Administrators said they were not considering arming teachers, searching kids’ backpacks, or installing metal detectors at school entrances, statements which elicited applause from the sizeable audience.

The BOE president praised the student organization of the March 14 walkout. “I’m not trying to be political about this, but I will say that they’ve done an incredible job at recognizing their own differences of opinions,” said Kevin Salem.

Moved by the high school shooting in Parkland, Florida where 17 people died at the hands of teenager, the Onteora Central School District will hold a Community Forum on safety at district schools at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 7, in the Middle/High School auditorium at the Boiceville campus. 

The recent mass shooting at a High School in Florida that killed 17 people — most of them children — necessitated Onteora District School officials to review school safety at their February 20 Board of Education meeting at the Middle/High School.

Agreements made with developers to encourage new business can mean shortfalls for local school districts.

The superintendent said additional State Aid proposed for 2018/19 school year is approximately $17,000 or as she put it, “pretty much essentially flat.” With a district budget of approximately $52 million, the small increase is expected to have minimal impact. Plus: A pilot for Waterfall Way, bus driver shortage, and the robotics program.

The 2018/19 preliminary Onteora district budget was unveiled, revealing that school officials will have their work cut out for them in trying to keep the budget within the allowable tax cap.

‘Our goal is to have quality assessments that are not 100 questions long, because we’ve seen fabulous examples where I can cover six standards in one question.’