ELDRED, NY — Business manager Caleb Russell presented plans to expend $18,364,424 in the 2020-21 fiscal year at the Eldred school board meeting on March 11.

The tax rate will be at or slightly below the rate utilized in 2018-19, in accordance with a promise made earlier by the school board. However, the $11,785,000 of taxes to be raised at those rates is significantly greater than those collected by tax levy two years ago, due to a higher tax base primarily resulting from the coming of the millennium compressor station.

Included in the upcoming school-year budget is a plan to hold summer school for grades seven through nine in English and mathematics. The session would run from Monday, July 13 through Wednesday, August 12 and require hiring five teachers. Regents exams will also be offered in Eldred as a result of the summer school session. In the past, students taking the summer regents exams had to travel to Liberty.

Other summer school options will continue to be held in Liberty. This program enhancement was approved by the board at the meeting, allowing for the advertisement of course offerings and staff hiring.

Also included in the proposed budget are new teaching positions in the areas of technology, English as a New Learner (ENL) and special education, as well as a director of instructional services. Authorization was given for the immediate hiring of an ENL teacher to finish out the current school year.

The purchase and installation of a generator sufficient to operate the well is also included in the proposed budget. The board noted that there have been several instances of students having to be released from class early because of the frequent power outages which disable the operation of the well. The district also plans to upgrade the current camera systems in both buildings and integrate the security systems, and obtain new radio equipment and on-demand GPS systems for the school buses. The purchase of two new vans and a plowing vehicle, play area improvements and systematic replacement of technology infrastructure are also included in the proposed budget.
There was also discussion of the contingency plans put into place should the district be shuttered as a result of the coronavirus.

Superintendent John Morgano said that all teachers had prepared lesson plans sufficient for two weeks of distance learning, should they be necessary. High school students would be aided by the recently-issued Chromebooks. (Following the meeting, a county-wide closing of public schools was mandated with provisions to keep the schools closed for a total of three weeks.)

High school principal Traci Ferreira reported that Kaitlyn Potter, currently a sophomore, was accepted into Harvard’s prestigious summer school and pre-college program.

Voters will have an opportunity to opine on the budget and also elect a new member of the school board on Tuesday, May 19 at the high school between 11 a.m. and 9 p.m