New course proposals for the 2011-12 school year were unveiled at the Dec. 9 Massapequa School Board meeting and have been mailed to residents.

“We continue to review our course offerings based on teacher initiatives and students interest,” said Assistant to the Superintendent Thomas Fasano. “Our focus is to design courses that reflect 21st century skills, the utilization of technology and will really give our seniors a taste of the first year of college to improve college readiness.”

The new course proposals include Level Three Mandarin Chinese, Math Applications for Business, Meteorology (offered at Ames), Introduction to Law III: Public Advocacy, Sports in American Culture and Video Game Design. In addition, there are three new course proposals, College Algebra and Trigonometry, Anatomy and Physiology, and American Sign Language Level IV which will offer students the opportunity to earn college credits.

“We started the Mandarin Chinese course two years ago,” said Massapequa Foreign Language Curriculum Associate, Bill Anderson. “Chinese is the most spoken language in the world. China has a huge stake in the world economy. We want our students to be well prepared.”

Trustee Tim Taylor also said that it is important for students to learn Chinese because of China’s economic standing in the world and asked what could be done to increase enrollment. He suggested that perhaps the district should look to create interest in the language by introducing it earlier in student’s career, perhaps at Berner. Superintendent Charles Sulc said that interest has been increasing: seventeen students enrolled in Mandarin Chinese I which is up from 12 students in the first year of the program.

Ultimately, student interest will determine whether these proposed courses are actually offered. Sulc said that a previously proposed Creativity course was not offered due to lack of interest. However, he was hopeful that students would take advantage of the new opportunities.

“When you look at the new course proposals, we’re covering all major academic areas,” said Sulc. “We’re going to stress that guidance counselors are knowledgeable of the new courses and are stressing movement towards more contemporary offerings.”

Board President Christine Lupetin Perrino, considering the difficult economic times, asked if any money had yet been spent on the proposed class- es. Sulc said no money has been spent and Fasano later said that the proposed new classes would not require additional staffing. Lupetin Perrino also asked if there are classes that will not be offered. Sulc said there are courses that do not run each year due to dwindling interest but he did not give any specific classes that have not been offered except for the proposed Creativity class.

In other school news:

•The parent portal is up and running for parents of Ames students. Executive Assistant for Information Management Margaret Colucci gave a presentation on how parents can access the new Power School system. The new system allows parents to go online and access school related information about their children in real time. Teachers are required to now record their grades on the Power School system instead of in a traditional grade book. In essence, parents can look at the teacher’s grade book records for their child and see detailed information such as attendance, individual assignment grades, and quarterly grades and learn if their child is struggling or exceeding expectations without waiting for a report card or mid-quarter report.

The parent portal is expected to be available to Berner parents in February and there is a tentative plan to have the high school portal up and running by the spring. Students may be able to access the system by February and course requests might be able to be done online during the winter of 2011- 12.

So far, the response has been less than enthusiastic as only four parents attended an information night about the system and less than 40 percent of Ames parents have logged on to it, however, it is expected to become popular and well-utilized.

“I love it and I’m sure the parents are going to really appreciate it,” said Lupetin Perrino.

Ames parents can access this by going to the district’s website (www.msd.k12.ny.us), click on schools, click on Ames, and then click on parent portal which will be on the left side. There will be an overview of the portal and a link to it. Parents were mailed an I.D. and a password.

•Assistant Superintendent Lucille Iconis gave a presentation about the student support programs in Massapequa. Iconis discussed the programs in place to help students having difficulty with reading and math. She said that the adaptive technology used in these programs have made a significant difference in helping students to work at their own level and then make progress.

“We have to rebuild the foundational pieces and fill in the gaps,” said Iconis about the program. “We’re doing it and doing it successfully. We’re really proud of these programs.”

•The board extended the term of interim Facilities Director, Frank Martin, until December 31. Sulc praised him for his work in that position.

“Mr. Martin is a very, very talented gentleman who seamlessly moved into this district. We owe him a strong thank you. We are going to miss him,” said Sulc.

“He did a terrific job with the new cafeteria,” added Lupetin Perrino.

Tim O’Donnell will begin as the new Facilities Director on January 3. O’Donnell comes to the district after serving in the same position in Freeport for five years. He said that he decided to come to Massapequa because he wanted the opportunity to work in a bigger district, which would present a bigger challenge. O’Donnell also said that his main priority is to provide a clean and safe working environment for students and staff.

•A resident voiced dissatisfaction with the four early dismissals that recently occurred in Massapequa schools due to parent-teacher conferences.

“Early dismissals are a huge inconvenience to working parents,” she said.

Sulc said that he has had an increase in the number of concerns about this but said it is a contractual issue with the teachers’ union. The current teachers’ contract does not expire until June 2012. However, he did say that the board should look at this issue in future negotiations.

•A resident also asked Sulc to respond to rumors among Massapequa students that there will be a shakeup of the football coaching staff. Sulc said that the team had a great season. He also said that all coaches are evaluated and reviewed at the end of each season and have conversations with the athletic director. Sulc said that some of these rumors may be coming from these conversations.

•The board awarded a one-year contract extension for the 2011-12 school year for service Routes 1-25 plus activity and sports trips to Educational Bus Transportation Inc. The rate increase will be 4.5 percent or the Consumer Price Increase set by New York State, whichever is lower.

•The board approved the inter-municipal fuel dock utilization contract with Massapequa Park for fueling the district’s vehicles. Massapequa Park Mayor James Altadonna had previously called this agreement a “win-win situation.”

•The board approved the expenditure from the Retirement Contribution Reserve Fund in the amount of $1,283,670 to finance the district’s retirement contributions to the Employee Retirement System. This action has been decided upon previously to lower the tax levy.

The next regular school board meetings will be held Jan. 6 and 20.