By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 19 March 2019 at 8:17 am
Lyndonville and Medina both have village elections today, with polls open from noon to 9 p.m.
Lyndonville has three candidates running for two village trustee positions that are four-year terms. The spots are currently filled by Darren Wilson and Mary Kage. They both want to continue on the board. Kimberly Kenyon also will be on the ballot.
Kage is running under the Kage Party, Kenyon under the Pool Party, and Wilson picked the Main Street Party.
Voting is at the Village Hall on 2 South Main St.
Medina has two candidates seeking two spots on the board. Incumbents Owen Toale and Todd Bensley are both seeking re-election to two-year terms. They are both running under the Accountability Party.
The election is at the Senior Center, the former railroad depot on West Avenue.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 17 March 2019 at 9:35 am
LYNDONVILLE – The Lyndonville school district is joining with Barker and Roy-Hart for a joint bussing contract, hoping that will drive the costs down.
Lyndonville was notified its current transportation provider, Student Transportation of America (Ridge Road Express), wouldn’t accept a renewal of the contract at a cost-of-living rate.
STA wants to keep providing service to Lyndonville, but said the contract needs to be rebid to reflect higher operating costs.
STA also has provided the service to Albion the past 30 years and that contract was rebid, with STA the low bidder – at a 30 percent increase. The company told Albion school leaders the rising minimum wage is pushing up operational costs with bus drivers and aides getting paid more money.
Joe DiPassio Jr., Lyndonville’s school business administrator, has budgeted a $258,064 increase in transportation, which is up 36.8 percent. The district won’t know the costs until the bids come in.
Lyndonville on Monday voted to rebid the bus contract in a joint deal with Barker and Roy-Hart. The economies of scale with the three districts should result in a better price, said Jason Smith, Lyndonville’s district superintendent.
Barker will serve as the lead agency in the bidding process. The districts will share the costs for the joint transportation bid, estimated at $14,450.
Photos by Tom Rivers: The Lyndonville Board of Education meeting on Monday included a presentation from fourth-graders in a coding club, where they program robots. This photo shows Hannah Fox with Dr. Aaron Slack, junior-senior high school principal; and board member Kelly Cousins.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 13 March 2019 at 12:18 pm
Michael Alexander, a fourth-grader, talks about the coding project with Harold Suhr, a member of the Board of Education. The Coding Club emphasizes skills with STEM,
LYNDONVILLE – The school district has put together a $14,214,793 budget that would increase taxes by 2 percent. The budget isn’t final. It can still be tweaked before it is formally adopted by the Board of Education in April. It goes before district voters on May 21.
The overall spending would be up $207,811 or 1.5 percent from the $14,006,982 in 2018-19.
Joe DiPassio Jr., the district’s business administrator, urged the board to approve the 2 percent tax increase, saying it would be “prudent.” The district last year approved a 1 percent increase, following a year where taxes weren’t increased.
The 2 percent increase is under the state-imposed tax cap. Lyndonville has a tax cap allowance of $157,000, but is looking at a $86,190 increase. The district was able to carry over some of the tax cap cushion from the previous years.
DiPassio went over the budget during Monday’s Board of Education meeting. Some highlights include:
• The district is proposing to budget a $258,064 increase in transportation (36.8 percent increase); $326,456 more in instructional (4.6 percent); a $149,233 hike in employee benefits (4.9 percent). Lyndonville is seeing a $566,300 decrease in debt service payments which will help offset the increases.
• The district would add three full-time employees, including two special education teachers. Lyndonville also wants to add a technology integration specialist who would be 0.2 full-time. That person would help the district as it works to include more technology in the classroom.
• Four teachers are retiring, which will save the district about $193,000 for the lower-cost replacements, whose salary and benefits will be at a lower price.
• Health insurance is projected to increase by $87,000 but pension costs for teachers will be down $62,000, DiPassio said.
The May 21 vote will likely include the following propositions:
• School budget
• 3 board seats
• Transportation purchases, not to exceed $260,000. That includes one new 64-seat passenger bus, not to exceed $125,000 (which will replace a 2007 bus with 137,000 miles); two new passenger vans, not to exceed $46,000 each (replacing one from 2010 with 167,000 miles and one from 2014 with 150,000 miles); a new vehicle with room for four or five people to transport staff and students, at a cost not to exceed $43,000.
•Allowing one student to serve as ex-officio, not-voting member of the Board of Education.
• $103,750 for Yates Community Library, up from $2,832 or 2.8 percent which is within the library’s allowable tax cap.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 13 March 2019 at 9:26 am
LYNDONVILLE – A Lyndonville Board of Education member who voted last month for a merged boys soccer team with Medina now wants to have the vote back on the agenda because he said Medina misrepresented the issue, telling Lyndonville it couldn’t have its own boys soccer team without jeopardizing the other merged programs with Medina.
