The Scotia-Glenville Board of Education welcomed new member Colleen Benedetto this month. Benedetto took part in her first election of a board president and vice-president, which resulted in Margaret Smith as president for her fourth term and Pamela Carbone in her second term as vice president.
I am looking forward to working with Margaret as president. She is a dedicated person who I think the board trusts, as well as our administration, said Benedetto.
Smith was re-elected this year and will serve on the board until 2010. She said that she is anxious to continue the progress she thinks the board has made in the district. Smith said some of her priorities include improving the reading and language arts program, addressing the needs of the facilities and athletic fields, and continuing projects involving curriculum reports.
Superintendent Susan Swartz said she feels the board and the school administrators have the same priorities, making it a productive scenario for the district.
`I can say with great confidence that I am happy to have Margaret serving a fourth term as president. We have an excellent working relationship,` said Swartz.
Smith said she anticipates this coming school year to be busy, with the largest project to tackle being updating the district’s facilities. She said they are hoping to involve parents and community members in the building project. Building improvements will include $800,000 to repair the roof, playground and other needed repairs at the Glendaal Elementary School. She also said later this year the board expects to consider a proposed building project to replace the other elementary schools’ roofs, in addition to other improvements.
`Doing a building project is a lot of work. Since I was involved in our last project, I know the time and planning it takes. This will be one of our major goals for this year,` said Smith.
Smith also said the district would be piloting a reading program for sixth grade students as part of the English Language Arts curriculum.
Improving communication with parents is also a priority for Smith, who said the district is planning to launch an online program called `ed Line.` The online e-mail system will allow parents to check their children’s grades as well as attendance,
`Other districts have had success with this method of communicating. It’s something I feel is very important and as president I would like us to continue to work hard to make decisions that are in the best interest of our students and parents,` said Smith.
Swartz also had praise for Carbone, saying she brings a broad range of experience as an educator. Carbone is also the president of the Capital District School Boards Association.
`Pam brings to us great perspective having worked in a classroom and has a lot of knowledge about how a school’s board can work together with the community,` said Swartz.
The board meets again on Monday Aug. 13, at 7 p.m. at the Scotia-Glenville Middle School.“