Newfield School Board talks staff shortages, extracurriculars

The Newfield Board of Education discussed efforts to adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic at its Oct. 15 meeting.

Acting District Superintendent Eric Hartz gave a report to the Board about several topics, including the upcoming Trojan Games. He said that 50 students from grades six through 12 had expressed interest in participating.

Hartz praised Dean of Students Jeff Augustine for doing “an amazing job” setting up the Trojan Games and said it was “awesome” that Augustine was able to get all the participants to compete on the same day.

Hartz said the games will abide by standards issued by the Tompkins County Health Department, including taking place outside, having hand sanitizer available for students to use, disinfecting equipment and requiring social distancing and masks.

The games will not be open to spectators due to safety concerns, and only students who have signed up will be allowed in. Hartz added that the students know what they’re getting into and that the games are a step in the right direction.

“I just feel like it’s going to be the first step to allowing some of our students to now do a little bit of extracurricular,” Hartz said.

Patrick Mahunik, director of secondary education, added that more students were becoming involved in extracurricular activities due to not having athletics.

He said that rather than “opening the floodgates” and declaring all extracurriculars open, he wanted to gauge interest and offer activities based on what students want, noting that he had the Computer Science program dropped in January because only two students had been participating in it.

“Everything I’m seeing right now, from all the sign-ups, is that we’re looking at 12 to 15 kids for every one of them, every recommendation that I’m bringing forward to you, because kids just want to be involved; and all the research shows that kids need to be involved,” Mahunik said.

Mahunik discussed how the school’s drama clubs were adapting to the pandemic. He said that the middle school was planning on doing a completely virtual play, while the high school wanted to try a “spaced-out show,” with the actors on stage observing social distancing.

“We’re trying to make things as normal as possible for these kids,” he said.

To help ensure sports and extracurricular activities run smoothly, the Board voted to approve several appointments to oversee sports teams and extracurricular activities, including coaches for baseball, football, soccer, volleyball and track and field. The motion also covered the elementary school yearbook, the high school literacy club and the high school Interact club.

Another challenge the Board addressed was how to keep the school adequately staffed during the pandemic. Hartz said the district has struggled with a lack of substitutes and aides and has been exhausting its resources to find more staff. He expressed his appreciation to district aides for their work, which he said was vitally important even outside of the pandemic.

“As you know, these are unprecedented times,” Hartz said. “We have teachers doing virtual teaching, we have some people that are here one minute literally and gone the next, and we’re trying to scramble for that next however long we need to fill those shoes for. I can’t thank some of our aides enough; they have totally stepped out of their comfort zone.”

Hartz also extended appreciation for the School Board members as part of School Board Recognition Week, which Gov. Andrew Cuomo designated Oct. 19 through Oct. 23. He read a description of the week that outlined School Board members’ contributions to their school districts and communities, such as representing the school district and communicating with the public.

“I do want to thank each and every board member … for everything you do for all of our students and our community,” Hartz said. “This has been a tough time with everything changing since last March, so I thank each and every one of you so much for everything you do.”

In other business, David Shaw, business administrator, said that the free meals program for all students, which was supposed to last until December, has been extended until the end of June. This means that students will have free school meals for the entire school year, which Shaw said he was excited for.

Shaw also said that the district adopted an expenditure freeze on nonessential purchases, clarifying that purchases relating to education, health and safety would continue.

The 2020 District Safety Plan is currently live on the district website. It will be presented at the Board’s Nov. 5 meeting, allowing attendees to ask questions or comment on it. The plan can be found at the Newfield School District’s website, at www.newfieldschools.org, until the district votes on it at its Nov. 19 meeting.

In Brief:

King Bow Bridge Closed Temporarily

On Wednesday, Oct. 14, Newfield’s King Bow Bridge closed for repairs. It is expected to reopen in two weeks. Find more information at newfieldny.org/king-bow-bridge-closure.

At the Library

The Newfield Public Library will hold a Harry Potter trivia night from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 29, via Zoom. Register for the event by visiting newfieldpubliclibrary.org/events/harry-potter-trivia-night-630-pm.

The library will hold its virtual Adult Meet-Up from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 29. Call or email the library for the Zoom link. More information is at newfieldpubliclibrary.org/events/adult-meet-up-1030-am-5.