OVCS BoE Member

09/19/2025

We had a good meeting last night and I think we generally know what happened to the $415,000 and how we can ensure this never happens again.

First off we made a mistake. There were at least two people that had a hand in creating the mistake of telling the state that we were both buying and leasing busses. That was way back in 2019-2020. The aid started coming in each year but was never marked by the state as bus aid. It was simply lumped into the usual ten other payments. So OVCS had no idea it was being overpaid for the buses. The reason OVCS never noticed is because, except for recently, we had a surplus each year and the surplus money ended up in a general fund AND we don’t know what monies are expected. The state literally does not tell us accurately how much we will be getting and what it is for each year.

The state, who frankly I dont blame as much, didnt notice our mistake. Sorry, but it is not the state’s job to make sure we are competent at running a school. Yes, it would have been nice if they caught it early but eventually they did.

So what happened to the money? Well this likely turns out to be a positive part for the school. It made us money through interest while sitting in the general fund. That means we have the money to use when the state cuts our aid to recoup the $415,000 that the state overpaid OVCS. The down side is that we will have to rebuild our reserves afterwards. The scary side is that money is not accounted for in specific funding lines.

How do we make sure this doesn’t happen again? I cant stress enough how important this is. Imagine for a minute if we didnt have reserves? Imagine if we hadnt got the finances under control this last year and were out of reserve money from the previous financial trajectory! Our reserves have been going up overall but that is only because corrective action was taken. We wouldn’t be ok. Thus type if thing must not happen and to that end we will be asking an outside auditor to review our processes and make sure there is a check within the system to prevent a reoccurrence.

Could more nefariousness have happened? Sure. It’s always possible. But, in this case, it is extremely likely that it was just a mistake that we can rectify. I do want to thank Chad and Brian for their response and work on this matter. Last night was very informative.

09/17/2025

Looks like we are going to have good movement on getting to the bottom of, and fixing, the issue of the $415,000 bus money. I ask everyone interested to come to the meeting on Thursday and ask any questions you may have.

I am also begging everyone to please do this survey about athletics to give the Board community guidance as we look at athletics for the future. If I have done this correctly this link should take you to it. It should be fast and a way to have your opinion heard.

https://forms.gle/n3HX8TLxSNtme1Jx8

Thank you all.

Very Respectfully

Rich

Over the past decade, enrollment at Otselic Valley has steadily declined, reaching a point where it affects our ability to field enough participants for certain sports teams. As a result, we have had to share some sports with neighboring districts when we are unable to form a team. Unfortunately, th...

09/06/2025

I am at a loss for how to do this tactfully and without undue problems. It appears at this point that there is no appetite for investigating where the money went. It is apparently unlikely that we could figure out where it went because of how the finances are done.

I find this unacceptable. I do not support anything but a full investigation of the finances by a state body or a forensic accounting to determine what happened to the money. I believe the voters/tax payers deserve nothing less.

I would strongly urge people that feel the same to get involved. Because, we all will have a hand in paying the state back the $415,000.

08/24/2025

So we just had our August meeting and a few interesting points.

The $415,000! As some people may have heard, we owe the state $415,000. This is a result of telling the state back in 2019 that we would be both buying and leasing busses. We got aid for both but didn’t do both. Now the state wants its $415,000 back. The paperwork was signed off by two people back then. We WILLhave to return that money. We are looking at options to do so over time to lessen the impact.

Other actions being taken on this front are a concerted effort to identify exactly how this happened to make sure it never happens again. Another action is that the matter is being referred to the State of New York for investigation to determine exactly what happened to that money. In my opinion this is crucially important as no audit of OVCS between 2019 and now turned up the extra money. My hope is that the extra money has somehow been overlooked given the economic challenges of the district in recent times.

Another issue is the Athletic Handbook. It needs a rework in grammatical grounds as well as the need for clarity around bussing students to other schools. A work in progress is how I would classify it.

A pretty slow month other than that. Oh, the custodial staff has done an amazing job getting the school ready in my opinion The athletic fields look great and the school is absolutely gleaming.

Very Respectfully

Rich

07/09/2025

After this month’s meeting I can only focus on one thing….the statistics presented. Before I start, I am truly not trying to be mean or negative. I really am not. But, I think everyone should be aware of what is happening in the educational institution that our kids attend and issues that need to be addressed.

