BOE calls for more planning to reach district’s goal

WEBUTUCK — Webutuck High School Principal Ken Sauer and his team of instructors are determined to become the top performing district in the county.“We’re in this for the long haul,” Sauer told the Board of Education (BOE) at its meeting Sept. 19.Sauer said eight committees have already been formed and have begun to develop a plan to achieve improvement goals.Several BOE members wondered about evaluation methods and the need for benchmarks to chart the district’s progress.BOE President Dale Culver said he did not want to lose this school year to planning because there are deficiencies within the school that need to be addressed immediately.School board member Kristen Panzer said she did not want to see the list of goals continue to grow without also seeing a shorter list with items that can be worked on now.Culver agreed, saying the committees need to target the most important issues first. He also stressed that he wanted a tangible system of measurement.BOE members John Perotti and Judy Moran called for accountability to be built into the system.Culver said the school district needs to push hard this year because if it falls any more behind or continues to miss the mandated requirements, the state will impose its own plan onto the school.“They’ll be sitting on our shoulders like an 800-pound gorilla,” said Culver.Sauer said that the program is still in its early stages.“Real systematic change isn’t going to happen over night,” said Sauer.In a separate interview he elaborated, “It takes time. If you’re going to involve a staff of 50 people, you have to give them time.”Sauer said the first few weeks of school need to be dedicated to getting back into the flow of the school year, but the staff is also actively working toward developing the new plans and putting them into motion.“I think it’s worth acknowledging that we [the school board and the school staff] have a shared goal,” Sauer said. He said the board and the school staff will work to achieve their goals.Sauer will continue to keep the BOE informed about the committees’ and the program’s progress during the school year.

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