CV-S Hotline Active

CHERRY VALLEY — The February 15th meeting of the CV-S Board of Education was brief and to the point in the face of an impending winter squall. 

Two events for the district’s Capital Project were held between Thursday’s and last month's meetings. An unveiling event was held on January 30th, and five community members attended. Architects for the project were on hand to guide attendees through the project’s proposed repairs and additions, and to answer any questions attendees may have had. The public vote was held on February 13th and the results are as follows: Project A, the section of the project that calls for the updating of windows, lockers, staircases, and other essentials, passed 110-68. Project B, dedicated to updating the school’s track, did not pass with an 86-91 vote. Project C for the procurement of a new tractor for the school passed 111-67. 

Concerns were raised at the meeting that the failure to repair the track at this time will lead to irreparable damage in the future, which will increase the costs if the project is postponed until a future Capital Project. 

Budget cuts are also in store for the future of CV-S. The current amount of funds cut is currently unknown. The Board of Education will likely not be able to report the exact amount lost until April 18th. A budget hearing is scheduled for May 9th. To undercut the negatives, the science department presented a synopsis of the happenings in the department. Elementary students are practicing STEM through educational games involving problem-solving and programmable LEGO robots. Students create programs to guide the robot through a series of challenges. Middle school students and high school students are further exposed to STEM through courses designed to emulate classes found in undergraduate STEM programs; new equipment has been purchased through a grant to further emulate the undergraduate experience. Changes to the Regents exams are planned to unfold sometime in the next few years. The tests will be switched to a computer setting and a new set of problems will be curated. 

The mental health hotline introduced in the last board meeting is now in full swing. The hotline is available on the desktop of computers issued to 4th-12th graders. The first reported use of the hotline was February 15th and it was resolved swiftly and positively. Illness in the district has reached alarming rates. 

Dozens of reported cases of the flu, RSV, and COVID-19 were reported in the last month. The Board is taking steps to hold a full day of decontamination and sanitation to reduce the number of illnesses passing through the district.