Mineola Superintendent of Schools Michael Nagler announced Thursday that the school district would hold a town hall meeting on Dec. 3 in the Mineola Middle School to discuss the new state Common Core course standards.
Nagler said the town hall would include presentations from a six-person panel comprised of two district teachers, two school principals, Mineola Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum Patricia Burns and himself.
“We’re really trying to have it as a discussion rather than a presentation,” he said at a regularly scheduled school board meeting.
Nagler said the date and format of the event was developed after meeting with the leadership of the Mineola Council of the PTAs.
School board Vice President Christine Napolitano called for the town meeting at the Oct. 3 school board meeting so the school district could clarify changes incorporated in the Common Core curricula for parents.
Napolitano said she wanted to counter “misinformation” about the Common Core and new curriculum standards she had been reading on social media Web sites from parents in various school districts.
“I just don’t want this to infect us,” Napolitano said.
A consensus of school board members agreed with her, along with Nagler.
“A lot of parents have expressed angst over not being able to help their kids with their math homework,” Nagler said.
He said Burns was providing “cheat sheets” for parents, so they would be able to understand the new terms and approaches being use in math lessons.
Nagler suggested district residents contact the district office to reserve a seat at the town hall meeting since the new middle school music room has a capacity for 150 people. He said if demand exceeds the room’s capacity limit, the town hall meeting could be moved to the middle school auditorium.
To allow district residents greater input, Nagler said the K12 Insights company is developing new feedback forums for the Your Voice Matters portal on the school district Web site at www.mineola.k12.ny.us.
Nagler said a new listening survey is in place to increase input on the district’s strategic objectives and core values.
At the end of the month, Nagler said, a survey would be posted about the district’s summer programs, including plans for what he described as a new four-week “summer stock” theater program. He said a new alumni link will be created to establish a database of information about graduates of the school district.
Napolitano suggested Nagler write a column for local newspapers about the school district’s technology initiatives, which Nagler said he would do.
