District close to catching computer hackers

by Kathleen Duff
Grand Island Dispatch, March 14, 2008

Visitors to the Grand Island Board of Education meeting rose as one to
give teacher Henry Carney a standing ovation after he was recognized
by the board for his rescue efforts for a student in the swimming pool.

Grand Island School Superintendent Robert Christmann told trustees at the regular Board of Education meeting Monday evening at the high school that student hackers who broke into the district’s computer systems and stole the passwords of every staff member are close to being caught.

Christmann said School Resource Officer and New York State Trooper Christopher Pyc, other law enforcement officials and school administrators are working “on a daily basis” to follow the trail of technically savvy individuals who compromised network security recently. Christmann commented, “I am optimistic they will identify the students responsible,” and he also said that the breech was so serious as to constitute a felony violation.

Also of concern to the superintendent of late has been departing Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s statewide plan to re-assign 90 school resource officers (SROs), including Pyc, to high crime urban areas. Christmann told the board that now Republican state senators definitely plan to fund the SRO positions if the reassignments go forward July 1.

Busing Matters

In other matters, Christmann discussed the recent report from Transportation Advisory Services, who had been hired to study Grand Island school busing. The report suggested some students currently being bused should not be, according to the distances prescribed by state law. New York state, however, does allow local school boards some leeway in what school-home distances are appropriate. For example, district Director of Transportation Services Jack Burns commented that more Island students need to be bused because of the lack of sidewalks in many Island neighborhoods. All kindergarten through first grade children receive transportation on the Island.

Also questioned in the report were the bus runs for athletics, music and Regents exam week in January. Starting and ending times for the middle and high school are to be investigated as well. The board formed a subcommittee to look at the recommendations and see what may best be implemented.

Budget Discussed

In discussions regarding the 2008-2009 budget, Christmann and Assistant Superintendent for Business and Finance Loraine Ingrasci spoke about the four-week countdown to adoption of the final draft of the budget. Christmann said that although cost of living increases are projected to be 2.8 percent, the school budget may be only 2.4 percent higher than last year.

“Right now we have equal services (projected) if not expanded services,” he elaborated. He and Ingrasci anticipate no program reductions. Next year’s budget is scheduled to be adopted on Monday, April 7, and will go before the voters in May.

In good news, Sidway School Principal Denise Dunbar, Huth Road Elementary Principal Mary Haggerty and Kaegebein Elementary Principal John Wiertel join Middle School Principal Bruce Benson in being recognized in “Who’s Who in Education.” Other kudos went to coach Jeff Johnston on his selection as Niagara Frontier League wrestling coach of the year. In addition, all eight high school winter sports teams have achieved Scholar Athlete status with team academic averages of 90 percent or higher. The superintendent said this honor goes to just a “handful in all of New York State” and that the designation is something “very near and dear to (his) heart.”

Christmann asked trustee Tom Franz to read a letter from a serviceman in Iraq who had received music from his son’s elementary music class taught by Sarah Russo. The soldier expressed heartfelt gratitude to Russo and the children for brightening his day in the midst of difficult duty in a hostile environment.

The next Board of Education meeting will be held jointly with the Grand Island Town Board on Monday, March 31, at Grand Island Town Hall.

Carney praised for life-saving effort

A standing ovation went to Grand Island Middle School physical education teacher Hank Carney at Monday’s Board of Education meeting after the board learned of his actions in saving the life of a sixth grader at risk of drowning in the deep end of the high school swimming pool during class.

The child’s mother called School Superintendent Robert Christmann to praise Carney for his quick action.

Christmann said the mother of the boy was “really quite effusive about what that teacher did. And she said to me, “If he hadn’t acted that way, I think (my son) might have drowned.’ ”

“She was exceptionally grateful for him and wanted everyone to know what she thought of the teacher’s actions,” Christmann said.

The student, who Christmann said had demonstrated swimming ability in the shallow end, quickly found himself struggling in deeper water, at which point Carney jumped fully clothed into the water to pull the boy out of the pool.

“I really think that if he hadn’t, there could have been some serious implications from what they tell me,” Christmann said.

Christmann said Carney downplayed his actions, but the superintendent said they were anything but routine.

“First of all, I think it shows that he’s very observant,” Christmann said. “He just reacted the way he’s been trained to react.”

“The fact is when that moment came, he reacted and did an exceptional act of putting safety first with a student, and didn’t hesitate to do it. You never know what you’re going to do in a situation like that, and he just proved that he’s quite a teacher,” Christmann said.