After-class middle school programs sought in Gowanda

Three residents addressed the Gowanda Central School Board of Education Wednesday evening, encouraging the board to establish an after-school activities program for middle school students.

Ralph Swanson represented a community committee that would like to see this done, and is in the process of developing a fund-raising project to encourage and contribute to its establishment.

Sharon Mathe spoke to the board, noting that it has been demonstrated that after-school programs actually improve the academic performance of students. She stated that it costs $90,000 to incarcerate a youth for one year, which is a cost far beyond anything that might be spent on an after-school program for the benefit of many young people.

Janet Vogtli also spoke, saying that many older students get a lot of after-school activity in the athletic activities available, but not so much in the middle school. She spoke to the fact that an activities program in these younger years would have the potential of going a long way to discourage the dropout rate in later years.

Three young ladies from the senior class then addressed the board, seeking approval for their class to take a sightseeing trip to Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, Md. on June 7— 9, 2013.

With the past week being “Honor the BOE Week,” District Superintendent Charles Rinaldi took a moment to award each board member with an attractive blue scarf, with white lettering reading “Gowanda Panthers,” along with a cat footprint.

Rinaldi stated that now with the completion of an Anti-Harassment policy, he would submit at the next meeting that Joelle Woodward be appointed as Anti-Harassment Compliance Officer to receive all complaints of harassment.

Rinaldi went over a summation on the returns from a survey on the suggested Transportation Efficiency Program that was sent out to citizens, comparing the costs and effects of a single routing bus system as opposed to the double routing now in use. Many of the points met equally with both pro and con reactions from many.

After a brief discussion it was agreed to do nothing this year to change the Senior Citizen Income and Disability Exemption Program. It has been adjusted in recent years.

In other matters, the board:

• Approved a transfer of funds firm the Unemployment insurance Reserve to the General Fund in the amount of $22,087.55 effective Nov. 8.

• Authorized the Superintendent to enter a contract with RA Mercer & Co. to perform Professional Internal Auditing services for the 2012-13 school year at an amount not to exceed $11,000 without authorization of the BOE.

• Established petty cash funds as follows: Title Vll Indian Education program – Whitney Nephew - $75.

• Approved the Gowanda High School Class of 2013 Senior Trip to Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, Md., on June 7-9. The board reserves the right to cancel the trip if the health or safety of the students becomes a concern.

• Accepted the donation of four refurbished Lenovo Thinkpad laptops, and four new Targus laptop carrying cases from the Seneca Gaming Corporation for the middle school Technology classroom.

• Awarded bid #876 for special needs transportation services as follows: Run #1 (A) Summit School, 165 Creekside Drive, Amherst, to Carrier Coach for $280 per day; and Run #1 (B) GED Program Atrium Building, 324 Central Avenue, Dunkirk, to First Student, Inc. for $50 per day.

• Approved the Internal Audit Phase 1: Overall Risk Assessment Update performed by R.A. Mercer & Co. for the year ending June 30.

• Awarded bid #875 for athletic materials as follows: to BSN Sports $23.72; Erie Sport Store, $51; Henry Schein, Inc. $241.43; Laux Sporting Goods $2,673.96; and Pyramid Products $199.66.

• Appointed Kimberly Schon as a substitute teacher, effective Oct. 4.

• Appointed Abigail Wesley as a substitute teacher, effective Oct. 12.

• Appointed Thomas Beiter, Cortney North and Bonnie Doctor as substitute teachers, effective Nov. 8.

• Appointed at the contractual rate the following positions for the 2012-13 school year: Varsity Girls’ Basketball - Meghan Himelein; JV Girls’ Basketball - Katelynn Bailey.

• Appointed Frank Fonti as a tutor for the high school After-School Tutoring Program for the 2012-13 school year at the contractual rate of $30 per hour, effective Oct. 22.

• Appointed Amanda Pickering to the full-time position of clerk to the board of education, effective Nov. 26, and to approve the employment contract. Effective date shall be subject to fingerprinting and statutory clearance.

• Amended the motion from July 11 to read: To appoint Joelle Woodward as District Clerk to serve at the pleasure of the board, effective July 1 until Nov. 25.

• Accepted, with regret, the resignation of Jennifer Clark as keyboard specialist 1, effective Nov. 12.

• Appointed Linnzi Williams as full-time probationary keyboard specialist 1, effective Nov. 13. The appointment is subject to fingerprinting and statutory clearance. Probation to begin Nov. 13 and continue for 52 weeks.

• Appointed Jennifer Clark as a substitute keyboard specialist and as a substitute teaching assistant, effective Nov. 13.

• Amended the motion from the Oct. 17 agenda to read: To appoint Teresa Oger as a substitute school monitor in study hall, effective Oct. 15.

• Appointed Thomas Beiter as a substitute teaching assistant and as a substitute school monitor, effective Nov. 8.

• Appointed Ethan Johnson as a substitute cleaner, effective Nov. 8.

• Approved David Kohler as a certified lifeguard for the 2012-13 school year for non-payroll purposes.

• Appointed Judith Weber as a probationary employee as a school monitor in the Food Service Department. Probation will begin Nov. 8 and continue for 26 weeks.

• Authorized the superintendent to sign an agreement on a settlement with Penny Bridges.

The next regular meeting of the Gowanda Central Board of Education will be on Wednesday, Dec. 5 at 7 p.m. in the middle school library.