Board of Education Goals 2025-2026

“Inspiring A Standard of Excellence For All Students”

Student Outcomes & Communications

Board Goal

Together the Board and Superintendent will support the continued enhancement of student outcomes, as well as deepen community understanding of the value provided by the Pelham Public Schools.

Objectives

• Build on the District’s culture of educational excellence by fostering continuous improvement in programs, supports, and learning environments that promote student success. 
• Effectively demonstrate the value of the Pelham Public Schools and its positive impact on student success to the broader  community.

Outcomes - Communications

• Readminister the SCOPE survey
• Gap analysis - Identify what the District is currently doing and what the community feels it needs to receive
• Implement strategies to address gaps, including the impact of inaccurate information

Critical Milestones

• November administration of SCOPE
• Presentation on results of SCOPE and recommendations
• Mid year public updates on goals
• End of year public updates on goals

Outcomes - Finance

• Successful budget vote 
• Articulated 5 Year Financial Plan
• Implementation of the capital bond work

Critical Milestones

• May vote
• Mid year public updates on goals
• End of year public updates on goals

Outcomes - Data

• District is increasingly using data to support student growth and achievement
• Updated, more visual and easy to find  data dashboard
• More frequent and holistic sharing of success in the areas of student achievement, student activities, student and staff well being, finance, and facilities.

Critical Milestones

• Identify measures of school district quality that we want to track and communicate (e.g., (e.g., test scores and beyond/from “New Best Way to Measure School Performance”)
• Dashboard updated three times per year (September - demographics, November - academic data, February - financial data)
• Mid year public updates on goals
• End of year public updates on goals are public updates on goals

Audit

Focus: Education Law §2116-c, requires every school district, except those employing fewer than eight teachers, to establish an audit committee by January 1, 2006 by resolution of the board. The role of the audit committee is to assist and advise the board on issues relating to the district’s external and internal audit functions. However, the ultimate responsibility for review and action on audit reports remains with the full board.   

Board of Education Members: Will Treves (Chair), Jackie De Angelis, Sid Burke

Administrator/Staff Representatives: Jim Hricay, Assistant Superintendent for Business, Dr. Cheryl H. Champ, Superintendent of Schools, Jackie Vigil, Treasurer

Community Members: Maria Tiso, Mayank Desai

Finance

Focus: To discuss and provide guidance on Financial Matters throughout the District and make recommendations to the entire Board.   

Board of Education Members: Will Treves (Chair), Jackie De Angelis, Sid Burke

Administrator/Staff Representatives: Jim Hricay, Assistant Superintendent for Business, Dr. Cheryl H. Champ, Superintendent of Schools, Jackie Vigil, Treasurer

Personal Growth & Achievement (Curriculum)

Focus: To explore, study, and provide feedback on district plans to further the work of the Strategic Plan related to the Goal of Personal Growth and Achievement and to oversee changes in the district’s curriculum, instruction and resources. Committee members will collaborate, engage in shared learning, and liaise with community members regarding district decisions related to Personal Growth and Achievement

Board of Education Members: Jackie De Angelis (Chair), Kathryn Cohen, Annemarie Garcia

Administrator/Staff Representatives: Claire Comerford, Assistant Superintendent for Teaching & Learning, Dr. Tom Callahan, Director of Math & Science, Suzanne Short, Director of Humanities, John Sebalos, Director of Technology, Joe Toombs III, Director of Physical Education, Health & Athletics, Dr. Lauren Ribeiro, K-5 Supervisor of Special Education, Sean Llewellyn, PMHS Principal

Community Members: Kim Melloy, Kim Riegel, Annie Balestra, Brandon Dammerman, Lisa Martino Alves

Advocacy and Community Engagement

Focus: Evaluate and improve two-way communication with the community and advocate for the educational interests of our students and Public Education at both the state and local levels.

Board of Education Members: Natalie Marrero (Chair), Kathryn Cohen, Darra Gordon

Administrator/Staff Representatives: Dr. Cheryl H. Champ, Superintendent of Schools, Alex Wolff, Public Information Officer

Community Members: Rachel Robertson, Lisa Horten, Cara Moore, Maddie Mercer, Liza Schaeffer, Hoover Salazar, Shakira Kennedy

School Culture & Belonging

Focus: To explore, study, and provide feedback on district plans to further the work of the Strategic Plan related to School Culture and Belonging. Committee members will collaborate, engage in shared learning, and liaise with community members regarding district decisions related to School Culture and Belonging. This committee is required by policy.

