Beacon is "susceptible" to fiscal stress, Comptroller Tom DiNapoli says. Others are worse.    Beacon's CFO (and interim supe) Quartironi says this stems from use of fund balance to make up for limitations stemming from tax cap. click here for full article

An article on Philipstown.info puts the focus on our current and past Board. "While current Beacon City Schools Superintendent Barbara Walkley is embroiled in controversy as many parents call for her dismissal, the school system’s issues date back much further than just her tenure" click here for full article 

Following last night's Special BOE Meeting a letter was released and will be circulated to parents in the BCSD.  This letter, written by current board President Melissa Thompson, seems to place the blame on a "handful of community members".  However, the turnout of over 375 community members at the cancelled Jan. 11th BOE meeting tells us otherwise.

The Poughkeepsie Journal Reports: Another Beacon City School District superintendent has resigned and the next person to take over will be the ninth school chief switch the district has had in 10 years.  Follow the link for the article and video: 

_A few hundred parents and others showed up for a Beacon City School District Board of Education meeting Monday night. There was no meeting, but concerned community members stayed and held one of their own. click here to hear

Hello, my name is Lori Merhige and I am here today representing the Advocates for Beacon Schools - a group of parents, residents, and taxpayers - all stakeholders in the Beacon City School District.  In the interest of creating yet another acronym, you can call us ABS, for short.

ABS formed unofficially last August as a group of concerned citizens who were looking to get more involved in a hands-on way with improving our schools.  We supported and assisted each other to formulate the hard questions we felt needed to be asked of our District leadership, and worked together as a group to share information and create a plan for achieving positive change in our schools.

Needless to say, we have been very busy.  When we were not able to obtain clear answers to our questions from our Board and Superintendent, we did the research and found our own answers.  When we received dubious responses to pointed questions, we did our own fact checking.  We have been reaching out to Beaconites of all walks of life to find out what their struggles with our schools have been, and where they would like to see change. We have reached out to other districts for examples of what DOES work in public education today, and have been inspired by what we have learned.  We believe that Beacon is a place that has an amazing diverse community with unlimited potential. If only our school district could free itself from it’s own dysfunction, IT TOO could stand a chance of reaching its full potential.

Now, I want to stop here and say that, on a personal note, in all my years of volunteering and activism, I have never worked with such a dynamic, capable, smart, and motivated group of people as those I have met in Beacon, and through ABS.  I have been both inspired and humbled to work alongside them and I want to take a moment to thank each and every one of them for their energy and dedication to our schools...SO FAR.  I say that because we have a long way to go before our work here is done.  

Having said that, I want to invite each and every one of you to JOIN the Advocates for Beacon Schools, and to aid us in achieving our mission: To mobilize and support community stakeholders to ensure that ALL students in the Beacon City School District are provided with an excellent public education.

So let’s get started, shall we?  I will be sitting near the exit with a sign in sheet for anyone who wants to get on our mailing list and receive more information about what we are doing and how you can be a part of it.  I have handouts containing our contact info as well as our website address - advocates12508.com - so you can read up on the local issues as well as what is happening in education on a state and national level.  Please seek me out before you leave so you can get your name on our list and find out more about how you can make a difference for Beacon’s schools.

I have already learned the power of what a few people can do when they work together.  Imagine what ALL of us could do - how amazing Beacon’s schools could look - if we join forces for change?   Beacon’s Kids deserve better.  Let’s give it to them.

​

The 1/11/16 Board Meeting was cancelled because a quorum was not present.  According to the NY State School Board Association: “If a quorum is not present, no official business can be conducted until more members arrive. Informal discussion can, however, legally take place, or the meeting can be adjourned (less than a quorum may adjourn).”  Our President, Melissa Thompson, chose to adjourn the meeting.  

Over 350+ parents, teachers, students, and stakeholders remained in the auditorium. Board Members Anthony White and Bill Zopf remained in attendance along with Deputy Superintendent Ann Marie Quartironi.

We thank all of those that stayed and listened to the speakers. ​

Good evening.  I am Lorraine Hexstall, Beacon community member and the SDNAACP Education chair. For the past several months, we have worked with Dr. Walkley, Principal Conrad, Clarice and her PTO team to establish the LIFTED Parent Academy program at the South Avenue School.  Dr. Walkely has been very supportive. The Principal-PTO leadership team is as synchronized as it is dedicated to their SA family.  Maday Brown and TEAM LIFTED, pore over program details to graft as seamlessly into SA as possible.  Open-Hearted and high minded collaboration spurred our progress from the start.  We represent what authentic stakeholder engagement is and can do for our community. 

