Photos by Tom Rivers
About two dozen Scouts in Pack 164 in Albion competed in the annual Pinewood Derby on March 16 at St. Joseph’s Lyceum. (Left to right) Sawyer Braley took third, Austin Narburgh placed second and Pom Seibert won the event.
Photo by Tom Rivers – Members of the Holley Board of Education are shown in a March 18 meeting. Five of the nine members include, from left: President John Heise, Brenda Swanger, Sal DeLuca, Kellie Spychalski and Robin Silvas. Other members include Norm Knight, Anne Winkley, Jack Welch and Dorothy Morgan.
HOLLEY – A petition seeks to stop the shrinking of the Holley Board of Education from nine to five members, a proposition that narrowly passed in last May’s school election.
A petition signed by 108 people was submitted on March 11 to the district office.
Petitioners want to reduce the board to seven members, but no more.
That presents a highly unusual case for Holley, school attorney Jeff Martin told the BOE on March 18. Last May district voters, in a 395-392 vote, approved the reduction in members, to be phased in over three years from nine to five representatives.
Proponents of the reduction in seats say Holley sometimes has trouble finding enough candidates to run for the volunteer positions. Those against reducing the size of the board note the board members serve for free, without a cost to the district. Cutting the size of the board reduces representation and viewpoints on the board, say opponents against a smaller school board.
Most other boards of education in Orleans County have nine members, except for Kendall, which has five.
The first cuts in Holley will take effect when the new school year officially begins July 1. Three incumbents – John Heise, Brenda Swanger and Dorothy Morgan – all have terms that will be up this year. But only one position will be on the ballot. It’s the first step in reducing the board seats.
Martin said it’s unusual to have another petition filed that, in effect, negates part of a petition that was supported by the public and is now in process. He has checked with counsel at the New York State School Boards Association and Holley case seems to be a first.
“It’s something they’ve never encountered,” Martin told the BOE on March 18.
If residents support the new proposition, to be voted on May 21, Martin said that would end the shrinking of the BOE at seven members. However, the board may need to reset when some seats are up for election, so it isn’t three each for two years and one seat on another year. He said the board, if it settles at seven seats, should have two seats up for election for two years and then three seats available on a third year. The terms are all for three years.
If the proposition fails on May 21, the board will continue on the path to five members.
Martin said two seats should then be available for two years, with one seat up for election on the third year.
Press Release: Monroe 2-Orleans BOCES
Trooper John Campanella speaks about the evacuation process as Sergeant Kelly listens on.
LYNDONVILLE, N.Y. – After students were excused early on March 6, teachers, staff and administrators were put on the learning end of a valuable lesson on school safety.
Emergency Management Sergeant Tom Kelly and New York State Trooper John Campanella presented a professional development session on school safety to a large group in the Stroyan Auditorium.
The two officers, with a combined 53 years in law enforcement, covered many topics in the presentation including protocols and processes for situations such as lockouts, lockdowns, sheltering in place and evacuation.
Sergeant Kelly visits schools to ensure there is an up-to-date emergency plan in place. He recently review Lyndonville’s plan, which was created by Orleans-Niagara BOCES, and was impressed.
“The administration here has a top notch plan in place,” said Sergeant Kelly. “All legislation for the Safe School Plan is in place. You have all the tools you need to respond to an emergency.”
Sergeant Kelly shared the standardized plan from the Orleans-Niagara BOCES throughout Troop A, which includes Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Niagara, Orleans and Wyoming counties. He hopes other schools throughout the area and state adopt a similar plan.
“The same basic game plan allows emergency responders to be on the same page no matter what district, as well as helping substitute teachers,” said Sergeant Kelly.
Trooper Campanella helped give reasoning to strategies in emergency plans.
“Whether it be locking your door or huddling into areas that are hidden from view, you’re buying time for emergency responders,” said Campanella. “Every locked door means emergency responders are that much closer.”
Sergeant Kelly also reiterated the importance of wearing school identification at all times when in the district.
“These IDs help identify staff members and assist police and emergency responders,” said Sergeant Kelly. “Just wearing the ID does not mean that police wouldn’t stop the person to make sure their intent but it will help expedite the process.”
The officers also answered questions from those attending and gave examples of situations they experienced first hand.
