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Chris Dailey staying with Batavia City Schools

By Howard B. Owens

From The Batavian's news partner, WBTA:

Batavia School Superintendent Chris Dailey has not been selected as the next superindent of the East Rochester Union Free School District. WBTA News has learned that East Rochester will announce its new superintendent later today and it is not Dailey.

Dailey confirmed earlier this month that he was one of three finalists for the East Rochester job.

Dailey has been superintendent of the Batavia City School District for the past two years. Prior to becoming superintendent Dailey was principal of Batavia High School.

Batavia City Schools looking at reduced budget

By Howard B. Owens

From The Batavian's news partner, WBTA:

Batavia City School District is looking at a reduction in their budget in comparison to last year’s. Benefit costs to retirement systems have decreased, allowing the school to save money in those areas.

Business Manager Scott Rozanski says the school is changing their philosophy on savings since their current reserve is expiring.

"The board has authorized the creation of a new capital reserve and has set the level at a 10-year reserve for $7.5 million. That's the maximum amount of money that can go into it. It's not how much it's going to be funded or funded initially. It will be funded through surplus or future-year budgetary appropriations," says Rozanski.

If the school has a surplus of money, it will be stored in the fund.

Rozanski says the board wants a flat tax levy.

In terms of administration, the school does not anticipate any major changes outside of three expiring board seats.

The budget vote will occur May 19th.

Batavia City Schools Begin Kindergarten Registration for 2015-2016

By Kathie Scott

Registration has started in the Batavia City School District for children eligible to begin kindergarten in the 2015-2016 school year. Children who will be five years old on or before December 1, 2015, are eligible. To register, parents may go to the Business Office, located in the administration wing of Batavia High School (260 State Street), on school days between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. and bring with them:

  • two proofs  of residency (for example: utility bill for gas, water, electric, cable; lease or rental agreement; mortgage statement; landline phone bill) unless the child is currently enrolled in the District’s Universal Pre-Kindergarten program,
  • the child’s birth certificate,
  • the child’s Social Security card, and
  • the child’s complete immunization records.

   If you have questions, please call the Business Office at 343-2480 x1002.

Parents of new first grade pupils are also asked to register their child in the same time frame and with the same documentation.

 

City schools asking district parents to complete online survey

By Howard B. Owens

Press release:

The Batavia City School District is dedicated to providing all students with the educational foundation necessary to succeed in school and in life. To ensure your child's success, we have set high standards that are reflected in what is taught in our classrooms.

We would like to get your feedback about our district. We will use the information provided by all stakeholders in future plans and are asking you to complete the Family Engagement Survey by November 30, 2014. We want to hear your voice regarding Batavia's educational program. Please complete the survey at the link below:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/8XV7LLC

Your input is valued and we thank you for taking time to share your thoughts, ideas and aspirations for the Batavia City School District.

Vote For Batavia's Varsity Football Team

By Kathie Scott

Batavia City School District is in the running to win $1,000 because the varsity football team has been featured on Time Warner Cable Sports Channel's game of the week. All that is needed is your vote (and plenty of others before the deadline of this Friday, November 14, at 2:30 p.m., so feel free to pass this information on… quickly!)

 

It is so easy – not to mention fun to replay one of the amazing passes/catches of the season! Just click on this link to go directly to the voting (and replay) page:

http://www.twcsportschannel.com/ny/rochester/play-of-the-year.html

 

The Time Warner Cable SportsChannel Play of the Year contest recognizes the best plays from their coverage of high school football this fall. Each weekly winner has advanced to a final competition to crown a Play of the Year. Along with bragging rights, a $1,000 Grand Prize will be awarded to the school that executed the winning Play of the Year.

 

Now is the time for all Batavia City School District students, families, and friends to vote for Batavia’s play. Do it now, because, remember, voting ends this Friday at 2:30 pm.

