By Ashley M. Casey

Staff Writer

As 2016 comes to a close, it’s our custom to take a look back at the year that was. Read on to review some of the most compelling stories we covered in the last year.

BCSD to build new bus garage

Voters approved a $32.5 million capital project put forth by the Baldwinsville Central School District Feb. 9, by a vote of 883 to 312.

The project, which includes a new transportation facility, a new kitchen at C.W. Baker High School, renovations at Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium, roof repairs at two elementary schools and more, will not raise taxes, according to district administrators.

Assistant Superintendent for Management Services James Rodems said 88 percent of the project will be paid for with state building aid. Up to another $3.5 million will come from the district’s capital reserves. The project will create a new debt of $2.1 million, which the district will begin paying off in 2019-20. At that point, the debt from the district’s 2003 capital project will be paid off.

The district purchased a 29.8-acre industrial parcel in the Radisson Corporate Park outside the village on which to build a new transportation facility. Administrators hope to contract with other municipalities to repair and maintain their vehicles at the new facility.

School district officials presented the first look at the new bus garage at the Oct. 18 meeting of the Van Buren Town Board. Work is expected to begin on the transportation complex in the spring of 2018.

Rodems said the bus garage accounts for about $24 million of the 2016 referendum’s $32 million capital project, which also includes a new press box and lighting at Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium, renovations at Baker High School and replacing the roofs at Van Buren Elementary School, Elden Elementary School and the Baldwinsville Public Library. The stadium renovations already have been completed.

District shakes up middle-level math, science curricula

After an outcry from parents and a less-than-stellar curriculum review from OCM BOCES, the Baldwinsville Central School District has revamped its middle-level math and science curriculum.

Last summer, the district announced that all seventh-graders would be required to take accelerated math and science classes to prepare them to take Regents Algebra 1 and Regents Earth Science in the 2016-17 school year. But in March, OCM BOCES revealed that the district’s math and science curricula were lacking some key concepts.

Lynn Radicello, Jessica Whisher-Hehl and Jack McLoughlin of BOCES presented their findings at the March 21 board of education meeting. The math curricula in grades six, seven and eight showed no written evidence of material covering statistics and probability. Seventh- and eighth-grade math are missing key geometry concepts and eighth-grade math is lacking the concepts of rational and irrational numbers.

BOCES’ examination of fifth- through seventh-grade science showed that while most Living Environment (biology) concepts are present — and overlap in fifth and seventh grades — the curricula did not show evidence of sexual and asexual reproduction in animals and plants, development and disease in organisms and topics on nutrition and health.

BOCES also reviewed the district’s plan to accelerate all students in math and science, which was rolled out this school year. Radicello said this plan is not in compliance with state standards unless the school lists certain criteria which students must meet in order to continue in the accelerated program.

In May, the district scrapped the acceleration-for-all approach. Seventh-graders will have the option of taking an accelerated or non-accelerated math course and eighth-graders may choose between the non-accelerated Science Investigations course or the Regents-level Living Environment course. All seventh-graders will take a new STEM course to support their math learning.

B’ville superintendent resigns abruptly

Following an ill-received rollout of a new math and science acceleration program for middle-schoolers, Baldwinsville Central School District Superintendent Dr. David Hamilton resigned April 4. Deputy Superintendent Matthew McDonald was appointed acting superintendent, a position he held after the 2014 retirement of the late Jeanne Dangle.

BOE President Victor Jenkins cited “philosophical differences” between Hamilton and the BOE for the superintendent’s swift exit. “This is amicable,” he said. “That was the mutual choice.”

McDonald said his immediate goal is to regroup with the BOE to prioritize short-term goals for the rest of the school year and reassess for the 2016-17 school year. Ultimately, McDonald will aid the BOE in its search for a permanent superintendent.

“My goal is to get the team together again,” he said.

While Dr. Hamilton did not attend Monday’s BOE meeting, his wife, Kelley, read a statement during the public comment period.

“Too easily disgruntled community members with their own agendas can get elected and change the positive direction in a school district in an instant,” Mrs. Hamilton said.

B’ville farmer among those impacted by minimum wage increase

By the end of the year, businesses across the state must pay their employees 70 cents more an hour as part of the phase-in that will eventually bring the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour, a move the state’s farm lobby pushed against.

According to a report from Farm Credit East, a financial institution serving the agricultural industry, farmers in New York state face a cost of anywhere between $387 million and $622 million at the height of the wage rollout in 2021. The American Farm Bureau Federation estimates that it will ultimately amount to 25 percent of farms’ net income.

