Community Navigators Max Martin and Carmen Perez present to the Jamestown School Board (June 7, 2022)

The Jamestown School Board received its first update on the new Community Navigator program that was started this school year.

The Community Navigator positions were created to help provide a connection between the district and Latino population, including helping overcome language barriers between families and the schools as well helping navigate the technical aspects of schooling.

Navigator Max Martin said he and fellow navigator Carmen Perez spent the first two months of the school year working with the administration to determine needs and responsibilities before starting work with the community, “We saw 139 families, 131 students, and 522 requests. A little note about the requests – Those are requests that are initially one time. It doesn’t mean that additional requests weren’t done or requested. So you probably have if you write everything down, we’re probably talking about thousands instead of 500.”

Carmen Perez says she spends most of her time at the high school while visiting the Tech Academy once or twice a week, “So here’s our areas of concerns: we have family support, attendance, student support, academic, and behavior. One of the biggest (at the high school) is attendance. You know, a lot of things this year that occurred with that is transportation, weather, COVID. COVID was the number one thing too.”
Perez said providers have come to the high school to do presentations and let students know what’s available for resources and career paths, “This is our Espagnol Facebook page for JHS. We’re slowly growing. We got about 80 people on there. We’re growing. Just to connect with them about some of the things going on at the high school, outside services, anything they need, if parents need to get a hold of me here. But, it’s just great that they have something where they’re informed.”

Martin said a resource guide was created for Hispanic families, “And what this does, it gives you all the important part in Spanish for education, the responsibility of the teacher, the responsibility of the student, and the responsibility of the parents. We also give them all the information that they need to reach, if they need to reach anybody in the school district. And one thing that I put in here is something neat. It’s something that tracks the kid from the beginning to end of graduation. So, they can actually see and checkmark all the courses that the kids are taking to see when they’re ready to graduate they’re actually ready to graduate.”

Martin said a referral form also was created for teachers and administrators to easily access Navigator services.

Superintendent Dr. Kevin Whitaker said the second Community Navigator presentation to the board will happen this summer and be focused on the data and outcomes of bringing on the new positions. Two new Community Navigators were approved in the 2022-23 school budget and will start in the Fall.

Results of 2022-23 Jamestown Public Schools Budget Vote

The 2022-23 Jamestown Public Schools Budget and propositions all passed in Tuesday’s public vote.

The unofficial vote had the $93.8 million spending plan passing 359 to 53. The proposition to establish a $5 million Capital Improvement Reserve fund passed 365 to 44 with the proposition to establish a $5 million Vehicles, Machinery and Equipment Reserve fund passing 373 to 35. The fourth proposition on the ballot to acquire property on Chandler Street for use as additional parking for Jamestown High School passed 348 to 57.

There were two School Board seats open with incumbents Pat Slagle receiving 377 votes and Joe Pawelski receiving 359 votes. Both ran unopposed.

Superintendent Dr. Kevin Whitaker said he’s very grateful to the community for their continued support, “It’s always nice to see that we have people who come out to vote. We would always love to have more people come out to vote, but those who did were overwhelmingly in favor of the budget that we put forward. And our goal is to educate our kids, help and support our kids, and also take care of the taxpayers, and we’re looking forward to doing that.”

The Jamestown School Board will hold a regular meeting tonight at 6:00 p.m. in the Board Room of the Administration Building on Martin Road. It is open to the public.

Jamestown Public School 2022-23 Budget

Polls open at noon in Jamestown today for the public to vote on the $93.8 million Jamestown Public Schools Budget.

The 2022-23 spending plan includes no tax increase. The total projected revenues come in at $94,030,000; with state aid making up the bulk of that at an anticipated amount of $75,680,000. That state aid amount is $4.8 million more than in the 2021-22 budget.

Also included in the budget is the hiring of 40 support staff.

Four other items aside from the budget that are on the ballot including the election of two School Board members.

