Stephentown

by David Flint

Sparks flew at last week’s Berlin School Board meeting regarding the Board’s decision three months ago to close the Grafton and Stephentown elementary schools. Tyler Sawyer, former Supervisor of the Town of Grafton, appeared before the Board to ask about their reaction to a letter he had forwarded to them from Robert J. Freeman, Executive Director of the Committee on Open Government. In his letter, dated August 28, Freeman expressed his opinion that the Board’s action in making a crucial decision just prior to midnight and continuing discussion to 1:30 am might not have been in line with the intent of the New York State Open Meetings Law. 

Sawyer had some time ago asked for an opinion from Freeman, noting that the meeting had begun at 7 pm but that by 8:30 pm it became clear, as Freeman summarized Sawyer’s objection, “that certain Board members already knew what direction they wanted to take when it came to the closing of our rural schools in favor of centralization of the District. But with so many people still in attendance, it also became clear to [you] that they felt the timing was not right to discuss it at that point. That is when Chairman Zwack turned over the meeting to Board Member Morelli to begin what [you] can only equate as an old time filibuster.” 

Sawyer said he and other community members left the meeting before midnight and only found out the next day about the decision to close the schools and the ensuing discussion into the wee hours about the possibility of spending up to $17 million for renovations and new construction. 

Freeman said that while the Open Meetings Law does not specify when meetings must be held, it does state that, “It is essential to the maintenance of a democratic society that the public business be performed in an open and public manner and that the citizens of this state be fully aware of and able to observe the performance of public officials and attend and listen to the deliberations and decisions that go into the making of public policy.” Citing a judicial decision against a school district that held a meeting at 7:30 am, Freeman concluded that, “From my perspective, voting on an issue and discussing matters of great significance to taxpayers in the community so late at night would be found by a court to be unreasonable, particularly under the circumstances that you described. If indeed there was a filibuster, an effort to delay discussing or acting on issues until those most or all of those interested in attending exited due to the lateness of the hour, it might effectively be contended that there was essentially an intent to discuss matters of great importance to the public and act in private in contravention of the spirit, if not the letter of the Open Meetings Law.”

Sawyer said he was not accusing the Board of intentionally dragging out the meeting, but, regardless of the intent, the perception in the community was that it was not fair to make such a central decision at such an hour. He said 50 to 70 community members were at the meeting thinking that this was just the beginning of a process for discussing the school closings but most had to leave, as he did, well before the decision happened. 

Board Member Tom Morelli responded vehemently that he applauded the Board for taking the time and effort that was needed to come to a consensus on important issues. He pointed out that the Board had spent over 18 months examining and weighing the issues. He resented it that people would seek to indict “a team that has been putting out enormous energy and brainpower to come up with solutions.” He said that Freeman’s opinion was just that, an opinion, and not a statement of fact. He made a motion that the Board request a legal opinion in response to Freeman’s letter from the attorneys who were present at the meeting. 

Board President Frank Zwack said, “If [the meeting] took longer than it should have, then I am to blame.” He said he wanted to let each Board Member have as much time as they felt they needed to fully discuss the issue and he refused to shut down discussion or take shortcuts as the Board was elected to represent the community and provide checks and balances. 

Board Member Julie Darling, who along with Donald French and Beverly Stewart had opposed the vote on closing the schools, pointed out in the Board’s defense that the meeting was not scheduled to go to 1:30 am, but, “It just took us time to do it.” She agreed with getting the legal opinion saying, “As a Board we need to protect ourselves.” 

The motion to get the legal opinion on the timeliness of the meeting and the Board’s legal responsibilities in adhering to the Open Meetings Law was seconded by Donald French and passed unanimously 7-0. 