“If those farmers have to shut the barn doors, so to speak, they’re not going out to purchase farm supplies locally,” Steve Ammerman of the New York Farm Bureau (NYFB) said. “They’re not hiring local vendors. They’re not hiring local workers who spend their money locally. There could certainly be a ripple effect.”

The state is providing a credit to farmers to offset the costs of increasing the minimum wage; like the wage, it will increase each year. In 2016, the credit is $250 per worker; $300 in 2017; $400 in 2018; $500 in 2019; and $600 in 2020. However, the credit is just a fraction of what the wage increase will cost farmers.

Balwinsville farmer Tony Emmi, owner of Emmi Farms and Emmi’s Farm Market, is among those who say the increase in the minimum wage mandated under the 2016-17 state budget will hurt his bottom line.

“We’re just trying to keep our heads above water,” Emmi said.

Emmi said he certainly doesn’t begrudge anyone who wants to make a living wage.

“I know people are struggling. I know they are,” Emmi said. “I’m not against anyone making more money. If I had it to pay them more, I would. My people are my best assets. Unfortunately, New York is turning them into a liability. It’s not right.”

Carry a Bead program lets local athletes help kids

The Baldwinsville boys’ and girls’ lacrosse teams and the Syracuse Crunch partnered with the Maureen’s Hope Foundation in the Carry a Bead initiative, which supports kids fighting long-term illnesses at Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital in Syracuse.

Carry a Bead allows others to share the patient’s burden by, quite literally, carrying a bead. Participants purchase matched bead kits, available for $20, from Maureen’s Hope (shipping and handling included). They carry one bead with them during a practice, game or other event (the Oswego Fire Department wore theirs on a recent call). They then send the beads they wore, along with a handwritten note of encouragement, in a package back to Maureen’s Hope, after which Bertrand will deliver it to a child at Golisano. The participants keep the matching bead as a reminder of the commitment they’ve made to the children fighting a life-threatening disease.

“It’s nice to come together for a common mission or goal. There is a little victory between all of us when we’re helping out a kid who’s suffering from cancer, prior to when the ball’s tipped or faceoff, and here we go,” Baldwinsville Central School District Athletic Director Chris Campolieta said. “It’s a great way to get them to take a step back and look at what we have in common. The common goal is a bigger victory in a situation like this.”

“Whether it’s a B’ville lacrosse player or a Syracuse Crunch player, when those kids get that package in the mail, it means so much to them to think, ‘Hey, that player was thinking about me,’” Bertrand said.

Carol Mercer dies at 100

If it weren’t for Carol Mercer, many of the charitable causes in Baldwinsville as we know them wouldn’t exist.

Mercer, who turned 100 on April 4 and passed away June 1, established the Betsy Baldwin chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, was the first manager of the Baldwinsville Volunteer Center and founded her church circle at Grace Episcopal Church.

“She never depended on Daddy to bail her out,” said her daughter, Ellen Mercer Fallon. “An early feminist? I think so.”

In addition to the accomplishments listed above, Mercer was named the BVC’s Woman of the Year in 1967, was a Girl Scout leader and served on many boards, including the Female Charitable Society, which celebrates its 200th anniversary next year.

By all accounts, Mercer loved a good party.

“Last year at the Man and Woman Volunteer of the Year banquet, someone asked her what her secret to longevity was,” Mayor Dick Clarke remembered, “and she said, ‘A little bit of scotch.’”

First United Methodist Church sends Rose Window for restoration

After a successful capital funding campaign last fall, the Baldwinsville First United Methodist Church sent its historic “Rose Window” to be restored in Massachusetts in June. The window was back in place by late October.

Stained Glass Resources of Hampden, Massachusetts, constructed a new frame and repair moisture damage to the paint and glass. The entire project cost about $150,000 and should protect the Rose Window for another 80 to 90 years.

The Rev. Lawrence Lundgren said the storm glass installed about 40 years ago has led to the deterioration of the window. The window also had begun to sag as steel crossbars, installed in the early 1900s to support the window, rotted around it.

“It was at that point that if we didn’t do something, in the next few years it would have started to fall,” Lundgren said.

The restoration of the Rose Window is part of a series of improvement projects the FUMC will pursue over the next few years, including restoration of the church’s remaining stained glass windows, roof repairs and updates to the sound system. Lundgren estimated the cost of these projects will total more than $800,000.

Church historian and longtime parishioner Bonnie Kisselstein said the Rose Window, which depicts Jesus cradling a lamb, dates back to the original dedication of the church. Floodlighting was installed in 1940.

“I love our Rose Window especially because of its center. It is the Good Shepherd [Jesus holding a lamb],” Kisselstein said. “Whenever I’m worried or anxious about something, I picture Him holding us in his arms. With the world in such a state, I picture the globe there.”