Steve Vann, a Lyndonville board member, last month said Medina presented the shared sports and extracurricular activities as an “all or nothing” proposition. That was based on individual conversations with Medina board members.
The districts first started sharing a boys soccer team about six years ago. That expanded to the school musical, football, girls soccer, volleyball, cross country, swimming and Medina’s marching band.
David Sevenski, Medina’s Board president, told the Orleans Hub the two districts have a great working relationship, and the shared programs have opened up opportunities for students in both districts, preserving programs and creating new ones.
“There was no edict from Medina that it had to be all or nothing,” he told the Orleans Hub on Feb. 27. “We went to great lengths to not twist anybody’s arm.”
Vann, at Lyndonville’s board meeting on Monday, said Sevenski’s comments to the Orleans Hub were contrary to their personal conversation.
Vann wants Lyndonville to have another vote on the boys soccer team at the April meeting. Lyndonville has about 20 boys interested in playing varsity soccer this fall, and Medina has a similar number, Lyndonville board members were told in January and February, when the board was considering whether to bring back Lyndonville’s own team.
Ultimately, the board voted 5-2 to keep the merged team with Medina because Lyndonville didn’t want to lose the opportunities for students in the other programs. Some board members also were concerned if it was sustainable long-term for Lyndonville to have its own team.
Vann said that vote was made with the wrong information. If having their own team doesn’t impact the other programs, Vann said there should be a revote in Lyndonville.
Vern Fonda, a district resident, also expressed his disappointment in the vote to keep the merged team. He said the full boards of the two school district, as well as the athletic directors, should have met to discuss the issue to make sure everyone knew the expectations and ramifications.
The districts should have been more transparent with the decision-making, instead of having “closed door” conversations, Fonda said.
Board member Harold Suhr responded that Lyndonville has been very transparent in the process.
Vann also pushed for Lyndonville to create a subcommittee to review its policy for student activities with athletics.
“I didn’t feel like we had a policy we could point to for this and why we’re doing what we’re doing,” Vann said.
He will serve on that subcommittee with Suhr and Board President Ted Lewis.
Lewis said the board and school officials will discuss Vann’s request to put boys varsity soccer back on the agenda. Lewis said it might be a “done deal.” The agreement approved last month by both districts was for four years.
“This is the first I’m hearing about it,” Lewis said at Monday’s meeting.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 4 March 2019 at 4:21 pm
Provided photos
LYNDONVILLE – Lyndonville Junior Class put on a Mardi Gras-themed “Mom Prom” on Friday and nearly 200 attended the event in the school cafeteria, including 68 moms with many wearing their prom dresses from a generation ago.
“It was a great two hours,” said Kim Bow, coordinator of the event at the Junior Class advisor.
These participants enjoyed the Mardi Gras theme.
Bow works for the school district as a registrar in the guidance office. She has been the Junior Class advisor for 13 years. Rather than selling candy or other merchandise for fundraisers, Bow likes to have community events to raise money for the junior class.
Last year the class had a Daddy-Daughter Dance. That was a more formal event with a red carpet. About 150 people attended that dance.
One of the girls at the dance suggested Lyndonville try a dance where mothers could dress up with their sons and daughters.
Mardi Gras will be celebrated on Tuesday. Given the nearness of that event, Bow and the junior class decided to have a Mardi Gras theme with masks and beads.
She said the mothers were eager participants and were enthusiastic dancers with their children. The fathers last year didn’t tend to dance too much, except for the formal dances, Bow said.
“The moms really danced,” she said. “It was fun and crazy. There was a lot of frivolity.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 4 March 2019 at 2:14 pm
The deadline has passed for candidates to be on the ballot for the March 19 village elections in Lyndonville and Medina.
Lyndonville has three candidates running for two village trustee positions that are for four-year terms. The spots are currently filled by Darren Wilson and Mary Kage. They both want to continue on the board. Kimberly Kenyon also will be on the ballot.
The village elections do not include major party affiliations. Kage is running under the Kage Party, Kenyon under the Pool Party, and Wilson picked the Main Street Party.
Voting will be from noon to 9 p.m. on March 19 at the Village Hall on 2 South Main St.
Medina has two candidates seeking two spots on the board. Incumbents Owen Toale and Todd Bensley are both seeking re-election to two-year terms. They are both running under the Accountability Party.
The election will be from noon to 9 p.m. at the Senior Center, the former railroad depot on West Avenue.