Patrick Slagle said he’s running for a seat again because every year is exciting, “I think we’re doing a lot of great things. We’re going to start the Capital Improvement projects. Hopefully, shovels will be hitting dirt here in the next year or so, so I really want to stick around for that and really help design in the future what the district is going to look like.”

Joe Pawelski, who has been a member of the school board on and off over the last 40 years, is also running again, “I just enjoy being involved in the educational process. That’s my background and it’s just something I enjoy doing.”

Other items to vote on include a proposition to allow the Jamestown School District to pay $225,000 to purchase five parcels on Chandler Street currently owned by First Lutheran Church of Jamestown for parking space for the high school.

A $5 million capital reserve fund for the acquisition of vehicles, machinery and equipment as well as a proposition to establish a $5 million Capital Improvement Reserve Fund.

Polls are open from noon until 9:00 p.m. at Jefferson Middle School, Lincoln Elementary School, and Washington Middle School. More information about the 2022-23 Jamestown Public Schools Budget and propositions can be found at https://www.jpsny.org/budget.

JPS Director of Budget & Finance Brittnay Spry

The ballot is set for the 2022-23 Jamestown City School District Budget vote on May 17.

JPS Administration and School Board held a public hearing Tuesday night at the Jamestown High School Auditorium on the $93.8 million spending plan. No one from the public chose to speak at the hearing following a presentation by Budget and Finance Director Brittnay Spry.

Five items are on the ballot for voters to consider including the budget plan, a Capital Improvement Reserve Fund, a Vehicles, Machinery, and Equipment Reserve Fund; Acquisition of Real Property; and Board member elections. The budget has no tax increase.

Spry said there is a contingency budget prepared in the event that the district’s budget is voted down by residents, “It is from the proposed budget to the contingency budget, it’s a reduction of $745,000. It is taking out all of the equipment that is included within the budget, so it would be buildings and grounds; athletics, music equipment, and other smaller equipment lines that other departments have access to throughout the year.”

Polls will be open from noon to 9:00 p.m. on Tuesday, May 17. Voting locations in Jamestown include Washington Middle School, Lincoln Elementary, and Jefferson Middle School. The budget proposal can be viewed on the Jamestown Public Schools’ website at www.jpsny.org/budget

The hearing on the $93.8 million budget as well as propositions on the ballot will take place at 6:00 p.m. in the Jamestown High School Auditorium.

The community can also access the Budget Book at www.jpsny.org/budget, at the Prendergast Library, or at 197 Martin Road during regular business hours.

Voters will go to the polls on Tuesday, May 17 from noon to 9:00 p.m. to vote on the budget, its propositions, as well as for school board members up for re-election.

Bishop Leecroft Clarke presents to Jamestown School Board, April 19, 2022

The Jamestown School Board approved the 2022-23 School District Budget at its meeting Tuesday night.

The $93,893,354 budget, which has no tax levy increase, now goes before voters for approval at the polls on Tuesday, May 17.

Superintendent Dr. Kevin Whitaker said there are three big themes in the budget with the first one being learning loss recovery, “Our kids have suffered a great harm over the course of the past two years with this Pandemic and all the things that came with it, both in academics, this is why we have things that addresses learning loss – additional teachers, AIS teachers, additional staff for students, social workers, counselors are also there.”

Whitaker said the addition of those staff also help with mental health support for students. The budget adds a total of 40 new student support staff.

The third theme of the budget, Whitaker said, is the ability to add those positions with no property tax increase, “Connected to that with our reserve funds, we are trying to maintain that tax impact reduction across the next five to ten years. So with those reserves, our aim is to smooth out any future dips in state aid so we don’t have to go to the taxpayers and increase taxes in order to get needed equipment or capital project repairs or anything in the future.”

A group of citizens led by Bishop Leecroft Clarke who had previously spoke before the school board on the need for a Community Navigator for the African-American community were in attendance Tuesday night.

Clarke said there were three emerging facts when studying data about demographics and education in Jamestown, “The first one is, 72% of our student population are from low-income families. It’s telling us something. The second thing is, the drop-out rate for Jamestown High School is twice that, in terms of percentage, double compared to New York State. And more notable, students of color have a higher drop out rate.”

