WESTFIELD ACADEMY AND CENTRAL SCHOOL
WESTFIELD, NEW YORK 14787
Special Meeting Minutes
Joint Boards of Education January 22, 2009
Ripley Central and Westfield Academy and Central
WACS Auditorium – 7:00 PM
Members Present: Stephen ZanghiAbbie Cardy
Jeanne HabigTony Pisicoli
Katherine ArcherEdward LeBarron, Jr.
Marie EdwardsJoy Bodenmiller
Timothy Smith
Members Absent: None
Others Present: Robert Bentley, Judith Rowe, Frederick Krause, Ted Rickenbrode, Nancy Rowe, John Hogan, Marie McCutcheon, Alan Holbrook, Eric Fisher, Dan Martin, Priscilla B. Nixon, Shannon K. Bills, Chris Warner, Amy Near, Sydney G. Farnham, Judy McCord, Q. G. Best, Mark Winslow, Sally Merwin, Angelo Gervoasi, Nancy Jopek, Fred Bertrando, Kim Abbey, Betsy Northrup, Donald A. Fritz, Bonnie Lancaster, Richard Lancaster, Ellen Gerould, Gary Irvin, Jeanna Irvin, Karen Belcher, Shirley M. Riscili, Beckie Ross, Kathy Farnham, Donald McCord, Judy Fingerhut, Marcia Cochrane, James Tennies, Jane Gens, Kathy Probst, Tim Smith, Chaz Clutter, Trudy Stafford, Roxanne Baideme, Laura Wilson, Kathy Monroe, Tina Winslow, Susan A. Hammond, David C. Haskin, Robbin Mutch, Karen D. Krause, Renae Hemmer, Karen Belmonto, Cheryl Olsen, Nancy Walker, David Walker, Mary Ellen Benamati, Sharon Storms, Valerie Champlin, Debbie Deland, Michael Rowe, Tim Meegan, Katie Jaynes, Ed Hulton, Steve Cockram
Board President, Stephen Zanghi, called the meeting to order at 7:02 PM, and led the assembled in the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.Mr. Zanghi stated that this was the last meeting of the joint boards of education.
Robert Bentley, Ripley Board President, thanked the merger committee members, the Superintendents and WACS Board of Education members for their involvement with the Merger Process. Mr. Bentley said that we have fulfilled our responsibility with the Merger Process whether it will be a yes or a no vote. Mr. Zanghi wished more questions would be asked. He said that we can use numbers such as: 1,100 students will be affected by this merger, $20 million would come into the joint district in state incentive aid, $800,000 will be credited to the new district for Westfield’s building aid. He went on to state that only one thing needs to be answered: can we do a better job for our children at the same or a lower cost? Mr. Zanghi stated that the study shows we can do this. We may not agree with everything in the study, but is will be up to the new Board to decide how the district will look. The study is just suggesting what to do and the new Board is not bound by it in anyway. / CALL TO ORDER
NEW BUSINESS
Moved by Judith Rowe, seconded by Nancy Rowe to accept the agreement to conduct an Advisory Referendum (Straw Vote) for the purpose of assessing public support for the reorganization by centralization of the Ripley Central School District and the Westfield Central School District. The Advisory Referendum will be conducted via voting machine on Thursday, February 5, 2009 between the hours of 12:00 noon and 8:00 p.m. Such Advisory Referendum will take place in the Ripley Central School District in the Distance Learning Room. The motion carried 5-0. / Resolution I – Advisory Referendum for Ripley BOE
Moved by Judith Rowe, seconded by Nancy Rowe to post the legal notice for the Advisory Referendum: Notice is hereby given to the residents of the Ripley Central School District, Chautauqua County, Ripley, New York, that an Advisory Referendum (Straw Vote) will be held on Thursday, February 5, 2009 during the hours of 12:00 noon and 8:00 pm in the Distance Learning Room via voting machine. Residents qualified to vote in said school district meeting will be given the opportunity to cast a ballot on the following question:
Should the Ripley Central School District and the Westfield Central School District be jointed together as a single district by centralization?
_____Yes ______No
The motion carried 5-0. / Resolution II-Posting of Legal Notice for Ripley
Moved by Timothy Smith, seconded by Marie Edwards to accept the agreement to conduct an Advisory Referendum (Straw Vote) for the purpose of assessing public support for the reorganization by Centralization of the Ripley Central School District and the Westfield Central School District. The Advisory Referendum will be conducted via voting machine on Thursday, February 5, 2009 between the hours of 12:00 noon and 8:00 pm. Such Advisory Referendum will take place in the Westfield Central School District in the Lobby. The motion carried 9-0.
Moved by Timothy Smith, seconded by Tony Pisicoli to post the legal notice for the Advisory Referendum: Notice is hereby given to the residents of the Westfield Central School District, Chautauqua County, Westfield, New York, that an Advisory Referendum (Straw Vote) will be held on Thursday, February 5, 2009 during the hours of 12:00 noon and 8:00 pm in the Lobby via voting machine. Residents qualified to vote in said school district meeting will be given the opportunity to cast a ballot on the following question:
Should the Ripley Central School District and the Westfield Central School District be joined together as a single district by centralization?
