1 Golden Bomber Dr.
Ilion, NY 13357
Phone: 315.894.9934
Fax: 315.894.2716
Superintendent
Districts hold first merger forum
About 100 residents of the Ilion, Herkimer and Mohawk school districts turned out Wednesday, June 6 at Mohawk's Gregory B. Javis Junior-Senior High School auditorium for the first of four community forums to discuss the proposed merger between the three school districts.
Superintendents Cosimo Tangorra of Ilion, Joyce Caputo of Mohawk and Gary Tutty of Herkimer shared leading the audience through a presentation of revised information and a question-and-answer session.
The evening begin with a brief slideshow reminding attendees that the schools' biggest priority is the communities' children. (see the slideshow in low resolution or high resolution).
For the next 20 minutes, the superintendents pointed out the highlights of the revised merger study. Rather than attempting to go over the entire study, they helped attendees identify the ways the proposed three-school merger differs from the original four-school plan. Each topic references pages from the study (view the study as a PDF).
Following the presentation, they fielded questions from the audience. (read the questions and answers)
The superintendents covered:
Enrollment/Geography
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Approximately 3500 K-12 students—25% fewer students than previous proposal. (p. 3)
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77.53 square miles—36% smaller than previous plan. (p. 4)
Facilities
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Each district keeps one PreK-4 elementary school (Remington closes).
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Grades 5-6 attend current Jarvis HS (centrally located).
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Grades 7-8 attend current Herkimer HS.
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Grades 9-12 attend current Ilion HS.
Staffing
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Elementary (p.31)
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6 fewer classroom teachers.
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11 additional specialty teachers and support professionals.
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Secondary (p. 33)
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14 fewer secondary school teachers.
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School resource officer.
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Administration (p. 35-36)
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1 fewer building level administrators.
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2.5 fewer central office administrators.
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No changes in special education, business office support, secretarial, food service, transportation, teacher aides and assistants, or buildings and grounds. (p. 36-37)
Curriculum
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Pre-K in each district. (p. 40)
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“Before School” program for K-4. (p. 29)
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Expanded music, foreign language, health, technology, home & careers for K-4. (p. 31)
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Combined 7-12 electives adds a minimum of 51 new possible classes. (p. 56-59)
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Additional extracurriculars (p. 60), sports (p. 61-63), and music. (p. 64-65)
Transportation
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Combined district-operated and contracted buses. (p. 42)
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K-4 students bused separately from 7-12. (p. 41)
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Longest anticipated ride is 45 minutes. (p. 41) •Addition of a late bus. (p. 42)
Finances
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$59,935,009 in additional incentive aid. (p. 46)
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Pay down building debt. (p. 46) •Build savings. (p. 46)
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Reduce property taxes. (p. 49)
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Herkimer: $100K home (full value) -$328 (est.).
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Mohawk: $100K home (full value) -$383 (est.).
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Ilion: unchanged.
Other community concerns
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Safety – School Resource Officer at the high school. (p. 39)
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Transportation – bus rides shortened. (p. 41)
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Curriculum – detailed new course, sports, the arts & extracurricular offerings. (p. 56-65)
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High school parking – new expanded parking at Ilion HS.
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How can you eliminate 14 secondary school teachers and say you’re adding courses? What is this “economy of scale” you talk about?
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Example: Due to scheduling and enrollment conflicts, each school has one teacher teaching six students in the “Elective X” class. Combining districts, one teacher could teach all 18 students freeing the other two teachers to teach new courses.
Future events
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Meetings (6 p.m., tours at 4:30 p.m.)
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July 25: Herkimer HS
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Aug. 9: Ilion HS
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Aug. 22: HCCC
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Sept. 12: Advisory Referendum (straw vote)
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Oct. 18: Statutory Referendum & vote to determine BOE make-up and terms of office
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Dec. 19: BOE elections
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May 14, 2013: Budget vote
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July 1, 2013: New district begins operations
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