BUS CONTRACT DECISION TABLED
BY TRAVIS MOSHIER ENDEAVOR NEWS

The Coudersport School Board postponed deciding on whether to accept or deny a contract extension with Krise Transportation until after receiving a presentation on the proposal.

The board was undecided on what course of action to take on the contract extension, as two Coudersport residents have also expressed interest in providing busing services beginning in the 2009/2010 school year.

One of those was Dale Anderson, who held the busing contract from 1980 to 1993 according to the letter of interest he presented to the board during Monday night's meeting. The other is Daniel Bollhorst, who currently handles Austin school district's busing.

Krise's current contract expires at the end of next school year, but a clause in the contract requires the board to advise Krise if they do not want to extend the contract by the last day of the current school year, Superintendent George Nuffer III explained. If nothing was said, the current contract would be extended under the same terms until 2014.

Owner Tim Krise brought another option to the board earlier this year, offering an extension until 2014 with some small changes to the terms, Nuffer said.

The transportation committee - David Long, Joe Lagrua and Al Barry - met with Krise and felt that it was a good contract, but were undecided about whether to put the service out for bids, said Long.

"I believe we should put this out for bid since we have other businesses interested," said Lagrua.

Robert Benson pointed out that the proposed contract was a meter that could be used to see if competition really is the best option.

Marcia Lagrua-Jones added that "competition is good. Everyone should have the opportunity."

"This is a gamble," Nuffer said. "It is a big gamble."

Barry moved to accept the proposal, but received no second. Long moved to table the discussion until the next meeting to allow the board to think it over, but his motion received no second.

A motion by Lagrua to not accept the proposal was defeated in voting after a discussion of a possible presentation by Krise to explain the proposal was brought up.

Board member R. Drew Robinson said that in his business they deal with a lot of contracts and make presentations to boards.

"I can't make a decision on anything without knowing what things mean," Robinson said in reference to some of the changes in the contract.

The board finally agreed to table the item until the April 7 meeting and have Krise make a presentation to the board during the March 31 work session.

Prior to the busing discussion, the board accepted letters of resignation from 5 varsity coaches.

Paul Simcoe, football coach, and Tom Russell, assistant football coach, both resigned.

Gary Francis, girls' golf, and James Wilkinson, boys' golf, also resigned.

Chris Fink, boys' basketball coach, is also resigning. His team made an impressive run into the Elite Eight in the state tournament, gathering a perfect regular season and a District IX title along the way.

Benson said that it was rumored that Fink was not going to return for the 2007/2008 season, but he came back.

John Sherry also submitted a resignation from Student Council Advisor effective at the end of the school year.

Teacher Patricia Rachiele resigned with the purpose of retirement. Rachiele served the Coudersport schools for 33 years and has been out on Family Medical Leave Act for much of the year, Nuffer said.

All the resignations were accepted with regret and appreciation for the individual's service.

The calendar for the 2008/2009 school year was also accepted by the board, but not without some discussion.

Nuffer explained that the calendar was identical to six other area school districts as well as the Intermediate Unit. The calendar is similar to the current school year, except two vacation days have been removed from the Easter break and added on to the Christmas break.

When asked about the changes, Nuffer said he didn't know why the change was made because he wasn't at the meeting when the superintendents decided on the calendar.

Various members posed questions and concerns about the calendar, including dropping spring break to create a longer Easter vacation.

Nuffer pointed out that students going to the Seneca Highlands Area Vocational- Technical school, other schools and the IU would be affected if Coudersport changed its calendar.

The calendar was approved, but future considerations were discussed about allowing families the time to go on vacations and visit relatives.

Sherry Cowburn, elementary school principal, pointed out that the time frame for PSSA testing was the same as the current year, which was affected because of days off.

Although no official action was taken, the board expressed interest in being more involved with the scheduling of the calendar for the 2009/2010 school year.

The Second Street Bridge project will cause some issues for the bus travel.

Route 6 being detoured through the backstreets means that some students who normally walk to school will now be on bus routes and some students will be on different buses, Nuffer explained.

"It will be an interesting 10 weeks," he said.

Sherry noted that kindergarten registration went well, she said, echoing Nuffer's announcement that 64 students were signed up for next school year.

The school board will gather for a work session on March 31, with the next regular meeting on April 7.