Recent Activity

 

Your Representative
on ECIDA

As President of the Erie County Association of School Boards, Richard Vogan assumes a seat on the board of directors of the Erie County Industrial Development Agency. To monitor ECIDA issues, please check announcements and meeting minutes at http://www.ecidany.com/
about_us.asp

 

The $25 FORT

The next NYS-mandated 6-hour Fiscal Oversight and Responsibility Training for school board members will be on Saturday, Nov. 14 at Erie 1 BOCES, 355 Harlem Road, West Seneca. Member rate is $25.
Non-member rate is $125.

For more information, please call 716-821-7297. Please register through your Superintendent's Office.

There Are Other Ways
to Save Money

School districts will be making very difficult decisions in the months ahead as they prepare budgets with potential state aid cuts both for mid-year and next year. New York State's financial crisis is very real, but in crisis is opportunity. Rather than cutting an important revenue source, attention could be paid to conducting our operations differently:

- Cost sharing through BOCES and other collaborative incentives. This may mean shared purchasing; merging back office functions; using cooperative contracts, rather than individual school district bids;, creating cooperative regional health care consortiums.

- Reform the Wicks Law and the Triborough Amendment.

- Broaden the scope of health care trusts in which multiple districts participate. A statewide health care trust should be explored.

- Districts should be allowed to create reserves to cover estimated pension cost payments as well as unplanned increases. A Retirement System Tier V, with new members contributing a fair amount throughout their employment, deserves attention.

- The federal government has shirked its responsibilities for funding promised for special education (Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act)
and the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) for years. State and local tax dollars have been making up the difference in billions of dollars of federal funding shortfalls. Fairly fund these mandates.

Why A Tax Cap
Is Not the Answer

A tax cap does not reduce mandates, or costs over which districts have no control. Click here for ECASB's position on why a tax cap is not the answer to high property taxes. More information is below, from the testimony of area school board members and superintendents at the Oct. 30, 2008 NYS Commission on Property Tax Relief Hearing in Buffalo.

ECASB Points of Agreement:
David Smaczniak, ECASB Executive Board Member and NYSSBA Area 1 Representative

Special Education: James Bodziak, East Aurora School Superintendent and ECASB Executive Board Member

Mandate Relief: James P. Mazgajewski, Cheektowaga-Sloan School Superintendent

NYS School Boards Report on Maximizing School District Resources: Wayne Schlifke, NYSSBA President

_________________


Our thanks again to the area businesses who helped support
the 2008
MY STORY, MY SONG initiative:

Sgroi Financial LLC,
Gold Level Sponsor

Hodgson Russ LLP,

Gold Level Sponsor

Turner Construction Company, Bronze Level Sponsor

Watts Architecture & Engineering, P.C.,
Bronze Level Sponsor

BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York,
Gold Level Sponsor

We thank our partners and supporters in this initiative!

 


Mission Statement

The Erie County Association of School Boards provides to member boards leadership & support which promote the effective management & delivery of services to our public school students.

 

Campus Construction Management Group, Inc.,

LPCiminelli,
Hodgson Russ and Turner Construction
are proud sponsors of ECASB.org


09-10 ECASB Calendar


Mary Busse (West Seneca BOE) and Andy Breier (Eden BOE) help unload water in Gowanda.
Labatt’s lent the refrigerated truck to keep water and Gatorade chilledl
Photo by David Smaczniak (West Seneca BOE).

 

ECASB Lends Helping Hand to Gowanda

An e-mail to ECASB members in mid-August launched a Gowanda Disaster Relief Effort among our membership that has been a tremendous success.

Contributions from our members enabled us to send more than 70 cases of water to Gowanda, including two cases donated by TOPS market in Derby. These were delivered by Dave Smaczniak (West Seneca), Rick Vogan (Lake Shore), Mary Busse (West Seneca), Andy Breier (Eden) and Brian Burgstahler (Eden). In addition, a modest check ($75) was directed to help a Family in Need. Meanwhile, Ray Carr (Cheektowaga) and his wife Frances were on-site at Gowanda, volunteering their time to help provide meals. Florence Johnson (Buffalo) put out an outreach call to her church, Calvary Baptist on Genesee Street, where parishoners generously responded with a case of canned goods, baby supplies, feminine products and $634 in check donations, which helped purchase additional cases of water..

Water remains the most pressing need. Forty-nine homes are uninhabitable. These homes were condemned and families had to evacuate; some were given less than an hour to retrieve possessions.Hundreds of others had damages and those families also are in need.

ECASB invites members to send canned goods/water/other items with their representatives to our Executive Board, Delegate Assembly, Budget and Finance Team, and Legislative Team meetings in September. ECASB President Rick Vogan notes, “I suspect as the event dims into history, public support will dwindle. We need to stay in touch, I think, as the needs may not diminish as quickly as the support probably will.”

Additional donations will be accepted at these ECASB meetings in September:
Legislative Team ... Sept. 10
Budget/Finance ... Sept. 10
Executive Board ... Sept. 24
Delegate Assembly ... Sept. 24

Checks should be made to PPPE, with “Gowanda Relief Fund” on the memo line.

 

ECASB 09-10 Exec Board & Officers

ECASB Officers
President: Richard Vogan (Lake Shore)
Vice President: Ray Carr (Cheektowaga, Erie 1 BOCES)
Treasurer: Linda Hoffman (Erie 2 BOCES)

At-Large Members:
Melissa Brinson (Ken-Ton)
David Goris (Grand Island)
Kathyann Lorka (East Aurora)
Casey Neyman (Hamburg)
Donald Sniezak (Orchard Park)
Buffalo Representative: Mary Ruth Kapsiak
Superintendent Representative: Geoff Hicks (Sweet Home)
Immediate Past President: Mary Busse (West Seneca)
NYSSBA Area 1 Director: David Smaczniak (West Seneca)

ECASB UPDATES ARCHIVE:

ECASB Update: Back to School 2008

ECASB Update Back-to-School 07
ECASB Update Fall 07
ECASB Update Mid-Fall 07
ECASB Update Spring 08
ECASB Update Year-End 0708