by Robert Pritchard, Ed.D. | Sep 20, 2019 | Updates
Vaping is one of the most dangerous threats to the health of our students. School-aged students who vape are exposed to toxic chemicals that put them at risk for serious, even fatal, consequences. This past week, the death toll in the United States increased to seven vaping-related fatalities and this number appears to be rising. We are taking strong actions as a school district to stop students from vaping, which is the use of e-cigarettes, vape pens, Juuls and other electronic devices that emit a smokeless vapor that is inhaled by the user. Liquid solutions in these vaping devices may contain nicotine, THC or other harmful chemicals which present a significant health risk to the user. Our school district addresses this serious health risk to our students from three dimensions: Enforcement, Prevention, and Treatment.
Enforcement. As per our Board of Education Policy, Code of Conduct, and New York State Law, smoking, vaping and all other similar inhalant devices are prohibited in all of our school buildings, on school grounds, and in any vehicle used to transport children or personnel. Students who choose to violate the Code of Conduct will be held accountable for their actions. At the most basic level, no person is permitted to vape on school grounds and will face consequences if he/she/they violate(s) the law. In the weeks ahead, we will be installing a vape detection system in our secondary schools in order to enforce the law and the Code of Conduct.
Prevention. Educating our students about the possible health-risks associated with substance use (to include vaping) is an integral part of our NYS Health curriculum. We believe that it is much easier to prevent a student from vaping than it is to intervene once a person becomes addicted or a habitual user of an unhealthy or deadly substance. We have added school prevention counselors at SOMS and TZHS who actively address possible risks to students and take actions to keep students safe in “real-time,” in alliance with other staff and students. We have also organized several ongoing community events that include professional development for nurses, school counselors, and teachers. These community awareness events are opportunities to explain the types of devices, how students are able to conceal them, and the vocabulary that students use. Other prevention efforts include:
- Character Education Assemblies/Programs about right choices and decision making (Districtwide)
- Guest Speakers (Districtwide)
- VAASA classroom lessons (SOMS, TZHS)
- Partnership for Safe Youth (SOMS, TZHS)
- SADD Club and sponsored events (SOMS, TZHS)
- DARE, Police and Kids Afterschool program (SOMS)
- Staff/Parent/Student/Community participation in Professional Development focused on Substance Abuse (Districtwide)
Treatment. We recognize that some students may also be trapped in the dangerous web of addiction or engaged in dangerous behaviors that have become habitual. The school district, as such, has an ethical and legal responsibility to play a role in addressing this public health crisis by referring students and families for treatment. We intervene by:
- Following procedural guidelines when the Code of Conduct has been violated (Districtwide)
- Counseling services for students and parents (Districtwide)
- Referral to CANDLE and community resources for parents and students (Districtwide)
- Referral to Daytop, Al-Anon or other appropriate programs (Districtwide)
- Administrator/Counselor/Student meeting to discuss concerns with a follow up with parent as needed (Districtwide)
- Interagency collaboration and coordination of services for students and families (Districtwide)
The South Orangetown Central School District is committed to supporting every student in achieving his/her/their fullest potential. If you believe that your child needs assistance to stop vaping, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has some helpful online resources. Please contact us if you have any other concerns that may allow us to better serve our community. Eliminating this serious threat to our students’ health is critically important and we welcome any suggestions or insights that our community may offer.
by Robert Pritchard, Ed.D. | Sep 13, 2019 | Updates
This week, we were deeply saddened by the loss of one of our Tappan Zee High School students. She was admired by her peers and teachers and we are shaken emotionally by her passing. Since this beautiful young lady was unexpectedly taken on Wednesday, following a brief illness, we have joined together, as a community, to manage our grief. I am not sharing the identity of the student in this community-wide message to provide her family with some space to deal with this unimaginable sadness and loss.
I have been a school administrator for at least two decades and I am always heartbroken when a student dies. Procedurally, we respond in a manner that stresses support for survivors in a timely fashion. Intellectually, our staff knows the protocols that must be put in place when this type of tragic event confronts our students, staff, and families. Emotionally, however, we are never prepared when a young person leaves us far too soon. I am grateful to the Tappan Zee High School administration, Mr. Rudy Arietta and his team, for being proactive in their response to the emotional needs of our students, staff, and the family. I am also grateful to the first responders who kept us informed every step of the way and to our Pupil Personnel Support staff, under the direction of Dr. Karen Tesik, for their guidance and support throughout these sad days.
