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Messages - BFA Principal Clark
1
« on: July 03, 2012, 09:20:41 AM »
I just talked wit Pastor Liz and we are still looking for at least 5 host families. The students are coming this Monday July 9 at 6:30 p.m. and will leave on Saturday July 21 by noon.
The following is all the information I have sent out to the BFA School community.
We REALLY need your help. We are short of Host Families and the students are arriving in one week. The Chinese students are here to learn about our language and culture. They will be here from July 9-21. Hosting theses youth is a wonderful experience for you and your family. requirements are that you be able to host two students who can share a room, but not a bed, be willing to transport them to and from school each day(we can help by providing a bus), and, most importantly, help them with English and make them feel welcome. Host families receive a stipend of $200 per student. If you are interested please contact Pastor Liz Griffin at pastorliz@earthlink.net or 849 6588, right away. Thank you for your consideration and your help,.
2
« on: December 07, 2011, 06:06:49 PM »
Sorry I left off one more important piece of information:
bullet 4 would have been Terrical came out and looked at the buses; they were only interested in the two newer buses and would put their value at $70,000 for the pair.
3
« on: December 07, 2011, 05:54:49 PM »
Huge Accomplishment; We are proud of Liz and Eric!
4
« on: December 07, 2011, 05:51:27 PM »
Del and I prepared and sent the following information for the BFA Fairfax school board on November 15. It is part of my board report for this month but I thought it would be helpful for this forum to see mine and Del’s assessment and recommendations. There are a couple of things to consider when looking at this information:
1. The Student Transfer of Vermont bid may have saved FWSU more however because of the way we have tracked co-curricular and fieldtrips in the past there was not a great way for us to compare with certainty.
2. We need to do work to make sure that we follow the proper procedures to put an article forward and will look into this if we decide to go forward with this idea.
3. Barbara is absolutely correct when she points out that we will need to be purchasing a bus regularly for the foreseeable future. New buses will cost between $80,000-$100,000+. Del and transportation staff have done a nice job maintaining what we have and I was able to secure a grant two years ago that allowed us to trade in 2 buses, each with over 180,000 miles on them for a used bus with about 100,000 miles on it and a brand new bus at a cost of just over $40,000; We don’t expect another opportunity like that to come along.
I hope this helps the community to know what Del and I are thinking and I appreciate the constructive feedback members of the community have shared with us.
November 15, 2011 Letter
Dear Board Members
I reviewed the bus bids with Chris Sumner and Del Sweatt today and have attached the summary to this letter.
FY 2013
The bid that Del and I compared to our current bus budget to was the Grand Avenue and Terrical Transit bid. Our portion of the bid was $280,000 + $65,000 in fuel + $62,000 (estimated) in Co-curricular + $60,000 (estimated) for vocational runs. This is a total of 467,000 which is approximately $54,000 more than what we have budgeted for FY 2013.
*This bid also includes a provision for negotiating the purchase of the Fairfax Bus fleet if awarded this contract.(As Del and I discussed this we felt that the buses in our fleet would sell for between $50,000-$75,000. We could research this more completely if you would like us to.)
FY2014
The bid calls for a 2.58% increase in year two making the year two bid cost approximately $479,000. If we choose to keep our own fleet we will need to purchase a bus in FY 2014 with an expected cost of $100,000. Assuming a 0% increase in the transportation budget plus $100,000 we would need to budget $513,123. In year two the bid, I project the bus bid would save approximately $34,000.
FY 2015
The bid calls for a 2.58% increase in year three, making the year three bid cost approximately $491,000. If we choose to keep our own fleet we will need to purchase a bus again in FY 2015 with an expected cost of $100,000+. Assuming a 2% increase in the transportation budget plus $100,000 we would need to budget $521,385. In year three of the bus bid I project the bus bid would save approximately $30,000.
Additionally our bus replacement cycle calls for replacing a bus in FY 2016, FY2017, FY2019, FY2020, and FY 2021.
Recommendation:
I believe the town of Fairfax wants to continue to own its fleet of buses. A savings of approximately $10,000 coupled with $50,000 - $75,000 of revenue generated by selling our fleet represents $60,000 - $85,000 over three years and is significant, however I do not believe the town will support it. Additionally an increase of the transportation budget of $100,000 to purchase a bus each year, for four out of the next five years represents a substantial burden on the educational budget of the school (nearly 1%). For these reasons I propose that we maintain our fleet and that we offer the community a separate, 5 year, article at the 2012 Town Meeting Day that calls for the community to fund the purchase of a bus in FY 2014, FY 2015, FY 2016, and FY 2017. If the community voted down the article it would be a signal that the community does not want to own its own fleet and we should accept the bid.
