Hammondsport school board 01/21/09

Meeting: The Hammondsport Central School Board of Education met Wednesday, Jan. 21 for one hour and 10 minutes, plus an executive session that lasted one hour and five minutes.

Attendance: Board member Christine Kolo was absent; all other members werepresent, plus school officials and an audience of 15.

Action:  None.

Discussion wthout action: Superintendent Kyle Bower stated that the first budget draft for 2009-2010 will be available Feb. 11.  Bower pointed out that significant cuts in state aid are inevitable.  He said that his current budget draft (subject to considerable revision) projects reducing salary and benefits by $341,000 through eliminating four non-instructional positions and not filling four positions that will open in June.  The draft also contemplates reducing $80,000 in such areas as tuition (for students going to school out of district), public relations, library supplies, computer equipment, and software.  This would lead to a 0.4 percent budget reduction ($12,034,000 to $11,989,000), and a 3.83 percent increase in the property tax levy.

Appointments/resignations: The board approved the following appointments; Kayla Yastremski, Jessica Morris, Carlie Brown, Renee Carvajal: on-call substitute teachers at $80/day.

• The board also approved the following resignations; Leslie Stoeckel, food services; and Stephanie Conover, special education teacher, leave of absence approximately 5/25 through 6/30.

Bids/purchases over $1,000:  None.

Upcoming meetings:  The next regular board meeting will be Wednesday, Feb. 11 at 7 p.m.