YATES – The Orleans County Planning Board has approved a new business on Lakeshore Road where the owner will build portable “Amish-style” sheds.
Randal Stauffer is planning to construct a 50-by-60-foot pole barn for the business that will be next to his home at 11464 Lakeshore Rd. Planners approved the site plan and recommended the town of Yates give Stauffer a permit for a home business.
Stauffer will join a growing number of Amish- and Mennonite-owned enterprises in the Lyndonville area.
ALBION – A team trained in assessing hazardous materials has been dissolved due to dwindling members and an infrequent need for their services.
The Orleans County “Special Response Team” formed about a decade ago when the community and country worried about anthrax attacks. Since the Legislature authorized formation of the team in November 2011, the SRT only responded to about five calls in the county, with one a bottle of water in the road that officials feared may have been a hazardous substance.
The team did see more serious incidents, such as a meth lab in Shelby, a chlorine leak in Holley and an acid spill in Medina.
“We don’t have too many hazardous calls in the county,” said Paul Wagner, the county’s emergency management coordinator.
Orleans will now be served by special response teams from neighboring counties. The two trailers, haz-mat suits and other equipment used by the Orleans team will be returned to the state or assigned to a regional consortium to be used by the teams in surrounding counties, Wagner said.
The SRT in Orleans was down to four trained members when the County Legislature voted to dissolve the group on March 13. Wagner said team members needed to keep up with training every year. Many former team members worked outside the county, which made it difficult for them to respond quickly to incidents in Orleans.
The initial push for the team, to respond to potential anthrax calls, is less a concern now after the state and federal government developed a protocol for assessing calls. Wagner said the country about a decade ago was worried about any kind of white powder that may have been anthrax. Many response teams were called to investigate powder in shipping cartons and pizza boxes that proved harmless.
“We’ve developed a much better basis to determine if these things are legitimate,” he said.
All firefighters have some basic training in hazardous materials, Wagner said. A typical firefighter is trained to recognize a hazardous material, secure the site and call for assistance.
Photos by Tom Rivers
Marguerite Dixon of Albion looks forward to St. Patrick’s Day every year. She loves to dress in green for the holiday. On March 17, she sprayed her hair green, wore about 50 buttons celebrating the day, and was decked out in green, including for her purse and shoes. She is pictured with her husband Ralph at Flyway Farms in Medina, where they visited a maple farm owned by Terry Laubisch.
MEDINA – Every spring and fall, the Shelby Volunteer Fire Company has traditionally raffled off guns as a fund-raiser.
But those events may be over after the state passed a new gun control law, the SAFE Act, in January. Gary Williams, a long-time volunteer for the company, said Shelby is looking at other fund-raisers.
He would like to invite Josie Waverly, a country music singer from Hilton, to the community as a benefit for the fire company. However, the fire hall isn’t the best venue for a concert, he told Medina school officials during a March 12 Board of Education meeting.
“We could have it in our hall, but people would enjoy it more if it was in the auditorium,” Williams said.
Jeff Evoy, the district superintendent, said school facilities can be used by the public. But he wouldn’t support a Waverly concert in June, when the school calendar is so packed.
“My biggest concern is June because it’s such a pressure-cooker,” Evoy said.
Williams spoke with Waverly’s manager and there are dates open in July. Evoy said he would support a concert that month. Shelby may have to pay the school for the cost of custodial services and assure the district it has insurance for the event.
Waverly was in concert March 1 at the Lee-Whedon Memorial Library in Medina, performing music from Patsy Cline. Williams said Waverly should appeal to people of all ages.
ALBION – Orleans County residents lacking dental care can now access services at a discounted rate. Eight of the 12 dentists in the county have agreed to reduce their fees for uninsured residents.
The county has partnered with Health Economics, a Rochester firm, to offer the program. Residents will pay $36.50 for an individual card annually or $52 for a family program. That goes towards the administration costs.
It’s the second partnership the county has reached with an outside company to make health care more affordable for residents, Legislature Chairman David Callard said.
In 2009, the county started offered prescription drug cards through ProAct Inc., a subsidiary of Kinney Drugs. That program saves residents without health insurance about 36 percent on prescription drugs, according to the county.
Callard said he would like to partner with a company to secure eye care discounts for uninsured residents.
He expects the county and Health Economics will start pushing the new dental discount program in April. A list of participating dentists and the discounted rates for services will be available on the county website, www.orleansny.com.