Landon Arcadi rescued at YMCA

Thanks to the help of an off-duty state trooper, a young friend, a nurse and a respiratory therapist, 12-year-old Landon Arcadi avoided drowning after he went into cardiac arrest June 2 in the pool at the Northwest Family YMCA in Lysander.

Zach Cumm, 12, managed to bring his friend up from the bottom of the pool. Trooper Shaun Smith began CPR and rescue breaths as a lifeguard called 911 and brought an automated external defibrillator. Two other YMCA members, respiratory therapist Tracy Barton, registered nurse Yvette Bishoff, joined the rescue effort as well.

Landon underwent surgery June 30 to implant a cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) to regulate Landon’s heart rhythm and shock him out of cardiac arrest should another arrhythmia occur. He has returned to Ray Middle School, where he plays in the Cello Chamber Ensemble.

The Arcadi family gathered at Baldwinsville Village Hall Sept. 29 to celebrate Landon and the many people who helped him.

“We’re happy that you all could celebrate with us at this happy time,” Landon’s mother Ann Arcadi said, “because we all know things could have gone differently.”

Zach Cumm, 12, said he was “very scared” when Landon went down in the pool, but Landon praised his friend for acting quickly.

“It reminded me of something my brother told me,” Landon said. “Once you become a man, you have a decision to make: You can either take a thought, or you can make an action. Zach made an action.”

State comptroller audits BCSD

According to an audit from New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli’s office, the Baldwinsville Central School District inappropriately allowed its unrestricted fund balance to grow beyond state limits instead of using the money to cut taxes.

The audit, which was released in June, said the BCSD Board of Education’s failure to adequately predict the district’s needs led to overages in the last several budget cycles.

“From fiscal years 2011-12 through 2014-15, the district improperly calculated its unrestricted fund balance and spent nearly $23.8 million (93 percent) less of appropriated fund balance and reserves than were budgeted to finance operations,” the report states. “As a result, the district’s recalculated year-end unrestricted fund balance averaged about 9.4 percent of the next year’s budgetary appropriations over the last four years, which is more than two times the statutory limit [which is 4 percent].”

In September, the BOE submitted a Corrective Action Plan (CAP) to the comptroller’s office. But the CAP, written by Acting Superintendent Matthew McDonald and BOE President Victor Jenkins and presented at the Sept. 12 Baldwinsville Central School District Board of Education meeting, says there is “room for reasonable disagreement” about the district’s financial practices.

The CAP also objected to the audit report’s assertion that the district’s budgets have been unreasonable.

“It is our position that the district has always prepared budgets that do not raise property taxes more than necessary,” the CAP reads. “[There is a] difference of opinion between the comptroller’s office and the Baldwinsville CSD’s Board of Education… We maintained instructional programs in the face of economic difficulty and kept taxes reasonable — a 1.75 percent average increase over seven years.”

McDonald and Jenkins were thus disinclined to accept the comptroller’s recommendation to spend down the district’s reserves, but they did agree to annually review the fund balance and to create a multi-year financial plan going forward, which will be in place by the end of the 2016-17 fiscal year.

BCSD tackles mental health, substance abuse

In the wake of a student’s suicide and the growing heroin epidemic, the Baldwinsville Central School District has dedicated much of 2016 to improving its outreach efforts when it comes to mental health and substance abuse.

“After Paige’s death, there was no crisis response with the Baldwinsville school district,” said Carrie Martineau, whose 15-year-old daughter, Paige Bird, died by suicide March 21. Paige was a 10th-grader at Baker High School and a member of the color guard.

At the March 28 school board meeting, Stand Against Suicide Vice President Dory Curry said students had told SAS that while counselors were available after Paige’s death, “[students] were left to feel alone and are struggling to cope with the loss of their friend.”

Paige’s family celebrated her memory at a candlelight vigil May 6 in Lysander Park, where they announced “Paige’s Law,” a proposal that would require schools to educate students and families about mental illness and suicide. In October, Gov. Andrew Cuomo  signed a law requiring schools to include mental health in state-mandated health classes by 2018, but B’ville’s Acting Superintendent Matt McDonald said he would like to see the new curriculum implemented earlier.

The school district’s mental health and substance abuse committee hosted a pair of community forums on the dangers of opiate abuse, the most recent of which took place Oct. 17 at Word of Life Church. In December, the district hosted a presentation by suicide prevention educator Jacob Mars for Baker High School students, as well as another presentation on anxiety and depression by Maggie Lamond Simone and her daughter Sophie at Ray Middle School the following week. McDonald said he would like to host a community-wide mental health forum, create a supportive after-school program for teens and hire more counselors at the secondary level.

Sarah Hall contributed to this piece.