The first number that caught my attention was 100%. That was our graduation rate. A good number? No a great number! It doesn’t get better. We must be doing a great job

The second number was 45%. That number is the number of students that are at grade level in ELA (English)…

How do we reconcile these two numbers? I asked the Superintendent and he said, “I don’t have an answer”. I find that troubling.

One teacher explained that they felt all of the kids who graduated in this class (100%) were prepared to move on with life in whatever role and path they were taking. Ok, so I likened it to 100 years ago I was like some unhappy old person because kids couldn’t read Latin anymore. I get it. Times change. Technology changes our society. Maybe the English language as we know it is archaic and it is evolving into a texting form of abbreviations without concern with spelling and grammar. Maybe this is true.

But let me throw my two cents in regarding these two numbers. These two numbers are informative but meaningless because they are not linked in any way. It doesn’t matter that 55% of our kids are below grade level in ELA because it does not impact graduation. You can graduate and be illiterate. They call it “social promotion”. They won’t hold back a kid for failing (this is why we have a 100% graduation rate). Kids in turn learn this and know they don’t have to do the work (this is why we have only 45% of kids on grade level in ELA). We then pat ourselves on the back because we have a 100% graduation rate. Do any of you think passing kids who fail is a good thing?

True story, a year or two ago a senior made a banner for their class and they misspelled “Senior” as “Senor”. It was up for days and even got posted on the OVCS website before a parent noticed and got it removed. That student went on to college. That child was not 100% prepared for life.

What REALLY bothers me is how sneaky it all is. Why are we touting a 100% graduation rate as though it is an accomplishment? The school is saying this to a generation of parents that still think you fail if you don’t do your work in school. I don’t want to even imagine what my parents would say. So we think our kids are doing fine while most are below grade level. Teachers can’t be held accountable if kids fail. Which of course doesn’t matter because everyone is simply passed to the next grade regardless. And when confronted administration says it is like this everywhere as though that is an acceptable response. And then we are told that it is ok because the kids are prepared for life……by what standard? And how would we know since they are just passed along anyway. The lack of accountability at every level and of everyone involved is not only asking for poor performance, it is teaching everyone involved that there are no repercussions for that poor performance.

Parents need to educate and push their children to read. Because as it currently stands less than half are on grade level in ELA when it is left to the professionals alone. Get your kids books not playstations and iphones. Yes I am old but come on we can do better than this. Oh, and let’s stop just passing kids. It may be easier for teachers and administration but it is a REALLY bad life lesson for our kids.

06/19/2025

Unfortunately I had to miss this month’s regular meeting. However the new cell phone policy was submitted to the entire board. I think Brian and our newest member Michael Foor-Pessin did a great job with it.

I do have one issue to bring up but it is not to rant but rather to ask for the voters’ perspectives. New York is about to become the 19th state in the country to allow a tax exemption for very seriously disabled veterans. This exemption is not mandatory but rather up to each school district or municipality to decide individually. Only veterans that are so damaged by their service that the Veterans Administration’s has deemed them unable to get better due to the extent of their injuries, or unemployable, and or have to adapt their homes to help cope with their disabilities would be possibly eligible. These veterans are rare but they are also the most affected by their service.

Should the district do it? I am very vet oriented but this decision would affect everyone’s bottom line. Maybe only by a few dollars but it is still shifting the tax burden from one voter to the other voters. The taxes one vet doesn’t pay will have to be made up for by everyone else.

I honestly do not believe there is a right or wrong answer to this question. I don’t think people should be guilted into supporting it, but I also don’t think it is a bad thing either. I do worry that any veteran eligible will leave the district if they can avoid taxes elsewhere and we will then lose not only more population but also the money that the veteran contributes to the local economy. But, does that mean we must add another exemption to the ones already in place for the elderly and have the burden fall on non veterans? No one wants to be taxed more while others are not.

I do not think there will be enough exemptions to create any financial challenges to the school district. But given the nature of the issue I would like to get some community perspective on it. Please let me know your thoughts! If you do not feel comfortable sharing your thoughts publicly you can also send me a messenger message and I will of course keep attributable opinions and thoughts confidential.

05/30/2025

I apologize for the late post as I have been busy. Last meeting (May) went well with some nice positives. Congratulations to Mr. Foor-Pessin and Mr Cruikshank (sp?) on their elections to the OVCS Board of Education. I will be sad to see Mrs. Robinson leave us and I hope she will run next year. I think the board is better with her input and I thank her for helping me to better understand the Board and its processes.

