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Hudson school board toasts Rost for five years of community service
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| The James Lynch House in Nutten Hook is under consideration for historic designation. (Robert Ragaini/Hudson-Catskill Newspapers ) |
By Francesca Olsen
HUDSON — The Hudson City School District Board of Education opened its meeting Tuesday with champagne glasses (”sparkling water” according to board President Mary Daly) to toast Peter Rost, who sat for his last board meeting after five years of membership.
“I want to thank the district for the opportunity to serve for five years. It took a long time, but it went really quickly,” said Rost.
Rost went on to show support for Superintendent John F. Howe and to remind the school board, and Hudson’s educators, to keep working toward better test scores, better schools and greater achievements. “We have increased achievement over the last five years. Our scores are better. We need to continue to strive,” he said. “There is a lot of greatness in this district. We tend to focus on the needs and the challenges without celebrating the greatness.”
Board member John Mabb commented during public forum on Rost’s time on the school board. “He really has grown as a public speaker and as a board member,” he said. “I think he has a legacy he’s taking with him.”
Tara McSherry-Wolfe, manager of the Youth Employment Services (YES) program for the district, gave the board a short presentation on the YES Program and the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Grant, which provides complete federal funding for the program. The district is in its second cycle of a three year grant, and McSherry-Wolfe said the number of homeless students served by the district is “steadily increasing.”
According to McSherry-Wolfe, there are currently 132 students, from K-12, who are homeless and served by the district. “There are many students out there that we don’t know about yet,” she said.
YES is open to all students and provides employment training over 12 weeks, after school. Students are trained on how to utilize the Internet to look for jobs, how to fill out a job application, create a resume, and are even drilled during mock job interviews. Those who complete the program receive a “certificate of employability” to show prospective employers.
Graduates of the program also get a six-week internship at a business in Hudson, a rarity in a recession. “This program is very challenging and very exciting. The students love it, the parents love it, and the businesses love it,” said McSherry-Wolfe.
Howe reported on the Special Education Quality Assurance review and distributed documentation of the review to the board. “It’s quite a tome of information that you’re going to need some time to read over,” he said.
The Hudson City School District was identified as a “district in need of assistance” by the review, which is conducted by BOCES. The district was found to be out of compliance on 14 different issues. Howe mentioned that the report covered issues like scheduling, details of some behavior plans for special education students, and ensuring all services are provided to students who need them. “All 14 of these are very doable,” said Howe, who did not go into details of the report because the board had not been given a chance to review the report before the meeting.
Howe also announced a partnership with the Black Legacy Association of Columbia County. The Retired Seniors Volunteer Program will be releasing a curriculum guide on local black history for use with grades 4-8 today at noon at Hudson Middle School.
“We’re pretty excited to join with it,” said Howe. “It’s a great connection between the community and the school, and it certainly celebrates the living history we have in our area.”
Issues with the lights for the tennis courts were also addressed. Howe said the district was trying to either set up the lights in the tennis court on a timer or find someone to come turn them on and off. “We’ll get them on sooner than we did last summer,” he said.
Discussion about locker combinations for third graders came up when the board addressed old business. Howe said he has talked about three-number combinations for the lockers; if students struggle with three number combinations, two number combinations will be used. Teachers will have a log of everyone’s locker number and combination at all times. “There’s been some concern about the security of things in the lockers,” Howe said.
“I want to thank the district for the opportunity to serve for five years. It took a long time, but it went really quickly,” said Rost.
Rost went on to show support for Superintendent John F. Howe and to remind the school board, and Hudson’s educators, to keep working toward better test scores, better schools and greater achievements. “We have increased achievement over the last five years. Our scores are better. We need to continue to strive,” he said. “There is a lot of greatness in this district. We tend to focus on the needs and the challenges without celebrating the greatness.”
Board member John Mabb commented during public forum on Rost’s time on the school board. “He really has grown as a public speaker and as a board member,” he said. “I think he has a legacy he’s taking with him.”
Tara McSherry-Wolfe, manager of the Youth Employment Services (YES) program for the district, gave the board a short presentation on the YES Program and the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Grant, which provides complete federal funding for the program. The district is in its second cycle of a three year grant, and McSherry-Wolfe said the number of homeless students served by the district is “steadily increasing.”
According to McSherry-Wolfe, there are currently 132 students, from K-12, who are homeless and served by the district. “There are many students out there that we don’t know about yet,” she said.
YES is open to all students and provides employment training over 12 weeks, after school. Students are trained on how to utilize the Internet to look for jobs, how to fill out a job application, create a resume, and are even drilled during mock job interviews. Those who complete the program receive a “certificate of employability” to show prospective employers.
Graduates of the program also get a six-week internship at a business in Hudson, a rarity in a recession. “This program is very challenging and very exciting. The students love it, the parents love it, and the businesses love it,” said McSherry-Wolfe.
Howe reported on the Special Education Quality Assurance review and distributed documentation of the review to the board. “It’s quite a tome of information that you’re going to need some time to read over,” he said.
The Hudson City School District was identified as a “district in need of assistance” by the review, which is conducted by BOCES. The district was found to be out of compliance on 14 different issues. Howe mentioned that the report covered issues like scheduling, details of some behavior plans for special education students, and ensuring all services are provided to students who need them. “All 14 of these are very doable,” said Howe, who did not go into details of the report because the board had not been given a chance to review the report before the meeting.
Howe also announced a partnership with the Black Legacy Association of Columbia County. The Retired Seniors Volunteer Program will be releasing a curriculum guide on local black history for use with grades 4-8 today at noon at Hudson Middle School.
“We’re pretty excited to join with it,” said Howe. “It’s a great connection between the community and the school, and it certainly celebrates the living history we have in our area.”
Issues with the lights for the tennis courts were also addressed. Howe said the district was trying to either set up the lights in the tennis court on a timer or find someone to come turn them on and off. “We’ll get them on sooner than we did last summer,” he said.
Discussion about locker combinations for third graders came up when the board addressed old business. Howe said he has talked about three-number combinations for the lockers; if students struggle with three number combinations, two number combinations will be used. Teachers will have a log of everyone’s locker number and combination at all times. “There’s been some concern about the security of things in the lockers,” Howe said.
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| City seeks moratorium on homeless shelters | James Lynch House under consideration for national historic designation |
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