Flushing the system

By LISA CUTRONI

ELDRED — If the proof is in the pudding, all the Eldred Central School District needs is a school full of students. The roof to the high school cafeteria has been refinished, construction of the Lumberland/Eldred bus garage is coming to a close, and the septic of the high school has been repaired and cleansed. Many such alterations of the school grounds were aired during the Eldred Central School district Board of Education meeting held on August 11.

Newly appointed board member Ray Henry was sworn in by Robert Burrow, vice president of the board. “I was approached by numerous community members who felt I could help, and so I figured, if they were willing to support me, I would do the best I could. Plus, I have children in the district,” Henry said. The appointment was only one of many avenues the district has taken to prepare for the new academic year.

Results of the recent fire inspection became public as Albert Wojtaszek, administration/athletic director, explained the more serious infringements of the fire code made by the school. Usually, schools are reprimanded over small, housekeeping problems such as misplaced fire escape signs and storage use. In May, during an annual fire inspection, Eldred school officials were told to correct two more serious issues or face a chance of being labeled “not in conformist.”

The first of the issues was that of parking. Parking was available close to the three-floored building, so close that upon inspection, it was felt that the parked cars would be a hindrance should there ever be a need for rescue vehicles to get to the side of the building. Second, the placement of tires became a fire hazard as tires from the bus garage were stored inside the school buildings while the Lumberland bus garage finished construction. Only days after the inspection, school officials corrected these concerns, and now Eldred is “in conformist” with New York State.

Another change made to the district is the introduction of night games played by the high school girls’ soccer team. While the idea of night games is not a new concept to the district, as the boys football team has played a few in the past, the district has decided to not only to extend the number of night games played by the football team, but also to include girls into the mix.

Much of the meeting consisted of the executive session, at which the alterations to the personnel department were discussed and agreed upon.