Student joins Dundee school board

DUNDEE—Senior Jesse Ninos was sworn in as the student representative on the Dundee Central School District board of education, Sept. 9.
Board President Joseph Capurso said, “This is  something new for all of us. This is something we have wanted to do  for a long time. We are looking forward to having insight through you so students feel they have a real conduit to the board of education. I encourage you to be extremely active in finding out what the student needs are; the needs of the student body as a whole.” Ninos will be a non-voting member of the board.
In other business:
• Superintendent of Schools Kathy Ring announced, “Opening day was delightful.” There are currently 863 students enrolled in the district. Ring outlined areas of focus for the year, noting long range plans are needed in the areas of technology and fiscal sustainability.
• Ring said she had met with district resident Willie Fultz about the Sports Booster group. She said they want to enhance what is being done at the school.
• Junior/senior high school Principal Chris Arnold spoke to the board about the beginning of the year and the need to maximize instructional time and minimize interruptions. He said there is also a need for consistent communication and interpretation of policy. Arnold said the Sources of Strength program has been offered by University of Rochester.
This is a peer led group and U of R will train faculty and students. He said the program is similar to Natural Helpers, but should be supplemental to that group. There will be representatives from all different groups. Arnold concluded, ‘The  year is off to a good start.”
• During the board forum, board Vice President Jim Koehler said the board probably  needs to continue to refine what student representative Jesse Ninos’s role will be. Board member Paul Brown spoke about the changes in sports fields, asking if there have been any thoughts about not having home games next year.
Athletic Director Charles Mochamer, who attended the meeting at Brown’s request, said there is a cost to play at Penn Yan and that Freedom Village has offered the use of their field. Ring said a decision will be made regarding what will be best for all of our kids. All the stakeholders will meet to decide what would work for all.
• Old age has apparently hit the bus lift at the district garage. During a public meeting that preceded the Sept. 10 meeting, business manager Melissa Lawson outlined the problem. The lift can move up and down, but cannot move as needed to service small vehicles. Lawson said the current lift is probably original to the building. The board approved spending $15,000 to have Auburn-based Filtrec Corporation complete repairs. The board authorized withdrawal of monies needed from the Repair Reserve Fund.
• Lawson reported on progress of the capital project’s Phase I. She said one frustration is the slow delivery of the precast stones, which has been holding things up. She said the basic stones must be in place first. She told the board the project is substantially on schedule. Phase II is moving along.
There will be a pre-bid conference for contractors at the end of the month. Work will not start until the February 2011 break.  The bulk of the work will be done in late spring and straight into the next school year.  She added, “It will take a lot of coordination.” Phase II is the interior work mainly on heating, ventilation, cooling and air conditioning (HVAC).
The next meeting of the board of education will be Oct. 14 at 7 p.m. in the public meeting room.