Jamestown High School Resource Officer Jeremy Maggio presents to Jamestown School Board (May 17, 2023)

The Jamestown School Board has approved hiring a company to perform a security vulnerability assessment of school buildings.

Jamestown High School Resource Officer Jeremy Maggio presented to the board on the resolution.

He said the district’s Safety and Security Committee, which he is part of, recommended Amoured One to do the assessment after several weeks of research, “Armoured One is a company that is nation-wide. They currently go to every active shooting that has happened across our nation. Whenever one happens, as soon as they find out that something is going on, they’re currently getting an airline ticket and flying to that spot, or driving to that spot to assess what had happened, how do they fix an active shooter situation or a mass casualty situation.”

Maggio said the company will look for vulnerabilities and weaknesses as well as what’s done well, “They will then grade and rate each business or school based on a nationwide category. They look at myself, as being an SRO, to make sure things are being done properly.”

Maggio said the time estimate for when Amoured One could do the assessment is sometime in June or July. Board President Paul Abbott said his preference is that they do it as soon as possible so that the assessment happens while classes are in session.

Superintendent Dr. Kevin Whitaker said the cost estimate for the assessment is between $17,250 and $19,000. Once the assessment is done, a report will be given to the Superintendent, the Safety and Security Committee, as well as the School Board.

Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist and JPS Superintendent Dr. Kevin Whitaker stand with local students, from left to right, Aracelli DiNapoli, Jarren Cotter, Annaleigh Young, Gracelynn Davis, Rylee Cronin, Sadie Ecklof, and Parker Tomaszewski, who were among those to have artwork selected to hang in City Hall.

Artwork by Jamestown Public Schools students is now on view in the lobby of Jamestown City Hall.

Sixteen JPS students from Bush and Fletcher elementary schools, Persell and Washington middle schools, and Jamestown High School had artwork selected for the display by their art teacher and the city.

Students whose artwork was selected were Annaleigh Young, Gracelynn Davis, and Rylee Cronin from Bush; Randalyn Torres and Sadie Ecklof from Fletcher; Aiden Fitzpatrick, Aquila Becker, Chevie Daniels, Jarren Cotter, Lilyanna Espinoza, and Morgan Hays from JHS; Kammey Kapizi and Makaelyn Piotrowski from Persell; Aracelli DiNapoli, Ireland Bartlett, and Parker Tomaszewski from Washington.

Students were presented a certificate of achievement from Mayor Eddie Sundquist and Superintendent Dr. Kevin Whitaker during a recent reception at city hall.

The display marks the first time student art has been displayed in City Hall in roughly two decades.

The student artwork will be on display through the end of the year.

WRFA’s Julia Ciesla-Hanley speaks with Jamestown Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Kevin Whitaker about details of the proposed 2023-24 School Budget.

Kevin Whitaker

Schools that don’t comply risk losing their state funding.

Jamestown Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Kevin Whitaker said this was a formal adoption of the State Department of Education‘s proposed regulation regarding nicknames and mascots, “So, while before, over the course of the last few months, it was a proposed regulation, and it was open to public comment, public comment closed a short time ago and the Board of Regents met yesterday and they voted unanimously to approve that into regulation.”

The order does not require public schools, school buildings, or school districts named after an Indigenous tribe to change those names.

An exemption to the order is included for federally- or state-recognized tribes to use the banned names, mascots and logos for sports teams comprised of their tribal members. Public schools will also be allowed to continue the use of the names, mascots and logos if an agreement exists in writing between the tribal nation and the school prior to the effective date of the ban, according to the state.

WIVB reports Seneca Nation of Indians President Rickey Armstrong, Sr. issued a statement Tuesday that said, “Respect for Native people and our history should always be the expectation, not the exception. We believe the State’s provision for agreements between school districts and Native Nations should be rare and limited, rather than an open invitation for districts to go ‘approval shopping’ among Native Nations. The Seneca Nation will carefully consider how that standard may potentially apply within our community.”

The decision by the state board of regents goes into effect on May 3.

New York State Attorney General Letitia James announces settlement with JUUL Labs. (April 12, 2023)

New York State Attorney General Letitia James announced a multi-state settlement with vaping company JUUL Labs for $462 million.

In 2019, James sued JUUL for deceptive and misleading marketing, which targeted youth and mislead the safety of the product. JUUL claimed its products were safer than cigarettes.

The lawsuit alleged that the company’s advertising violated New York’s General Business Laws with false advertising, unreasonable interference with public health, and selling tobacco products to minors.

The settlement requires JUUL to secure JUUL products behind retail store counters and verify the age of consumers that directly sell or promote its products online. The agreement is the largest multistate settlement with JUUL

New York State will receive $112.7 million over eight years. James said the first payment of $14 million is due within 90 days.

Jamestown Public Schools is set to receive $74,669; less disbursements and fees; in the settlement per a resolution passed by the Jamestown School Board in March.

Superintendent Dr. Kevin Whitaker said in a statement to WRFA, “I hope this penalty forces them and other companies who may have similar inclinations to reconsider marketing directly to underage students and children so that we can avoid the short-term and long-term negative medical impacts of early smoking and vaping on young lungs.”