After having spent some time at Tappan Zee High School this week, my sense is that our high school students are clearly saddened by the loss of their friend and schoolmate. Several students have accessed the school’s counseling team and have sought interventions for positive mental health supports, for themselves and for their peers. I was approached by a student named Lauren who requested that the District install a seating area for students in the hallway near the cafeteria. This new seating area could be an alternative to the existing lunchroom tables and would be dedicated to the memory of her classmate who recently passed away. It is important that students generate strategies such as this to help them process grief and I applaud Lauren for her leadership and for taking the time to discuss this with me.
We are sentient beings and it is only natural that we contemplate our own mortality – it’s what makes us human. While it is not the role of the school district to discuss the nature of our existence from a spiritual or philosophical perspective, we understand and respect our families’ rights and responsibilities in terms of helping their children deal with the death of someone near to them. Please visit the website for The National Center for Grieving Children and Families to learn more about how to help a grieving child or contact the principal at your child’s school for more information. I know that brighter days lie ahead, but in the meantime, please remember that our greatest strength, as a community, is our compassion for each other and our willingness to support each other when times are tough.
by Robert Pritchard, Ed.D. | Sep 6, 2019 | Updates
About a year and a half ago, I addressed a room filled with community members about the Tappan Zee High School “Turf Field Replacement.” We discussed our goals as these goals pertained to our collective wants and needs. We debated and planned, discussed costs, and argued about design alternatives. Several years prior to that, our esteemed athletic director (emeritus), Dr. Liam Frawley, reminded us of the importance of preserving and protecting our public assets – especially our athletic facilities where the healthy development of our children is fostered. I know that this project has been many years in the making (this community dialogue started prior to my term as superintendent and I am entering my fifth year here in South Orangetown). Tonight, Friday September 6, 2019 is the “grand opening” of our new turf field and I think it is only fitting to thank the many people who made this project possible.
Any proper debt of gratitude on this topic must begin with an acknowledgement of the work of Dr. Liam Frawley. The origins of this project began with his vision for the children of this community and the importance of athletics in their lives. Liam continues to remind us that character development is the cornerstone of a great educational system and that interscholastic sports is how many of our students put good character traits into action. There have been a host of administrators, staff, teachers and coaches who have connected with Liam Frawley’s message of character over the years and have carried his legacy forward – myself included. Our current athletic director, Mr. Bill Pilla, continues to stress the importance of developing the whole-child through physical education and interscholastic athletics and I am grateful to him as well. The staff who I consider to be the most deserving of our thanks, however, are certainly our maintenance and facilities crews who have physically transformed these spaces into places where children are safe, happy, and productive. I am very fortunate to be your superintendent and colleague.
The South Orangetown Board of Education has listened closely to this community over the years and has been responsive to the public’s needs and desires. I appreciate the service of all of our board of education members, past and present, who have practiced a philosophy that stresses the idea that strong public schools make for a strong community. During my five years as the superintendent of SOCSD, I have seen parents and other stakeholders attend our board of education meetings to express their dreams of making our school district a place where all students can thrive. The special relationship between our families and this popularly elected board of education is a trademark form of governance unlike any other institution and is the best hope for the future of our Nation. For this, I am especially grateful to work, live, and raise my family in South Orangetown.
Lastly, do you remember when we couldn’t wait to have this new turf field and the prospect of having a new athletic facility seemed a long way off? It is important that we are mindful of our goals, but it is even more important to be grateful “in the moment” since we will only be in this moment once. There will be other times when we are all together and we will certainly have other things to celebrate, but the single act of expressing gratitude to all of those who made this night possible is uniquely precious. I appreciate all of you who could be here tonight at Tappan Zee High School to celebrate this special event.
by Robert Pritchard, Ed.D. | Jun 7, 2019 | Updates
The month of June has arrived and we are “coming down the home-stretch” for the school year. This is the time of year when there is a tendency to place an emphasis on end-of-year activities such as final examinations, retirement celebrations, graduation, summer planning, etc. However, I would like to take this opportunity to refocus on the “big picture” and “not lose sight of the forest through the trees.” We – as a community – just completed an annual milestone that will have a long-term, positive impact on our ability to deliver a high-quality education for the students of South Orangetown, namely, the 2019-2020 School Budget Vote. While most school district administrators are relieved to watch this herculean effort disappear into the rear-view mirror (until next year), I believe that this event deserves further analysis post-referendum.
