CAZENOVIA — On Tuesday, May 16, Cazenovia Central School District (CCSD) put forth its proposed 2023-24 school budget for voter approval.

The voters authorized the district to expend the proposed $36,529,529 as general fund appropriations for the 2023-24 school year and to levy the necessary tax. They also approved two additional propositions and reelected Dr. Jan Woodworth and Meghan Kelly to the CCSD Board of Education (BOE).

The budget, which passed by a vote of 427 to 258, represents a 6.28 percent increase over the current school year’s budget and is supported by a tax levy increase of $1,437,472.

According to the CCSD Spring 2023 Budget Brochure, the budget maintains all existing academic, fine arts, athletics, and extracurricular opportunities for students, and it allows for continued innovation of pre-K-12 curricula and technology infrastructure improvements that will help maintain internet reliability and safety and enable the district to remain vigilant against vulnerability to cyber threats.

“We are thrilled to have public support for our students and teachers,” said Superintendent Chris DiFulvio on May 17. “I would like to thank all community members for voting. This budget will ensure that our students get the best possible education, help with necessary infrastructure updates in technology, and support curricular updates. In particular, I would like to thank our poll workers, especially our student volunteers. Working the budget vote was a first-hand experience for our [advanced placement] government students.”

The budget brochure states that the district continues to operate with one of the lowest tax rates in the region.

“The district continues its commitment to strategic and responsible long-term fiscal planning by utilizing a combination of a tax levy increase of 6.99 percent and appropriated fund balance of $1.1 million to help reduce the overall impact to taxpayers,” the brochure states.

Additional cost-saving measures include energy performance contracts, cooperative purchasing through BOCES, collaborative shared services, and continual assessment and realignment of resources.

“Most importantly, the budget supports maintaining and reinforcing equity in our current programming for students, including mental health supports, robust fine arts and music programs, dynamic athletic programs, an array of extra-curricular offerings, and overall district safety,” the budget brochure states.

The brochure also highlights the fact that New York State Foundation Aid is increasing by approximately $802,000, and the total state aid is increasing by $1.3 million.

On May 16, voters also approved a bus purchase proposition, authorizing the district to purchase and finance four replacement school buses, including necessary furnishings, fixtures, and equipment and “all other costs incidental thereto,” and to expend a total sum not to exceed $633,132. According to the resolution, the sum is to be raised by the levy of a tax upon the taxable property of the school district and collected in annual installments.

Additionally, residents authorized the district to levy a tax in the amount of $498,241 for the Cazenovia Public Library and $187,185 for the New Woodstock Free Library.

The bus proposition was approved by a vote of 462 for and 218 against, and the library proposition passed by a vote of 539 to 146.

In the BOE election, both candidates ran unopposed. Woodworth and Kelly will serve three-year terms commencing July 1, 2023, and expiring June 30, 2026.

School board meeting

On the day of the vote, the BOE convened for its regular monthly meeting.

In honor of National EMS Week, which is May 21-27, the BOE recognized the district’s student emergency medical services (EMS) providers.

CCSD currently has 17 students who are volunteer members of the Cazenovia Area Volunteer Ambulance Corps (CAVAC) Student Corps.

Past CAVAC President Sara Mitchell provided the board with some information on the responsibilities of the student corps and accepted certificates of appreciation from DiFulvio on behalf of the district.

According to Mitchell, the student corps had 40 members prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, and they are working to build their numbers back up.

“[The students] run their own organization through CAVAC,” Mitchell said. “They select their own members. The members have to apply. The kids themselves interview [the applicants] and decide who can join the student corps. Their grades, of course, are important; they have to keep them up in order to still be members.”

All the student members are cardiopulmonary resuscitation- and automated external defibrillator-certified, according to Mitchell,

“They are on every ride,” Mitchell said. “If they are on duty, they go with the ambulance. It doesn’t matter what kind of a call it is. The only time they may not go is if a paramedic decides for some reason that they shouldn’t, or if the student is uncomfortable. I don’t know of any time that that has happened, and I’ve been doing this a long time. . . They help the paramedics, they help the [emergency medical technicians (EMTs)], they know where all the equipment is on our ambulances. They are incredible.”

Mitchell highlighted one of CAVAC’s student volunteers who is enrolled in an EMT course and is expected to become a licensed EMT at just 17 years old.

Following Mitchell’s overview of the program, the BOE applauded the two student corps members in attendance at the meeting and thanked them for their service.

Mitchell attributed the low student turnout at the meeting to the fact that many of the student corps members are involved in multiple other extracurricular activities.

She also pointed out that student corps member Grace Probe was out on a stroke call at the time of the meeting.

“Grace was supposed to be on from 4 to 6 p.m.,” Mitchell said. “They do two-hour shifts, but she is now with a stroke patient headed into Syracuse. That’s the kind of work these kids do, so they are not only role models for their peers, but they are an excellent example for the community.”

After the board recognized the CAVAC student corps members, BOE member David Mehlbaum acknowledged that there are currently three Cazenovia students — one senior and two juniors — volunteering with the Cazenovia Fire Department.

He stated that if there is a way for the board to honor them in the future, he knows they would appreciate it.

He also commented that the fire department, like CAVAC, has experienced a drop in the number of student volunteers and it is making an effort to get more young people involved.

In other news

The board authorized the district to enter a purchase & installation contract with Toth’s Sports for three electronic scoreboards as part of the district’s ongoing $10.7 million athletic fields project, which the voters approved in March 2022.

The contract provides for one large scoreboard for the primary athletic competition field and two smaller scoreboards for the upper practice/secondary competition field. The total cost for the purchase and installation of the three scoreboards is $384,585, which is fully within the budget of the voter-approved project.

The BOE accepted the Cazenovia Athletic Association’s (CAA) donation of a 50 in. x 600 in. banner to be hung on the bleachers at the Sean Googin Athletic Fields on Fenner Road.

The CAA purchased and donated a banner in October 2022; this latest donation will be a mesh version of the same banner design for use on the bleachers. The mesh banner will be digitally printed at a cost of $1,706.40.

Later in the meeting, Assistant Superintendent/School Business Official Thomas Finnerty acknowledged the resignation of CCSD Custodian Trevor Wiley, who is moving to another district.

“He was a great custodian for us,” Finnerty said. “. . . We’re going to miss him.”

CCSD BOE meetings are usually held at 6:30 p.m. 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.