Jamestown Public Schools officials and construction partners officially broke ground on the district’s $86.5 million dollar Capital Improvements Project on Tuesday afternoon at the Raymond J. Fashano Technical Academy in downtown Jamestown. Pictured are, from left to right, Timothy Voigt, of Turner Construction Company; Eric Zeffiro and Shawn Wright, of Young & Wright Architectural; Joseph Pawelski, JPS Board of Education member; Dr. Kevin Whitaker, JPS Superintendent; Patrick Slagle, JPS Board of Education Vice President; Richard Krouse, of Young & Wright Architectural; and Mark Dowling, of Turner Construction Company.

Jamestown Public Schools officials broke ground Tuesday for the first phase of $86.5 million worth of Capital Improvement Projects in the district.

District taxpayers approved the improvement projects in May 2021.

Superintendent Dr. Kevin Whitaker said the projects are focused on keeping students warm, safe, and dry, “So, it entails a lot of things like HVAC, and windows, and roof, and exterior, and sidewalks, and steps, but also things like upgrades to classrooms and changes to some of the layout to the high school, for example. In phase two, coming up will be changes in the cafeteria that will be dramatic as well as changes to classrooms.”

Young and Wright Architectural Project Coordinator Eric Zeffiro said the Raymond Fashano Tech Academy will be extensively renovated including replacing all the windows, adding a secure entrance, and renovating classrooms. He said work also will be done at the Bus Garage, “We’re going to be doing some concrete replacements because the flooring isn’t draining properly whenever they hose the buses down. And then, over at Fletcher Elementary we’re also doing a lot of ceiling replacements, roofing replacements, a lot of the invisible work in a building like plumbing, mechanical, all that kind of work.”

Whitaker said the Tech Academy is the one of the last buildings receiving a secure entry with Persell Middle School’s secure entry project underway, “We have a number of safety and security upgrades as well, from additional cameras to modernized cameras, to door systems to upgrading our lock and access systems, a number of things are part of this as well.”

Work on the capital projects is beginning over school breaks, including this summer, with Whitaker saying all projects are expected to be completed by 2026.

Governor Kathy Hochul meets with State Police, State Education Department on school safety (March 31, 2023)

While New York State has heightened monitoring in response to over a dozen “swatting” calls received by school districts last week, Jamestown Public Schools has also provided a safety update.

Governor Kathy Hochul met with state public safety and education leaders on Friday to coordinate preparedness and safety measures to ensure all school districts and local police have the latest guidance on school safety protocols.

Hochul, New York State Police, and the State Education Department issued a letter to school leaders directing them to review preparedness and safety measures in the wake of Monday’s school shooting in Nashville and increased “swatting” calls.

The state recommended that in the aftermath of the shooting and subsequent false threats of violence, school officials may wish to postpone any scheduled drills to reduce the risk of additional trauma to students and staff while maintaining awareness of processes and procedures to keep students and staff safe.

They also recommended schools that conduct drills should do so with the utmost care and caution and inform all participants that it is a drill.

The state also said that schools should immediately review building-level response plans, meet with staff assigned to critical Incident Command System roles, and follow annual drill requirements.

In a notice sent out by Jamestown Public Schools on Friday, Superintendent Dr. Kevin Whitaker laid out existing safety measures in the district as well as measures that will be implemented soon that include Incident Command System refresher training for building leaders, upgrades to door access systems district-wide, upgraded door alarms, a violence interrupter program in the community, and upgrades to security system and camera systems.

Dr. Whitaker again encouraged volunteer to join the district’s Community Safety Committee. Those who are interested may call (716) 483-4420.

Jamestown School Board Ex-Officio Student Members Aubrey Reynolds and Emylia Hallberg (March 28, 2023)

Jamestown High School students on the Jamestown School Board expressed concern over safety in schools in the wake of recent stabbings in the city.

Ex-Officio student member Emylia Hallberg said while there is more police support in the school, the students want to see a Safety Committee created to get public input.

The other Ex-Officio student member, Aubrey Reynolds, agreed, “I think a lot of the faculty is concerned for the safety of the students and safety of themselves in general. I mean, they were promised a safety committee earlier this year. Not much action has taken place, so they’d like to see that go forward and so would we. We really care about our school. The recent issues with the fights, all the stabbings, is kind of causing an uneasy feeling in the school.”

Superintendent Dr. Kevin Whitaker said there had seemed to be interest from the community to join a Safety Committee, “But we didn’t get a lot of interest. I reached out to a few people and made some phone calls to say, ‘I heard that you might be interested. Would you like to join?’ People said, ‘Well, sure yeah, ok. Just let me know if that’s a thing.’ But we had very, very few people from outside the district say they would be interested so that was a little disappointing.”

Whitaker said the committee would look at items like ballistics coating on windows, weapons and metal detection; tactical issues, and infrastructure issues. He said while he wanted the community to have a voice, if that doesn’t work out there will be a district-building safety committee at the least.

