a remediation plan was developed by the district and its consultants and approved by SED, DEC, and DOH. The under-slab vapor extraction system has been installed, the heavy vapor barrier was completed, and concrete floor slabs have been completed with vapor tight boots around slab penetrations. All debris beneath the new facility was removed. This completes the interior portion of the remediation plan.
Exterior completion of the remediation plan involves the complete excavation and removal of all debris on site with appropriate testing of soil to determine what soil may stay for re-utilization and what soil must be removed and disposed of off site. The district’s environmental consultants, as well as DEC and DOH, will monitor this process. All exterior remediation work is scheduled to begin the week of November 13, 2006.
Site work includes a wooded field north of the property that will be cleared,
beginning November 13, for an athletic field. The middle school oil tank has been
approved by
Due to the delays experienced at this site in order to address soil contamination, the facility will not be completed on budget, or on schedule. A further evaluation of these impacts is being developed under separate cover.
Bids were opened for
It appears that this project will either be on budget or possibly $1M below budget based on final evaluation of the site contractor. It is expected that this project will be completed on schedule for occupancy in September 2008.
·
High
School
New boilers were completed in the high school. All future work will be delayed based on delays in the completion of the middle school. Cost overruns at the middle school will ultimately impact the scope of the high school renovations. SED will work with the district to evaluate available options including the use of RESCUE and EXCEL funding.