You could say Dansville’s former middle school building has gotten a new lease on life. A new lease agreement with Genesee Community College allows the college to occupy 15 rooms, including the entirety of the newer portion of the former middle school, plus the main office and former library in the original part of the building.
Students are headed out for winter recess Monday through Friday, Feb. 20-24. Classes will resume on Feb. 27. The Board of Education will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 21, in the LGI. This is a change in the usual Monday night meeting night to accommodate the Presidents’ Day holiday.
A larger than usual crowd attended the Wayland-Cohocton Central School board meeting Monday. It seems most were there to hear the latest budget presentation and speak out against a proposed staff cut to the music department.
Livingston County Chamber of Commerce/LCEA (Livingston County Education Alliance) will award up to four $2,000 scholarships to graduating high school seniors attending college in 2012.
To help bring awareness to this year’s school budget woes, and to hear suggestions from the public on how to tackel those issues, Dansville Central School District hosted a community budget forum Monday night inside the 7-12 building’s cafeteria.
On Jan. 24, Dansville Student Council sponsored an anti-bullying forum for 7-12 graders inside the school’s auditorium. This was part of the council’s anti-bullying week.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo released his draft budget for New York state last week, which for local school districts didn’t come with much better news than last year.
The state aid increase for Wayland-Cohocton is proposed for $265,000, barely reducing its structural deficit, now estimated at about $1 million.
The boys’ and girls’ basketball teams are taking orders for The Pink Airplane Toss vs. Cancer.
Wayland-Cohocton Board of Education will meet at 1 p.m. Monday, Jan. 23, in the LGI. Along with regular business, the board will discuss potential transportation changes for the 2012-2013 school year. Under consideration is a change to the school transportation policy eliminating transportation for students in grades 5-12 who live within a one-mile walking distance from the Wayland campus. This includes the vast majority of the village of Wayland and some properties on Deiter Road and Buffalo Road. The financial savings would be between $50,000 and $75,000 and decrease the number of buses that would need to be purchased.
While officials feel a staggered start and end time at DCS was the proper thing to do, it may be reversing those times for students next year.
The first budget presentation was conducted during the board’s regular meeting Monday, and with it, Superintendent Michael Wetherbee brought a proposal to the board to trim the transportation department by roughly $60,000.
Research suggests that gifted and talented students are more likely to reach their full potential if they are immersed in enriched curriculum that matches their aptitude rather than their age. In order to assist the region of Genesee, Livingston, Orleans and Wyoming counties in providing such opportunities, ACE Programs of Genesee Community College is pleased to announce a new program available to students demonstrating early signs of high potential in math and science.
New York State public schools are in the midst of some of the most significant challenges in state history. As the Regents Reform Agenda moves forward, all schools are grappling with the ability to meet the challenges of significant change, which redefines teaching and learning.
Students have returned to classes and tonight, Thursday, Jan. 5, Dansville and Wayland-Cohocton Central Schools will host a financial aid information at 7 p.m. for college-bound students and their families. Mr. Christian Vernam, assistant director of financial aid at Alfred State College will present information about applying for FAFSA and other vital information. The event will be in the Dansville High School Auditorium.
The Wayland-Cohocton High School staff had some secret Santa fun and raised about $350 that was used to purchase surprise Christmas gifts for seven students whose names were drawn from a hat. The teachers and staff and loads of fun and in turn made for a bright day for some young adults. There are certainly examples of generosity all over the district.
As Christmas and the holidays peak around the corner, we would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the individuals, businesses and community members who support Wayland-Cohocton students and families.
It seems like only yesterday that local school districts were wrestling with closing major financial gaps in the 2011-12 school year. Now, in the coming months, school districts will be taking a good hard look at how to tackle issues facing next year’s budget.
The purpose of this column is to inform you of the financial and educational challenges that we currently face as a school community. Dansville Central School District is in real trouble and the elected officials listed at the end of this column have the power to help us overcome the obstacles set before us.
Results of the latest state Math and ELA assessments have come in, and with changes in the test and its scoring method, Wayland-Cohocton administrators have been scrutinizing what the results really mean.
