The Train is Rolling...

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The past 2 weeks have been extremely busy throughout the Rome City School District. I have had the opportunity to meet with various parents and staff as they stop by the district office to say hello. The moving of Joy and Strough are both well underway as the finishing touches are being made to Joy school now. I look forward to visiting there in the coming week. Summer programs are running well for both students and athletes. Pretty much every day of the week you can find Rome children honing their skills on something. The final item that I am most proud of is that we are welcoming a good crop of new educators and staff members to our Rome community this summer. Our building principals, teachers, and staff throughout the district have been working diligently to recruit and bring in high quality individuals to fill our vacancies. Our school community and greater community at large are buzzing about the upcoming school year. Everywhere I go through the central NY region, people are talking very highly of the Rome community and about the passion that we bring to education. The train in Rome is rolling, it's time for us all to get on board and ride into the future!!


Community Needs Assessment Survey

As part of my entry plan to the Superintendency, I need to gain feedback from the community about our schools. I have created a needs assessment survey to attempt to gain some background knowledge about how people in our community feel about our schools. This survey covers a fairly wide variety of topics from facilities, to perception, to education, to home value. If you could find the time in the coming weeks to please complete one, it would benefit our district as we seek to provide the best schools around. Click the "Survey" link below and it will take you to the survey which should take roughly 5 minutes to complete. Your feedback and thoughts will help us along the journey on this train.
Survey


Board of Education Date Change

Just a brief item of information for you regarding our next Board of Education meeting. The originally scheduled meeting for August 4th has been moved to Wednesday, August 3rd at 6:30 p.m. at the District Office. More information, including item on the agenda can be found on the district website at www.romecsd.org.


Call for Action


At the Rome Board of Education meeting on July 21st Board member Jackie Favata thanked Senator Joseph Griffo for writing U.S. Secretary of Education John B. King Jr. about the proposed new federal education law that requires states to punish school districts (by withholding foundation aid) that have too many students opt out of standardized tests.  I am asking that you too make your views known on the proposed federal regulation that would require states to punish school districts that have too many students opt out of standardized tests. Community members can take a few minutes to complete a survey letting their opinions be heard. Mrs. Favata remarked last week, “Holding back the money (foundation aid) to educate the children is the wrong thing to do. It is imperative that you take the survey. There is also a comment section in there as well." I echo this sentiment and will do everything I can with local, state, and federal legislature to protect our district.

Please take a few minutes to complete the New York State Education Department ‘Every Student Succeeds Act Feedback Request’ Survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ESSACHARACTERISTICSOFHIGHLYEFFECTIVESCHOOLS

Public comments can be submitted through August 26.




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