Professional baseball opens its season this week and you know what they say at the ballpark: “You can’t tell the players without a scorecard!” In that spirit, let’s take a glance at the roster of our home team on the Liverpool Central School District Board of Education. They pitched the proposed $129 million budget for 2012-13, a plan that expected to be approved at its April 2 meeting. And don’t forget that the lion’s share of those many millions go to school employees, primarily teachers. Teachers 6, taxpayers?
Now let’s take a gander at the 2012 BOE scorecard.
Board President Patricia DeBona-Rosier is a retired Liverpool High School teacher.
Board Vice President John J. Kennedy is married to a teacher.
Former President Donald Cook is the spouse of a retired teacher aide.
James Root is a retired teacher, who worked for many years at Elmcrest Elementary.
Richard Pento’s wife is in charge of language arts at LHS.
Recently appointed Stephen DiMarco is married to a teacher aide at the high school.
Three other board members – Stacey O’Neill Balduf, Kevin Van Ness and David Watson – have no apparent ties to district employees. Election set for May 15
Three of the teacher-oriented board members will stand for re-election on May 15. President Patricia DeBona-Rosier and two appointees — Richard Pento and Steve DiMarco — will be listed on this year’s ballot seeking three-year terms. Will anyone come forward to oppose them?
Those questions could be answered after 5 p.m. Monday, April 16, the deadline for nominating petitions to be filed at the Office of the District Clerk, in Room 1 at the District Office, 195 Blackberry Road; 622-7130. To win a spot on the ballot, potential candidates must gather 49 signatures from qualified voters in the district. That doesn’t seem like too tough a task. District pie shrinking
Certainly, the current board and district administration deserve praise for bringing the proposed budget down below $130 million. The $129,251,183 proposed spending plan is $3.5 million lower than the 2011-12 budget. A financial analysis posted on the LCSD website shows that costs are rising. Teachers Retirement System, the Employee Retirement System, health care and administration costs, are all impacting the spending plan. As state tax revenue declines the local share increases, even while the number of employees (teachers, administrators and staff) is declining more quickly than student enrollment, which is down significantly. Pets in parks hearing
Rules posted at village parks prohibit domestic animals, but the Liverpool Board of Trustees is considering easing that law to allow dogs in parks on leashes no longer than six feet in length. The proposed changes would not affect service dogs, such as police dogs or the blind, which are under the control of their handlers The often-overlooked pet prohibition has rarely been enforced. A public hearing regarding the proposal will be conducted at 7 p.m. Monday, April 9, prior to the Village Board meeting at the Village Hall, 310 Sycamore St. ‘Nobody fights alone’
More than 500 friends and family members filled the Cicero American Legion Hall on Sunday, April 1, to help Maria Herzog Saumier in her battle with lung cancer. Volunteers selling raffle tickets for an endless array of donated goods and services wore T-shirts that declared, “Nobody fights alone.” Maria looked resplendent, bedecked in a corsage the color of sunshine pinned to her personalized top. The front of her T-shirt proclaimed “I’m fighting cancer…” and the back bragged, “and I’m kicking butt!” Maria has worked as waitress at the Gardenview Diner on Old Liverpool Road for some 32 years.
“I feel really loved today,” she said as she surveyed the crowd.