Nearly 200 people were in attendance for the Dec. 13, 2019 Jamestown Board of Education meeting at Jefferson Middle School.

JAMESTOWN – Over 150 students, parents, teachers and other community members were at Jefferson Middle School last night to attend the Jamestown School Board meeting and share their concerns about ongoing student behavior problems throughout the district and the impact its having on the community.

The anticipated turnout came after a student lockdown incident on Nov. 6 at Jamestown High School when fighting broke out in the hallway and police had to be called in to help calm things down. In all, 27 different people spoke to the school board, spending over an hour and a half to share concerns and also request changes in school policy.

• RELATED: LISTEN TO FULL DEC. 3 DISCUSSION REGARDING STUDENT BEHAVIOR

Jamestown Teachers Association president Stephanie Sardi

Among those who spoke was Jamestown Teachers Association president Stephanie Sardi, who said the administration needs to bring in more staff members who specialize in helping students with emotional and behavioral issues.

“As classroom teachers we are not in the position to meet the needs of students who should be seen by an interventionist on a regular basis,” Sardi said during her statement on behalf of the JTA. “The students we are talking about are those who are victims and witnesses of emotional, psychological and physical abuse. These students need to be identified and supported by the appropriate staff members at the very first sight of distress. So what is the purpose of us being here tonight? Our purpose is to let you know the Jamestown Teachers Association is going to continue to advocate for better work conditions for everyone – not just the teachers, but for the staff and students in each building.”

Another who spoke was parent Joanne Dean, who said that unless changes are made, more and more students who don’t have behavioral issues will leave the district.

“Our district seems to be doing a great job at providing resources needed to support the 25-30 percent of our student population that doesn’t graduate by keeping kids in school and increasing daily attendance. But this seems to be done at the expense of the 70-75 percent majority of our population. Those students are going to start leaving Jamestown Public Schools to attend a district where they will be the focus. We can’t afford for this to happen.”

Jamestown resident and parent Joanne Dean

Another parent who spoke was Alyssa Canfield, who said that even though her spouse works at Jamestown, her family is still considering having their children attend school outside of the district.

“We have four daughters in the Jamestown School district and one is in eighth grade and she is currently in AP classes. But we have had the conversation about putting money aside, because if our other children aren’t able to attend these classes, we will be paying to send them somewhere else. That should say a lot, coming from a teacher of the district who wants to send his kids somewhere else.”

Several students also spoke to the school board, including those Dylan Lydell, who said the district needs to bring back programs that provided better support for at risk students, like night school and other alternative educational programs.

“To be perfectly honest, most of the students who attend JHS are good. But it’s the other small percentage who don’t know how to show basic respect and behavior in school who ruin it for everyone else,” Lydell said. “We’re not exactly sure why the night O.S.S. and AP programs were ended, but the board stated it was due to budgetary constraints. The board also felt the night program wasn’t doing enough to help students academically. So instead they took the students who did not belong in a classroom because they can’t participate in basic behavioral practices and stuck them in with students who actually care about their studies. Behavior problems started almost immediately.”

Much of the concerns and criticisms from the public comment were aimed at both current high school principal Rosemary Bradley – who only joined the district at the start of this year, along with former school superintendent Tim Mains (who left the district in early 2017), who critics say was responsible for reducing or eliminating the consequences and punishment that had been used to deal with poor behavior. Some who spoke also voiced disappointment that their repeated concerns have fallen on deaf ears with the current administration.

The Jamestown Board of Education during the Dec. 3, 2019 meeting

“This is not a new problem. This problem was addressed and then ignored under old superintendent Tim Mains. Then almost two years ago, this was brought up with new superintendent Dr. Apthorpe during a meeting with JTA,” explained 4th grade teacher Joey Leone. “I thought JTA did a great job of presenting at the meeting. We talked about the problems of student behavior and discipline. We offered some solutions or ideas. I walked away feeling very frustrated, not really listened to, and dismissed. These feelings were also shared by my colleagues.”

Following the public comment, board president Paul Abbott thanked those who attended and said he and others will encourage the administration better deal with misbehavior across the district.

“I know this has been focused on the high school to a great deal but I also agree with the comments about making sure that we’re getting our house in order right from the foundation with our kindergartners and first graders. This is very important to us. I’m not asking for any credit for it, but I can tell you that we have labored over this a great deal even before Nov. 6 and we expect some immediate improvements.”

Jamestown School Superintendent Bret Apthorpe during the Dec. 3 school board meeting.

