10/09/2026
AMITYVILLE 9/9/26 Board of Education RECAP - Still No Measurable Superintendent Goals
Last night’s discussion of Superintendent goals, Board goals and the Strategic Plan exposed a larger problem, there continues to be resistance to measurable academic accountability and the Board itself has largely been left out of developing the district’s strategic direction.
❌Words like improve, enhance, support, strengthen and increase may sound good in presentation but where are the quantifiable metrics?
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✔️Trustee Leon pushed for an academic goal that Amityville perform equal to or better than the average New York State school and for proficiency to exceed the prior year.
❌Superintendent Talbert responded that the proposed goal was not “clear and concise.”
✔️But isn’t establishing a benchmark exactly what a measurable goal is supposed to do? Leon also advocated for proficiency results to exceed the prior year’s results. Establish the baseline, set the expectation and measure the outcome.
✔️Trustee Messmann similarly pushed for stronger language in Goal #1, the academic goal, and raised student retention as another area worthy of measurable attention.
Trustee Yard-Jean argued that measurable academic metrics belong at the principal level.
✅Messmann, who has a clear grasp on board governance, made the critical distinction that the Board does not set goals for principals. It sets goals for the Superintendent, who is then responsible for carrying those expectations through the administrators working under her.
That is governance. Yet the Board majority pushed back against Leon and Messmann’s efforts to establish stronger, measurable expectations.
🚩There were process concerns as well. Trustee Davenport took it upon herself and presented proposed Board goals rather than having them emerge from robust discussion and collaboration among all seven trustees. It was stated numerous times that the presentation was given late the night prior and gave little to no time for meaningful input or questions.
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➡️THE STRATEGIC PLAN RAISED ANOTHER BIGGER ISSUE
As a reminder, a strategic plan is a core responsibility of the superintendent, however, in Talbert’s year four, the district still does not have them. Instead, she continually recommended hiring a consultant to help her at the taxpayers expense. With a salary of $257k, she should have been able to provide these on her own.
Messmann pointed out that the Board was not part of the summer strategic-planning workshops, despite NYSSBA (NYS School Board Association) emphasizing during its Board retreat that the Board should be involved in strategic planning.
Messmann asked that the Board be meaningfully involved at least twice during the process and receive formal presentations with opportunities for trustees and the community to provide feedback.
Talbert noted that she informed the Board in July of six priorities and that trustees had been invited to strategic-planning sessions and she has included brief snippets of updates in memos.
🚫But being told about priorities is not the same as collaborating in developing them. Being invited to daytime summer sessions, when trustees have their own careers and work, is not a substitute for deliberately incorporating the governing body into the process.
✅Leon reinforced the point - the Board has a role in determining what it wants the district to accomplish and what it wants the district to look like. He emphasized the conversation should have happened with the Board much earlier.
Messmann also requested that the district’s paid strategic-planning consultant come to a Board meeting in the evening, after workhours, so trustees and the community could hear directly from the consultant, ask questions and provide input.
Talbert pushed back, saying the district would have to examine the additional cost because the contract provides for a set number of stakeholder meetings.
‼️Considering the district just ended the year with an $8 million surplus, cost seems like an especially weak reason to avoid bringing the person being paid to help develop Amityville’s strategic direction before its elected governing body.
And this all circles back to the same fundamental issue:
✅The Board governs. The Superintendent administers.
The Board should collaboratively establish priorities and measurable expectations. The Superintendent should implement them. The Board should then evaluate the results.
🚫Updates and snippets are not collaboration. Invitations are not meaningful participation. And goals without measurable outcomes are not accountability.
After multiple meetings, Amityville still deserves a simple answer:
⁉️What measurable academic results must be achieved this year and how will this Board determine whether the Superintendent succeeded?
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Other Points of Interest👇
🔹Tensions continue between Trustees MacDonald and Leon with MacDonald taking a swipe at Leon in public. Trustee Yard-Jean intervened to attempt to deescalate.
🔹A new NYS mandated policy was discussed but there was no first reading as it was not available to the public as is required by law. This will be discussed and there is an opportunity for community input at the next Board meeting. The policy is - "Safeguarding the Rights of Immigrant and Noncitizen Students".
🔹Trustee Leon brought up the need for a feeder sports program in Amityville to get student athletes prepared and interested as they advance to the middle school and high school.
🔹Middle School construction and improvements continue.
🔹Park Ave School - New playground flooring is being installed
🔹The board appointed 116 districtwide chaperones
🗓️Next Board of Education meeting is September 16th.