The two other villages in the county don’t have elections on March 19. Albion is in an off election year and Holley has its elections in June.
LYNDONVILLE – Orleans County Undersheriff Christopher Bourke announced Lyndonville Central School is sponsoring a Child Car Seat Check Point Event at the school bus garage, 77 Housel Ave., from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday.
According to data, vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for children ranging from 1 to 13 years of age. Preventative measures, such as proper installation of car seats, boosters and seat belts can lower many deaths and injuries. Informing and instructing parents and caregivers on child safety and proper installation of car seats is critical to saving young lives.
The Sheriff’s Office will have certified child passenger safety technicians available to inspect car/booster seats to assure that children are in the correct seat for their size and age. For any questions, please contact Sgt. Kevin Colonna at 585-589-5527 or Kevin.Colonna@orleanscountyny.gov.
LYNDONVILLE – Elizabeth Carpenter of Lyndonville took these photos of the supermoon last evening. She lives along Lake Ontario. She said the moon was “beautiful” last night.
Last night was the largest supermoon of 2019. A supermoon occurs when the Moon’s orbit brings it to the closest point of the Earth while the Moon is full. The Moon looked much larger than normal when it was rising in the horizon at about 6 p.m. on Tuesday.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 17 February 2019 at 12:23 pm
Photos courtesy of Anne Holland at Lyndonville Central School
LYNDONVILLE – Sarah Goodenough discusses the benefits of nutrition and a plant-based food service with Lyndonville students on Friday. She lost more than 140 pounds through changes in diet and exercise.
Goodenough was one of nine speakers on Friday at Career Day at the school, when students in grades 6 to 8 heard from people in a variety of different jobs.
Meghan Gapa discusses video production in her job at 13WHAM in Rochester. Gapa is a Lyndonville graduate.
Ken Strickland, an investigator with the Orleans County Sheriff’s Office, talks about his career in law enforcement.
Joe DiPasio, the business administrator for Lyndonville Central School, talks about his job working with the district’s finances.
Other speakers included: Darrel Oakes, agriculture; Vern Fonda, DEC Officer; Ashton Lang, firefighter/EMT; Dave Cook, photo journalism; and Rebecca Mannella, corporate educator through Medina Memorial Hospital.
Career Day was organized by Kim Nealon, a school counselor. It was held in the former elementary school. Students rotated to each session in 20-minute intervals.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 12 February 2019 at 1:04 pm
LYNDONVILLE – The Board of Education sees the benefit of having a student representative on the board, to hear directly from a member of the student body about school activities and the impact of some board decisions.
Medina has a student on the board, although in a non-voting capacity. The student also can’t sit in on executive sessions where personnel and possible litigation are discussed.
The Medina student representative was approved last May in a public vote by the community.
If Lyndonville wants a student representative, it also needs the public’s support in a vote. The Lyndonville BOE can decide up until April whether it wants to put the matter up for a vote in May 21.
“It would be a benefit for the board to hear from the students and for them to see the interworkings of the board,” said Ted Lewis, BOE president.
In Medina, the High School Student Association president serves as the student representative. Medina also has an alternate.
Harold Suhr, a Lyndonville BOE member, said he would support having several students on the board, to increase the student viewpoints. He said it’s impossible for one student to represent all students.
The state law limits districts to one student representative on the board, said Jason Smith, Lyndonville school superintendent.
Districts may be able to have a bigger pool of alternates. That’s something the district will research.
“I see it as a positive,” said Susan Hrovat, a Lyndonville BOE member. “I don’t see a negative.”
File photo by Tom Rivers: Kids get help crossing Route 63 after being dropped off by a Lyndonville school bus on a rainy May 5, 2017.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 12 February 2019 at 12:00 pm
District will consider if it should hire own bus drivers for service
LYNDONVILLE – The school district may be looking at a significant increase in the costs of transporting students.
The district’s current transportation provider, Student Transportation of America (Ridge Road Express), notified Lyndonville it won’t accept a renewal of the contract at a cost-of-living rate.
STA wants to keep providing service to Lyndonville, but said the contract needs to be rebid to reflect higher operating costs.
STA also has provided the service to Albion the past 30 years and that contract was rebid, with STA the low bidder – at a 30 percent increase.
The company has told school leaders the rising minimum wage is pushing up operational costs with bus drivers and aides getting paid more money.
Under Andrew Cuomo, who is starting his ninth year as governor, the minimum wage in Orleans County has gone from $7.25 to $11.10 this year. In 2020 it will be $11.80 and then $12.50 in 2021.
