mstafford@observertoday.com
The Dunkirk City School District is set to go ahead with a student relocation plan in September after the Board of Education voted to approve it at a Tuesday meeting.
Under the plan, starting with the 2021-22 school year, kindergarten through second grade students will go to new early childhood education centers at Schools 3, 5 and 7. Third through sixth graders will go to the middle school building on Eagle Street and seventh through twelfth graders will go to the nearby high school building on Sixth Street.
“I have heard parents’ concerns and staff concerns. I have concerns,” said Board President David Damico. “It’s a heavy lift.”
The answer may be a little bit of both.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo has been quick to say the broadband access gap has been closed by his Broadband for All program, though many including state Sen. George Borrello, R-Sunset Bay disagree with Cuomo’s assessment. The governor is looking to boost broadband access by requiring private companies to provide a $15 rate so that low-income residents can have access to broadband internet.
There are pockets of Chautauqua County lagging behind in internet access according to a fall 2020 survey compiled by the state Education Department. The New York Civil Liberties Union recently filed a Freedom of Information Law request for the survey, which showed that more than 165,000 students in New York state (6%) lacked internet access. In Chautauqua County, 1,058 of the county’s 18,353 students (5.76%) had no access to internet. The same percentage of students had no access to a device to access the internet.
jward@observertoday.com
No cuts to programs or staff are in place for the Dunkirk City School District’s 2021-22 budget.
At Tuesday’s Board of Education meeting the upcoming budget was happily announced as the state aid details were finally in to help get the numbers together for the district. “We do not need to dip into our reserves,” Superintendent Michael Mansfield stated. “This is good news. If the state follows through with the statute of full phase foundation aid over the next three years it could really help us in avoiding excessing our fund balance and reserves for another year or two.”
jward@observertoday.com
Volunteers help to deliver meals to the local area. Pictured holding cooler are Michael Bobseine and Meals on Wheels driver Mark Emke. In back left to right are Emily VanDette and Laura Koepke, Meals on Wheels driver Bob Kachermeyer, Cheryl Noggle, Lenore Fiebelkorn, Denise Griggs and Kerry Askin.
Submitted photo
Meals on Wheels in the Dunkirk-Fredonia area has been exceptionally busy during the COVID-19 pandemic. From their regular job of supplying meals to people unable to cook for themselves to finding needs throughout the community, the organization has been pounding the pavement.
“There has been an increase in numbers of individuals who are requesting assistance, but we are delivering fewer actual meals because we’re limiting them somewhat just due to eligibility requirements that are constantly changing,” said Executive Director Deb Pacos. “They may get one meal instead of two meals, or they may not get weekend meals, it depends on their nee
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