By Kate Hill
Staff Writer
During the Feb. 8 Cazenovia Central School District Board of Education meeting, Superintendent Matt Reilly provided the board with a few updates on the ongoing school year.
Reilly announced that the district has used three of its budgeted five snow days.
This year, for the first time, New York State is permitting districts to substitute remote learning days for snow days.
So far, the district has had only traditional snow days, two of which were given the week prior to the school board meeting.
“We have given traditional snow days for a number of reasons,” Reilly said. “The number of [school] days is embedded in the teachers’ contracts, but also because snow days are magical and we want to keep them. [However,] we certainly don’t want to have to ever go into one of our school breaks . . . With this remote option, it means we won’t have to.”
Reilly added that he anticipates the district will take one more traditional snow day; any additional emergency weather days will likely be treated as remote learning days in order to save one “snow day” in case of a true emergency.
The superintendent next informed the board that Cazenovia High School conducted its classes remotely on Feb. 8 and 9.
According to Reilly, a confirmed case of COVID-19 at the school required a number of staff members to quarantine. Additionally, a number of staff members were scheduled for COVID-19 vaccinations that week. Unable to provide adequate substitute coverage for the number of absences, the school was forced to go remote.
“[The number of vaccinations] is great news,” Reilly said. “It’s going to help make the environment safer and make the teachers more confident, but it is also an occasion where we need to bring in substitutes . . . This board has done a great job of approving subs over the last two months, and we have another large slate of subs on the personnel report this month. We put the call out to the community, and the community answered. I think we are in a much better place than we were, but we are still going to run into situations like this.”
During his report, Reilly also said the February personnel report includes retirement/resignation announcements for a number of the district’s long-serving and “highly-esteemed” teachers.
According to Reilly, each of the positions will be evaluated to determine whether it should be refilled, reduced or eliminated.
“Those options will be brought to the board along with impact statements for each of them,” Reilly said. “We want everyone to be fully informed. We want you to know what the alternatives are.”
Later in the meeting, BOE President Dave Mehlbaum read the names of the retiring/resigning staff members — Maureen Carroll (physical education), Margaret Davis (5th grade), Margereta Sevier (7th grade), Susan McKillop (high school Spanish), Cynthia Hirt (school nurse), and Superintendent Reilly.
Reilly concluded his report with a discussion of the district’s vacant school resource officer (SRO) position.
SROs are sworn law enforcement officers responsible for safety and crime prevention in schools.
In addition to looking into SROs, the district has also been investigating alternative options, including a school patrol officer (SPO) position through the Madison County Sheriff’s Department.
Reilly informed the board that, through his conversations with the sheriff, he learned the SPO program requires the open carrying of a firearm.
He also reported on his conversation with the “Time is Up Cazenovia” group regarding SRO/SPO positions.
“On a national, regional and local level, there exist tensions between law enforcement and the community of color,” Reilly said. “That was a theme in the [group’s] responses. There was some concern. One student commented, ‘Why do we need a police officer? Can’t we have more counselors?’ Boy, I would love more counselors, but they are different roles. [Others commented] that students of color may feel targeted by an SRO, [and that] an SRO may not be seen as helpful and may make students uncomfortable. Another student commented, ‘An SRO may increase student anxiety.’ Finally, a student commented, ‘Caz is not dangerous; it felt unsafe after we had the SRO.’”
Reilly reminded the board that the six students in the meeting spoke for themselves and not necessarily for the entire student body.
“Anecdotally, what I have heard from students, [teachers and parents] is that the SRO program was desirable and was beneficial and provided a sense of security, and that there is energy for having an SRO or [SPO] back in the school,” Reilly said.
In other news
Mehlbaum reported that the BOE recently conducted an online public survey regarding the hiring of the next superintendent.
According to Mehlbaum, the survey received almost 600 responses, a number of which included comments commending Reilly on his service to the district.
The district’s annual vote will be conducted on May 18 from noon to 9 p.m. in the Burton Street Elementary School Gymnasium, with access to the gym from the Burton Street School Parking Lot on Clark Street.
Voters who do not want to vote in person due to COVID-19 concerns may request absentee ballots.
The BOE will conduct a public hearing on the 2021-2022 Proposed Budget on May 11 at 6:30 p.m. via Zoom.
The board voted to approve the Section III Combination Boys’ Ice Hockey Program hosted by Cazenovia Central Schools.
Cazenovia will host Canastota, Hamilton, Morrisville-Eaton, Chittenango, Sherburne Earlville, and Oneida. The district will collect $400 per player from outside the school districts.
Reilly recommended moving forward with sports combinations with the stipulation that each player must receive a COVID-19 test on a weekly basis to participate.
The superintendent said Athletic Administrator Michael Byrnes has been researching testing options, including the possibility of pool testing.
Free COVID-19 testing is offered at the NYS Fairgrounds, Upstate Community Hospital, the Madison County Office Building, and the Oncenter.
“[In the future,] as we advance toward playing other schools — if we get to what we’ve described as Phase III — I would recommend that to compete interscholastically, athletes should test once a week,” Reilly said.
School board meetings are typically held on the third Monday of each month. Meeting dates are listed on the district website and the school calendar.
For more information, visit cazenoviacsd.com/board-of-education.