Survey for Parents of Batavia City School District Students

By Kathie Scott
The Batavia City School District is asking parents of students to take a short survey, The Batavia Family Engagement Survey, to share their opinions and thoughts about the District’s strengths and weaknesses. The survey should not take longer than 15 minutes to complete. It consists of rating-scale questions with possible responses ranging from “Strongly agree” to “Strongly disagree.” There are also a few open-ended questions for sharing comments and ideas. Parents are asked to fill out one survey for each school their children attend and are asked to complete them by November 30, 2014. Information, including the internet link for accessing the survey, has been sent home with children. The link is: www.surveymonkey.com/s/8XV7LLC . Parents without internet access are asked to call the District Curriculum and Instruction Office at 343-2480 x1003. This survey is part of an effort to gather information from parents, students, and staff which will be used in setting priorities and goals for the District and individual schools. Each family’s input is valuable and all parents are urged to take part in the survey so their thoughts, ideas, and aspirations can be heard.

Facing Disasters: Citizen Preparedness Corps Training

By Kathie Scott

If enough Batavia City School District residents are interested, the District will host the American Red Cross FREE Citizen Preparedness Corps training sessions entitled Prepare, Respond, Recover: What to do When Disaster Strikes.

The Citizen Preparedness Corps training program was initiated by Governor Andrew Cuomo to provide residents with the knowledge and tools to prepare for emergencies and disasters, respond accordingly, and recover to pre-disaster conditions as quickly as possible.

For the training, a Red Cross representative conducts an approximately two-hour session of the Citizen Preparedness Corps training program, which provides a comprehensive overview on how to prepare for, respond to, and recover from natural and man-made disasters.

Please contact Jim Jacobs, Director of Facilities III, 343-2480 x1013, if interested. If enough people express interest, the Batavia City School District will schedule and announce the training.

New bus company to deliver students to and from Batavia City schools this year

By Howard B. Owens

Dozens of bright yellow school buses have been gleaming in the sun (when there is sun) at the corner of Dodgeson Road and Route 98 in Alexander just about all summer long.

The name on the sides of the buses -- Student Transportation of America -- is a new name to Genesee County.

STA is now in town after winning the main transportation contract with the Batavia City School District, which entered into a joint agreement with the Attica School District.

The company purchased a former rigging shop location at 3784 Dodgeson Road in an auction through Bontrager's earlier in the summer.

The state encourages school districts to review and re-bid bus transportation contracts every 10 years, explained Batavia Superintendent Chris Dailey. 

The district experienced many difficulties with the previous contract, Dailey said. 

"The Board of Education decided to bid and increase the accountability and expectations for the bus contractors while also increasing features available to the district with our bus contractors, such as more cameras and GPS," Dailey said. "We bid for 2013-14 but the bid was rejected because of cost and lack of competition."

For 2014-015, the district decided to seek another district for a cooperative bid and reached an agreement with Attica and STA won the bid for regular school transportation, field trips and sports trips.

Attica Bus Company will remain the contractor for transportation of special education students.

BCSD's transportation costs per year is more than $1 million, plus another $731,690 for special education transportation.

"In our contract, the contractor is responsible for all aspects of providing transportation: purchasing and maintaining the fleet, building, staffing, routing of the students, directly handling parent calls," Dailey said.

Two weeks ago, STA announced the release of a mobile device and desktop app that will allow parents to track the location of school buses in the fleet.

"A child’s bus is displayed on a detailed map showing its current location in relation to the child’s stop, so parents can monitor the bus along its route," the company said in a press release.

The app can be downloaded from the Apple App Store and Google Play.

“Registering for the SafeStop app is easy,” the company said. “Parents in select schools simply log on to www.schoolwheels.com from any computer or mobile device to register for the app. They then can link to the Apple App Store or Google Play to download on a mobile device.”

Batavia Universal Pre-K Registration Still Open

By Kathie Scott

Registration for the Universal Pre-Kindergarten (UPK) Program offered through the Batavia City School District is still open, as there are several openings left at two locations!

UPK provides an opportunity for four-year-old children to be involved in half-day, developmentally appropriate educational classes at no cost to their families. The District offers morning and afternoon programs, Monday through Friday, during the school year at three locations: the YMCA, Lucky Ducky Daycare, and, although filled to capacity for this year, Jackson Primary School.

