Sachem Board of Education News & Notes

The Sachem Central School District's Board of Education voted to allow ImPACT testing on football players in the district Wednesday night.

ImPact, which stands for immediate post-concussion assessment and cognitive testing, will start Thursday at Sachem High School North, where football players will undergo a neurocognitive exam to get a baseline of their pre-hit brain functionality. Players at Sachem High School East will have this done Friday. Sachem Patch will bring coverage of this Thursday afternoon.

Dr. Phil Schrank and Ray Nelson from Excel Rehab and Physical Therapy presented to the board about the groundbreaking tests that other states, as well as major professional sports leagues, are using.

Developed in the early 1990's by Drs. Mark Lovell and Joseph Maroon, ImPACT is a 20-minute test that has become a standard tool used in comprehensive clinical management of concussions for athletes of all ages. ImPACT Applications, Inc. was co-founded by Mark Lovell, PhD, Joseph Maroon, MD, and Michael (Micky) Collins, PhD.

Features of the test

• Measures player symptoms
• Measures verbal and visual memory, processing speed and reaction time
• Reaction time measured to 1/100th of second
• Assists clinicians and athletic trainers in making difficult return-to-play decisions
• Provides reliable baseline test information
• Produces comprehensive report of test results
• Results can be e-mailed or faxed for fast consultation by a neuropsychologist
• Automatically stores data from repeat testing
• Testing is administered online for individuals or groups

"Having a baseline of data is very crucial," Dr. Schrank said. "Players get dinged up. The question is how bad is this ding? Is it bad enough for them to sit out or go back in?"

Some board members expressed concern of needing parental consent to do the tests. Another striking point is the lack of certified ImPact technicians on Long Island. Only eight doctors in Suffolk County right now are certified. Board trustee Christine Lampitelli specifically was displeased with this number. Section XI, Suffolk County's governing board of athletics, hasn't done enough to support this testing, according to Nelson and Schrank.

State raises bar with testing

District administrators gave a presentation about recent New York State standard increases and Sachem's performance in accordance with the mandates. Board members stressed the importance of teaching to mastery and not just to the bar level of passing. Multiple trustees said something needs to be done with the curriculum to teach not to the test, but to teach across the board so students do master the exams.

"We're changing the whole culture, we're changing how we do business," said Superintendent James Nolan. "Over the last couple years as a district we've been speaking more and more to mastery instead of just passing. Slowly but surely we're getting there and our goal is to redefine the way we do business K-12 so that is our expectation. That does not happen over night. The quick fix is not to add staff."

The following items were discussed at the meeting:

Possible solutions

-Normalize the district's own data

-Push in services with teacher's aides

-Saturday academy

-0-9 period services for middle and high schools

-Before/after school support (elementary)

-Opt-in services

For the future

-9 period days in the middle schools

-Increase student contact time in elementary schools

-Increase staff to lower student/teacher ratio

-Improve delivery of AIS services via curriculum revision

-Increase literacy and math coaches

Potential district implications

-Possible increase in staffing

-Scheduling and parent notification

-Updating current curriculum

-Staff development

-Possible increase in AIS class/personnel

Retirees honored

Before Wednesday's meeting, a group of district teachers who are retiring were honored. To see the list names, click the PDF to the right.

Key board approvals Wednesday

-An agreement between Sachem and FranklinCovey Client Sales to provide a workshop, "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People," July 22-23 was approved. The total cost for the consultant and participant materials is $20,167.31.

-Approval of late transportation request for private and parochial schools for seven students amounts to $77,000.

-Appointment of Joan Wolffer (North physical education) and Greg Wrightson (East English) as chairpersons for their respective departments.

-Approval of purchase of various science equipment/training from McGraw-Hill School Education Group totaling $783,000 over two years.

Next up

-The next board of education meeting is set for Sept. 1 at 7:30 p.m. in the administrative annex at Samoset.