BERNE — The leaders of the Berne-Knox-Westerlo School Board hope to forge ahead this year with academics and a building project.

President Maureen Sikule and Vice President John Harlow, who rotated into their posts in July, said the five-member board may apply to be a school of excellence.

The board, with two new members — Helen Lounsbury and Michelle Fusco — met in July to brainstorm annual goals, then met this week to established those goals.

The board wants the school to be recognized for excellence. One of the options is the Blue Ribbon Schools Program, part of the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

Kimberly LaBelle, BKW’s assistant superintendent for elementary and special education, is researching school-of-excellence programs, said Superintendent Steven Schrade this week.

To be considered a school of excellence, Harlow said, BKW must be accessible to those with handicaps.

For nearly a year, the school board, driven by the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, has considered multiple plans to renovate their schools to make them accessible to those with handicaps.

After considering a number of options, the committee recently agreed conceptually to a plan that includes the construction of a new cafeteria, library, industrial arts room, and boys’ and girls’ locker rooms in the high school, said Schrade.

The current gymnasium will be remodeled to make the locker rooms accessible; there will be added energy savings by remodeling the gym because its walls, made of sheet metal, will be replaced by more insulated walls, he said.

Schrade estimated the project will cost $12.5 million, and the average annual impact to the current tax levy will be less than 1 percent.

BKW will use the state’s building aid, which will fund 79 percent of the project, as well as $340,000 in EXCEL (EXpanding our Children’s Education and Learning) aid and $1.5 million from the district’s capital reserve, Schrade said.

BKW is currently waiting for the required environmental impact study, he said.

Sikule pointed to the project and the funding that has been set aside.
"I think our administration has done a good job to keep the cost to the district at a minimum while still making it handicapped-accessible," she said. The school board has also done a good job by using leftover funds and set the money aside into a facility reserve to keep the cost of the project down, Sikule said.

Neither Sikule nor Harlow were concerned about the building project resulting in a disruptive environment for students.

Each year, the board sets as one of its goals to improve communication. Despite its website, its newsletter, and articles in The Altamont Enterprise, some are not aware of what is going on at BKW, Schrade said.

Academics

One of the board’s goals for this school year is to increase its college acceptance rate.

Around 80-percent of graduates are accepted to colleges, but, by the time September comes around, students may be doing different things, Schrade said.

He said the district is hoping to increase students’ desire to pursue post-secondary education.

Harlow has compared results on state-required tests with other districts in the Capital Region.
"I’ll never be satisfied," said Harlow, a Berne resident who, after retiring from Knoll’s Atomic Power Laboratory, now runs a business reselling technical equipment. He added, "It seemed like we did very, very, very well."
Sikule agreed. "I think there are always target areas you need to look at," said Sikule, a Westerlo resident who works as a database administrator for the State’s Thruway Authority. "I think, overall, our school has done well."

This year, BKW will begin teaching foreign language at the elementary school. In the past, foreign language had been taught as an after-school PTA program and formal instruction began in middle school. Harlow is pleased foreign language will be taught at BKW Elementary.
"It’s been my goal for seven years," he said.

Harlow has been a proponent of teaching Chinese to elementary-school students.
"Would I encourage it" Yes. Would I demand it" No," Harlow said.
"China is a very powerful force. We’re going to have to compete with them. They’re paying attention to English because they want to do business," he said.

Harlow’s wife, Karol, a former BKW School Board member, is the principal at Germantown Central School, a rural school in Columbia County. She recently returned from China with a teacher who will be teaching classes in Chinese language and culture at Germantown, he said.

An after-school program, in conjunction with the Duanesburg Area Community Center has been proposed.
Schrade said programs offered by the Duanesburg center could be "a supplement" to BKW’s current programs and would not replace the PTA’s programs.
The Duanesburg center is located in Delanson, "ten miles away," and is currently undergoing construction and is going to have a swimming pool. Construction is expected to be completed in mid- to late fall.

BKW students could be bused to the center for recreational swimming and swimming lessons, he said.
"All activities would here, on site," said Schrade.

If a state grant is obtained and approved by the board of education, funding would not begin until March, he said.

The state announced this week that the center will receive a $315,000 grant from the Office of Small Cities to purchase furniture, fixtures, and equipment for the new facility.

John Harlow said he wants all children in Berne to come out of the school system with the ability to do practical math in their heads and to have a practical understanding of math. He pointed to real-life situations, such as buying a house or buying a car.
"It’s very easy not to know how to add or subtract in your head," he said. He added, "I’m not denigrating computers. I’m not denigrating calculators."

Students, he said, should also have a practical understanding of science.
While listening to radio stations, Harlow said, he has found that some young people cannot answer basic questions, such as: At what temperature does water freeze" And: Is the moon bigger than the sun"
"Not at BKW," he added.
"Hopefully, we can work to accomplish good things for BKW," Harlow said of the upcoming year.

Sikule hopes to have ongoing evaluations of BKW’s programs. With new technology, she said, it’s important for us to continue to evaluate and make sure they are accomplishing what our children need.

She would like to see positives continue — very open discussions during meetings and the board’s openness to ideas.