The plan includes – for the first time – funding for a school resource officer at a cost of $80,000, which officials feel will be supported by the community.

The budget will remain at the tax cap of 1.21 percent and the tax levy will be $8.76 million – up $105,000 from the 2017-18 budget.

District residents will vote on the spending plan on May 15.

Curt Fischer

BEMUS POINT – Longtime Maple Grove football, basketball and softball coach Curt Fischer has announced that he has left his coaching positions at the school.

Fischer sent an email to regional media on Friday to offer details of his departure, which said his family was a higher priority than his coaching positions. He said that accepting blame and ridicule is part of coaching and something he took in stride for many years, but now that his children are part of the process it is time for him to become a father and not a coach.

Fischer elaborated to the Buffalo News, saying the parents at Maple Grove don’t care for him and it was starting to hurt his children, so it was time to move on.

Fischer guided Maple Grove’s football program to nine Section VI championships, two state championships (1998 and 2008) in four title-game appearances.

Fischer also guided the boys basketball program to state titles in 2008 and 2010 and four Section VI championships in 14 seasons.

In nine seasons as softball coach, he led the Red Dragons to one Section VI title. In four years as baseball coach, he guided Maple Grove to a state title (in 1992).

He will be inducted into the Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame for his accomplishments at Maple Grove next month.

Among the districts in Southern Chautauqua County, only Jamestown and Sherman are featuring contested school board races.

In Jamestown, residents will head to the polls to vote on a $79.18 million budget that includes a slight tax cut, along with no programming or staffing cuts. Residents will also vote on a transportation proposition to borrow $930,000 to assist with the purchase of new school buses.

In addition, they will also vote for two open seats for the Jamestown School Board, with four candidates running.

Candidates whose names will appear on the ballot for the board of education are Jeffrey Yeates, Todd Rushforth, incumbent Patrick Slagle, and current board president Joe DiMaio. However, DiMaio announced last week that he has decided to pull out of the race and will not accept another term to the board if elected. In addition to the three active candidates whose names will appear on the ballet, former long-time board member Joe Pawelski has announced that he is running in a write-in campaign.

Besides the school budget vote and school board election,

Voting will run from noon until 9 p.m. on Tuesday at three locations in the district: Jefferson, Washington, and Lincoln schools.

Other districts holding a budget vote and school board election today include:

Sherman School District

• $9.62 million
• Three candidates running for two seats: Jennifer Ferreira, Gary DeLellis, Robert Head
• Transportation proposition to borrow $360,000

Voting at Sherman School from Noon to 9pm.

Southwestern School District

• $26.59 million budget
• One candidate running for one board seat: William Burk
• Transportation proposition to borrow $290,000

Voting will take place at Southwestern School from 7am to 9am and 2pm to 9pm.

Frewsburg School District

• $16.73 million budget
• Three candidates running for three seats: John Spacht, Polly Hanson, Randall Wiltsie
• Transportation proposition to borrow $232,800
• Capitol Improvement proposition: Establish a 10 year capitol improvement reserve fund not to exceed $3,000,000

Voting at Frewsburg High School from 2 to 8pm.

Bemus Point School District

• $14.03 million budget
• Two candidates running for two seats: Brian Whalen, Barry Swanson
• Transportation proposition to borrow $225,000

Voting at Maple Grove High School from 2 to 8:30pm.

Cassadaga Valley School District

• $20.17 million budget
• One candidate running for one seat: Marcus Clark
• Transportation proposition to borrow $330,000

Voting at Cassadaga Valley High School from 2 to 8pm.

Falconer School District

• $22.38 million budget
• One candidate running for one seat: Jamie Zaranek

Voting at Falconer High School from 2 to 8pm.

Panama School District

• $13.15 million budget
• One candidate running for one seat: Donald Butler

Voting at Panama School from noon to 8pm.

Chautauqua Lake School District

• $22.04 million
• Two candidates running for two seats: Kim Weborg-Benson, Kenneth Shearer

Voting at Chautauqua Lake High School from 7am to 9pm.

The Chautauqua County Board of Elections has designed and printed ballots for these school districts and will program and service the Election Day voting machines.  The school district clerk remains the chief election officer for all school elections.  Sample ballots identifying candidates and propositions for all nineteen school districts are available for viewing at votechautauqua.com.

• VIEW STATE AID RUNS FOR ALL NY STATE DISTRICTS
  (Chautauqua County info begins on Page 24)

Southwestern is the district receiving the highest increase – percentage-wise – of all districts in the county. Southwestern will get $9.36 million of non-building aid money from the state – an increase of $827,710, or 9.7 percent, over the current year’s total.

Falconer will receive a 7.52 percent increase in non-building aid, while Frewsburg will get a 7.11 percent increase, Bemus Point will see a 6.69 percent increase and Cassdaga Valley will get a 4.08 percent increase.

The Chautauqua County school district seeing the lowest increase in aid compared to the previous year is Forestville, which is getting just under 1 percent of an increase in non-building aid.

Board of Election officials say Chautauqua Lake and Silver Creek will be joining six other school districts that will be utilizing the county’s optical scan paper ballot machines during the May 20 vote.

The Board of Elections already provides election services to the school districts of Bemus Point, Cassadaga, Forestville, Jamestown, Panama and Ripley.

The rounded 2014 election service cost is between $275 and $400 for most districts, although Jamestown – due to its size and number of residents – will see a cost of $1300.

The vote will take place from 2 to 8:30 p.m. in the Maple Grove school Cafeteria.

Last week the $13.12 million spending plan – which included a 5.17 percent spending increase and a 5.67 percent increase in the tax levy-  failed by just a 12 vote margin.  Improvements in infrastructure and technology have been cited as key players in the increase. It was the only school budget in Chautauqua County to be voted down by the public.

School officials are in the final stages of crafting a new budget proposal. If the budget is voted down a second time, the district is required to adopt a contingency budget, which requires $424,134 in state-mandated and other possible cuts.  Those cuts would include equipment, student supplies and transportation. Other possible cuts include music, art, foreign language offerings, athletic programs and elementary school positions.

The board will hold an open board meeting to present a new budget again on June 3 – along with the contingency budget. A public budget hearing is set for June 11. There will be a re-vote of the budget on June 18.

The Bemus Point School District has repeatedly been ranked at the top or among the top districts in Chautauqua County, according to an annual report by Business First Magazine of Buffalo.

Residents in the city of Jamestown have given the thumbs up to the 2013-2014 budget presented by school administration and the board of education. A total of 388 votes were cast for the $73,370,000 budget, with 320 voting in favor of the spending plan and 68 voting against it. In addition, the district’s school bus proposition also passed by a vote of 302 to 79. That will allow the district to lease-to-own several vehicles over a five-year period, at a cost not to exceed $790,000.

Voters also were able to vote for two candidates for the school board’s two open seats. Winning reelection were current school board president Joe DiMaio as well as fellow incumbent Patrick Slagle. DiMaio received a total of 304 votes while Slagle picked up 282. A third candidate, Todd Rushforth, received 118 votes.

All results from yesterday’s vote are unofficial until tonight’s Canvas of Votes.

Residents in the Bemus Point School District voted down the proposed $11.9 million spending plan. According to the Jamestown Post-Journal, the unofficial tally was 227 against the budget and 215 for the budget. The failure of the district’s budget proposal was not a complete surprise, as it had recently received criticism during a public hearing earlier this month. The budget contained a 5.7 percent spending increase of $645,175.

A proposition in the form of a school bus amendment did pass, 251-193.