Maintaining momentum forward takes the nonnegotiable commitment to: (1) stay focused on lifting all Beacon students to higher levels of academic success, and (2) treat each other’s opinions, perspectives and time as sacred as we treat our own and vital to achieving this goal.  If any player turns their focus inward, believing their input is the most valued, we’ll lose sight of our goal, our progress will slow and, eventually, stop.

These commitments are the fulcrum around which the purposeful, but bumpy, but rewarding, community building process moves.  After all, to coordinate the vision and passions of strangers, each must continually resist the urge to dismiss or denigrate that which looks, sounds and reacts least like us.  Rather, one must expect and welcome differences if one is to gain broader perspectives, sharpened judgement, deeper understanding, and the unique experiences that will minimize mistakes while plotting forward.  Creating a safe emotional space to promote this process calls for transparent, respectful, bi-directional communication, which will eventually birth trust and, later, camaraderie. 

Ms. Gadsen, last month you voiced frustration at our community’s vacillation between progress and regress because some factions seemed to be “stuck”.  It turns out that redress was sought in alternate forums, to no avail.  The facts suggest that the process in which you and I have been engaged has not been experienced by them, but not for lack of trying on their part.  Now that the “present the facts that are factual” stickler test has been met, the greater community would like to know what actions will this Board take to restore public trust and move the needle forward again?  The parents, teachers, students, staff and community are here, organized, ready and listening.  The ball is in your court.

The 1/11/16 Board Meeting was cancelled because a quorum was not present.  According to the NY State School Board Association: “If a quorum is not present, no official business can be conducted until more members arrive. Informal discussion can, however, legally take place, or the meeting can be adjourned (less than a quorum may adjourn).”  Our President, Melissa Thompson, chose to adjourn the meeting.  

Over 350+ parents, teachers, students, and stakeholders remained in the auditorium. Board Members Anthony White and Bill Zopf remained in attendance along with Deputy Superintendent Ann Marie Quartironi.

We thank all of those that stayed and listened to the speakers.  ​

The 1/11/16 Board Meeting was cancelled because a quorum was not present.  According to the NY State School Board Association: “If a quorum is not present, no official business can be conducted until more members arrive. Informal discussion can, however, legally take place, or the meeting can be adjourned (less than a quorum may adjourn).”  Our President, Melissa Thompson, chose to adjourn the meeting.  

Over 350+ parents, teachers, students, and stakeholders remained in the auditorium. Board Members Anthony White and Bill Zopf remained in attendance along with Deputy Superintendent Ann Marie Quartironi.

We thank all of those that stayed and listened to the speakers.  

The following is Meredith Heuer's comment:

​My name is Meredith Heuer and I am the chair of the Beacon Arts & Education 
Foundation.  I began volunteering with this foundation in 2010.  Since then, we have 
sponsored over $80,000 worth of programming in the BCSD.  

Six months ago, I approached this school board with the story of how our foundation 
offered to fund an Arts in Education Coordinator position in the BCSD for the 2014-15 
school year. The primary function of this position would be to maximize the use of the 
New York State BOCES Co-Ser program which, every year, gives back around 50% of 
money spent toward qualifying arts in education programing.  Participation in the 
BOCES Co-Ser plan makes programs like the CALICO BALL (a $16,000/year program) 
possible.  The offer of a donation was refused because, I was told by the superintendent, 
she had found a way to pay a teacher to perform these duties through a grant.  The 
teacher’s title would be: Teacher of Special Assignment, or TOSA now known as and 
Instructional Support Teacher, or IST.  We were thrilled at this news, I passed on all the 
information I and other members of the foundation had gathered over the years to the 
new Coordinator, emails of acknowledgement were sent, and the year passed.  After the 
school year ended, in a meeting to review the Coordinator’s progress in this position, I 
was told by the Superintendent that after her initial announcement to me about the IST 
position she had found that the Coordinator’s responsibilities did not fit in with the rules 
of the grant funding the position and so if this teacher did perform any of these duties, it 
was purely volunteer.  There were only 3 contracts put through the Co-Ser last year and 
the IST was not responsible for any of them.  This is in high contrast to what has 
happened so far this year where there is a new coordinator and there has been a 
tremendous amount of cooperation from teachers, administrators and parents. Nine 
contracts have already been submitted this year.

