Emergency Service Concerns Brought To The BCS Board

by Thaddeus Flint
First responders from the Berlin Rescue Squad and the Berlin Volunteer Fire Company were present at the Berlin Central School District’s December Board meeting Tuesday in response to a lack of response from the Board on whether to allow responders who also work at the schools to respond to emergency calls in the District.
“My secretary wrote this letter to you in July,” said Mark Primeau, Chairman of the Fire Commissioners for Berlin. The letter in question was a demand to allow employees of the School District to attend to emergency calls during school hours and still be paid. “We are not asking for miracles,” he said, “we are just trying to help people.”
Since this fall the School Board has been trying to come up with some kind of plan that would allow those employees to go out and fight fires and rescue residents in need of urgent medical treatment. In fact the Board is in full agreement that employees should be allowed to save lives and still be paid. While Primeau is not looking for a miracle, it is actually almost a miracle that there is absolute accord among Board members; they rarely agree completely on anything. What is holding them back, though, is exactly how to phrase an agreement which would protect the interests of the District and the interests of the students who might be in the custody of the responders at the time of a emergency call.
The District’s legal department was consulted, and they were against the idea. Of course their offices are not located in any of the towns that might be serviced by the rescue teams so they have little to lose. The Board is choosing to ignore their advice probably because they do in fact live here.
Should the District not approve a plan, the amount of time it takes for an emergency squad to arrive at a situation could, in theory, rise considerably. While it is true there are only five employees who are also first responders (two who are bus drivers, two who are teachers assistants and Cyril Grant who is the District’s Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds), every member counts in an emergency. According to Tammy Osterhout, Captain of the Rescue Squad, “There is a Golden Hour,” which is the first sixty minutes of a rescue operation during which a patient’s chances for survival are dramatically increased with immediate attention. “Even if it saves one life,” said Osterhout, “isn’t it worth it?” In case anyone was in doubt whether or not a human life was worth it, Osterhout noted that if the volunteer rescue squad didn’t exist the Town would be paying around $500,000 a year to have Empire Ambulance sitting around waiting for things to go bad.
“I really do not know what the impact would be,” said Board Member Frank Zwack, who is in favor of creating a pilot plan for the first responder employees. This way the District could accurately evaluate whether allowing lives to be saved on school time is in any way a detriment to the daily school schedule. “If it is used wisely, I do know it is win-win for everyone, though,” said Zwack.
“A pilot program is a good start,” agreed District Superintendent Dr. Stephen Young. Ways could be found to make sure all positions are filled at all times. Substitutes or volunteers would be on call so as to allow the responders to leave. Young said he would draft a Memorandum of Agreement between the District, the employees and the CSEA bargaining unit for inspection at the January Board meeting.
“Clarity is what we are looking for,” said Board Member Bev Stewart. If the program were written out once and for all, a pilot plan could be implemented immediately. Board Member John Nash agreed. “If I could just read it in black and white, I would vote for it,” he said. “I just want specifics.” Maybe, but “The black and white for some is not the same black and white for somebody else,” pointed out Stewart. If the Board has a problem agreeing what is black and what is white, this might possibly explain why it takes six months for the Board to come to consensus on anything. Board President Gina Goodermote was optimistic though that being able to read the Memorandum of Agreement would allow the Board to favorably conclude the matter in January. “It’s going to be voted on at the next meeting,” she said, “and I’m sure we are going to approve it.”
The Legislative Liaison report was in a black and white everyone could understand. “We are heading into budget season,” said Nash, “and we are going to be in a tough bind.” With a State mandated 2% tax cap in place, the District can only increase its revenues by around $160,000 next year. Governor Cuomo is speaking of a 4% increase in State Aid to schools, but nothing is certain. In order to survive, “It’s going to require some creative revenue streams,” said Nash, “which will require the cooperation of a full board.” This might be difficult to accept for a Board where two of seven recently felt the need to go off on their own and successfully create a $6.5 million capital improvement project.
One of the ways, actually two of the ways, the District can save money is by ridding itself of excess real estate. The Stephentown and Grafton Elementary schools sit dark, sad and empty as elementary school children are bussed right past them to Berlin. Goodermote reported that the Board has received two letters of interest. The Grafton Fire District would like to take over Grafton Elementary school and possibly use it as some kind of community center. The Town of Stephentown has stated it is interested in possessing the Stephentown Elementary School. Goodermote wants to start the process to finally turn these structures over to a new owner. “Next month I want a vote,” said Goodermote. “I do not want them to be part of the budget for next year.”
It has not yet been decided if the buildings are to be sold or gifted away. It is, however, rather doubtful that the Town of Stephentown and the Grafton Fire Department have the needed funds to pay full value for the properties. “We are so flush with money right now we can just give buildings away?” asked Nash. “That just makes no sense.” Nash said he is “vehemently opposed to giving these buildings away without compensation. It’s foolhardy. These buildings belong to the entire District…we need every single dollar we can get.”
However, according to Zwack, dollars are just going up the chimney. The buildings cost the District around $50,000 a year to mothball; money which could be better spent on educational programs and upkeep for the two buildings the District does use. “You think you have a golden goose?” Zwack asked Nash. “It’s a boat anchor!”
Nash smiled at Zwack’s determination. “The Grafton Fire Department has been lobbying with you for some time to get that building [Grafton Elementary School],” said Nash. “That’s not a secret,” replied Zwack.
Young insisted that “we need to do our due diligence first.” He said he would put together an information sheet on each of the sites listing their values and faults. He would then try to seek out other possible interested parties. “We will actively look for a legitimate buyer,” he said. Goodermote welcomed his participation and then told the small audience in attendance, “If you know of anyone who is interested in these buildings, have them send us a letter.” If this plan proceeds at the same speed the capital project did from when it was first proposed, those properties could easily be someone else’s problems come early Spring.
A student whose family has moved to Hoosick Falls will have to attend school there, the Board has decided. At a previous meeting the family asked the Board to allow their daughter, who is a senior, to finish the year at Berlin. Nobody on the Board wanted to be the “bad cop,” but Young pointed out that by allowing one exception they “could be opening up a can of worms.” Stewart asked if it really costs any more to have one more student on the rolls. The answer was no. “It’s really not costing us anything now,” said Young. “But in the long run, though, it could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars; it could be expensive.” That would be the case if many families moved out of the District yet wanted to keep their children in the schools and not pay the tuition of around $8,000.
Young had contacted the Hoosick Falls District, and they were adamant that the student attend school there. This is understandable as every single body in a school is State aid in the bank. “You can’t look at the individual student,” said Young, “my recommendation is that the student immediately enroll in Hoosick Falls.” A vote was taken, and only Stewart and Nash were in favor of allowing the student to finish her education with her schoolmates. “We have to be bad guys,” said Goodermote, but nobody was happy about it. In the end Hoosick Falls might not get their body after all. The student’s mother had expressed worry she might drop out. Nash couldn’t see the point of making one single student who liked being here leave with so little time remaining. “There aren’t a lot of people who want to stay in this District to begin with,” he said.