In addition, the YMCA and Lucky Ducky Daycare each have the option for a “wrap around” program consisting of Child Watch in the morning followed by UPK in the afternoon from12:30-3:00, then School Aged Child Care afterward. Although there is no charge for UPK, the YMCA and Lucky Ducky Daycare do charge for the morning Child Watch and afternoon Child Care programs.

Children who are residents of the District, are four (4) years of age on or before December 1, 2014, and who are not enrolled in a special education program with the Genesee Valley Educational Partnership (GVEP) are eligible to apply. Letters/applications have been mailed to all known eligible families, but also are available at the District Registrar Office in the administrative wing of Batavia High School (260 State Street), or by calling 343-2480 ext.2008. They can also be downloaded from the District’s website, www.bataviacsd.org, by using the pull-down menu at the top of the page labeled “Parent,” or the Quick Link labeled “Parent Resources,” then clicking on the link for Universal Pre-K. Please return completed packets to the District Business Office.

School district clarifies Title IX settlement, calls Empire Justice statement misleading

By Howard B. Owens

Press release from Batavia City Schools:

On behalf of the Board, I am pleased to report that a settlement has been agreed to in resolution of the lawsuit filed against the District by two families with respect to the District’s softball fields. While the District is glad that this situation is behind us and we can now fully focus on the completion of these projects, we are a bit dismayed by the characterization of this situation portrayed in the Empire Justice Center’s press release. The Batavia City School District is proud of its student athletic program and continuously works toward achieving equality across all sports.

The District has always been committed to its girls’ athletic program. As a District we cannot proceed with capital projects of this nature without voter approval. We sought voter approval in 2011 to make improvements to our playing fields but the voters did not approve the plan at that time. Despite this outcome in 2011, the District invested as much funding as possible for material and labor to resurface the girls’ softball infields and to make arrangements for games to be played on other appropriate local fields.  

The facts of this situation speak for themselves:

·      The District had committed to the upgrades prior to the commencement of the lawsuit. There are no substantial differences between this settlement and the capital improvement plans that the Board of Education proposed and approved in February 2013 for presentation to the voters in May 2013.

·      The scope of the Board and voter approved capital improvement project was incorporated into preliminary plans by the Young & Wright architectural firm in the Spring of 2013. The plans were finalized this year with the intention of completing the project by September 2015.

·      It is unfortunate that, despite the District’s stated intentions and voter approval, the plaintiffs felt compelled to proceed with this lawsuit. The pending litigation resulted in an unnecessary expenditure of District resources during these difficult economic times.

·      There is only one change to the project requested in the settlement that was not initially taken into account, but the District believes is reasonable, and that is the addition of a safety cap to the track and field fence at VanDetta Stadium that is adjacent to the JV softball field.    

·      Not directly related to the specific project plans under way, as part of the settlement the District was asked to confirm its obligations to equal opportunity in athletic programs pursuant to Title IX, which we have always followed and are happy to continue to do.

·      The District has always been, and will continue to be, committed to its girls’ athletic program.

Photos: Tech Wars 2014 at GCC

By Steve Ognibene

Students from throughout the GLOW region gathered at Genesee Community College yesterday for the annual Tech Wars, where students compete in matches of design and engineering skill.

“This is the seventh year since the inception of the Tech Wars that started in 2008 with only 138 kids,” said Bob Hollwedel, an event coordinator.

This year, there were 17 schools and more than 650 middle and high school school student who participated. 

The top schools overall were: 1st Place -- Alexander; 2nd Place -- Dansville; 3rd Place -- Oakfield. Photos below from a couple of the 17 events today.