Prior to the public comment, School Superintendent Bret Apthorpe provided further details on a series of action steps that have been introduced in response to the high school lockdown incident, although the return of night school was not on the list. He did, however, say that among the steps being taken was identifying and removing 45 students from the high school who’ve exhibited chronic absenteeism and behavior issues. Those students will not be given alternative education programming at the school’s Tech Academy.

Apthorpe also said told WRFA following the meeting that other steps can and will be taken in the coming months. In the meantime, he was also thankful so many stakeholders showed up because it shows the community cares about its schools.

“It was a great two hours of public feedback and discussion. We need a lot more of that in this community,” Apthorpe said. “I thought the last speaker of the night – a mother of six kids – I thought she was very articulate about this should be the start of a conversation and a larger conversation of our community and being involved. I think its very healthy to have this sort of dialogue.”

Apthorpe also said he could not discuss how the district would deal with high school principal Bradley in the wake of the criticism from the students and staff, which included a vote of no confidence from JTA last month.

“While I can’t get into any individual personnel piece, it ultimately stops with me, the superintendent. So if our environments are not where they need to be I expect to be held accountable for that and the opposite is true of that. I expect people to do there jobs and hold them accountable for that,” Apthorpe said.

Apthorpe also said that the district will be providing an update on the various steps that have been undertaken and how they’ve impacted student behavior later this school year, most likely in mid March.

Bret Apthorpe

JAMESTOWN – The new Superintendent of Jamestown Public Schools says he’s enjoying his first few weeks on the job.

JPS Superintendent Dr. Bret Apthorpe took over as superintendent at the start of this month. He’s replacing former Superintendent Tim Mains, who took a position with the Pine Bush School District near the Hudson Valley earlier this year after 4+ years in Jamestown. Interim Superintendent Sylvia Root oversaw administrative duties from March through August while the school board searched for Mains’ eventual replacement.

Although he comes to Jamestown from Frontier School District in Erie County, Apthorpe’s roots are actually in Chautauqua County, where he was raised in Mayville and his first teaching job was at Southwestern Central School. Since then he’s also worked for Honeoye Falls-Lima Central School District, Fairport Central School District, Monroe 1BOCES, and Churchville-Chili Central School District.

Apthorpe said that he’s well aware of the challenges that come with running the county’s largest school district, but he also hopes that he will also be able help bring attention to the many successes and highlights of the district.

“The government has these labels that they put on schools and if you’re not from Chautauqua County or Jamestown and you googled this school district, the districts that have these labels – we’re called a ‘Focus School’ – it gives the perception of these dreary sad places where nothing exciting takes place,” Apthorpe explains, adding, “But I will look forward to the opportunity of bringing in the policy makers that come up with those crazy labels and bring them into our schools, because it’s exciting what’s going on in our schools. They’re safe. The teachers are great with the kids. There’s a lot of upper level courses going on. It’s not surprising to me. It’s fantastic.”

Jamestown is one of the poorest districts not only in Western New York, but all of New York State. As a result, Apthorpe said one of his priorities will be to continue the effort to make the state funding process more equitable for schools like Jamestown.

“I’m convinced that policy makers would like current Western New Yorkers to believe that our current status quo should be our new norm. We should accept what we have and be happy with that, when if you go around the state and see what’s happening, especially with downstate schools – the things they’re able to do with coding, engineering, electronics training – with all these things they are able to do, they get a $1.50 in aid for every $1 we get,” Apthorpe said.

Apthorpe made his comments during an interview earlier this week here on WRFA. The full interview will be broadcast Thursday at 5 p.m. on Community Matters. It will also be rebroadcast at noon on Sunday.

Bret Apthorpe

JAMESTOWN – The Jamestown School Board will be acting on the appointment of the district’s new superintendent during a special meeting Friday night and until then, school officials have not released any details – including the name of the candidate.

However, The Post-Journal is reporting that the new superintendent will be Bret Apthorpe, a Chautauqua County native who currently works as the superintendent for the Frontier Central School District in Erie County.

According to The Post-Journal, Apthorpe is a Mayville native and has received degrees from University of Buffalo, SUNY Fredonia, SUNY Brockport, and University of Rochester. He was hired in 2014 to serve as the top administrator at Frontier.  His salary for the upcoming school year was to be an estimated $172,000. By comparison, the annual salary of Jamestown’s previous superintendent, Tim Mains, was $171,286, according to the website SeeThroughNY.net.

