Published: June 26, 2009 11:39 pm      

FALLS SCHOOLS: A bittersweet beginning

Of all the resolutions Niagara Falls Board of Education member Jeanette Stypa moved over her 16 years of service, it was the final one that may have been most significant to her.

Stypa quickly volunteered to be the first to sponsor the appointment of Cynthia Bianco as the district’s new permanent superintendent. Then, as Bianco’s new venture began, Stypa tearfully said good-bye, her term ending at the end of the month.

“I wish I was going to be here for this run, but who knows, the door may be open for me again one day,” she said before crediting the community with electing her to three previous terms. “Thanks for giving me the chance to learn, to grow and to have a few laughs.”

Stypa’s comments capped an emotional and bittersweet school board meeting Thursday — the last of the fiscal year — that also included numerous personnel changes and position cuts to help balance the budget.

The irony was not lost on veteran board member Don King.

“Life is a series of chapters,” he said Thursday. “Tonight, we’re witnessing the beginning of a few chapters and the end of a few chapters.”

The endings included the abolishment of 21 teaching positions districtwide, mostly at the elementary level. School officials announced back in April

that cuts would be made at the end of the school year to help close a $3.8 million budget gap. Some of the teacher cuts were offset by teaching jobs created elsewhere in the district.

In addition, the district was able to limit the actual number of layoffs though attrition and the creation of several lesser-paying jobs, including seven teacher assistant positions. Most of those teachers receiving pink slips this week will be transferred to substitute positions.

Among the most notable non-instructional layoffs was Jason Murgia, the district’s community services grant coordinator and a Niagara County legislator representing Niagara Falls. Murgia was hired four years ago to administer programs through the 21st Century Grant Program, but the funding recently ran out.

Murgia said there is still a chance funding for the program will be restored. He said a state education department review of a renewal application from the school district is pending. If it four-year extension is granted, the after-school program would remain, he said. The district also has reached out to local state lawmakers for support in keeping the program alive.

“If we get notified in the next couple of days that it has been renewed, then all the programs will be saved,” Murgia said.

Contact reporter Rick Forgione

at 282-2311, ext. 2257.