Oswego Board Of Education Furthers Conversations Regarding Track Improvements, Looks To Make Senior Class Trip More Inclusive

by Matt Watling | June 16, 2021 8:05 am

OSWEGO – In the final meeting of the school year, the Oswego City School District’s Board of Education approved of its Teacher’s Association bargained contract through 2024, tabled discussions regarding the potential approval of the annual senior class and furthered the conversation on new upgrades to the middle school’s track and field complex.

Before approving of the Oswego Classroom Teachers Association bargaining agreement, the board rejected a resolution to approve of the Oswego Association of Administrative Personnel collective bargaining agreement through June 2024. Board member Jim McKenzie expressed his displeasure with the contract, asking for the agreement to be reworked.

“I know negotiations are always give and take, these processes are long and involved, but I don’t think this AP contract has gotten to where it should be,” McKenzie said. “I think we should ask Dr. Calvin to go back to the table and work on some things for the long term interest of the district.”

The teachers agreement was passed, on the other hand, by a vote of six approvals and one member abstaining. Pamela Dowd was the lone abstention due to the fact that a family member of hers was involved in the contract, but she said that she still supports it.

In the Superintendent’s Report, Dr. Mathis Calvin III announced that the district awarded over $1 million in scholarships on Monday. Calvin also answered a question from the community. Neelesh Shah asked about the plans for the school district to open its swimming pool facility to the public, something it has done in the past.

Now with COVID-19 restrictions lessened, community members can access the facilities as long as they fill out the required forms, according to Calvin. The superintendent also answered a question that has been asked quite a bit regarding rumored changes to Frederick Leighton School for the next school year.

“There is nothing planned at this time, except Leighton will continue moving as we currently are in terms of status quo. I know there were thoughts [of] capital construction … but that is not something we are doing at this time,” Calvin said. “At this point in time, we want people to know Leighton is open [for next year] as normal.”

Later during the report, board member Lynda Sereno questioned why the district did not purchase the track equipment that was up for discussion previously when it upgraded the track in 2008. Calvin said that it was because Oswego did not need it at the time, but this was the athletic director, Rhonda Bullard’s, recommendation now in 2021.

“The recommendation is if we can get it all now, we do have some extra amounts [of money] that we are expecting, so that would certainly be something we could do if the board wishes to do that,” Calvin said.

This sparked some debate among the board, as McKenzie argued that it should not consider the surplus to be “extra money,” since it should be spent in the taxpayers best interest. McKenzie was under the assumption based on the June 2 meeting that the equipment that is up for replacement is actually in good shape, according to Cory Jenner.

“According to Cory at our last meeting, a number of things currently being presented to us have been bought in the somewhat recent past and are in perfectly good working condition … Maybe I heard wrong, maybe he [was] wrong, but this is a quarter million dollars we are talking about,” McKenzie said. “This is just too much money.”

McKenzie added that the current sports equipment budget is $41,000 while this project would cost $244,000. Dowd added that what she interpreted from Jenner’s comments was that at the time in 2008 the equipment was in good condition, not now. Vice President of the board, Tom Ciappa, chimed in, and wanted the board and district to consider buying the “necessities” instead of the wants as well.

“The reason I did want to itemize it was that I think some things are necessities but there are other things that are less important or we can utilize what we have right now and we should look at it that way,” Ciappa said. “Along the lines of the pole vault, it would be nice to have two but that is $70,000 or $35,000 for half of that. Do we need to have two? And I think bringing Rhonda in [for that would be helpful].”

McKenzie’s argument did not rule out purchasing equipment for the steeple chase since that would be new to the district and would allow them to host sectionals, something the district wants to be able to do. Calvin III ended the discussion by agreeing to set up a time for the facilities committee to check on the equipment to see what is not in good enough condition.

Later in the meeting, the board tabled discussions regarding the senior class trip to Orlando, Florida which would take place in either February or March of 2022. The trip typically sends just 40 kids out of a class of more than 200, according to one board member Kathleen Allen. This is in part due to the large price tag that students must pay or subsidize through fundraising.

Nearly every board member spoke out against this because it leaves lesser privileged students out. The board suggested polling the upcoming seniors to see what type of trip they would want. The board agreed that the trip should be closer to Oswgo and at a more inclusive price.

In terms of resolutions, all personnel resolutions passed 7-0. All finance resolutions except for resolutions G and H passed 7-0 as well. G and H were motioned to be removed from the agenda by McKenzie as there is still another budget workshop to figure out a more accurate estimate.

Agenda items and documents from the meeting can be found here[1]. The full meeting can be viewed in the video link provided above.

 

Source URL: https://oswegocountytoday.com/news/oswego/oswego-board-of-education-furthers-conversations-regarding-track-improvements-looks-to-make-senior-class-trip-more-inclusive/

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