Apthorpe has also worked in administrative capacity at Fairport Central School District, Monroe 1BOCES, and Churchville-Chili Central School District. Prior to being an administrator, he worked as a social studies teacher for 12 years at Southwestern School and Honeoye Falls-Lima Central School District.

Apthororpe will replace Mains, who was appointed in August 2013 and served until February of this year. Mains left Jamestown to become the Superintendent of the Pine Bush School district outside of Newburgh, NY. Sylvia Root has served as the district’s interim superintendent while the board searched for Mains’ replacement.

Earlier this week the Jamestown School Board announced that it would be holding a special meeting Friday, June 30 at 5:30 p.m. to act on the appointment of the new superintendent. Until the appointment takes place, school officials have said they will not be able to comment on the candidate.

Friday’s meeting will be held at Washington Middle School and will be open to the public.

The Jamestown School Board will be holding a special board meeting this Friday at 5:30 p.m. at Washington Middle School to take action on the appointment of a new superintendent.

Friday also marks the official end of the current school year, with Saturday, July 1 marking the start of the 2017-18 school year.

The new superintendent, whose name has not been revealed and won’t be until the meeting takes place, will replace previous superintendent Timothy Mains, who was appointed in August 2013 and served until February of this year. Mains left Jamestown to become the Superintendent of the Pine Bush School district outside of Newburgh, NY.

Sylvia Root has served as the district’s interim superintendent while the board searched for Mains’ replacement.

Last Month the school board selected Western New York Educational Service Council (WNYESC) as the district’s search consultant. The group will help to assist the Jamestown School Board with candidate recruitment, credential reviews, and on-site consultation in the hiring process.

WRFA talked with school board president Paul Abbott on March 28 about the search effort, and he said things are moving along.

“We’re going to set deadlines for applicants, and as soon as we get those applicants and as soon as we have those applicants in, we’ll start reviewing them and going through the process of narrowing down an initial group of interviews, a group of finalists, and then selecting from that group of finalists,” Abbott said.

As of April 5, the superintendent’s position has yet to be listed on the WNYESC “Superintendent Searches” web page.

Abbott also said that ideally, the board would like to have a new superintendent hired by August – before students return to classes for the new 2017-18 school year, although it could take longer.

“I think that would be the time that we would hope for. I’m not necessarily expecting they will be here by the first of August, I would certainly say that we as a board are driving to have our new superintendent in place by the time school starts in September, but of course, the right candidate is more important than the first candidate,” Abbott said.

The district is in the process of finding a new superintendent following the departure of previous superintendent Tim Mains, who left the district in February after taking a job with the Pine Bush School District on the eastern side of New York State, near the Hudson Valley region. The district has hired Sylvia Root to serve in the interim.

Meanwhile, the board held a meeting Tuesday night to continue to discuss the 2017-18 $83.9 million budget. The tentative spending plan – which is still being discussed and is not final – doesn’t call for any tax increase and officials are considering adding on a total of eight new positions, which include two middle school teachers, two language positions, two paraprofessionals, a music instructor and a school psychologist.

The board will finalize and vote on the budget later this month and it will go to public vote during the board of education elections on May 16.

Jamestown School Finance Director Vern Connors (standing) goes over the preliminary 2017-18 budget with the school board during its March 15 meeting at Ring School.

JAMESTOWN – The Jamestown School District won’t be facing any layoffs and residents won’t see a tax increase in the 2017-18 school budget.

That was the message Wednesday night from District Finance Director Vern Connors, who delivered a preliminary budget presentation to the school board during its meeting at Ring School. He said there are still some questions that need to be resolved, but at the very least, next year’s budget will not include any increase to the tax levy, nor will it involve any staff cuts.

Connors also said some issues that remain up in the air is the final amount of state aid the district will likely receive from Albany, along with how the district will deal with the disposition of its Warehouse on Crescent Street. The warehouse has been deemed an “excess” that is no longer useful to the district and depending on how the district disposes of the property, it could cost $500,000 next school year – although that money would come from the school’s fund balance, if it is needed at all.

The preliminary budget has an increase in spending of $4.7 million over the current year’s $79.18 million spending plan. However, much of that increase will be offset by state aid and other anticipated revenue streams. As a result, the actual increase the district will have to deal with will be about $1.8 million, with most of that amount being covered by an increase in state aid.

More details will be discussed during the March 28 board work session, but School Board President Paul Abbott says it was a good start to the budget process.