After I made this statement, I was approached by many members of the community with 
reactions ranging from disappointment to outrage about the lack of communication, the 
possible misuse of funds and the absence of accountability.  From members of the school 
board, there was barely a ripple.  And so I began contacting board members individually 
to ask what they thought about the fact that, even after deciding that the IST position 
could not take on the Coordinator responsibilities, the superintendent chose not to contact me to revisit the idea of the foundation funding the position and the lack of any real accountability for the IST position.  One board member told me that the superintendent had refused our offer for fear that the foundation would not be able to fund it again next year.  Remember, this foundation has raised over $80,000 for this district.  What evidence is there that we are going to disappear? This board member also told me that the superintendent and the IST had had a really hard year.  In a conversation with another board member, I mentioned that I had called the State Education Department to ask about an IST carrying out the duties of an Arts in Education Coordinator and they didn’t see any problem there.  That school board member agreed that it was probably fine.

I wish this was an isolated event.  Instead it seems to be a part of a larger problem of 
systematically shutting down stakeholders who seek to improve the education of our 
children.

Almost a year ago, I was contacted by a middle school music teacher asking for a 
donation to fund an electronic music program that would fulfill the general music 
requirement.  Her reasons for this being a great addition to the curriculum seemed really 
sound to me:  teaching the general music class was challenging because her students had  such varying levels of music knowledge and she had found that, when she was able to 
take them to the computer lab where they worked individually, they could each attain 
success at their own level.

After offering to fund this program, I was met with silence.  After several of my emails 
went unanswered, I wrote the following to the superintendent:  “Over the break I was 
able to reach out to friends who have children in public schools around the country and I 
am finding that my experience of having emails go unanswered (especially when they 
contain an offer of a donation) is very unusual.  When I joined BAEF, it was with the 
understanding that our foundation is in partnership with the district.  As you know, any 
money that we raise is for the BCSD and so it is very confusing to make these offers, and 
ask where we can help, and hear nothing back…. I really believe that any healthy school 
district has an education foundation supporting it. Let's please schedule a meeting where 
we can work out the details of this donation as well as how we can work more smoothly 
together in the future.”

Finally, I was brought in to a meeting where I was told: 1) the program would be better 
launched at the high school because there was already space for it to take place 2) we 
would not need to donate towards it because the superintendent had received a grant to 
fund the program.  I asked if the program would be up and running for the fall and was 
told, “yes.”  Instead, we donated the money to the middle school for desperately needed 
new musical instruments and waited for the program to be launched.  It has not yet 
launched.

Going back even further, in 2012, I began exploring the idea of launching a Youth in 
Government program at the high school. I had heard about this program from many 
adults who had participated in it when they were in high school and had found it life 
changing. We, of course, would fundraise for it so that it would be no cost to the district.  
After 3 years of emailing various administrators in the district I was able to make a 
meeting with a YMCA representative and one of the high school guidance counselors.  
The guidance counselor seemed genuinely moved by the possibilities that this program 
would offer students and by other programming that the Y is willing to bring to us to fill 
some of the gaps we have here.  Students that were freshman when I started this quest are graduating this year. It is heartbreaking to me to think of how many students have missed this opportunity for no good reason.

Anyway, the last board member that I reached out to regarding the IST as arts in ed 
coordinator question made a very strong statement of support for our current 
superintendent but she did say “if you see something, say something” and so here I am to 
say that I have seen something.

We have been told that the board of education ‘just’ makes policy but my recent research 
tells me differently.  In any case, there seem to be some unwritten policies in action here 
that I feel are hindering the progress of our district:  There seems to be a policy of ‘no’, of  
‘we can’t’, of covering for a job not done well or a job not done at all.  After my many 
years of volunteering in this district, I am beginning to realize that things don’t have to be 
this hard.  We are told that this is what we get because we are a focus district, because we are title 1, we don’t deserve better.  I don’t believe this to be true.  I believe that if we can acknowledge this culture of ‘no’ and ‘we can’t’ that has poisoned our district and allowed for abuse of power, we can get back to the original goal here, to support our students and teachers and create an atmosphere where all can thrive.   I have tried, since my children started school to help the district through the channels that the foundation offers but I have decided that it is time to move on.  I would like to announce my candidacy for member of the board of education. It is said that trust is earned in drops and lost in buckets. Let’s start earning that trust back, drop by drop, today with more transparency, accountability and a renewed focus on the children of this district.

