OSWEGO – The Oswego City School District Board of Education met on the evening of Tuesday, February 7, 2023, with all members present.
District resident Jim Eckman once again addressed the board during the Public Session portion of the meeting, expressing his dissatisfaction with the district officials, as well as outgoing Superintendent Dr. Mathis Calvin III and his handling of his concerns. Eckman stated that he was glad to see him leave the District.
Moving to the Superintendent’s report, Calvin congratulated Kingsford Park students for donating greeting cards to residents of Bishop’s Commons, and mentioned a recent reading with a parents event at the Frederick Leighton School.
Calvin also mentioned this upcoming weekend’s performance of the musical Cinderella at Oswego High School.
Calvin shared details of the District’s Reopening Plan, noting that the District was recently notified by the American Rescue Plan (ARP) of the requirement to do so. Calvin said that the schools are now operating as before the COVID-19 pandemic.
“School is open – pretty much as normal for the most part,” Calvin said, “but there were just some things that we thought we should share with you.”
Executive Director of Business and Finance Nancy Squairs then reviewed some of the minutia relating to changes of language in the District’s plan, noting details regarding plans for remote instruction if needed.
Calvin then moved the Board’s attention to the District’s budget, sharing that Governor Hochul’s proposed budget shows a 10% increase in aid to public schools. Calvin noted an increase of funding aimed at math tutoring in grades three through eight.
Squairs outlined items on the Executive budget, noting a 35% increase in state aid – an addition of $14,906,687.
Calvin went on to warn the Board of an upcoming “fiscal cliff” that will reduce future aid due to the ending of several sources of income, including a lawsuit that determined that New York State was underfunding rural districts that have made funds available for the last few years.
Calvin recommended hiring no new staff, stating that the District is “overstaffed” in the secondary level; also recommending allotting $35,000.00 toward Science Technology, Engineering and Math activities – funding that he said would be “state aided.”
The Superintendent recommended hiring a head bus driver at the cost of $60,000, stating that the current Director of Transportation, Thomas Gunn, is in need of assistance.
Calvin also recommended the hiring of an additional School Resource Officer at the High School, as well as an increase in behaviorist staffing, at a cost of approximately $279,000.00.
The Superintendent listed two areas of concern regarding facilities: those being aging generators at three of the school buildings – Charles E. Riley, Fitzhugh Park School and Minetto.
Concerns were identified over the buildings not meeting standards in the Building Condition Survey recently completed by the District. Cost of the new generators comes in at around $1.5 million dollars.
Calvin also addressed issues with cracks in the walls and foundations at the Oswego Middle School, concerns with exterior walls and steps at Fitzhugh Park School, and concerns with exterior walls at Kingsford Park School – as well as elevator repairs at the Oswego Middle School.
According to Calvin, the projects would be eligible for state aid funding, coming in at a cost of $1.5 million or higher.
Agenda items:
Items A-L on the Consent Agenda passed unanimously.
Items A-O on the personnel Agenda passed unanimously.
Items A-g on the Finance Agenda passed unanimously.
Student representative Maura Dempsey mentioned several upcoming events, and wished Calvin good luck in his new position.
Under Items from the Board, Board member Pamela Down led a discussion of the protocols surrounding Board members visiting classrooms to observe.
Dowd said that several teachers had approached her asking to have board members visit their classrooms, and that there was some confusion as to the way that this would be arranged.
Board President Dr. Lisa Glidden stated that she believed that any invitation to visit a classroom should be extended to the entire board.
“There is never a time that we have said that we don’t want people to be going in and seeing classrooms,” Calvin said.
The Board next made the decision to reschedule the next meeting for Monday, February 13 at 5:00 p.m. This will allow for a time sensitive discussion of the District’s tax relief for senior citizens protocol.
