Board of Ed seeks support for FOLKS

FALLS VILLAGE — The Board of Education accepted a tuition student for the remainder of the school year, and urged parents to get involved with the Friends of Lee Kellogg School. These and other topics were discussed at the board’s regular monthly meeting Wednesday, Nov. 4.

The tuition student, an eighth-grade girl from North Canaan, was not thriving at North Canaan Elementary School, according to a letter from the girl’s parents that was read into the record by board Chairman Andrea Downs.

Kellogg has been eager to get tuition students, to boost enrollment and help offset costs. The board voted unanimously to accept the student at a tuition of $7,500 (three quarters of a school year, pro rated from the annual cost per student of $10,000).

Principal Maria Bulson said she had met the child and reviewed her records and believes she will be a good fit at Kellogg.

The board decided to standardize the accounting practices used to keep track of various board accounts, and asked the Friends of Lee Kellogg School (FOLKS) to integrate its accounting into a computer program called Quick Books.

There was also considerable discussion of how best to organize and reinvigorate FOLKS, which is a committee of the Board of Education.

JoAnne Dodge and Margaret Caiati will head up FOLKS, succeeding Amy Wynn. But what the board and FOLKS representatives all agreed on is that the group needs more parents to join, especially parents with younger children.

The meeting was the first for new board member Ameen-Storm Abo-Hamzy, who was elected Nov. 3. The officers for the coming year are Downs as chairman; Ross Grannan as vice chairman; Mary Elling as secretary; and Dominick Caiati as treasurer.