Volume 5, Issue 5

North Colonie Central School District

Your News Source For Employee-Related Information at North Colonie

UPCOMING EVENTS

February 2016

3rd

Friends of Music, SHS, 7:00 p.m.

14th

St. Valentine’s Day

15th

President’s Day

All Employee Holiday

15th - 19th

Mid-Winter Recess

29th

Board Meeting, SG, 7:15 p.m.

March 2016

9th

Friends of Music, SHS, 7:00 p.m.

13th

Daylight Saving Time Begins

17th

St. Patrick’s Day

25th

Good Friday

All Employee Holiday

28th

Board Meeting, BH, 7:15 p.m.

DISTRICT MISSION: All students are provided the opportunity and necessary support to engage in relevant, challenging

work which contributes to their academic and social development. All staff, teachers, and administrators are part of a larger learning community, working together to build collective capacity in

order to provide a high-quality, relevant, equitable education for all.

February 2016

Annual Anti-Harassment and Discrimination training is mandatory for

employees. Several training sessions are scheduled each school year,

however, the times and locations are not always convenient for everyone’s

schedule. We now have a solution to that problem! This training can now be

accessed online.

Employees were sent information, via email, with instructions on how to

access the online training. Employees must watch the entire video, which is

less than 10 minutes in length. There will be a quiz! Throughout the video,

you will be asked to respond to questions on the information just

presented. Answer the quiz questions correctly and you will receive credit

for taking the course. We will be tracking who takes the course through the

online program. You still have the option to attend an in-person session, if

preferred.

Faculty take special note - this training will not be presented during the

March workshop day, as it has been in the past. You will need to take the

training online or attend a make-up session.

Make-up sessions are scheduled for February, April, May, and June. Read

the article on page 2 of this newsletter for

exact dates and times.

Regardless of which option you choose, online

or in-person, the training must be completed

by the end of this school year.

HazCom training will also be available online

in the near future, hopefully within a month.

Page 2 The Inside Resource Volume 5, Issue 5

Annual training on HazCom and Anti-Harassment/Discrimination is mandatory for employees. If you have not yet taken this training for the 2015-2016 school year, a make-up session is being held Wednesday, February 24 from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. in the Central Office Training Room. HazCom begins at 3:00 p.m. and Anti-Harassment/Discrimination begins at 3:30 p.m.

If you can’t make this session, there will be others:

April 12, May 11 and June 8 - also from 3-4 p.m. in the Central Office Training Room.

PREP Seminars for TRS Members HazCom and Anti-Harassment/Discrimination

PREP, Pension and Retirement Education

Program, is designed to help TRS members

accomplish career and retirement planning

goals. Seminars are free and are held

throughout the year. Benefit consultations

are also available. For a schedule of Winter-

Spring 2016 sessions, visit NYSTRA.org and

click on Retirement Planning›Pension &

Retirement Education Program. For Benefits

consultations, click on Retirement

Planning›Benefits Consultations.

The holiday decorations are all put away, it’s cold outside and the ground is covered with

snow (at least it’s supposed to be!) and we all could use a little motivation to get back in the

swing of things. Capital EAP has several upcoming workshops you might want to consider:

7 Week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Group - begins 2/4/16.

Assertive Communication Skills - begins 2/9/16.

Qualities of an Effective Supervisor - begins 3/23/16.

Enroll online at capitaleap.org or call Jennifer Manziano at (518) 465-3813, ext. 117. Register

using code 105284.

Are you interested in learning more about police work?

The Colonie Police Department is holding its Civilian Policy Academy: a 9 week program on

Tuesdays from March 22 through May 17. There will be opportunities to ride with Patrol

Officers, observe criminal court and be exposed to many aspects of police work. Open to Town

of Colonie residents or people who work within the Town, class size is limited to 20 and classes

are from 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Applications are available at www.colonie.org/police.

Page 3 The Inside Resource Volume 5, Issue 5

Tenure Appointments Congratulations to these teachers who received tenure effective September 1,

2016 at the January 25, 2016 Board Meeting.

Kelly Armstrong - Psychologist, DOL/Loudonville

Victoria Baker - Elementary Math, Latham Ridge/Southgate

Meghan Blair - Special Education, DOL/Blue Creek

Kelsey Butz - Elementary/Special Education, Southgate

Jessica Coles - Special Education, Southgate

Jenna Covino - Special Education, Southgate

Brian Dineen - Assistant Director, PPS, District Wide

Dianne Flynn - Psychologist - Shaker High School

John Levendosky - Special Education, Shaker High School

Christine Miller - Special Education, Southgate

Shannon Ostwald - Reading, Loudonville/Southgate

Michael Ouimet - Special Education, DOL

Jamie Stall - Special Education, Latham Ridge

Kathleen Villa - Physical Education, Blue creek

Gail Willner-Giwerc - Special Education, Blue creek

W-2 forms sent out - a few definitions are missing!!

Oops! When NERIC printed W-2 forms, three code definitions were not

included in the Instructions section. The missing definitions are:

C - Taxable cost of group -term life insurance over $50,000 (included in boxes 1,3

(up to social security wage base), and 5)

E - Elective deferrals under a section 403(b) salary reduction agreement

DD - Cost of employer-sponsored health coverage. The amount reported with Code DD is not

taxable.

If an outside party prepares your taxes, you should share this information that individual. If asked for

a 1095b form, it will not be available until March, however, it is not needed to file taxes.

Page 4 The Inside Resource Volume 5, Issue 5

New Hires and Staff Changes

Have news that you want to share? email: hr@ncolonie.org

Sean Alvarado

Teacher Aide, BC

Heidi Epting

REACH Teacher Aide, SJHS

Holly Cranmer

Elementary Teacher, BC

Matthew Macutek

Teacher Aide, SHS

Amrika Maikoo

Special Education Teacher, SHS

Lauren Mazzotta

Special Education Teacher, FF

Tammy McDonald

Teacher Aide, SJHS

Clinton Miller

Groundsman I, Maintenance

Panorea Miszko

Special Education Teacher, SG

Brittany Phillips

Special Education Teacher, FF

Douglas Rodgers

Suburban Bus Driver

Other Staff Changes

Kristina Coughlin - Special Education Teacher,

Leave Replacement, SHS

James Fitzgerald - Teaching Assistant, Leave

Replacement, SHS

Heather Gorman - Teaching Assistant, Leave

Replacement, SHS

Shawna Robb - Elementary Teacher, Leave

Replacement, BC

New Arrivals

Gina Wozniak, Elementary Teacher, BC

Son: Leo Rocky, December 2, 2015

In Memoriam

M. Ruth Neils worked in various clerical full

and part-time positions for North Colonie

Schools from 1969 through 2002. She passed

away January 6, 2016.

Name Changes

Jessica Powalyk, Elementary Teacher, BC

is now Jessica LaBello