OSWEGO – Dr. Mathis Calvin III shared with the board of education that starting next Monday, students at the middle and high school will regain access to their lockers, after transitioning back to fully in-person learning.
This was a point of emphasis for Lisa Glidden, one board member, as she was made aware of a petition floating around the schools. In the petition, students asked for access to lockers, something that was not initially allowed in order to mitigate large groups in the hallways.
“I did reach out to the person who started the petition and was able to share a few things. As we opened the year, we said we were going to open first without the lockers. We were concerned about people gathering in the halls … And after we got started, we would evaluate that practice and go from there,” said Calvin. “We feel we are good. We can start on Monday with folks using their lockers.”
Calvin also addressed concerns regarding an altercation at Oswego High School. As Calvin wrote in his letter to the community, there was a fight on Thursday, September 9 at the high school. Because of this and the resulting altercation the next day at the Oswego High School football game, Calvin and the district decided to change security plans.
Calvin also asked for parents to accompany their children that attend sporting events if they are in middle school or elementary school to ensure their safety. In regards to the Thursday situation, Calvin said that the high school resolved the issues using the district’s code of conduct. Additionally, staff will begin to put a greater focus on teaching conflict resolution strategies.
“We have also enacted our social-emotional support,” said Calvin. “We have a number of counselors and folks all around who are teaching conflict resolution skills as well. One of the things we have learned is that as students are re-entering the schools across the district that we really need to pay some attention to conflict resolution. Folks have been out of those normal routines in schools, and we want to make sure that we re-teach those things, especially at the high school.”
Also in the Superintendent’s Report, Calvin explained that the district is still working on a COVID-19 testing protocol with the county health department, something that all nine schools in the region have yet to complete. Calvin anticipated a need for more clerical staff to assist the district in contact tracing, even though the county health department will provide at least six more people to work on contact tracing across the nine schools in the county.
Earlier in the meeting, the board unanimously approved of the district’s code of conduct for 2021. The code was discussed in the previous meeting on September 7 but was officially approved on Tuesday.
Another issue of note was the Soil Remediation Project. The original plan was to have fencing along three sides of the field but due to new concerns, the district considered closing in that final side.
“We also looked at it in terms of people going on the field,” Executive Director of Business and Finance Nancy Squairs said. “I talked to the athletic director, and she said she has removed kids from around the area on motorbikes doing donuts on the previous field. Knowing that the field is still new and pristine and fresh, and it has to go through another growing season, we thought it was best to add that other side of the fence.”
The final cost of the fencing is $53,127 and will have an impact on the contingency balance, according to Calvin. Later in the meeting, the board amended the agenda to include a resolution regarding this alteration. The board voted to approve the construction of the final fencing unanimously.
Across all sections of the agena which include personnel, finance and curriculum, the board approved each resolution unanimously. Because of the new resolution on the fence, the resolution originally listed as Subject A in the finance section, “Budget Amendment for Balance of Cares and Geers funds,” was called Subject B in the meeting minutes and video recording. All other resolutions were moved down one letter as well.
Agenda items and documents from the meeting can be found here. The full meeting can be viewed in the video link provided above.
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