The series of events leading up to the approval of the 2019-2020 School Budget were closely aligned to our strategic planning efforts. A deliberate approach was taken to:
- Critically analyze our intended use of resources (e.g., labor, financial, capital).
- Identify opportunities to use our staff more effectively to better support our students (e.g., academically, socially, emotionally).
- Streamline operational processes to gain efficiencies.
On top of all the planning considerations listed above, school districts must have balanced budgets each year. Unlike other governmental agencies (for example, the federal and state governments) school districts cannot spend in deficit. More simply stated, the South Orangetown Central School District does not spend more money than it takes in. Our long-term financial planning forecasts account for a balanced budget by ensuring that our projected expenses do not exceed our anticipated revenues. To this end, the administration and the board of education implemented several cost containment strategies to include more efficient purchasing practices, retirement incentives, and refinancing higher interest debt, to name just a few approaches. It is important to note that these adjustments in spending allow us to avoid budget shortfalls that would otherwise add up to millions of dollars. Again, budget shortfalls are not an option in our school district.
Beyond this, cost-saving measures are just one side of the story. The revenue side of this equation is much more complicated in that New York State school districts are limited in the amount of taxes they can levy due to the NYS Property-Tax Cap Law (which recently became permanent). Because we are sensitive to the burden that increased taxes place our taxpayers, our Board of Education continues to explore and implement ways to increase non-tax (or miscellaneous) revenues such as aid and lease incomes.
We are certainly excited and proud of all the work that we have accomplished this year in the South Orangetown Central School District – especially as evidenced by the outcomes demonstrated by our students. Beyond this, I am confident that we will continue to meet the evolving needs of our students: Our recently approved school budget (and related strategic/long-term planning) puts us in a position to deliver a high-quality education to our students for years to come. Thanks to our community for its continued support!
by Robert Pritchard, Ed.D. | May 31, 2019 | Updates
At the May 30 Board of Education meeting, the governance team (SOCSD administration and school board members) reviewed critical data as part of its continuous improvement cycle. The governance team believes that data should be collected, analyzed, and presented in a manner that helps to improve the quality of education for students. To this end, the instructional staff is using the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) as a framework to make data more meaningful and purposeful. ESSA is a federal law that, when applied responsibly, can promote accountability, school improvement, educator development, and student supports.
Public schools have, in recent years, struggled with the concept of accountability – especially in light of poorly designed and implemented legislation such as the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. ESSA is an improvement over past efforts to promote accountability since it examines new ways to identify schools for support and interventions. South Orangetown, has been identified as a school district in “Good Standing” and this is good news. However, SOCSD stakeholders know that this designation does not tell the whole story and the administration must “dig deeper” by disaggregating the data to ensure that all students are receiving the best education possible.
In reviewing the data, the administration made no mention of statewide high-stakes testing as a measure of accountability. Why? Because standardized-test scores are generally accepted to be a poor measure of organizational effectiveness. The SOCSD Board of Education is committed to using data that are aligned with strategic objectives of importance to our community. These broader measures of student success (beyond test scores) are measured by indicators such as reduced levels of chronic absenteeism, improved high school readiness, and college and career readiness factors. These are much better predictors of a high-quality education than high-stakes testing. Further, we will consider how school climate affects our students’ ability to access their educational program. Research suggests that the quality of the school climate may be the single most predictive factor in any school’s capacity to promote student achievement; If we want achievement gains, we need to begin by improving the school climate (Schindler, et al, 2016).
To promote, measure, and improve school climate, our school district has taken the following action steps:
- Adopted a Guidance Planning Document that emphasizes Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS), Social Emotional Learning (SEL), restorative practices, and trauma-sensitive practices;
- Established a Family Engagement Center (FEC) and school-based Prevention Centers at TZHS and SOMS (in progress);
- Administered the USDE School Climate Surveys to students, parents, and school personnel;
- Analyze survey results (in progress) and other pertinent data (e.g. chronic absenteeism data, school violence index, suspension data) with the Pupil Personnel Support (PPS) Team (under the direction of Dr. Karen Tesik) and created an associated action plan to address areas of need.
Reference
Shindler, J., Jones, A., Williams, A.D., Taylor, C., Cardenia, H. (2016). The school climate-student achievement connection: If we want achievement gains, we need to begin by improving the climate. Journal of School Administration Research and Development 1(1), 9-16.