Joe DiPassio Jr., Lyndonville’s school business administrator, has tentatively budgeted for a 44 percent increase in transportation costs or $308,064. That would go from $701,300 to $1,009,364.
“I’m hoping it won’t be that high,” he told the Board of Education on Monday.
Lyndonville is rebidding the bus contract and it may be a joint bid with Barker and Roy-Hart. The economies of scale could get the three districts a better deal, said Jason Smith, Lyndonville’s district superintendent.
The districts will use a consultant to try to reach out to more transportation companies. Albion only had two bidders. STA’s bid was actually about half the cost of the other company’s proposal.
Lyndonville’s low bid for the service may be less than the $308,000 increase DiPassio put in the budget. He didn’t want to underestimate the cost and have the district scrambling to find the money. State aid will cover about 90 percent of the cost, but there is a lag of about a year in that reimbursement, DiPassio said.
He is putting together a tentative budget by March 1, because Lyndonville’s projected budget for spending and the tax levy need to be submitted to the state. The budget can be modified before it goes to a public vote on May 21.
Lyndonville’s budget right now calls for a 2 percent tax increase, which stays under the tax cap.
Transportation is the biggest increase facing the district. Given the big hike, Board of Education members said a better option might be for the district to provide the service with its own employees.
Lyndonville owns the buses, with STA providing drivers, a manager and a mechanic.
Bus drivers are in short supply. STA guarantees the district won’t be left without a driver for a bus run.
“We’ll look at every option given the cost increases,” said Ted Lewis, the BOE president. “We’ll look at all options to try to minimize the impact to taxpayers.”
Photos by Tom Rivers: Tom Barry urges the Lyndonville Board of Education to let the school have its own varsity boys soccer team, beginning next school year. Barry said Lyndonville and Medina both have plenty of boys for their own teams.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 12 February 2019 at 10:32 am
Although numbers for team, district doesn’t want to jeopardize other shared programs with Medina
LYNDONVILLE – Lyndonville varsity boys soccer players will continue to play on a merged team with Medina for at least the next four years, the Lyndonville Board of Education decided on Monday during a contentious board meeting.
Many Lyndonville parents have urged the district to bring back its own boys soccer team. Lyndonville has played with Medina the past six years with Medina hosting the team. Both districts have an upcoming varsity cohort with nearly 20 players from each school. There are 11 players on the field at once and each team should have some substitutes.
Some Lyndonville parents said a combined team will mean many good players will be cut and won’t play, or will be on the bench when they could be playing for their own school.
Susan Hrovat said the merged programs boost opportunities for Lyndonville students.
The board admitted it has been a difficult decision.
“I’m so torn on this it’s painful,” said board member Steven Vann. “To bring soccer back isn’t worth losing all the rest of it.”
Vann said the agreements are “an all or nothing deal.”
Richard Mufford, Lyndonville’s board vice president, disputed that, saying the eight shared programs are intended to be looked at individually.
Medina wouldn’t drop Lyndonville from the other agreements because Medina would otherwise struggle to field their own teams and their programs would be diminished.
“They’re in as much need of us as we are of them,” Mufford said.
He said the intermunicipal agreements were supposed to be temporary and evaluated on a frequent basis, looking at student numbers and other issues.
Lyndonville and Medina have eight shared programs with Lyndonville hosting the boys volleyball, girls varsity soccer and the musical program. Medina hosts a merged boys varsity soccer, varsity football, cross country, the marching band and swimming.
Medina school officials wanted stability and a long-term commitment from Lyndonville. Normally the agreements between the districts are for one or two years for each program. This time the agreements will be for four years.
“We’re trying to be creative and innovative by doing things,” said board member Susan Hrovat. “We’ve provided more opportunities than I ever remember.”
Ted Lewis, the Lyndonville BOE president, said the merged programs have given Lyndonville students new opportunities with football, swimming, cross country and the marching band, which aren’t offered at Lyndonville. The merged teams also ensure other programs will continue.
“That speaks to adding and maximizing opportunities,” he said.
Lyndonville in recent years has typically only had five to 8 players on the boys soccer team. This past season it had 12. Lewis said the district has a declining student enrollment.
“Yes, for a few years we have the numbers,” he said. “But with the current demographics we’ll go back to a number of five or six players.”
Ted Lewis, the BOE president, wants stability in the merged programs.
The merged team passed with a 5-2 vote. Mufford and Terry Stinson both voted against the merged boys soccer, but backed the other seven intermunicipal agreements.
Mufford is a Medina graduate. He said both schools are great communities. He wants to see more support for the merged teams. Right now, only the family members of the players tend to go to games.
That differs from Lyndonville basketball games and other sports where Lyndonville has its own team. Those games are big community events, he said.
