New York / School Districts / ITHACA
Catherine Cernera, president of the Ithaca Teachers Association, told the school board she and ITA members support expanding structured and unstructured play in the K–6 school day and highlighted NYSUT’s Power of Play campaign seeking to codify a 40‑minute daily recess requirement for young learners.
New York / School Districts / ITHACA
Committee members reviewed findings from short classroom visits and listening circles at Boynton and DeWitt, identified immediate professional-development needs including literacy coaching, and agreed to locate and review the district homework policy that a member said was last updated in 2000.
New York / School Districts / ITHACA
District leaders presented a preliminary 2026–27 budget projection and three budget-path options for the board to consider, highlighting a roughly 5% year‑over‑year cost increase, a 3.8% rise in state aid, and a calculated tax-cap of about 4.18 percent; staff will return with detailed expenditure scenarios.
New York / School Districts / ITHACA
The Ithaca Curriculum Committee discussed a draft rotation for adopting elementary curricula, concerns about fitting recommended lessons into existing schedules, and plans for coaching and teacher-led advisory work to support K–2 English language arts (EL) implementation.
New York / School Districts / ITHACA
The board unanimously appointed Emily Tracy Arme as board clerk, approved the consent agenda, and voted to enter executive session to discuss negotiations and personnel; each motion carried during the Feb. 24 meeting.
New York / School Districts / ITHACA
The board voted to enter executive session, approved the consent agenda (7 yes, 1 abstention), unanimously nominated Bradley Granger for TST BOCES, established an Accessibility Advisory Council, and adopted Policy 5601 on school lunch.
New York / School Districts / ITHACA
The Ithaca City School District board discussed a Cornell enrollment study projecting roughly 1,000 fewer students over the next decade and debated follow-up analyses, fiscal implications and a draft strategic-planning RFP to guide long-term decisions about facilities, staffing and programming.
New York / School Districts / ITHACA
At the Feb. 10 board meeting, a kindergarten teacher asked the district to bring K–5 physical education into compliance with New York State requirements, and a community member urged restarting a mentor program at Boynton and Ithaca High School.
New York / School Districts / ITHACA
At a Team of Resources Community Committee meeting, Roberta Wallet and Merrill Pitts described how the Village at Ithaca's 'village rep' appointments and EILC trainings aimed to diversify hiring panels, and they discussed application barriers, alternative submission formats, HR training requirements, and retention measures such as tuition support and mentoring for Education Support Professionals.
New York / School Districts / ITHACA
The board discussed whether a curriculum committee document should be a formal charter or a committee vision statement; members urged clearer committee charges and consistent templates and asked that the draft be revised and returned for review rather than adopted immediately.