Eric Lintala, director of business development for Health Economics, said residents should save about 30 to 40 percent in dental services through the program. Dentists will benefit with new patients who likely had been avoiding dental care because of the costs, Lintala told county legislators on March 13.
The dental discount program has been endorsed by the New York State Association of Counties. Several counties have joined with Health Economics in offering the discounts. Residents can cross county borders to use their cards if dentists are members of the program.
“We’re trying to get people access to the dentist and promote good oral health,” Lintala said.
MEDINA – Pressure from the state to raise standards for all students is poisoning the learning atmosphere for students and teachers in Medina’s special education program, the Board of Education was told on March 12.
Jennifer Bansbach, a special education teacher, said two dedicated colleagues have resigned this year due to the unreasonable expectations. The state is requiring many of students classified with learning disabilities to take the same tests as students in regular education. That is setting up the students in special education, who often learn at different rates, for failure, said Bansbach, the special education chairwoman for grades kindergarten through 5.
“I’m philosophically opposed to having special ed kids go on the same path as regular ed kids,” she told the BOE.
Many parents reluctantly agreed to have their students classified for special education, but they did so believing the curriculum could be adapted to meet their children’s needs, Bansbach said.
“Now there are fewer or no options to modify the curriculum,” she said. “The kids are failing. You feel the frustration of the parents and the kids.”
New York this year moved to a new “Common Core” standard, trying to boost classroom achievement. The added rigor is backfiring for many special education students.
“There is really a fine line in breaking the students’ will to try,” she said.
Medina BOE member Chris Keller, an Albion teacher, said state legislators and the governor have done a disservice to spec ed students. He said State Sen. George Maziarz and other state officials should visit special education classrooms, to see the education process for themselves. Bansbach said spec ed students’ needs and abilities should be treated individually, not grouped with all the others.
Jeff Evoy, the district superintendent, told Bansbach she has the support of the BOE and administration. He bemoaned the business approach being taken towards education.
“Kids aren’t widgets,” he said.
Keller said the state should back up the push for more standards with more money, especially for districts like Medina and Albion that have high poverty rates. Albany should fund universal pre-K and kindergarten for poorer districts, Keller said.
“It’s a lot easier to crucify teachers than to address the problem,” he said. “It’s all about poverty, but they would rather beat on teachers.”
Photo by Tom Rivers – This sign will be used by Concerned Citizens of Orleans County to stress that residents’ annual garbage collection fees are about three times what they spend in taxes to support The Villages of Orleans, a county-owned nursing home.
ALBION – A group of Orleans County residents opposed to sale of the county nursing home are going to press their case to the public, the county Legislature, and may even use the court system to stop a possible sale.
Concerned Citizens of Orleans County met for the first time on March 12, following the Legislature’s Feb. 27 decision to form a non-profit local development corporation tasked with finding a buyer for the 120-bed site in Albion.
“We will have a presence at Legislature meetings, and we’ll be working to organize our friends and neighbors,” said Gary Kent, a member of the group and a former county legislator.
He was joined by about 30 other residents in the meeting March 12 at the Pullman Memorial Universalist Church. The group already has prepared signs noting that garbage collection in the county – at $185 a year – is about three times what the average taxpayer will pay in 2013 to support The Villages of Orleans.
Chris Loss intends to be a vocal opponent to the nursing home sale. Her late mother, Jean Bistoff, received better care at The Villages than she did at a privately owned nursing home.
“There were major differences in the care,” Loss said.
The county has budgeted for an $825,000 deficit for the nursing home in 2013, and that includes using $1.6 million in reserve funds. Legislature Chairman David Callard worries the taxpayer subsidy for the nursing home will jump once the reserve funds are depleted. Taxpayers could be paying to $2 million to $4 million annually towards the nursing home in the near future, he said.
Concerned Citizens say taxpayers owe it to the senior citizens to maintain The Villages as a publicly owned facility. And Loss is skeptical about the grim fiscal prediction from the county. Reimbursement rates and other state and federal support could be increased, softening the local share for the nursing home, she said.
“They’ve floated these numbers before,” she said about the prediction for big deficits. “They don’t know what the shortfall will be. I’m willing to have my taxes go up. We owe it to our seniors.”