_____Yes _____No
The motion carried 9-0.
Nancy Walker said that she had attended the informational fair last week at WACS and it was very informative and helpful. She asked if the Board or committee members would respond to some of the questions that were asked at the fair.
It was mentioned that later in the meeting, Robert Guiffreda, BOCES District Superintendent will be speaking on the timeline for the Merger process. The straw vote will be February 5.
Mr. Bentley spoke in regards to the information fair that was held at Ripley on January 8. He commends the support staff and Superintendent that worked to put the fair together.
As far as closing of a facility, it is recommended in the study to keep both facilities open and suggests that this be followed and then have a 3-5 year plan to close a facility and find a use for the building such as JCC, St. Mary’s .
Marie Edwards spoke in regards to the information fair at Ripley. She said that a HS student spoke and asked why not have the Ripley seniors be able to take the courses they need by combining with Westfield. Mrs. Edwards feels there are a lot of positives housing the middle school and high school students in separate buildings. It does not make sense to leave the Ripley students at Ripley. The Ripley students should have the same advantages as Westfield students.
Mr. Bentley commented that the sooner the students get together, the sooner it will be better for the students. When it is time to do this, the administration and students will tell the Board. Mr. Pisicoli stated that the community members will also have a say in the future of the district.
Nancy Rowe is campaigning to keep Ripley open. She is sold on having the middle school students housed in Ripley. There will have to be creative things done if the districts centralize. Mrs. Rowe said that Ripley has had to deal with teachers on buy outs to have teachers retire and get lower salaried teachers into the school.
It was asked that if Ripley and Westfield do merge, in the future would the new district get the state incentive aid again if it was to merge with another district? It was explained that the incentive aid has always been there and it should be there if this were to occur.
It was mentioned that there will be a lot of decisions to be made between financial and opportunities for students. It will be a tough decision. It was encouraged for anyone to run for a Board seat.
Kathy Archer said that there is a timeline for the Merger process and Mr. Guffrieda will give a snapshot of what it is. / PUBLIC COMMENT
Robert Guiffreda, District Superintendent, spoke about the timeline for the Merger process. He stated that there are three fundamental phases:
- Feasibility Study
- Advisory Referendum
- Statutory Vote
The statutory vote will be in mid-March and if it is a yes vote, then within 30 days, we have to petition for a new Board. There will be a special election on May 20, 2009. If the Merger is to go through, then the new Board takes over July 1, 2009 and the old boards stay intact until August 1, 2009.
The question was asked that if it failed once and then went a second time and failed, if the State would come in and force something through. The answer was the State would recognize the authority of the community and nothing occurs.
Shannon Bills, a preschool teacher and a parent of a preschooler was concerned that with all of the state mandates for special needs students, was there going to be funds for the other students as well as the gifted and talented students. The response was that we hope to be able to bring programs back for all students.
Mr. Tennies stated that his daughter teaches in England. She has a class of 32 five year olds. His daughter has a teacher’s aide one day a week. She teachers art, math, music, P.E. and science. His daughter has a 20 minute lunch period. He encourages everyone to come and vote.
Nancy Walker asked to explain that if this merger does not go through what do the students have to lose. Mr. Hogan responded that the HS programs would erode. We could have larger classes or not have the number of teachers due to the lack of money. Mr. Zanghi commented that at this time, we don’t know what will be cut. Mr. Sissel said that WACS is a few years away from where Ripley is. We have to look at what mandates we have and what unmandated programs/positions we have. Programs and staff may be cut in the future. The budget cannot be “shored up” with the fund balance. The Board has to determine how to use the $1.5 million.
Nancy Rowe mentioned that last year at the legislative breakfast, that Cathy Young had mentioned that there may be a possibility of the elimination of incentive aide. The response was that with the new governor and change in political demographics, there is a push for Regionalism and the incentive aid is still intact. Mrs. Archer said that we have only seen surface scratches of loss. / CLOSING COMMENTS
She went on to say that she has seen number differences in the number of people attending PARP programs which is due to the student enrollment decrease.
Marie Edwards noted that the numbers are shrinking in the elementary and it hasn’t gotten to the MS/HS yet in Westfield but it won’t be long before cuts will have to take place.
Mr. Bentley stated that cuts become agonizing. The situation for Westfield will be determined by population and state aide. He mentioned that when he started on the Ripley Board of Education, there were 600 students and he never thought that the enrollment would be as low as it is at the present time.
It was asked what size the new Board would be and the response was that the study recommended seven. The number of votes would determine the number of years you were to serve. It was noted by Mr. Bentley, that the new Board needs to hear what is needed.
It was noted that the new Board decides on what will occur and not necessarily will go by the study. Also, it is recommended that the school district operate as separate districts the first year while student placement is made, bus routes are determined etc. / CLOSING COMMENTS CONT’D
Moved by Kathy Archer, seconded by Marie Edwards to adjourn the meeting at 8:21 p.m. The motion carried 9-0. / ADJOURNMENT
Respectfully Submitted,
Alan L. Holbrook
District Clerk
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