The Poughkeepsie Journal reports on a petition filed calling for the Superintendent's resignation and the dismissal of the Board Attorney.  Seeing no other recourse, one parent recently filed a petition with the New York State Department of Education, demanding an investigation, the removal of Dr. Walkley, and the replacement of the BCSD attorney. The petition cites "troubling, unethical, inappropriate and illegal behaviors” by BCSD
leadership, and includes several emails, obtained through a FOIL request, that reveal a culture of contempt and serious conflict of interest between the superintendent and the former BTA President. 

The Poughkeepsie Journal reports:
A parent in the Beacon City School District has filed a petition with the state Education Department, asking for the board to remove the superintendent from her spot.  click here for full article

Mark Roland's Wigwam Radio sat  down with Meredith Heuer, chairperson of the Beacon Arts and Education Foundation,  and Lori Merhige to talk Beacon Schools on Thursday, January 7th.  Please follow this link and look forward to the archived show.

In the meantime, please read Meredith Heuer's board comments from the August 31, 2015 Board Meeting.

My name is Meredith Heuer and I have been a part of the Beacon Arts & Education 
Foundation since 2010.  The mission of this foundation is to raise funds through private 
donations and grants to support a more comprehensive education for the students of the 
BCSD.  BAEF has sponsored the Calico Ball for the last 5 years (a $16,000/year 
program) as well as donated funds for field trips, art and music supplies, teaching artist 
workshops, and more.  Last year alone, BAEF’s donation to the schools totaled over 
$25,000 in programming.  

One of BAEF’s biggest successes, in my opinion, was to get the district to renew their 
lapsed contract with the Dutchess County BOCES Co-Ser in 2012.  BOCES stands for 
Board of Cooperative Educational Services. BOCES is a public organization that was 
created by the New York State Legislature in 1948 to provide shared educational 
programs and services to school districts. Qualifying programs are processed 
through Dutchess County and the district receives 40-50% of monies spent during a 
school year back the next year.  For example, if the district pays $16,000 for the 
Calico Ball one year, the district receives around $8,000 back the next.  

It had taken a lot of work, and a donation of $2500 for the initial ½ year administration 
fee, to get the district to sign up with the BOCES Co-Ser but everyone agreed that it 
was a sound approach to making every dollar spent toward arts in education 
programming go farther.  This seems especially poignant today when the BCSD was 
just rated ineffective in arts integration.

Even with the success of a renewed relationship with BOCES, BAEF felt that the 
BCSD was not getting as many contracts through the Co-Ser as was possible; that 
there was programming happening in the district that qualified for the Co-Ser, but it 
was not being put through.

That is why last October I approached the superintendent with a proposal that BAEF 
offer a $5000 donation to be used as a stipend for a teacher in the BCSD be the arts in 
education coordinator.  This person’s responsibilities would include:

     1. Educating principals, teachers and PTA members about the Dutchess County 
     BOCES Co-Ser and how to take advantage of it. 

     2. Helping teachers to understand what existing programming qualifies for the 
     BOCES Co-Ser aid and helping teachers to fill out and submit contracts to the 
     BOCES Co-Ser coordinator.

     3. Understanding the New York State curriculum and pointing teachers to new 
     programming that complements the curriculum and qualifies for the Co-Ser 
     program.

     4. Keeping track of what contracts were submitted and letting principals know that 
     they had earned a credit of funds that they could use the next year.

BAEF offered this after paying an arts in education coordinator outside of the district for 
a year.  While this person was qualified for the position and was able to make some 
progress toward the goals stated above, BAEF felt that the position would be more 
effective from within the district.  

After hearing the proposal, the superintendent thanked me and told me that she agreed; 
the position would be much more effective if it was held by someone within the district.  
She told me that she had been thinking the same thing and she explained the idea behind 
the TOSA position.  This was the first I had heard of it but, from what she told me, it 
seemed like a very good use of the position.  The superintendent told me that the district 
would be appointing a TOSA that would have, among other responsibilities, Arts in 
Education Coordinator for the district.  I left elated.

