Newly hired security director James Gresham has resigned his post. Gresham had been appointed director of school safety on Oct. 14. He had previously served as director of security in the Southampton Union Free School District; he left that post when he was hired by Riverhead. The Board of Education accepted his resignation last night, but did not discuss the reason why Gresham quit.
While the details of Gresham’s resignation were not discussed, Riverhead resident Laurie Downs expressed concern regarding the proposed budget security expenditures (as presented by Superintendent Nancy Carney at the Feb. 24 board meeting) which include additional security guards, new security cameras, expanding Project Safeguard to Pulaski Street school and BadgePass visitor management system for all schools.
“If you’re going to hire someone else to take his spot, maybe their recommendations might be different and might end up costing us even more down the road. They might not like the things that he has chosen,” Downs said.
“Actually, I would rather we hire someone from a private firm, I see that as a savings to the district,” she added.
The budget is expected to move forward as presented, board president Greg Meyers said, adding: “We’re looking at trying to support as many options as possible.”
School calendar changes for 2015-2016 nixed
While the 2015-2016 school calendar was not on the published agenda for this week, following a question by community member Sharon Burke, Carney explained that the calendar will be on the agenda for the next Board of Education meeting, and while the district has never followed the BOCES calendar exactly, next year the district will be following the BOCES calendar with further discussions to follow. Building principals will be discussing the issue at PTO meetings and school open houses to get input and feedback from parents on the issue, she said.
Ballot propositions approved
The board last night approved three ballot propositions for the May 19 school district election — in addition to proposition one, the 2015-2016 operating budget.
Proposition two is for the use of funds to purchase and make changes to the property proposed for the new bus garage on Edwards Avenue and building a new buildings and grounds facility on the central campus. The total expenditure would amount to $9,500,000.
Proposition three is a bond proposition to fund a turf field, which Carney said is being put to a vote at the request of parents who have advocated for it. The total expenditure for the turf field is expected to total $1,200,000 with a debt service of $140,000 or less for each of the next 10 years, Carney said. This proposition is contingent on the passage of proposition two (bus garage.)
The fourth proposition to establish a 2015 repair reserve fund, since the existing 2011 repair reserve fund will be depleted with the repairs currently planned. The proposition calls for beginning to save $5,000,000 with money transferred by the board to the fund from the excess fund balance.
The board will vote on the adoption of the proposed budget at its April 14 meeting. Following board adoption, Carney will present the budget to the community at various meetings. A full listing of community presentations is available in the district’s fourth presentation which will be available on the school district’s website.
Public Hearing: Proposed Repair Reserve Fund Expenditures
After a brief public hearing, the Board of Education approved using the repair reserve fund to make repairs to district schools.
Repairs in Roanoke Avenue Elementary School include repairs to the school’s library, replacing the shelving, furniture, lighting and learning spaces. Additionally, the steam pipes at Roanoke would be repaired so that the pipes can withstand the appropriate pressure required.
Ceilings and lighting repairs are needed at both the high school and middle school, as well as repairs to walls, doors, soffits and stoops in the lobby of the high school. The lockers in the middle school will also be replaced; the new lockers will be wider and stacked – allowing for students to fit backpacks, which the current lockers do not easily fit. The new lockers would also be ADA compliant.
The rubber roof on the older portions of the Pulaski Street School will also be repaired. The current bond does include some roof work but additional work is needed. Doing this work at the same time as the roof work accounted for in the current bond would save the district money, Carney said.
The final areas to be addressed include repairs to the windows at both Roanoke and Pulaski schools.
According to the Carney’s presentation, the total cost for the repairs are expected amount to $1,813,452. Depending on the final costs, these repairs are expected to exhaust the current reserve funds, Carney said, adding that the board has expressed interest in continuing to add funds to the reserve account.
Budget presentation
School districts are still waiting for the state aid runs which has made creating a budget even more difficult this year, Carney reminded board members.
Carney, a member of the legislative committee of the Suffolk County school superintendents’ association, discussed the committee’s efforts to advocate for change in the way the governor ties state school aid to his legislative proposals.
“He’s basically saying at this point that if the legislature passes certain pieces of his educational reform, he will provide more state aid to school districts,” Carney said. “If they choose not to pass it, then it’s going to be less state aid.” Carney added that the legislative committee is “still meeting over the next few days to try to advocate for public education, for state aid and for some common sense in some of the governor’s proposals.”
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