The Cazenovia Board of Education handled some routine year-end matters at its June 15 monthly board meeting, but the real events of the night were a bevy of goodbyes given to departing teachers, administrators and school board members.
Superintendent Matt Reilly named and thanked 10 veteran teachers who were leaving the district at the end of this school year, taking with them anywhere from 10 to 32 years of experience. In the end, the Cazenovia district will lose 241 years of service through the loss of these educators, Reilly said.
“They’ve helped so many kids grow, and contributed to this community immeasurably,” he said.
Helen Byrnes – 28 years – taught kindergarten then multi-age and then third grade
Bill Paben – 31 years – Art teacher, started out at Burton Street Elementary then moved to high school
Diane Belton – 22 years – Nurse at the middle school
Paul Enders – 31 years – Auto mechanic at bus garage
Nancy Saya – 36 years at Burton Street as a speech and language teacher
David Hazer – 16 years – Superintendent of Building and Grounds
Karen Easterly – 17 years – Playground/cafeteria monitor at Burton Street
Steve Truelson – 10 years – Bus driver
Deb Taube – 16 years – French teacher at middle school
Peter Yuhas – 34 years – Cleaner
The night began, however, with the acknowledgement that this was the last meeting for three longtime board members — Pat Vogl, Karin Marris and Cindy Bell Tobey — and with the public announcement that Assistant Superintendent Bill Furlong had resigned after 18 years with the district.
“I’ve been here in Cazenovia for 18 years, and when this opportunity presented itself it was too good to pass up,” Furlong said. “It’s just time for a new adventure.”
Marris, a 12-year board member, Vogl, the current board president and an 11-year member and Tobey, a 7-year member, all previously said they decided to retire from the board because they served so long they felt it time to give someone else a chance.
Incoming members Dave Mehlbaum, Lou Orbach and Jennifer Parmalee were elected to fill the three seats during the May 19 school board election. They will be sworn-in to office during the board’s annual organizational meeting on July 9.
Reilly thanked Marris, Vogl and Tobey for a “very successful year” in 2014-15 and for their entire careers on the board.
“It really is the end of an era,” Marris said. “We’ve never had a board like the current board.” She said the three new members joining the board are “great new people with different areas of expertise” and she feels confident the future will go well.
“I’m going to miss everybody,” she said, tearing up.
“This has been quite the journey, very educational,” Tobey said. “It’s been a lot of fun; this is a wonderful board to work with. It’s been a great ride and I’m said to get off.”
Vogl also said that the current board has been a great one to work on, and he would miss everybody. “Life is all about leaving a place a little better than when you got there, and hopefully we were able to do that,” he said. “It’s been a lot of fun.
Also at the meeting, the board:
—Heard from Reilly that the Cazenovia school district was ranked no. 2 in the Syracuse region by Buffalo Business First magazine, which publishes an annual ranking of statewide school districts. Cazenovia also finished no. 4 out of 431 districts in its English Language Arts ranking for grades kindergarten through 12.
—Scheduled its annual organizational meeting for 6:30 p.m. Thursday, July 9, at the board meeting room in the district office.
— Authorized the expenditure of $5,700 to fund five additional summer teaching grants through the Summer Grant Program. The board previously approved $10,400 for summer grants, which left an unspent balance in the grant program account. The grant pool was then reopened for more grant applications, of which five were chosen to receive funding.
Jason Emerson is editor of the Cazenovia Republican. He can be reached at [email protected].
