Spirit Week approaching at GIHS

by Kathleen Duff
Grand Island Dispatch, September 28, 2007

Spirit Week was one of many topics at a Grand Island Board of Education meeting.

During Monday evening’s trustee meeting in a full Room 108 in the High School, High School Assistant Principal Christopher Zwiatek told the board of the many activities for grades 9 to 12 during Spirit Week in October, including:

•A bonfire from 6:30 to 9 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 11, including light towers. The Grand Island Fire Department will be on site to light and put out the fire.

•Blue and White Day, Friday, Oct. 11, when students and faculty will sport the school colors in various ways.

•Vikings football game, Saturday, Oct. 13.

Superintendent Robert Christmann added that “Emphasis is on football, but almost every team will have a home game…” during Spirit Week.

In other news, in a capital project update, Loraine Ingrasci, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, reported that the roofing at Veronica E. Connor Middle School is essentially complete and has a 20-year warranty. Roof replacement has begun at the bus garage behind Charlotte Sidway Elementary and should be completed in October. Public bidding for emergency generators will begin in early October, and Ingrasci indicated that installation of the equipment should be complete by Christmas.

In other business, board members heard a presentation by Mike Neumaster of Capital Marketing Associates regarding future funding for capital projects on school property. Neumaster emphasized several factors important to any project process:

•Percentage of cost that is “aidable” by New York State (100 percent is not always possible, he said).

•Standard 18-month gap between when a project is approved and when state aid actually arrives so that the project may begin.

•Impact on taxpayers

Neumaster said that there is more or less a basic formula for figuring what taxpayers will end up paying when school buildings are improved. As an example, a $1 million capital project that is aidable from the state will produce a local share of $21,000. For the town residents, this translates to an increase of 3 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation on their tax bills. If a project is larger, say, $3 million, the same formula would apply: $1 million equals $21,000 local share; or $3 million equals $63,000, or an increase of 9 cents per assessed thousand.

Grand Island Board of Education President Jim Hanna announced that Mary Haggerty, principal of Huth Road Elementary School, has been appointed to the board of directors of the Niagara Frontier Reading Council. In another appointment, Molly Marren, technology consultant for the district, has begun a two-year term on the Town of Grand Island Cable/Communications Committee. Previously, trustees have stated that Marren’s involvement with this committee should prove advantageous to the district in furthering shared services between the town and the schools.

In other important FYIs, Dr. Karen Karmazin, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, told trustees that instructional technology teacher Janie Mancuso will be producing a newsletter for teachers called “Tech Talk.” Middle School teachers Carol Kimmerle and Susan Campbell are running a program called Literacy Link aimed at improving reading. Retired elementary teacher Diane Tiede will lead an in-service on Eco-Island as a “teachable site.” Eco-Island is the district’s own nature preserve located on Staley Road near West River.

Ingrasci also reported on the district’s risk control action plan, stating that slips and falls in the kitchen areas of the schools are an insurance risk. To that end, the district will be offering school cafeteria employees free or discounted non-slip shoes that have been shown to give more secure footing on grease, water, etc. Overall, Ingraci stated, “Our claims have dropped significantly over the past three years.”

Finally, in his superintendent’s report, Robert Christmann said that “all aspects of transportation” will be looked at in upcoming school transportation study. At the next board meeting, trustees will receive information on bus routes and school starting times with an eye toward possible changes in time for the 2008-09 budget process.

Christmann also talked about changes in immunization law for the diptheria/tetanus/ pertussis vaccine. All sixth graders who are 11 years old by Sept. 1 must have documented shot records on file with the school nurse by the start of the school year. As of Monday evening, there were 11 undocumented students whose parents had received letters and phone calls from school officials requesting compliance within one week.

The next board of education meeting is a workshop meeting at 7 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 15, in High School Room 108.