OSWEGO – The Oswego City School District Board of Education met last night, Tuesday, February 1, 2022, and discussed face mask policy, community concerns and the district’s budget.
The pledge of allegiance was followed by a moment of silence to honor two recently deceased staff members, Ann Moody and Joyce Cooper. Board member Dr. James McKenzie was absent.
Executive Director of Business and Finance Nancy Squairs reported the findings of two audit reports of major federal programs, noting that there were no findings with regard to the child nutrition program. Squairs said that there was one minor finding in the Extra Classroom Activities Report, but that this was a minor oversight, likely caused by a reduction of communication due to the COVID-19 restriction on in person meetings.
The Superintendent’s Report was presented by Dr. Mathis Calvin III, beginning with congratulating student Claire Buckalew, a fifth grader who has earned the privilege of competing in a local spelling bee.
Calvin then went on to discuss a recent court case on Long Island challenging the State Education Department’s ability to require mask wearing in public schools. Calvin stated that nothing would change with regard to mask wearing until March 2 at the earliest.
“We are in a holding pattern at this time,” Calvin said. “And we will share information with the public as soon as we receive it.”
Calvin said that he has received questions from the public regarding the State Education Department’s authority, and he said that the SED has an overarching authority on public schools programs and policies.
He continued to address community concerns, speaking to questions regarding the recent periods of remote learning. Calvin listed several reasons for the move, including a large number of staff contracting COVID-19.
“We have had as many as 50 to 98 teachers being unable to attend school on a given day,” Calvin said.
He noted that this level of absence also affected the support staff. Calvin reported that Oswego County was at times at a thirty percent infection rate, and that did “come home to the schools.”
Calvin then addressed concerns relating to the reduction of spectators at school sponsored events. He said that this policy was based on recommendations from New York state, and that the district has been sharing information steadily as it has been received.
“A number of things led to the temporary reduction of spectators,” Calvin said.
He demonstrated the Data Dashboard available on the district’s website, which shows COVID data and is updated daily.
“Sometimes when we have challenging times we must take a temporary pause, make sure things are better, and then we restart one step at a time,” Calvin said.
Director of Transportation Tom Gunn spoke to the board regarding the effects of the short staffing issues the department has faced recently.
“We have had staff members from the Ed Center, the warehouse, and buildings and grounds, and they are all willing to help us, and it has really helped with the hard parts that we were faced with just a few weeks ago,” Gunn said.
Board member Tom Ciappa asked Gunn about the current staffing levels at the transportation department.
“We were seeing almost one third of the staff gone, and today we were under ten,” Gunn said.
Calvin then noted recent changes to the district’s website, which has been updated to make it easier to find COVID related information.
The board then began a discussion of the upcoming budget, specifically the program budget. Calvin stated that a draft document has been assembled. The governor’s budget includes an increase in Foundation Aid of three percent. This results in a projected increase of $7.4 million for OCSD. Calvin noted an increase in P-Tech grants, an area of concern discussed in previous OCSD Board meetings.
In an analysis of the itemized budget items, Executive Director of Business and Finance Squairs noted that the largest increase fell into the salaries column, with an increase of $1,154,306. The BOCES line item increased $925,398. The overall increase in the OCSD program budget is $2.7 million. Squairs noted that the program budget is the largest “piece” of the district’s budget. According to Squairs, the price of paper has doubled, creating an unavoidable increase.
Squairs then read through the program budget line by line, noting increases and decreases and explaining the need for these changes in detail. Board President Heather DelConte asked Squairs to clarify an item relating to athletic transportation, and Squires noted that Athletic trips are not “state aidable” and must be paid for out of the district’s budget.
Moving to the consent agenda, items A through F were passed unanimously, item G, the Treasurer’s Consolidated Report, was tabled.
On the personnel agenda, items A through J passed unanimously.
Support Staff recommendations passed unanimously.
Item O, Substitute and Temporary Employee, passed with Board Member Tom Ciappa abstaining.
All expenditures were approved unanimously.
Student representative Zach DeMott outlined a number of concerns, noting that students are thankful to see the number of spectators allowed to attend sporting events slowly increase, and also relaying the information that many students are not happy with the quality of the food being served at school.
Before the board moved to executive session to discuss a personnel matter, board member Pamela Dowd asked the community to have patience with the district, stating that all staff are struggling with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I say thank you to them,” Dowd said.
Board member Lynda Sereno thanked Calvin for his ability to lead the District through difficult times.
“He is steadfast, and he tries to answer everybody’s questions,” Sereno said.
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