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Schools Community J-E Chamber to host BOE Camillus man named candidate forum ... Page 7 Sheriff’s Sergeant ... Page 3 Volume 181, No. 19 May 11 to 17, 2011
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Four up for three spots on WG BOE
Camillus mayor offers plea to save school jobs
By Ned Campbell editor@eagle-observer.com West Genesee voters will have to choose from four candidates when they head to the high school auditorium lobby from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday May 17 for school board elections. They will also vote on a $68.3 million spending plan for 2011-12, a decrease of $1.6 million from the current year’s plan, that assumes a 3.8 percent tax levy increase and includes 53 staff reductions. The vote includes a proposition to authorize the district to purchase eight school buses for 2011-12 at a price not to exceed $864,610. The state reimburses the district 82 percent of the cost of each bus over a five-year period. The final position is to collect a tax totaling $288,000 in order to provide support for Maxwell, Fairmount and Onondaga libraries. Read about this year’s candidates on page 8.
WGMS students to attend space camp Kaitlin Holdrege and Daniel Pesci, center, were awarded scholarships to space camp in Huntsville, Ala. They are flanked by teachers Sue Bingham and Rick Chapman, who attended the space academy as teachers. ...See page 5
Sports NED CAMPBELL
Camillus Mayor Michael Montero, left, speaks to Superintendent Chris Brown, background, about the value of three string teachers that are being let go. By Ned Campbell editor@eagle-observer.com
14-0 West Genesee junior Emily Tripodi (4) runs past two Baldwinsville defenders in last Thursday’s game. Tripodi’s two goals and four assists keyed a 12-8 win over the Bees. ...See page 18
BUSINESS .....................7 CALENDAR ...................2 CLASSIFIEDS .............. 22 EDITORIAL ....................4 OBITUARIES............... 21 PUBLIC NOTICES ........ 20 SCHOOL NEWS ........ 6, 8 SPORTS .............. 12, 18
Superintendent Chris Brown addressed the concerns of parents over the elimination of three part-time elementary level string teachers at a final budget hearing held May 4. Margaret Mercer, Jill DiBattista and Kristen Panzetta are all being let go.
Mercer and Panzetta each have about 20 years of experience teaching at West Genesee. “Of all the things that we are reducing for net year, probably the largest amount of information that I’ve gotten from parents has been the elimination of the third strings program,” he said.
Deborah Simon
Neil Widrick
David Paczkowski
Vladimiro Hart-Zavoli
See Strings, page 6
Four candidates running for two Marcellus BOE openings By Ned Campbell editor@eagle-observer.com
Four residents are in the running for two spots on the Marcellus Board of Education. School board elections will be held from noon to 9 p.m. Tuesday May 17 in the high school auditorium. Residents will also be asked to vote on a $29.99 million spending plan for 2011-12, which is 2.81 percent lower than the current budget,
that assumes a 3.9 percent tax levy increase and reduces 21 full-time positions. Also on the ballot is a proposition to purchase five school buses for a total cost not to exceed $338,096.27. Here are this year’s BOE candidates: Julie Brissette is running for reelection to the school board. She has been on the board for two terms, or six years. Julie has an AAS in accounting and is employed at Housing Visions,
a not for profit company dedicated to revitalizing communities by creating quality, affordable housing opportunities to low and moderate income families. She has lived in Marcellus for 17 years, and she and her husband Bob have two kids: their son is a freshman in college and their daughter is a senior at Marcellus. Eagle Observer: Why did you choose to run for reelection to the
Your Community, Your News,
See MCS BOE, page 10
Your Website!
Julie Brissette
David Locastro
Lisa Valentine
Robert Finch
Announcing Your Hometown Website! www.eagle-observer.com
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