SHERMAN — There was a tremendous improvement in students’ iReady diagnostic test results from September to December, Sherman Central School board members learned recently.

Principal Ann Morrison told the board that iReady is a comprehensive test administered to all students.

“We ran the first diagnostic for iReady in September,” she said. “We ran the second in December and there was huge, huge growth.”

iReady is a diagnostic assessment which determines competency on Common Core math and reading skills, Morrison said. She explained that students in Tier 1 are proficient in math and reading skills and students in tier 2 are performing at grade level.

“Where we are now in December, things look very good,” she said. “We are going to run two more diagnostics in the spring to see where we are and to make sure nobody falls through any cracks.”

In other business, district business Manager Kim Oehlbeck told board members that two items from the auditor’s report that need attention, namely, the fund balance and the preparation of district finances with an auditor, must be given a solid “take action” date.

Oehlbeck also reported that the district went out to bid for new Suburbans. Jones Chevrolet came back with the best price, she said.

Oehlbeck told board members that, while revenues for December were received in full, there is still no news on transportation reimbursement for the period when students were not being transported on the busses. District Superintendent Michael Ginestre said there is some hope that districts will get the transportation reimbursement, but it has to be by executive order.

Oehlbeck also told the board that reopening costs are not eligible for reimbursement by FEMA, but some costs from March, April and May might qualify. She noted that FEMA says there is no category in existence where school reopening costs can be claimed.

“They (FEMA) are considering January 20 as the opening date of the pandemic and there is no end date in sight. FEMA generally deals with emergencies that have a specific end date,” she said.

Ginestre told the board that money from FEMA is flowing very slowly.

“We’re still lobbying for that money,” he said. “Districts that have gotten letters from FEMA have not been happy. they only got a little money or none at all.”

On a more positive note for the district, Ginestre told board members that “we seem to have an abundance of good news when it comes to scholarships.”

He said there were four scholarship currently available for students.

Ginestre told board members that guidance counselor Lori Svenson will be putting together a committee to decide how the scholarships will be administered and distributed, and what the qualifications will be.

Ginestre also updated the board on the situation with yellow, orange and red zones, reminding everyone that there are currently no areas of Chautauqua County that have been designated yellow zones.

“There are no red flags, right now,” he said. “If we do move to a yellow zone, the state and county will approve us to be a testing site.”

Should the district be designated a yellow zone and wish to maintain in-person learning, Ginestre said, it would be necessary to test 20% of the in person population. It would be a rapid test, and if the results come back lower than the rolling average, no further testing would be required, he said.

Ginestre said he commends the government for not designating entire counties as yellow, orange or red.

“The Chautauqua County dashboard breaks everything down and we’re watching it every single day,” he said.

Ginestre emphasized that the district is moving forward with its plan to continue in-person learning.

“If a teacher is in quarantine, he or she can continue teaching from home,” he said, “and they’ve been more than willing to do that.”

Ginestre told the board that everyone understands the value of in-person instruction.

“With everybody stepping up and supervising rooms, it’s gone very well,” he said. “It’s definitely been a team effort that’s kept us open, so kudos to everybody.”

In a related matter, Ginestre told board members that the Chautauqua County Health Department is asking that the school be a site for administering vaccines. He said it would be completely run by the county and the district would only need to provide a custodian for the building. The administration is in favor of it, he said, but the board needs to approve it.

In other business, the board approved the appointment of David Inman as a long-term substitute for Spanish.

“He will be a long-term substitute until he is certified,” Ginestre said. “Then we’d like to put him on a tenure track.”

The board also approved the tenure recommendation for social studies teacher Scott Costantini, following a detailed recommendation by Ginestre.