by Thaddeus Flint
The January meeting of the Berlin Central School District’s Board of Education was a quick one, the only real discussion being how to resolve one family’s belief that their school bus stop is unsafe.
[private]At the December meeting the Board heard from Ted Bedford of Grafton, who asked the District to consider changing the route the bus takes past their home to the direction it previously took three years before. Bedford desires to have the bus pick up his children so they are not forced to cross the road in the morning. In October a speeding truck came dangerously close to striking the children. The bus stop is at a point on Steve O’Dell Road that is difficult to see, the view impacted by a knoll that only allows the children and the bus to be seen at the last moment.
“I can’t in good conscience have my kids cross that road,” said Bedford in December, adding that the danger is compounded by the road being newly paved and with no posted speed limits.
The District’s Superintendent, Dr. Stephen Young, as well as the District’s Business Manager, Karen Capozzi, who is also in charge of Transportation, and Board Member Jeff Paine have all in the past month gone to the bus stop to see what could be done.
“Certainly it is a condition that warrants further investigation,” said Dr. Young Tuesday. “It is clear that the rise does have the possibility of cars coming up quickly and not seeing the bus.”
“The parents are absolutely correct,” agreed Capozzi.
Finding a solution to the problem, however, is not a simple fix. The parents had originally wanted the District to return the run to the direction it was driven previously. That would mean picking up the children on the way to the furthest point in the run and then coming back towards Berlin. This could add around half an hour to the commute of the children. The Bedfords are okay with this, but Capozzi worries that the other five families on the road, who would also be affected by the route change, might not be so keen on the idea. She also worries that if you change one route for one family the rest of the families in the District might then be on the phone asking to have their routes changed as well.
“It’s just the matter of opening a whole can of worms,” said Capozzi.
“You could get an avalanche of requests,” added Dr. Young.
Various solutions were discussed, two of which involved can of worms opening re-routes. Board President Frank Zwack, however, came up with the simpler solution – the bus should stop thirty feet or so up the road on the knoll so it can be seen in both directions. The bus puts its lights on stopping traffic. Once traffic, if there is any, stops, the children would walk up the shoulder of the road, cross it and get on the bus.
The Board agreed to send a bus and a spotter up and test Zwack’s solution as well as also try out the re-route options to see how much time and fuel they used. The best option would be applied until the end of the year. Capozzi said that the entire Grafton area will be studied for re-routes for Fall 2015.
In the Superintendent’s report, Young provided the good news that the Berlin School District was not designated this year by the New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli in his Fiscal Stress Monitoring System report. This means the financial future of the District appears satisfactory to the Comptroller’s Office. BCS had a rating of 13.3 out of 100, with the lower score being a better score. Last year the District was designated as “Susceptible to fiscal stress” with a score of 28.3, although Young said there was never any real danger of fiscal strain and that that score was merely the result of some bookkeeping problems.
“We are in good shape as long as we keep on our toes,” said Superintendent of Schools Young.
Thousand Point Scoring
In other good news, the High School sports program is having “a phenomenal year” said Principal Dr. Cathy Allain. One basketball player, senior Greg DePaolis, playing under Coach Kasson Sauer, is on the verge of hitting the coveted 1,000 point scoring mark. DePaolis apparently missed his first year playing with the team, making his 1,000 an even bigger achievement. “We’ve had students reach this achievement previously, but no one has ever done so in three years,” said Allain.
The wrestling team, under Coach Donald Connolly, is also putting Berlin’s name back on the map after being absent on the wrestling front for a number of years. Berlin was historically considered a real talent in the sport of wrestling as the rows of trophies from years past in the school’s trophy case attest.
Veterans Tax Exemption Information Sessions
Finally, the Board would like to remind residents of the upcoming public information sessions on the Alternative Veterans Tax Exemptions. These will be held Wednesday, January 21, at 7 pm at the Stephentown Fire Hall, Monday, January 26, at 7 pm at the Petersburgh Fire Station, Thursday, January 29, at 7 pm at the Berlin Fire Hall and Tuesday, February 3, at 7 pm at the Grafton VFW/Fire Hall.
The Board’s final decision on veteran’s exemptions will be made at the next monthly meeting, Tuesday, February 24.[/private]