A couple of weeks later I was contacted by the new Arts in Education Coordinator, who 
enthusiastically told me she was excited to take on the role. Aside from an email where 
the Arts in Education Coordinator acknowledged her new position to the Assistant 
Superintendent for Business and another to all of the teachers in the 
district, I am not sure what she was able to accomplish. I had recommended that she meet with Maria DeWald, the BOCES coordinator to discuss opportunities for our district.  
This did not happen.  I asked her to coordinate with the music teachers to put the 
NYSSMA and DCMA fees through the Co-Ser. This also did not happen.  I made contact 
with the Arts in Education Coordinator from the Arlington District to ask if it would be 
ok for our Arts in Education Coordinator to contact her for advice but I don’t think this 
happened either. I thought being in touch with the Arlington District could be really 
beneficial since they put over $250,000 worth of contracts through the Co-Ser each year.  
The BCSD put fewer contracts through the Co-Ser this year than for the 2012-13 or  
2013-14 school year. In 2012-13, the BCSD had 6 contracts totaling $16,237.  In 2013-
14, the BCSD had 5 contracts totaling $15,141.50.  This year, we had 3 contracts totaling 
$13,230.

When I met on August 11, 2015 with the Arts in Education Coordinator, the assistant 
superintendent and, unexpectedly, the superintendent to go over how the 2014-15 year 
went with for the Arts in Education coordinator position, I was told by the superintendent 
that the person who I was told would be the arts in education coordinator was not actually 
the arts in education coordinator in any official capacity; that any work she did in this 
area was purely volunteer.  She said that the arts in education coordinator position did not 
actually fit under the TOSA umbrella.

This leaves me with several questions and concerns:

     1. This was not how it was presented to me in the October 2015.  Did I misunderstand?          Did the superintendent misunderstand the TOSA regulations and when she figured it            out, did she officially change the arts in education coordinator position?  Were there            other responsibilities added to her position instead of the arts in education coordinator?      What were this person’s total responsibilities as TOSA?  Who did she report to? How            was her effectiveness measured?

     2. BAEF had offered funds to help support this position.  The offer was refused and 
     the job was not performed.  Why, when the superintendent decided that the arts in 
     education coordinator would not be a paid position didn’t she approach BAEF to 
     revisit the idea of BAEF helping to fund the position.

     3. The district pays $5000/year to participate in the Co-Ser.  Are we getting the 
     maximum benefits we can from this program?  As I mentioned earlier, for several 
     years, I have asked administrators to help me coordinate with the music teachers 
     to put the NYSSMA fees through the Co-Ser.  When I asked the arts in education 
     coordinator about this at our recent meeting, she said that this had not happened 
     because the music teachers were paying these fees out of their own pockets.  Is 
     this true?  Why is this happening?

This all seems very important to take a much closer look at given the August 10, 2015 
school board meeting where several board members were prepared to vote to instate four TOSA positions even after the superintendent was not able to give a clear explanation of the roles these TOSA’s would fill.  This represents, as far as I am able to understand it, 4 
salaries, so more than $300,000.  I hope the board will take the information I present here 
and make sure that they understand what they are voting for when they vote for these 
TOSA positions.  I can’t say whether I am for or against them with the information I have 
been able to glean.  Perhaps the board members know more than the public on this?  Is 
their job description confidential?  I hope the board is doing their due diligence of 
research and asking plenty of questions before voting for this or any of agenda items that 
require their approval.

Sincerely,

Meredith Heuer

chair, Beacon Arts & Education Foundation

Kelly Ellenwood

vice-president, Beacon Arts

At the November 23rd Board of Education Meeting, board member Christine Galbo introduced a resolution calling on the state legislature to "review and redesign New York's Annual Professional Performance Review system," which she called "flawed" and leading to "redundancies, over testing of students and unfunded mandates." The resolution was voted down by board members, Tracy Antelek and Bill Zopf.

A nearly identical motion was reintroduced and passed at the December 14th meeting.

Below is the text of the resolution:

"Whereas, the Board of Education supports local accountability and a professional evaluation system that focuses less on improving test scores and more on improving instruction and education for our students.

Whereas, the Board stands in support of teachers, staff and administrators of the Beacon City School District who have chosen to devote their lives to the high calling of education and selfless service to this community.

Whereas, the current NYS Annual Professional Performance Review (APPR) has led to redundancies, over testing of students and unfunded mandates.

Whereas, the consequences of our current, flawed APPR system on the students, teachers, administrators and school district can no longer be ignored.

Therefore, be it resolved that we, the Board of Education of the Beacon City School District, join with the New York State School Boards Association, and countless Boards of Education throughout the state in calling on our state legislators to take action to review and redesign New York’s APPR system. It is imperative that the legislature acts to assemble a group of educators, lawmakers and state officials to create an evaluation system that truly informs instruction thereby promoting student learning."