EL still without gas hookup

BY PAT FARNELLI
Times-Shamrock
Correspondent

Elk Lake School District is still waiting to hook up to Leatherstocking’s utility gas, in spite of its contract that called for a switch to gas by the end of 2014.

Thanks to some shrewd planning by the Elk Lake administration and Johnson Controls, the company handling the district’s energy savings program, the utility gas contract contained provisions for such a scenario, and specified that if the gas lines were not connected by Dec. 31, 2014, a $15,000 fee would be incurred by Leatherstocking.

Superintendent Kenneth Cuomo said that the gas lines were not completed by the deadline.

“They will have to pay the $15,000 penalty,” he said toward the end of last Thursday’s school board meeting.

Cuomo added that as long as everything goes according to plan, the gas conversion for the Elk Lake schools and the Susquehanna Career and Technology Center should be completed by Feb. 7 or Feb. 14 at the very latest. Meanwhile, the gas pipes are being installed all around the campus in spite of the low temperatures, with crews visible on all of the nearby roads.

School board member Arden Tewksbury said that he’s hopeful that the gas lines will be connected by Feb. 1, and is glad that the district had a contingency plan in case of delays. A propane interim heating system is up and running.

Cuomo said that there will be a two-weekend process involved in hooking up the gas lines, to be completed while students are not in the buildings and depending on the weather.

“The first weekend, either on the last weekend of January or the first weekend of February, will be spent checking and purging the lines to get rid of remaining impurities, and the next weekend will be spent making the transfer to natural gas from propane.”

In other business:

*The board learned that the Elk Lake schools have received a $11,300 antibullying grant for a program called Olweus, an antibullying curriculum targeting junior high students.

*The board approved the opening of an educational fund account in memory of a teacher Carol Engle, who passed away in 2014. The fund will be used to establish a learning center in the elementary library where children can share tools, materials, programming, and expertise for the STEM subjects: science, technology, engineering, and math.

*Longterm substitute Phyllis Quinn was approved for a step-one salary position because she has been substitute teaching for more than 90 continuous days. Quinn has been covering two maternity leave positions in the elementary school. The board approved a request for permission to post for a half day elementary special education position.

*Also approved was the sale of a school bus from one Elk Lake contractor to another bus driver. This does not imply the sale of a bus route, however.

*A brewing controversy over the high school gymnasium stage appears to have been resolved with a new plan to allow a weight and workout area to be set up in the back area of the stage that can be closed off by drawing a curtain for special events.

A previous plan proposed by former Superintendent William Bush required the removal of the stage, but a significant number of faculty members, students, staff and alumni objected to the removal of the stage, which is used for many events including high school graduations, prom court, and other events that have great significance to the students and their families.

Cuomo requested some time to analyze the situation, and proposed this as a solution.