BCS Capital Project Bond Passes

by Thaddeus Flint
The Berlin Central School District Board of Education has finally passed the Capital Project Bond authorization which will allow the District to purchase $5 million in bonds to fund a $6.8 million rehabilitation project of the District’s two working buildings.
[private]The vote, which took place July 8 at a meeting which was not listed on the District’s online calendar and thus was attended by almost no one, was unanimous, and there was no discussion, according to minutes of the meeting taken by the District Clerk, Mary Grant.
The Board passed a resolution on October 18, 2011 approving the project which is largely aimed at repairing the Berlin Elementary School with “among other things, replacement windows, doors and roofing, installation of an elevator, accessibility upgrades, electrical and heating/ventilation upgrades and lead and asbestos abatement.” Financing of the project will also require $1.8 million of the District’s existing capital reserve fund.
The proposition was voted on and adopted on December 13, 2011. The project moved forward, but full funding was stymied by Board members John Nash, Bev Stewart and Alan Webster Jr., who were against such an expensive plan, largely put together by Board members Jim Willis and Gina Goodermote with little discussion or input from the other members. Purchase of the bonds was contingent on a two-thirds super majority vote of the entire Board which never happened though it was continually re-voted on at every Board meeting for over a year with no success.
Nash, Stewart and Webster Jr. did not run for re-election and were subsequently replaced by Elizabeth Miller, Rachel Finney and Jeffrey Paine, who were sworn in at the July meeting.
Reorganization
As this meeting was also the reorganizational meeting, a vote was held to determine the leaders of this new Board. According to the minutes, Board Member Frank Zwack was nominated by Miller and seconded by Paine for the position of Board President. Board Member Katie Fiske, however, then made a motion to nominate Jim Willis who had served as President up until that point. Nobody backed up Fiske’s motion, and Zwack is now Board President with all in favor.
Zwack probably has more knowledge than anybody when it comes to the Berlin School District seeing as how the man has been serving on school boards since the late 80s, which is after the wheel was invented but way before most people had heard of such novelties as internet and cell phones. The District was larger then. Each year it seems to slowly collapse inward. This year will be no exception as Zwack was authorized by the Board to “sign a contract to sell the Grafton Elementary building to Corpuscular, Inc. at $105,000 and the land.” All Board members were in favor of the sale.
Gina Goodermote, who was Board President before Willis took over the position, was elected Vice President.
Katie Fiske was elected Parliamentarian. There is currently no legislative liaison.
The next regular meeting of the Board will be Tuesday, August 20.[/private]