Hammondsport school board 1/19/11

Meeting: The Hammondsport Central School Board of Education met Jan. 19, for two hours, plus two executive sessions totaling one hour and 15 minutes.
Attendance:  All board members were present.  There were 27 members of the public in the audience.
Action: Accepted the $300,000 contract between Hammondsport Central School and the town of Urbana for the sale of the Curtiss School building and property.
Discussion without action: Several people in attendance objected to the town of Urbana as a purchaser for Curtiss School, and raised the possibility of a petition to reverse the decision.
• Superintendent Kyle Bower stated Hammondsport was already “as low as you can get” in state aid, but was likely to go even lower under new state proposals.  With 500 students and almost $900,000,000 in property, the district is considered in the top 1 percent for wealth in New York state, despite having almost 20 percent of its children in poverty and over 50 percent on free and reduced-price lunches.
• Bower reported the new state and federal focuses are set to dramatically change the face of education toward more commonality with greater emphasis on skills and process.
• Bower said that an auction of surplus furnishings from the Curtiss School brought in $17,031.69.
Appointments/resignations: The board approved the following appointments:
• Marsha Faucett, Class of 2012 advisor, $660.32.
• Ami Corell, mentor, $403.29.
• Alice Weal, long-term substitute, $13,386.
• Janet McConologue, on-call substitute, $80/day.
• Kenneth Cornish, bus driver, $12/hour.
• Marianne Calafiore, field study student from Keuka College.
• Marsha Bennett, parent member of the Committee of Special Education.
• Suzanne Szathmary, part-time teacher aide, $11.22/hour.
• Kayla Walruth, volunteer shadow and assistant in the music department.
• The school board approved maternity leave for Kerry Meade from approximately March 14 to May 2.
Upcoming meetings:  The next regular school board meeting is Wednesday, Feb. 16, at 7 p.m.