The climax of the only Blue Ridge School Board meeting for July, on the 25th, came at the very end, when President Chris Lewis read out, and the Board accepted unanimously, a resolution of censure for Board Vice President Harold Empett.
Board members were a trifle late arriving at the High School auditorium, coming from an executive session at which, according to Mr. Lewis, members discussed Superintendent Matthew Button’s performance evaluation.
Once everyone was assembled, Mr. Lewis read a resolution congratulating the members of the varsity women’s relay team Amber Brecht, Isabella Cosmello, Karris Fazzi, Lindsey Rupakus and Kandice Smith on their participation in state competition. Two of their number received certificates in person.
Blue Ridge track stars Isabella Cosmello, Amber Brecht (right), with High School Principal Peter Supko
Four senior athletes were also recognized for their achievements: Evan Aldrich, David Austin, Amber Brecht and Taylor Bronson. Ms. Brecht accepted her plaque in person, since she was already there anyway.
While on the subject of athletics, Board member Edward Arnold expressed disappointment in the awards ceremony staged the night before graduation. He said the poor organization of the event was a disservice to the athletes and their families, and he pledged to help out personally next year.
Food Service Director Linda Cole-Koloski then offered the Board her annual report. She said that she operates 4 programs:
- The summer program offering free food to youngsters under 18 years of age is available at Blue Ridge, where it serves as many as 130 participants in the Summer Adventures program; the Hallstead Library (up to 25); the Montrose Library (perhaps 15); and now a new snacks program at Mountain View, which has served as many as 150 children.
- Food service offers after-school snacks during the school year.
- The National School Breakfast program served about 51,000 free meals during the school year just past -- the program’s 8th year – at no cost to parents of Elementary School pupils.
- The National School Lunch program offers a hot line, a salad bar and homemade soup every day during the school year.
That last one is subject to regulation from the U.S. Department of Agriculture which mandates the types of menus that must be offered, and monitors a “price equity” requirement under which prices for paying students must eventually match the cost of providing the same meals for free to low-income students. Ms. Cole-Koloski said that because the lunch program at Blue Ridge has nearly achieved price equity already, there would be no need to raise meal prices for the coming school year.
The Food Service Director, a refugee of the Sodexo food service program at Binghamton University, also reported that, with the help of the staff in all of the schools (“everybody plays this game with me,” said she), her programs ended the year with a total of only $40.12 in uncollected charges. Overall, the food service is once again “in the black,” a record it has continued over the 14-15 years that Ms. Cole-Koloski has run the place. She also thanked the maintenance staff for continued timely support.
Mr. Lewis asked Ms. Cole-Koloski when she thought the food service program at Blue Ridge might “eventually go in the red.” She said she hoped that it would never happen, but with increasing costs of both food and staff, she couldn’t promise anything for the future.
As usual, the Board warmly appreciated Ms. Cole-Koloski’s efforts and achievements at an unusual level for public schools with a round of applause.
(Ms. Cole-Koloski is also an Emergency Medical Service (EMS) instructor in her home territory of Brackney. On her own, she offers certification instruction to her own staff as well as to the staff of the schools generally, in CPR and use of the Automated External Defibrillators (AED) positioned throughout the buildings. And she has provided surplus lithium batteries for the latter devices.)
The Board’s original 27-point business agenda was quickly disposed of. In personnel matters, among others:
- The Board accepted the resignations of Michael Courtright and Stephanie Button. In a separate addendum, they also accepted the resignation of school psychologist Jenna Stoddard-Kelly; interviews are scheduled in August for her replacement.
- Emily Carr was welcomed in person for the position of special education/emotional support teacher.
- Dayle Weber was also welcomed in person as a first grade teacher.
- Joseph Conigliaro continues his quest to occupy every known job at Blue Ridge by becoming the golf coach.
- The positions of Elementary chorus director, all of the department heads, and the Pac Reps were eliminated from “Exhibit B,” the schedule of extracurricular positions attached to the teachers’ contract.
- Two new positions were added to “Exhibit B:” Elementary stage crew advisor, and 8th-grade promotion advisor.
- The Board also offered special thanks to Barbara (“Bobby”) McCain for her years as director of special education programs. Ms. McCain, nearly overcome with emotion, thanked everyone for their help and support during her tenure as director. She was feted with a delicious, sugary cake following the meeting.
- The Board approved several agreements for special services for the new year:
- With NHS Pennsylvania for autism and emotional disturbance services at its “private school” facility. Costs listed on a separate rate schedule were not available.
- With the Meadows Psychiatric Center for “educational services” at a rate of $60 per day for educational services, as needed.
- With Friendship House for mental health counseling and consulting services to the staff of Blue Ridge at an hourly rate of $40 with a maximum contract amount of $60,480.
- With Stephen Peters, MSW/LSW, also for mental health counseling and consulting services, at a rate of $50 per hour up to 360 hours per year.
New and modified policies, offered last month for review, were given formal approval, including some slightly revised policies related to governance and Board functions intended to conform to recent changes in legislation and regulation. A new policy covering the use of Naloxone and the handling of opiate addiction is added. In addition, the policy covering payment of bills is amended to allow pre-approval of wages for security personnel and officials at sponsored events that will avoid delays when paying for these services.
The reason the Board was meeting in the auditorium (ahem, without microphones, so that much of the discussions was inaudible) was that the cafeteria has been torn up to fix a sewer problem under the floor. The original contract with Petcosky & Sons of Vestal, NY was in the amount of $146,540 (plus $34,700 for engineering support). It was inevitable in a project of this sort that other issues might come to light once the floor was opened up. And so it came to pass. Business Manager Brian Dolan reported that, just as the project was nearing completion, some problems appeared that will require another $51,369 to fix, which the Board approved, presumably so it could get its cafeteria back in one piece.
At the very conclusion of the meeting, as a separate addendum, President Chris Lewis read aloud a resolution that the Board “does hereby censure, repudiate, disavow, and formally express its disapproval of the actions of Board Member Harold Empett” for “falsely accusing another member [of the Board] of unethical behavior in an attempt to use the power of his office to improperly influence the outcome of the School Board Scholarships to favor a coworker.” Without naming names, it appears that Mr. Empett wanted a scholarship awarded to the offspring of a friend but was rebuffed when he approached another Board member about it, whereupon he accused the other member of unethical behavior by not following what he perceived to be the proper “guidelines/criteria” of the scholarship application process.
Coincidentally, one of the new policies adopted at the meeting covers “Conflict of Interest” covering Board members and district employees. It was a sordid end to the meeting, but not to Mr. Empett’s long tenure as a member of the Blue Ridge School Board.
The next public meeting, the only one in August, is scheduled for the first night of the Harford Fair, August 22, 2016. Meetings generally begin at 7:00pm in the cafeteria in the Elementary School. Check the district’s website for the latest information -- and the doors, for signs that it will take place elsewhere. Ms. Cole-Koloski assures us that the disruption is minor compared to what she has faced in the past, but we are assured that the cafeteria floor will be as good as new by that time.
