Fonda-Fultonville hires more maintenance workers
By KERRY McAVOY/The Leader-HeraldFONDA - The Fonda-Fultonville Central School District will have fewer custodians and more maintenance workers in the next school year.
At Wednesday's school board meeting, the board voted to hire two new maintenance workers, Stanley Fox of Johnstown and district resident Richard Lewandowski, bringing the number of maintenance workers to three.
Board member Matt Sullivan said the move is a preventative measure to ensure that small problems are taken care of before they require major repairs.
"They will be doing preventative maintenance, not just fixing things," he said.
Board member John Wiltey said the district recently took a full-time cleaner off the staff to budget for the additional maintenance workers.
"We've always had two maintenance workers, but we're not getting everything accomplished," board member John Wiltey said.
Superintendent James Hoffman said new Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds Terry Bieniek has said building cleanliness is not as big an issue as getting needed repairs done. He said work and repairs around the building were not getting done in a timely manner.
Some board members were apprehensive about having fewer cleaners on staff.
Board Vice President Carole DeBonte said she was concerned about the speed in which the buildings would be cleaned.
She also questioned the timing of the hirings.
"I am a little concerned about the change in staffing patterns in such a short time," DeBonte said.
DeBonte said she was concerned about eliminating a custodian position because she has heard complaints in the past about the cleanliness of the school. She said she does not want to hear months from now that the school is dirty.
DeBonte said she would like to see the new system not ignore school cleanliness.
"I think we made some positive changes," Wiltey said.
School ranking
The district celebrated its position on the Capital Region Business Review's recent ranking of regional schools. Fonda-Fultonville came in 29th out of 85 Capital Region School Districts.
"The older board members deserve a lot of credit," board President Rodney Simonds said.
The rankings were based on data from the 2006-07 school year, which was Hoffman's first year as superintendent. He said he was proud of the work the school district has done to move up in the rankings
The school also ranked sixth out of 85 schools in teacher retention.
The district had the highest ranking of any school in the Hamilton-Fulton-Montgomery Board of Cooperative Education.
DeBonte said improving the school is a team effort between the administration, teachers and students.
"Without the passion to learn, we wouldn't be where we are," DeBonte said. "This is wonderful."
Kerry McAvoy covers Montgomery County. She can be reached at montco@leaderherald.com.