Co2 Cars

Catapult - Batavia Middle School Team

Robot Tractor Pull

Trebechet - Alexander High School team

Sumo Robots - submitted by high school students

City Schools election results

By Howard B. Owens

The Batavia City School District unofficial results for today:

Budget - $42,986,362: 

  • Yes  -  402 (70.77%)
  • No  -  166 (29.23%)

Student Ex-Officio non-voting member of the Board of Education

  • Yes  -  493 (85.89%)
  • No  -  81 (14.11%)

Sale of Property (279 East Ave.) for $150,000

  •  Yes  -  466 (82.04%)
  • No  -  102 (17.96%)

Non-Binding Advisory Proposition (pending Board of Education action) - Veterans' Exemption

  •   Yes  -  428 (75.09%)
  •   No  -  142 (24.91%)

Three Board of Education positions:

Two (2) from 7-1-14 to 6-30-17 (the two highest votes)

  • Jessica M. Maguire-Tomidy:  470
  • Andrew Pedro:  445

and

One (1) from 5/21/14 to 6/30/15 (least number of votes)

  • Leslie Johnson:  430

Urban League of Rochester Honors 27 Batavia High Students for Academics

By Kathie Scott

   Nearly 30 students earned Early Recognition/Certificates of Achievement from the Urban League of Rochester, NY, Inc. for the 2013-2014 school year. The Early Recognition Program, a component of the League’s Black Scholars Program, is used to identify, encourage, and support high school students with high academic abilities. Once students are identified, they are eligible for the League’s assistance and guidance in academics as well as in college and career planning. Those honored included Kaliann Bell, Tiarra Carney, Zoey Davis, Malachi Chenault, Jayvon Cherry, Jerrell Cherry, Adonis Davis, Hannah Durham, Tiara Filbert, Honesty Green, Jaz'mine Holmes, Olivia Majors, Briana Martin, Alyssa McKenzie, Mariah Morrison, Madeline Morrison, Ismile Smith, Alexis Vasciannie, Malik Vasciannie, Nephrateedies Williams, Jaysen Wylie, and (not pictured), Stacey Castro, Kenneth Griffin, Irisa Hill, Teiona Kemp, Sierra Sears, and Danny Williams.

Students who continue to do well in their studies up to and through their senior year are confirmed as Black Scholars and can participate in many college-related activities offered through the Urban League’s educational program, including the opportunity to apply for scholarships that are only offered to Black Scholars. Each June, the year’s Black Scholars are publicly recognized at an annual dinner and over $2.5 million in scholarships are awarded.

Proud to Be... BCSD

By Kathie Scott

All staff have been invited to respond to the question of what made or makes them feel particularly proud of being part of Batavia City School District. We are beginning to post their responses on our website (www.bataviacsd.org) and on our facebook page ( https://www.facebook.com/BataviaCitySchools ) which has space for your comments. If you’d like to share a note about something that made or makes you feel proud of the District's staff or students, email Kathie Scott, kscott@bataviacsd.org

Superintendent of Schools Christopher Dailey shared this:  “A nationwide ranking by U.S. News & World Report gave high marks to Batavia High School, placing BHS in the U.S. News Top 150 schools in New York and in the Top 2,000 nationwide.
Of more than 30,000 total public, charter, and magnet schools reviewed nationwide, out of which approximately 19,500 were ranked, Batavia High School was placed at 1,824; out of more than 1,000 total schools analyzed in New York State, of which 268 were ranked, BHS was placed at 145. Based on 2011-12 data, the results were determined through the use of overall student performance on standardized tests and how well-prepared students were for college-level work. Availability of specialized classes for students of all skill levels as well as student-to-teacher ratios also factored into the rankings.

Parents band together to make up for Lottery kicking City Schools out of video contest

By Howard B. Owens

After the Batavia City Schools entry into a NYS Lottery contest was disqualified, a group of parents were sharing their disappointment on Facebook when some suggested maybe there should be a local fundraiser for the music department.

Allison Chua said, "I can do that."

She's set up a fundraising page at First Giving.

While the page shows no funds raised yet, Chua said she has received $300 in checks and some parents have said they will donate when they get back from Spring Break vacation.

The NYS Lottery contest involved schools making a video of students singing "Thank You for Being a Friend." 

Students were very upset, Chua said, when the lottery disqualified their video after it had already been selected as a finalist and was leading, by a slim margin, in votes.

"This is a way for us to show them we do appreciate what they do," Chua said.

The grand prize for the contest was $10,000, but Chua said the parents are setting a modest goal of $2,500 for their fundraiser, which is equivalent to the third place prize in the contest.

