DEPEW
Schools capital project progresses in Depew
The project manager for the Depew School District’s capital project got some additions to his “to do” list from the Board of Education Tuesday.
Greg Baker of LP Ciminelli was asked to come up with cost figures for additional bleachers for athletic areas and to check with New York State Electric & Gas about burned-out bulbs on light standards in front of Cayuga Heights Elementary School. Board Vice President Barbara Staebell said she thought the school parking lot was too dark.
Several board members also raised questions about gaps in fencing at sports fields, and Baker said that problem will be addressed.
Baker, who gives a progress report on the $25 million school renovation project at every board meeting, said installation of new stage rigging in the high school auditorium should be completed by Nov. 5. He said that more bleachers will be installed in the gymnasium and that the floor in the breezeway connecting the high school with the middle school will be replaced over Christmas break.
Work will start Monday on installing the new wireless access system that will serve all three schools, and old chalkboards are being replaced in about 30 classrooms with SmartBoards, work that should be completed within two to three weeks.
The board was presented thank-you notes for the school improvements written by Cayuga Heights students. The school’s assistant principal, Michelle Kudla, distributed the notes, enclosed in colorful cards that resembled mailboxes.
High School Principal Carol Townsend and Heidi Salva, director of instructional services, gave a detailed report on student performance on state Regents exams in the 2008-09 school year.
Townsend said improvements are needed in mathematics, which showed some decline in both the passing and mastery levels. She said part of the problem was a changeover in the high school’s math teaching staff, with some senior teachers retiring or leaving for other reasons, as well as the state “transition” in math courses and the exams themselves.
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