SEQRA Declarations Delayed

The Board’s vote to submit declarations regarding the environmental impact of the proposed capital project under the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) failed to pass. The administration had tentatively prepared declarations that there would be no significant environmental impact from the proposed additions, improvements and upgrades at Berlin Elementary School, the Jr/Sr High School and the bus garage. The State Education Department cannot review any construction proposal until the SEQR process is complete, but Beverly Stewart said she had qualms about agreeing to statements such as that there would be no additional vehicular traffic at the elementary school. Tom Morelli also objected that there had not been sufficient discussion on the Board about various aspects of environmental impact. He insisted that the Board needed to be perceived as having done due diligence in this matter. Don French agreed that the Board would be jumping the gun by approving the negative declarations without having seen the detailed plans and without having discussed environmental impact. Interim Business Administrator Scott Hunter said he thought the Board had done due diligence by having qualified architects advise them on this, but Julie Darling joined the dissenters to defeat the vote to submit by 4-3. The Board will now bring in an attorney to walk them through the SEQR process.

Bids Accepted For Outdoor Basketball Court

Another split vote involved the new outdoor basketball court to be installed at the high school. About $4,600 had been donated for this purpose some years ago in honor of former Schools Superintendent David Sicko, former Buildings & Grounds Superintendent Steve Genaway and former Business Manager Fran Zuke. Money from a Bruno grant received a couple of years ago has also been allocated for the project, making about $31,600 available. The Board approved bids from CWG Excavating to relocate an existing volleyball court and do the excavation for both courts for a total of $21,900 and a bid from Callanan Industries to do the paving for $12,700. Tom Morelli objected saying he did not recall that this expenditure had been discussed in the budget process last spring. He said he wanted the project done but he wanted it done right. Although others on the Board recalled that it had been discussed and approved along with a new score board, Don French agreed with Morelli and suggested it be put off until they had a chance to review exactly what had been approved earlier. He also wanted more detail on how much it would cost to complete the project with seal coating, hoops and lighting. The vote to accept the bids passed 5-2 with Morelli and French voting no. 

Enrollment Projections

Business Administrator Hunter presented updated enrollment projections based on the Cohort Survival method. His study indicates that school population in the elementary grades (k-5) appear to have bottomed out at 403, having dropped from 481 in 2001-02. By 2013-14 the data shows there could be a slight increase. The number of students in grades 6-12 has declined from 589 in 2001-02 to 481 presently. Hunter’s figures show a continuing decline through the school year 2013-14 when enrollment is shown to be 838. After that the data indicates enrollment is pretty much flat through 2018-19. 

Savings Detailed From School Closings

Hunter also presented a breakdown of the projected savings to the District from closing the Grafton and Stephentown schools. At Stephentown savings in staff are expected to be $258,970, savings in supplies and services $19,344, savings in utilities $24,133 and savings in employee benefits $126,206, for a total of $428,653. At Grafton the numbers are $192,184 for staff, $23,678 for supplies and services, $30,239 for utilities and $60,151 for employee benefits, for a total of $306,252, and a combined total for the two schools of $734,906. Added to that are additional amounts related to administration and teacher retirement amounting to $255,971, for a grand total of $990,876. 

Beverly Stewart wanted to know why there were no savings included on the list for the Principal and School Nurse at Grafton. She said that was said to be one of the main reasons for closing Grafton, to realize those savings. She wanted to know if now it was planned to have two principals and two nurses at Berlin. Interim Superintendent Charlotte Gregory responded that they were leaving the Board that option but they could be cut later. Frank Zwack said the list was intended to be a very conservative indication of savings and that it was expected the savings would be better than indicated here. The positions have not been settled upon, he said, but it is better to have the savings estimate as low as possible for State aid purposes. But Stewart was not mollified, saying, “I feel deceived.” She noted that she had proposed a capital program costing only $7 million that would have closed Berlin Elementary and left Grafton and Stephentown open, but was told that wouldn’t work largely because it would still leave the District paying for two building principals. 

The Board set a capital project workshop meeting for Monday, September 29. at 6:30 pm at Berlin Elementary School and their next regular meeting for Tuesday, October 21, at 7 pm at the high school.