“Compared to other years I’m encouraged,” Abbott said. “If things stay as they seem to be, and it looks like there is even some potential for more assistance with a couple of programs, then hopefully this could be one of our better years for the budget. We’re not looking at any staff cuts, which is something that we’ve unfortunately had to experience a lot in the past few years, and this is coupled with another year of no tax increase, which we have understood the taxpayers are already pushed to near their limit. So we’ve tried to be very conservative in our budgets and we continue to follow that path.”

Between 2008 and 2012, the district was forced to eliminate 100 staff positions due to various financial challenges, and between 2013 and 15, another 26 positions were cut.

In addition to looking at specific details of the budget later this month on March 28, the district also must wait until the state finalizes its budget before it has a clear indication on how much state aid it will receive. The state budget is due by April 1.

BOARD TO MEET AGAIN THURSDAY NIGHT

A Special Meeting of the Jamestown Board of Education will take place on Thursday at 6 p.m.

The closed-door meeting will involve the board considering which consulting firm it would like to enter into a contract with, in regard to assisting with finding a new school superintendent.

Previous superintendent Tim Mains left last month for a job on the other side of the state and the board has hired Sylvia Root as an interim superintendent.

Root is a retired superintendent who’s had experience helping districts as they transition between administrators. She will stay on until the school board is able to identify and hire a new permanent Superintendent.

According to the Post-Journal, the school board also announced the budget development calendar, with the first 2017-18 draft budget presentation scheduled for the next school board meeting on March 15. April 21 is the deadline for the board to finalize the budget, so that it can be filed in time for a public vote in May.

Outgoing Jamestown School Superintendent Tim Mains discussed the legal ramifications of a district-wide transgender policy during a presentation to the Jamestown School Board on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2017.

JAMESTOWN – The Jamestown School Board received its final presentation regarding transgender student policy during its board meeting at Lincoln School on Tuesday night.

Following up on a presentation last month about challenges transgender students face, outgoing superintendent Tim Mains took time to present the legal implications of transgender policy for students, including discussing a recent case that is currently before the U.S. Supreme Court regarding a transgender student in Virginia, who’s challenging his school district’s decision to not provide equal rights for transgender students, as it pertains to federal Title IX law. Mains also discussed implications of current policy already being used in other districts in New York State, along with proposed policies.

Following the presentation, he said regardless of what happens in the courts, the Jamestown School Board should move forward at some point in implement its own policy for its transgender students.

“We already have transgender students that are identifying as transgender at the high school, and it’s likely that we are going to have more students coming forward,” Mains said. “We could have students in our elementary schools and middle schools. So before the number increases, I think it’s important for everyone to know that there is an appropriate way to support those students, and a policy will help us do that.”

Jamestown School Board president Paul Abbott said that he would like to see what happens in the courts, prior to finalizing and approving any type of policy for the district’s trans students.

“The first step to developing any intelligent policy is gathering as much information as you can,” Abbott said. “Certainly we are going to look to the courts and what decisions they render as far as this goes, and we’ll sort of use that for guidance, as Mr. Mains suggested.”

Abbott added that despite any court ruling in favor of our against required transgender policy, the district may still proceed with one of their own.

“We certainly have to comply with anything the courts require us to do legally, but as is the case with any state or municipality, you can afford rights that go beyond what you are required to provide,” he said.

Abbott also said that he doesn’t have timeline in place for when such a policy may be enacted by the school board.

“I don’t think it would be wise to set a hard deadline on it. If it happens by [the start of the new school year], that’s great, but I’m more concerned with having an intelligent policy that’s in compliance, rather than stumbling out with something because we felt like we had to reach a certain date,” the board president explained.

MAINS’ FINAL BOARD MEETING

Last night was also Tim Mains final school board meeting at Jamestown. Last month it was announced he would be leaving the district at the end of this month  to take a new superintendents job on the other side of the state at the Pine Bush School District, located just west of Newburgh, NY.

During last night’s meeting, Abbott and the school board thanked Mains for his three-plus years of service, unveiling Mains’ portrait that will be on display in the school administration building, as well as holding a held small reception for him following the meeting.

Abbott also discussed how the district plans to proceed with finding a new superintendent, saying that the board is currently working to identify a consultant to assist with the process, and more should be known about how it will play out during the next couple months. In the meantime the district has hired Sylvia Root to serve as interim superintendent.

WRFA will focus more on the transgender policy discussion, as well as Main’s departure from the district, during our Community Matters program on Thursday, Feb. 16, at 5 p.m.