Mufford would also like to see more games played in Lyndonville with the merged team. Medina is in Section 6 and Lyndonville is in Section 5. The Section 6 referees by contract can’t work on a field in Section 5 for league games, Lyndonville school officials said. That has limited Lyndonville to hosting a few non-league games and exhibitions.
Stinson also said the community needs to embrace the merged teams as a Lyndonville team, and show support for the athletes from both schools.
Katie Whipple has a son on the team. She said the Lyndonville and Medina kids each play on their own modified and JV teams, and then some players are left out with the merged varsity team. She said Lyndonville should be focused on trying to have as many kids opportunities to play as possible. Some who have played since seventh grade will see their soccer careers end by the time they are juniors and seniors, she said.
When the board was voting, Whipple’s husband Patrick interjected and told the board it wasn’t following its policies for decision-making.
“You are being negligent in your duty,” Whipple yelled.
He was told to “stand down” and leave the room by board members. Whipple obliged and left the meeting after back-and-forth shouting.
Board member Kelly Cousins acknowledged the issue has stirred passion from parents. She said that participation from the community is an asset for the school district, she said.
Cousins said she spoke with a Medina board member who told her Medina didn’t want Lyndonville to leave the merged boys soccer.
Cousins said Medina isn’t dictating the decision-making at Lyndonville. However, Medina would see Lyndonville’s departure from a merged boys soccer as hurting the relationship between the two districts, Cousins said the Medina board member told her.
“I’m not willing to take that risk,” Cousins said about straining the partnership between the two districts.
Board member Sue Hrovat of Lyndonville said she had a similar conversation with a Medina board member, who told Hrovat Lyndonville’s exit from that agreement would be viewed unfavorably with the other shared agreements. Hrovat supports staying with Medina, for all of the programs.
“I know that this is the best thing for our school long-term,” she said.
File photo by Tracey Lewis: The 63 graduates in the Class of 2017 toss their caps following commencement on June 23, 2017.
Posted 8 February 2019 at 1:12 pm
Press Release, Lyndonville Central School
LYNDONVILLE – Lyndonville L.A. Webber Middle-High School is ranked No. 36 among upstate NY high schools for its graduation rate in June 2018.
The top 50 ranking is according to data recently released by the New York State Education Department for 2018 graduation rates. Lyndonville’s graduation rate was 96 percent in June 2018, more than 15 points higher than the state average.
The district also annually receives high marks on several surveys for school safety and student support.
“This ranking is credit to our teachers, counselors, and administration who continually to work closely with our students and families to ensure their success,” said Jason Smith, Superintendent of Schools.
Photos by Ginny Kropf: Ruth Hedges, a member of the Lyndonville Methodist Church, shows off the sign her son Curtis Canham designed for the new clothing depot the church will open in March.
By Ginny Kropf, correspondent Posted 6 February 2019 at 9:07 am
LYNDONVILLE – Opening a thrift store in Lyndonville is fulfilling a vision God has for the Lyndonville United Methodist Church, pastor Olga Gonzalez said.
“The first time I met with Ruth Hedges and she shared with me the vision God was giving her about a thrift store, I knew that was God’s plan for the Lyndonville community and beyond,” Gonzalez said.
The church had 1,000 square feet of space in its basement which was not being utilized, and that’s where the thrift store will be located. Entrance will be on the north side of the church.
Plans are shaping up and support is overwhelming for the project. They have been collecting donations of goods since last summer. They were able to get free racks and hangars from the Bon Ton in Lockport when it closed.
Hedges, a member of the church, started searching for a name.
“We went through a lot of names and had a lot of suggestions,” Hedges said.
Olga Gonzalez started as pastor of the Lyndonville United Methodist Church in July.
One day, recalling a verse from the Bible in Romans 12:9-13, she decided on Hope Resales: A Community Thrift Store. Her son, Curtis Canham, is a graphic designer and came up with a logo for the thrift store.
The church plans to open Hope Resales on March 30.
They are looking to the community for donations to stock the store.
The annual winter rummage sale is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, and suitable merchandise left from the sale will help to stock the thrift store.
Valerie Wells, church secretary, is a lifelong resident of Lyndonville and remembers when there used to be a thrift store in Lyndonville.
“But that was years ago,” she said.
The church welcomes donations of good, clean clothing and household items. They cannot accommodate large appliances or furniture.
Gonzalez’ wish is that Hope Resales will benefit the Lyndonville community and beyond. As a Hispanic, Puerto Rican pastor, Gonzalez also hopes to reach out to the Hispanic people in the area.
“I want everyone to come and see God’s love through Hope Resales,” she said.