To donate, visit the First Giving Web page. To donate by check, mail your check to Batavia City Schools Parent-Teacher Coalition, attention Allison Chua, 260 State St., Batavia, NY 14020. All donations will go to the music programs of the school district.

Your vote could help Batavia City Schools win $10K for music program

By Howard B. Owens

Batavia City Schools are among five finalists in the state for a $10,000 prize from the NYS Lottery. The contest is built around the idea of students saying thank you for the support of the lottery. Choirs produced a video for the song "Thank you for being a friend." The prize money would go to the school district's music program.

To vote, click here (you'll be asked to log into your Facebook account).

Volunteers Sought for Foundation to Support Batavia City School District

By Kathie Scott

   The Batavia City School District Board of Education is forming a committee to establish a foundation to support the District and is looking for interested community members to serve on it.  In particular, the Board would like to encourage participation by individuals with experience in the areas of finance, endowment, not-for-profit, fund-raising, banking, education, or public school law .
   If interested, please contact the Superintendent's office at 343-2480 ext 1000.

Applications Available for Batavia City School District Universal Pre-K

By Kathie Scott

 

   The Batavia City School District is pleased to offer the Universal Pre-Kindergarten (UPK) Program for students and will continue to operate the program in the 2014-2015 school year, pending State funding. UPK provides an opportunity for four-year-old children to be involved in half-day, developmentally appropriate educational classes at no cost to their families. The District offers morning and afternoon programs, Monday through Friday, during the school year. (If the YMCA is selected to be the Community Based Organization to provide UPK in 2014-15, there will be an option to select a “wrap around” program consisting of Child Watch in the morning followed by UPK in the afternoon from12:30-3:00, then School Aged Child Care afterward. There would be a charge for the morning Child Watch and afternoon Child Care programs.) If new State regulations are passed, the District may offer a full day UPK program in the 2014-15 school year.

   Children who are residents of the District, are four (4) years of age on or before December 1, 2014, and who are not enrolled in a special education program with the Genesee Valley Educational Partnership (GVEP) are eligible to apply. Letters/applications have been mailed to all known eligible families, but also are available at the District Registrar Office in the administrative wing of Batavia High School, or by calling 343-2480 ext. 2008. They can also be downloaded from the District’s website, www.bataviacsd.org, by using the pull-down menu at the top of the page labeled “Parent,” or the Quick Link labeled “Parent Resources,” then clicking on the link for Universal Pre-K.  Applications should be returned by April 4, 2014, however, late applications will be accepted if there is an opening.

John Kennedy Intermediate School will be closed tomorrow

By Alecia Kaus

According to Batavia City School Superintendent Christopher Dailey, John Kennedy Intermediate School will be closed tomorrow, Thursday Dec. 12, due to power issues.

Jackson School, Batavia Middle School, and Batavia High School will all be open.

At My Stop - You Stop!

By Steve Ognibene

Starting today is National School Bus Safety Week from October 21-25, 2013 and this year’s motto is "At My Stop - You Stop!"    Motorist should be aware to always stop for a stopped school bus it is the law.  Everyone has to stop when a school bus displays their red lights even when they are on the other side of the road and even on divided highway.  Everyone must stop no matter where they are on the road.

At First Student, the bus company that transports our students here at the Batavia School District, comments that one of the most common driver complaint is that motorists violate the school bus stop law every day.  Motorists are required to use caution and slow down when flashing yellow lights are activated and stop for a stopped school bus that is displaying the flashing red lights.

Sometimes drivers are not fully paying close attention to their driving, they are too busy texting, talking on the phone or just are not paying attention and pass a stopped school bus.  This serious poor safety action could lead up to a $250 fine, traffic tickets and up to suspension of license for passing a stopped school bus with their reds on.  All motorists need to better understand the seriousness of this traffic law and pass the word to each other to make the roads safer for all our students. 

“Our main concern is safety” said Location Manager Tonya Thompson of First Student .  “We educate both  our drivers and our students to ensure that each stop is a safe stop for everyone, so please help us make the road safe for our students too by doing your part and stop for a stopped school bus”.

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