Message from Superintendent

Challenging, Exciting Times!

These are challenging and exciting times in public education! The challenges center around such issues as increased requirements to adhere to strict audit and control standards, continued pressure to ensure that students perform well on multiple standardized assessments, and the absolute need to plan and respond to declining enrollment. The excitement is associated with the many wonderful activities taking place for students in our school, the connections and collaborations taking place with our consortium school districts, and the visioning taking place at multiple levels to plan for the future of public education now. Let me talk about some of these issues in greater detail.

Challenges:

Audit and control issues in business functions have been a focus for our district and many others statewide for several years, due to increased scrutiny at the state level for districts to employ multiple checks and balances. This has had a noteworthy financial impact, particularly in smaller school districts like ours where, in order to meet requirements, we have had to add staff; implement additional paperwork/documentation; and hire consultants, such as new auditing services, to offer recommendations for improvement. We will continue to work hard in this area, as we anticipate a required visit from the State Comptroller’s office within the next two years.

State testing requirements also continue to be a primary focus for districts throughout the state. For several years, we have participated in the new grade 3-8 testing in the areas of ELA (English Language Arts) and math, and our students continue to perform well. The district continues to be a “District in Good Standing” by state and federal measures. This is a testament to the caliber of our children, the support of their families, and the quality of the instruction our teachers are providing. However, as the bar for increased student performance continues to rise, our administrators and teachers continue to work hard to upgrade skills and techniques to meet the needs of all students. The requirement established by the No Child Left Behind act is that all students will be proficient in ELA and math by the year 2013–2014.

Declining enrollment was the focus of my message in the last Navigator. This is perhaps the single most significant issue in recent years for the CLCS district and the surrounding communities. Something must be done, as we are, more than ever, forced to evaluate cost-per-student issues associated with each and every one of the programs and services we provide to our students.

Excitement:

Chautauqua Lake Central School District is, quite simply, a fantastic place for students to be. We have a wonderful group of teachers and non-instructional personnel that make the schoolhouse an active and vibrant place. Some recent activities and initiatives are highlighted in this Navigator. In addition, I am excited to report:

• Our High School Bowl team has won all their matches to date
• The Boys’ Volleyball team had an undefeated season
• The Donkey Basketball game sponsored by the senior class was a great show of school spirit
• The high school musical, “Guys and Dolls,” showcased our outstanding music and technology departments

I hope you are as proud as I am of these and the many other accomplishments that we celebrate each and every day at CLCS!

Sincerely,

Benjamin B. Spitzer, Superintendent