He said the third fact is that students of color had a lower success rate for passing Regents exams. Clarke and the citizen group thanked the board for including that navigator position in budget.

A public hearing on the budget will be held at 6:00 p.m., Tuesday, May 10 at the Jamestown High School Auditorium.

The School Board also recognized former Jamestown School Superintendent Dr. Bret Apthorpe with the unveiling of his photograph in the Board of Education Board Room. Dr. Apthorpe retired from the district at the end of the 2019-2020 school year.

Jamestown School Board meets at Love Elementary School

The Jamestown School Board has approved the purchase of a parking lot for use by Jamestown High School faculty and students.

School Superintendent Dr. Kevin Whitaker said the district will pay $225,000 to purchase five parcels on Chandler Street owned by First Lutheran Church. He said the district had previously been renting some of the spaces for parking from the church, “So in order to continue that relationship and to continue to be able to use that property, we wanted to make sure that we owned that property. And also, of course, it’s a help to the church with maintenance and with any of their needs that they have in terms of updating their facilities so it’s a mutually beneficial arrangement.”

The acquisition will now go before voters in addition to the school budget vote on May 17.

The school board also approved establishing a new capital reserve fund in the amount of $5 million dollars.

Whitaker said the funds will be used for the acquisition of vehicles, machinery, and equipment, “The idea is, we want to make sure that capital expenditures in the future don’t impact taxes. So while we have some money we can put toward, if you will, a savings account toward capital expenses that are definitely going to come up whether it’s roofing or HVAC or some of the things that we talked about tonight we want to be able to address those things without having to go to the taxpayers and increase their taxes.”

This also will appear on the ballot with the school budget.

The board also approved adding a school board meeting on Tuesday, April 19, 2022 that will be held at the Administration Building on Martin Road. The purpose of this meeting will be for the board to adopt the 2022-23 School Budget.

The terms for School Board members Joe Pawelski and Pat Slagle expire on June 30, 2022. The three-year term for each seat begins July 1, 2022. Both Pawelski and Slagle have informed WRFA that they plan to petition to run again.

Candidates must submit a completed petition containing the names of 100 or more qualified voters within the school district to be eligible for the May 17th ballot. Petitions are due back to the Superintendent’s Office located at 197 Martin Road in Jamestown by 5 p.m. on Wednesday, April 27, 2022.

Also, for those not currently registered to vote in the May 17th election, JPS District Clerk, Jaunita Walter, is available to register any eligible voter between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. from April 12, 2022 to May 2, 2022 in the Administration Building located at 197 Martin Road.

Anyone who is not registered with Chautauqua County Board of Elections is able to present themselves, in person, before Mrs. Walter with proof of identity and proof of address in order to be entitled to vote on May 17th. Anyone who has a New York State Driver’s license, may register to vote electronically through the Department of Motor Vehicles at https://dmv.ny.gov/more-info/electronic-voter-registration-application.

Applications are also available for Absentee Voting thirty days prior to the election. The application forms and instructions may also be obtained in the Superintendent’s Office.

For more information about the Board of Education petition process, voter registration, or absentee voting applications, call Mrs. Walter at 716-483-4420 or email jaunita.m.walter@jpsny.org.

The resolution would allow the Jamestown School District to pay $225,000 to purchase five parcels on Chandler Street currently owned by First Lutheran Church of Jamestown. The acquisition, if approved by the Board, would go before voters in addition to the school budget vote on May 17.

The school board also will vote on a resolution to establish a new capital reserve fund for the acquisition of vehicles, machinery and equipment. The amount of the reserve fund would be $5 million dollars. If approved, this also would be on the ballot with the school budget.

The Jamestown School Board is meeting at Love Elementary School tonight. The meeting begins with a presentation at 5:45 p.m. followed by the regular agenda at 6:00 p.m. The meeting is open to the public.

Listen to the Jamestown Public Schools‘ proposed 2022-23 budget presentation to the Jamestown School Board on March 1, 2022.