Update, 11 p.m.
Alice Ann Benedict, Batavia City School District Board of Education president, explained that the "confidential search" for a permanent superintendent means that the board is not advertising for candidates.
"We have qualified candidates we will be interviewing," she said. "Candidates who have expressed interest in the position."
She said there will be an opportunity for the district and community to express the requirements they would like to see in a superintendent.
"The Board would never consider hiring a superintendent without input from all stakeholders," she added.
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Around three dozen Batavia City School District students have signed up for “virtual learning” in 2021-22, the district’s interim superintendent reported to the board of education Thursday night.
Scott Bischoping said that Genesee Valley BOCES will be providing remote learning for students in grades six through 12 while the Livonia Central School District will do the same for pupils in kindergarten through fifth grade.
Bischoping, noting that the current number of students opting for remote learning for all grade levels is 35 to 40, said “that fluctuates because our counselors are working with families, and we want to make sure we vet their decision to make sure they fully understand what is going to happen, how it’s going to happen …”
He said teachers at both locations are working to get the process set up by the start of school next week.
Genesee Valley BOCES and Livonia will provide Chromebooks to their respective students, Bischoping said, adding that the yearly cost per student will be around $8,500 for grades six through 12 and $6,000 for kindergarten through fifth grade.
Bischoping said that federal funds for COVID-19 will be used to pay for this service.
“We’re using – indirectly or directly – funds from the federal government for catching up to pay for that and it will not impact our regular budget,” he said. “It makes a lot of sense for us to use funds for those families who want their kids home because of those health reasons.”
In a brief update of the school’s reopening plan, Bischoping said most of the protocols and guidelines are the same as last school year, predicting there shouldn’t be any issues of “things are going OK.”
No one from the public spoke during a two-minute public hearing.
Bischoping said the reopening plan is on the district website, where public comments can be posted.
On the wearing of face coverings, Bischoping said not much has changed other than some loosening of restrictions concerning chorus and band.
Unvaccinated teachers and staff, per a New York State Department of Health mandate, will have to submit to COVID testing on a weekly basis, he said. Those who want to opt out of testing will have to prove they have been vaccinated by contacting the school nurse.
He said that rapid tests will be on hand.
“We’re not going to ask people whether or not they have been vaccinated. We’re going to ask them to report their status to the nurse if they’d like to get out of the testing,” he explained.
Board President Alice Ann Benedict asked about the busing situation.
Business Administrator Scott Rozanski said that in light of a national shortage of bus drivers, the district is planning to combine students from John Kennedy Intermediate and Jackson Primary onto one bus and students from Batavia High School and Batavia Middle School onto one bus.
“In the past, each school had their own buses,” he said. “We have limited drivers … and that’s the best option that we can do at this point in time.”
Benedict also asked about school cleaning schedules, with Bischoping replying that cleaning will take place regularly but without “the same hyper-vigilance about contact as we did before because we realize that isn’t the transmitter or carrier of the virus that we had worries about last year.”
“Certainly, personal hygiene, student hygiene and hand washing … and us making sure that we do clean things on a regular basis, that hasn’t changed.”
In other developments, the board:
- Heard from Benedict that Kevin MacDonald, district superintendent of Genesee Valley BOCES, who is acting as the consultant in the search for a permanent superintendent, has requested to attend the next board meeting, scheduled for Sept. 16.
Benedict said the board is learning toward conducting interviews outside of Batavia, possibly at the Le Roy BOCES building. She said they will be looking to set up dates for the interviews and encouraged board members to make themselves available.
Bischoping suggested the board send information about what is being called “a confidential search” to the staff and teachers so they are informed of the process.
An email to Benedict seeking comment on the search process was not returned at the time of the posting of this story.
- Approved the appointments of Ann Worthington and Leandra DiRisio as supervisors of attendance at John Kennedy and Batavia Middle School, respectively.