Sincerely,
Michael J. Clark Wendell L. Sweatt Jr.
Bellows Free Academy, Fairfax Transportation Supervisor
Principal
5
« on: June 18, 2011, 11:20:48 AM »
Congratulations to the class of 2011! You did a great job at graduation today. Enjoy and please be safe.
6
« on: June 16, 2011, 09:48:13 AM »
I am pleased to announce that we successfully tested running a live video stream from the high school to the web yesterday. This is exciting because we are planning to broadcast (stream) Saturday’s graduation ceremony live! We are able to do this through a partnership with LCATV. You will be able to watch the ceremony live from the comfort of your home by going to http://www.lcatv.org/live-videoIf you watch the live stream please drop me a line letting me know how went. Remember graduation starts at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. A video archive of the ceremony will also be available to view at a later date on the LCATV website. We will also be broadcasting the graduation live on the big screen in the elementary gym.
7
« on: June 06, 2011, 05:22:40 PM »
Just got an e-mail from Rev. Elizabeth we still need 4 Home Stay families. We are doing great Fairfax I know we can make it. Thanks for your generosity.
8
« on: June 06, 2011, 02:11:31 PM »
I am making this post in regards to the recent news that BFA hindered a police investigation. To start, I want to be very clear that BFA and FWSU will always cooperate with police in any and every investigation. However, we cannot simply turn over student records by request without a subpoena. With agreement from our attorney, we believed that if we did just hand over the tape referenced in the news, we would be in violation of Family Rights and Policy Act (FERPA). FERPA, a federal law, mandates that it is the schools responsibility to ensure students’ personal information is properly safeguarded.
To reiterate, the VSP asked for this information without a subpoena. We asked that they provide one, we believed this to be a relatively easy thing to do, and we would have obviously complied. The VSP informed us they believed the records are exempted under the juvenile justice exception to FERPA. However, it was the opinion of our attorney that the exception applies to requests from the juvenile justice system, not the police. Instead of subpoenaing the records, the VSP chose to acquire a search warrant and bring four officers to the school per their policy. When they arrived we immediately made a copy of the tape for them. Just as we would have, had we received a subpoena earlier in the week. The incident in question was reported to the police on May 25th. The search warrant was executed on June 3.
In conclusion, I want to definitively state that we support the Vermont State Troopers. We know their jobs are very difficult. We never want to make them more difficult, but the school, based on counsel from our attorney, is legally required to follow FERPA.
Ned Kirsch
Superintendent
Michael Clark
Principal
9
« on: June 02, 2011, 07:24:29 PM »
Way to go Tom!!!!!
10
« on: June 02, 2011, 07:22:31 PM »
Rev. Elizabeth
Thank you for your hard work! We are excited to be hosting this exchange at BFA. I know we'll find the next 9 host families. Thanks for helping us out Fairfax!!!
11
« on: November 19, 2010, 05:42:02 PM »
Henry sorry to hear this happened. I was at an important Dr appointment for my wife today. I would have loved to have taken you on a tour. Hope community members can find good uses for what is left tomorrow.
12
« on: November 05, 2010, 01:28:26 PM »
The VPA has postponed the Boy’s Soccer Championship playoff game which was scheduled for 10:00 on Saturday because the Vergennes field was deemed unplayable. The Championship game will be played under the lights at 6:15 on Tuesday at Castleton State College. We will be sending a fan bus if there is 30 or more people who sign up to go.
13
« on: November 05, 2010, 01:23:58 PM »
Mike Brown and I just met with the students who had signed up to ride the fan bus to the football game in Windsor and let them know that there were not the 30 people signed up to ride the bus to make it so we could send a bus.
14
« on: November 05, 2010, 07:58:04 AM »
We are entering into phase 2 of the development of the Fitness and Wellness area of the school. On Monday, October 25, 2010 the school board approved an action plan which will allow the school to redistribute the remaining supplies and equipment in the space. Equipment and supplies were first made available for school purposes such as building and grounds, transportation as well as to support teaching and learning. On Saturday, November 20th from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm, we will open the space for community members to purchase remaining equipment and supplies which cannot be used to support the functioning of the school. We will use a silent auction format. Winning bids will be notified the following week and will need to make arrangements to pay for and pick up their equipment and supplies by November 27th. The proceeds from this sale will be deposited into the Fairfax School District General Fund. Please contact Carol Stanley at 849-6711 if you have questions. Please enter the school through the back parking lot door by the bus lane.
15
« on: November 05, 2010, 07:50:01 AM »
Mike and I should know today by Noon. We will post here and will make an announcement either way a the end of the school day over the PA
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