Hammondsport offers to sell Curtiss school, again

    HAMMONDSPORT—The Hammondsport school board announced Wednesday, Aug. 17, that the former Curtiss school would once again be offered for sale.
    However, board President Jim Zimar explained they did not decide on any dates for proposals to be submitted or other details. He said the board would finalize those plans with a broker first. Board member Frank Curran said they would know dates by a special board meeting to be held sometime before the regular Sept. 21 meeting. The decision came after a 15 minute executive session to discuss real estate.
    The board previously agreed to sell the now empty school to the town of Urbana, Jan 19, 2011. However, district residents were opposed to the sale so they started a petition that forced a referendum vote, May 17, where the sale was voted down.
    In other business:
    • The board approved a 15 cent increase in the breakfast and lunch prices. Breakfast, for all grade levels, will cost $1.25. Lunch for kindergarten to sixth grade will now be $1.65 and for grades seven to 12 will increase to $1.90. Cafeteria Manager Lisa Zema gave a presentation on the school food program and the Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act. She explained under the act schools are required to offer more fresh fruits and vegetables, and made-from-scratch food selections. However, she added that Hammondsport already does many of the things listed in the act.
    • Representatives from Campus Construction Management met with the board about the upcoming capital project. Superintendent Kyle Bower said it will be that company’s job to oversee all of the work being done by the contractors. Campus Senior Field Manager Chuck Morse said in reviewing the project, the work would most likely take more than one summer to complete. Work is expected to start next year.
    • The board also reviewed some preliminary parts of the capital project for initial approval. There were multiple changes to bathroom sizes to meet code requirements. The proposed impacts to other spaces include doubling the size of the student lounge. Bower said he and two other board members met with Campus to go over these parts of the project for board review.
    • Jessica Lawrence, BOCES internal auditor, presented her audit of the district’s cash receipts and revenue. She only had two issues to report: the collateral agreement was out of date and one deposit was made in the wrong area.