P.O. Box 68, 17 School Street, Peru, NY 12972 - (518) 643-6000

Peru Central School District has reached a point where it’s especially important for larger numbers of district residents to participate in budget development conversations. Greater participation is an important part of community engagement and helping the school district and school board make the most informed choices possible. Available are view screen editions of the following documents associated with the January 23rd first Peru CSD 'Community Conversation' focused on budget development for 2012-2013.  The next budget-related gatherings are the February 7th school board budget workshop and the February 13th follow-up 'Community Conversation' at 6 PM in the high school cafeteria.

1. Early forecast report, available here,  of driving factors for budget development in the weeks and months ahead - distributed at the 'Community Conversation'.  The report is in two sections: forecasted statewide budget factors and forecasted Peru CSD budget factors;

2. The packet of exhibits, available here, distributed and examined at the 'Community Conversation';

3. Results of the perceptions survey sheet, available here, that was distributed at the January 23rd 'Community Conversation'.

The Peru CSD Board of Education is recruiting candidates to fill the position of Superintendent of Schools. Your opinions regarding the traits, experiences, and background that our next Superintendent should possess are important to the Board. We ask you to complete the survey and return it to Sherri Provost, District Clerk, via the Peru CSD District Office, 17 School Street, Peru, NY 12972 by February 14, 2012.  Thank you!

The Board of Education examined and discussed various reports at the January 10th regular monthly meeting.  The sixth annual 'State of the District' report is available here.  The January 10th regular monthly Superintendent's Report is available here.  The 2011-2012 timetable for public reporting is available here.  The board-approved set of 2012-2013 District Goals is available here.

The Board of Education gathered for its regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, January 10th.  Highlights of that meeting - along with various documents the Board discussed at their meeting - are available by clicking here.

The Board of Education’s search process to recruit, select and appoint a successor Superintendent of Schools is underway. The school board’s search consultant is Craig King, the District Superintendent for Champlain Valley Educational Services, this region’s BOCES. Deadline for applications is March 2, 2012. Classified advertisements are slated for newspapers, statewide, December through February. A statewide mailing to current Superintendents and Assistant Superintendents will be sent via the search consultant. The search consultant will also send a mailing to Principals in various counties of New York State. The school board anticipates interviewing first round candidates during the week of March 19th. A twenty-seat stakeholder committee will be part of the interview process for second round candidates. Details regarding that stakeholder committee are highlighted in a December 15^th media release available here.

The Board of Education examined and discussed various reports at the December 13^th regular monthly meeting. The 11^th annual early progress report on district goals is available here. The annual information technology network report is available here. The 2011-2012 timetable for public reporting is available here. The 2011-2012 District Goals are available here.

A view-screen edition of the November 2011 Peru CSD Community Report is available for viewing by clicking here. Also, this is the time of year for district residents to consider nominating an individual for the Peru CSD Hall of Fame.

Nominees for Peru Central’s Hall of Fame must be retirees, graduates or individuals not directly affiliated with Peru Central Schools for at least five years. An induction ceremony for new members of the Peru Central Hall of Fame will take place later this school year. Peru Central’s Hall of Fame features individuals selected by the high school’s hall of fame committee. Criteria used by the committee to select individuals from among those nominated include how the nominated individual had a significant positive impact on the organization and how the nominated individual contributed to the organization’s programs or services in some noteworthy capacity. Nomination forms may be obtained at Peru High School Principal Mazzella’s office by telephoning Principal Mazzella at 643-6401. As a courtesy for Web site users, the nomination form is available here.  Completed nomination forms are due by noon on December 21^st.    

Given two years of significant state aid cuts to Peru CSD, the District was fortunate in prior years to not have expended all that it was authorized to expend. At numerous public session budget development workshops in recent years, the District has been very forthcoming and consistent in regard to being conservative with revenues and being conservative with expenditures. Doing so was in keeping with a year 2004 longer-term finance study of Peru CSD, given the school district’s heavy dependence on state aid. Being conservative has been a contributing factor in our school district’s capacity to sustain our broad set of academic, artistic and athletic programs and activities for the children of this school community. A cross-campus update regarding fiscal accountability and the NYS Comptroller’s Office most recent comprehensive fiscal accountability audit on Peru CSD is available here.

As to transportation to school and back home at the end of the school day, Interim Superintendent of Schools A. Paul Scott encourages students (who have obtained their driver licenses) and their parents to consider using the school bus for student transportation to and from school, rather than one of the family’s cars for such transportation. The regulation yellow school bus continues to be the safest type of motor vehicle available for students to travel to and from school each day. Whether as an energy conservation strategy, a family cost reduction strategy or as a safety strategy, Interim Superintendent Scott encourages every family to have students of any and all grade levels take the bus to and from school, rather than using private transportation, day-to-day.

More than 1,000 New York State public schools are earmarked for improvement of student achievement scores, as measured by state accountability tests. New York State announced what it calls the ‘Differentiated Accountability Project’ which categorizes identified schools and determines required interventions for each category of designated schools. The North Country’s extensive list of identified public schools includes Peru Middle School, under the category of English Language Arts (ELA), within the subgroup of students with disabilities. Also included with that extensive North Country list of identified public schools is Peru High School, also under the category of ELA, within the subgroup of students identified as having ‘lower socioeconomic background’. 

 Annual scores on state tests at the middle school and high school did not reach all the thresholds set by the ‘No Child Left Behind’ (NCLB) federal legislation for academic year 2011-2012.  Peru Central will leverage what ever resources and support we can gather from our region’s BOCES to help us examine our data and evidence and assist Middle School Principal Felt and High School Principal Mazzella.  Peru Middle School and Peru High School are constructing a two-year improvement plan. That plan includes a timeline for implementation of interventions targeting the performance of particular student groups and the particular NCLB accountability measure for which that school has been identified.