Administrator/Staff Representatives: Claire Comerford, Assistant Superintendent for Teaching & Learning (Chair), Dr. Trisha Nugent Fitzgerald, Executive Director for Human Resources & Leadership, Greg Lau, Gr. 6-12 Supervisor of Special Education, Dr. Maria Thompson, PMS Asst. Principal, Sean Llewellyn, PMHS Principal, Jennifer Kean-Thompson, Hutchinson School Principal

Community Members: Erin Ginsburg, Kim Espinosa

Bond Steering (Formerly Facilities & Sustainable Learning Environments)

Focus: The Bond Steering Committee will facilitate and advise the Board of Education to assist in the implementation of the recently approved $98.8M bond projects approved by the voters of Pelham.  Additionally, the Committee will serve in a similar capacity as a "Facilities Committee" on other Facility issues outside the scope of the Bond Steering Committee.

Board of Education Members: Natalie Marrero (Chair), Sid Burke, Jackie DeAngelis

Administrator/Staff Representatives: Dr. Cheryl H. Champ, Superintendent of Schools, Jim Hricay, Assistant Superintendent for Business, John Condon, Director of Facilities, John Sebalos, Director of Technology, Alex Wolff, Director of Communications 

Community Members: Mike Star, Paimaan Lodhi, James Smithmeyer, Jeffrey Mason, Stephanie McGovern, Anne Keenan

Policy and Governance Monitoring

Focus: Update, review and recommend required and identified optional policies and regulations on an on-going basis utilizing resources from the Erie 1  BOCES service and advice of counsel

Board of Education Members: Sid Burke (Chair), Annemarie Garcia, Jackie DeAngelis

Administrator/Staff Representatives: Dr. Cheryl H. Champ, Superintendent of Schools, Jim Hricay, Assistant Superintendent for Business, Dr. Trisha Nugent Fitzgerald, Executive Director for HR & Leadership, Traci Holtz, Assistant Superintendent for Pupil Personnel Services, Claire Comerford, Assistant Superintendent for Teaching & Learning 

Safety

Focus: The main purpose of the health and safety committee is to assist in the evaluation and disposition of health and safety related issues within the district.

Project SAVE (Schools Against Violence in Education) requires the creation of both district-wide and school-based safety teams. The scope and responsibilities of the teams required under Project SAVE are much different, although they may be composed of some of the same individuals as the health and safety committee under RESCUE. Specifically, Project SAVE requires the designation of four teams:

1. district-wide school safety team
2. building-level school safety teams
3. building-level emergency response teams
4. building-level post-incident response teams.

This Committee is required by State Law. 

Board of Education Members: Will Treves (Chair), Jackie De Angelis, Darra Gordon (rotating)

Administrator/Staff Representatives: Dr. Cheryl H. Champ, Superintendent of Schools, Jim Hricay, Assistant Superintendent for Business, Traci Holtz, Assistant Superintendent for Pupil Personnel Services, John Condon, Director of Facilities, Dr. Trisha Nugent Fitzgerald, Executive Director of Human Resources & Leadership, Dr. Kerri Titone, PMHS Asst. Principal, Lynn M. Sabia, PMS Principal, John Sebalos, Director of Technology, Alex Wolff, Director of Communications

Community Members: Kamy English, Brian Weinberg, Tunazzina Rahman

Wellness

Focus: Works as an oversight committee to oversee programs and strategies through a perspective of best practices for the overall wellness of our students K-12. This committee will be looking at ways to advance the district’s strategic plan. This committee is required by policy.