Following the 13th school shooting in the nation this year, Board President Paul Abbott said more communication is needed of everyone’s concerns. He said he feels the District has safety as a top priority, “I think it’s important that people know and understand what we’re doing. I absolutely agree that it’s really important that everyone has a voice and an opportunity to express their concerns. I guess as far as the Safety Committee geos, that is certainly a great avenue for that.”

Abbott added that if volunteers weren’t interested, he’d still want to see a committee that included people from every school building, bargaining unit, and student representatives.

Board Member Pat Slagle said he thinks it’ll take the community, including a Safety Committee, coming together to figure out the puzzle pieces to eliminate safety issues in the district. He said a lot of investment has been made to secure the schools including the recent over $400,000 investment in a secure vestibule entrance at Persell Middle School, “We have the Red Shirt program. We have the Red Shirts here tonight. SRO’s (School Resource Officers), that’s about $100,000 per SRO. We’ve increased social workers in school. We’ve increased mental health access. We’ve partnerships with the County to provide that. We have new programs to hopefully help reduce incidences of bullies in schools. We continue to reach out to community partners on how we can continue to affect these students who are no longer students, but causing issues in and around the schools.”

Slagle added that the board and district will continue to take all steps needed to keep students and staff safe.

Members of the community who are interested in joining the School District’s Safety Committee may contact that Administrative Offices at 716-483-4350.

Jamestown Schools Budget and Finance Director Brittnay Spry presents preliminary 2023-24 Budget to the Jamestown School Board (March 14, 2023)

The proposed $101 million Jamestown Public Schools budget for the 2023-24 school year includes no tax increase and the hiring of 18 new teachers.

District Director of Budget and Finance Brittnay Spry presented the budget to the board of education at a workshop Tuesday. Total projected revenues come in at $101,419,866. Spry said Foundation Aid increased by $9.5 million, for total state aid funding of $83,706,514.

Capital expenditures of $2 million are being proposed to continue HVAC work at Persell Middle School, replacing the scoreboard at Strider Field, reburbishing the tracks at Persell and Washington Middle Schools, and creating a new health center at Washington Middle School. Changes to remove the “Red Raiders” nickname from campuses is also included in capital expenditures.

Superintendent Dr. Kevin Whitaker said the budget is focused on helping students with English and Math skills with the creation of student support centers, “For example, at the middle schools and high school you would have two full time teachers, one ELA certified, one math certified, potentially special ed certified as well, with paraprofessionals. In a student support environment, students who are in need of AIS, which is Academic Intervention Services, can go and get that extra help needed in intervention in math and ELA and continue to catch up while they’re not missing any of their regular classes.”

Whitaker said at the elementary level, the focus will be on reading intervention with two full-time reading teachers being added to each elementary school.

If approved by the school board, voters also will vote on funding a new Capital Improvement Reserve Fund with up to $5 million. Whitaker said that fund is to help hedge against costs to taxpayers for future construction projects, “I do want to clarify, while the cap, the size of it may be $5 million, it doesn’t necessarily mean that $5 million goes into it right now. It just means we can only add a total of $5 million over the course of the next few years and then use it as it’s appropriate and needs to be taken out.”

The school board is expected to vote on budget resolutions at its March 28 meeting with the budget vote coming before the public on Tuesday, May 16, 2023.

JPS Board President Paul Abbott reads statement on Raiders nickname (February 28, 2023)

The Jamestown Public Schools district has been ordered to change the Raiders nickname or risk losing state aid.

School Board President Paul Abbott, reading a prepared statement, said Superintendent Dr. Kevin Whitaker and six other districts in the region had a virtual meeting recently with members of the State Department of Education regarding nicknames or mascots that were questionable or needed to be changed.

He said State Education informed districts that the Raiders nickname could no longer by used, “Districts that do not comply will not receive state aid. They have set a timetable for these changes. So over the next two plus school years we have to replace all school uniforms, paint over all walls, and replace any flooring or turf at the expense of local taxpayers. The state is not funding any of this.”

Abbott reminded board members that the district willingly went through the process, starting in 2014, of removing Native American imagery following a letter received from the Seneca Nation, “It is also worth noting that as we continued through the process and chose a new mascot in 2021, we collaborated and communicated with the Seneca Nation. Let me say this – If this is the final decision on the matter, we will change. Priority one with this Board has always been the students. We won’t do anything that we can clearly see would be bad for students. We won’t lose taxpayer money over a mascot.”

Whitaker said the district’s plan for the process they will follow for a nickname change must be approved by the School Board and submitted to the State by June, “Then, in the next year, meaning 2023-24, we have to change all of the imagery, anything that is relatively inexpensive to change. Then by 2024-25, June of 2025, we have to change everything. So, that would be turf, very expensive stuff, turf, uniforms, things like that.”

Whitaker said the district does plan to reconvene the Jamestown High School Mascot Committee to work on selecting a new nickname.

School Districts across the state received notice in November 2022 from the State Department of Education that the use of Native American imagery for mascots for schools was being effectively banned, and that additional requirements would be forthcoming. That came after another school district lost its appeal in State Supreme Court to keep its Native American mascot and nickname.

Jamestown Public Schools Board of Education President Paul Abbott statement on the order by the New York State Department of Education that “Raiders” nickname must be changed.