Board of Education Members: Annemarie Garcia (Chair), Natalie Marrero, Kathryn Cohen

Administrator/Staff Representatives: Traci Holtz, Assistant Superintendent for Pupil Personnel Services (Chair), Jim Hricay, Assistant Superintendent for Business, Gene Farrell, K-12 Director of Counseling, Joe Toombs III, Director of Physical Education, Health & Athletics, Jennifer Kean-Thompson, Hutchinson School Principal

Community Members: Maureen Alves, Liz Bewley, Laura Caruso

Board of Education School Liaisons

PMHS

Kathryn Cohen

Middle School

Jackie DeAngelis

Colonial

Natalie Marrero

Hutchinson

Annemarie Garcia

Prospect Hill

Side Burke

Siwanoy

Will Treves

SEPTA

Darra Gordon

Southern Westchester BOCES

Jackie De Angelis

Pelham Education Foundation

Natalie Marrero

Board Governance and Meetings

The Board will employ systems-based thinking to improve student achievement and community engagement with a focus on strategic direction, policy making, stewardship, oversight, and community leadership. 

Board Governance

• The Board will publish an annual document describing its governance, meeting and communication practices.
• The Board will publish an annual document describing its goals for the District.
• The Board will set clear goals for itself and the Superintendent, and the Board and Superintendent will set clear goals for the Pelham Public Schools.  
• The Board will review its behavior by yearly self-evaluation and discuss any significant issues that are identified.  
• The evaluation instrument to be used by the Board to evaluate the Superintendent shall be mutually agreed upon. 
   

Communication with Superintendent of Schools  

• The Board President is the primary contact between the Board and the Superintendent of Schools. The Superintendent shall maintain an open dialog with the Board President on matters of importance.   
• The Superintendent will maintain regular communication with all members of the Board on matters related to the District. The Superintendent will provide the Board with a detailed update on items of importance via the Weekly Update. Board members will be responsible for reading the update and contacting the Superintendent with any questions.  
• The Superintendent will use email as a tool to provide information to the full Board of Education.
• The Superintendent will immediately inform the Board of major issues pertaining to student matters (medical emergencies, arrests, significant altercations, etc.). This may be done by email, text, or phone.  
• Any Board Member may contact the Superintendent  regarding issues or questions.  Emails regarding Board business should be copied to the Board President. Replies from the Superintendent should also include a copy to the Board President.  

Communication among Board Members  

• Communication should flow from the Board President to Members and vice versa.
• All pertinent issues brought to individual Board members from community members should be shared with the Board President, including forwarding relevant emails.  
• The Board President will be responsible for communicating and sharing information to the full Board.  
• Board members will refrain from detailed group discussion about any Board business or decision making via email.  

Communication with Central Administration  

• All Assistant Superintendents will provide a brief update on their work, especially as it relates to District Goals, that will be sent to the Board in the weekly packet prior to Board meetings with all corresponding supporting materials. All issues should be referenced and explained so that the issue could be put into its proper context relative to the District Goals. 
• Central Office administrators will have a responsibility to include all supporting information from District Committee meetings to the full Board (e.g. agendas, minutes, presentations, etc.)
• All items for Board action will be presented to the Board the week prior to the meeting whenever  practicable. 
• Board members may call or email an Assistant Superintendent to ask clarifying questions.  Board members will use their judgment when contacting Central Office Administrators. The  Superintendent and Board President should be notified when such calls are placed or copied when inquiries are made via email.  
• Questions regarding process or more substantial issues (i.e. beyond clarifying question) should be brought to the Superintendent with a copy to the Board President for follow-up.  
• All communication with Principals and other Building Level Administrators will go through the  Superintendent. 

Board Meetings

• Board members should make an effort to pose clarifying questions that they have to any of the Central Office Administrators in advance of the Board meeting: 
  • When such questions are posed via email, Board members should copy the Superintendent and President. 
  • When posed verbally, the Superintendent and President should be notified. 
• Board Members should communicate questions to the Superintendent or President prior to agenda setting meetings to facilitate timely responses from Administration. Board members may also use the shared Google Doc to pose clarifying meeting questions prior to Agenda Setting meetings.
• Board members may access the District Clerk as a resource to obtain information regarding Board meetings. 
• The Superintendent and Board President will speak on a regular basis to plan Board meeting agendas and items for discussion with the full Board of Education. 
• Agenda Setting meetings will be held with the Superintendent, President, Vice President, and an  additional Trustee on a rotating basis prior to all meetings for the purpose of clarifying questions and information as needed so that efficient discussion and decision-making can occur at the meeting. Board members may suggest agenda items via the President prior to agenda setting. 
• The Board President will decide how consent agenda items will be taken at the meeting in advance.  
• The Board President will manage Public Comment at meetings.

**Adopted 9/3/2025