I had a meeting with a teacher who attempted to summarize how the teachers were feeling and concerns they have had with my communication style. I was rightly taken to task for overly negative posts. I think it is a fair assessment as I look back at some of the posts. To be clear I want to help to make OVCS as good as it can be. In pursuit of this I have been mainly focused on pointing to things I felt could be done better. As a general rule I believe in the old saying of “If it isn’t broken then don’t fix it.” That has made my observations and opinions come across too negatively. I will endeavor to be more balanced going forward.

I am happy to report that there are efforts underway to address the nepotism and security issues I have pointed out. The Policy Committee will be working on those in conjunction with procedures implemented by the Superintendent. Slow and steady progress should get us there.

The new cell phone policy required by the state is commencing with a draft expected by next meeting. I do stress that the school has no choice in this matter and we are required to comply. How we comply is the next step. In my opinion parents keeping cell phones at home will help. Beyond that it is a work in progress.

That is about it.

Very Respectfully

Rich

04/23/2025

A dog wandered into my backyard. She is back with her family now!!! To all that responded and shared I thank you. A happy ending!!

04/17/2025

Not much happened in April’s meeting. Just a few points worth passing on.

Mr. Cruickshank took me to task for my previous comment about “something in the water” which I already apologized for saying. He was absolutely right to do so and I again apologized in person and promised to do better in the future. Thank you sir.

A couple of board members became hysterical and nonsensical during debate. I strongly recommend listening to the recording if it is ever released. I doubt it will be but who knows! It was quite embarrassing for these members. Civil debate without interrupting is apparently not something some board members are capable of doing. We should have the emotional control and maturity to debate an issue without making personal attacks. I would make an exception when someone is being considered for a position. In that case failings of the individual should be examined. Still, that was a pretty spectacular failure.

One shocking event occurred. In response to recent revelations I made a motion to to have the policy committee add a ban on people committing security violations as part of the Ethics Policy. The reasoning should have been apparent. Violating security protocols endangers the safety of ALL of our children and that is unethical. This is not rocket science. ….not a single board member seconded the motion. To Betty’s credit she said she wanted to discuss it further in the policy committee. But not one of the other board members wanted a motion to go forward that requires school safety protocols to be followed. I don’t know if the board members would rather endanger students just to prevent a motion from me going forward or what possible rationale could justify that….? This concerns me for the safety of my own stepson. No security system works if people ignore the protocols. Have locks on the doors? Doesn’t matter if people can prop doors open. Have key card access so you know who and when people open doors? Doesn’t matter if key cards can be given to whoever people want.

Consider the liability this creates for the school. Imagine something does happen and in a law suit a lawyer can argue that the board had the opportunity to keep kids safe by requiring that people working at the school follow security procedures, but they intentionally chose not to do so. Wow. Just…wow. By the way one of the board members is up for election.

[Edit added later] I just found out that the school has no security protocols at all. This is mind boggling. There is also no employee handbook where the security expectations are spelled out. This is basic HR stuff and makes the refusal to add security requirements to a policy that much more important! The liability seems considerable. The fact that board members dont want such protocols in place is mystifying. I am sorry that I thought security protocols were violated. I really dont think putting locks on doors and hoping for the best really counts as security. It was my opinion that basic common sense measures were self evident even if not spelled out. I will continue to push this issue as I feel I have no choice.

To end on a happy and positive note! Congratulations to the teachers who recieved tenure! Big day for them. Thank you for your dedication and hard work.

04/13/2025

In my opinion-

So, I was talking to an OVCS employee last week and they brought up an interesting point that I had overlooked. The person told me that a lot of people are confused as to why I am doing what I am doing. I must admit I have made a mistake in assuming people were following what was happening in the BoE meetings and had that knowledge when reading posts on the page. I should not have made that assumption. That was a mistake on my part that I should fix. I apologize for that oversite as well as I need to apologize for a comment I made. I referred to possible environmental causes for special education as possibly being “in the water” in the OVCS district. I was rightfully called out on that. I should not have referred to such a serious thing in a flip-off-hand manner. It offended people for various reasons and for that I must apologize. Being called out for doing something wrong is the first step in being better and learning from mistakes. I will not make that mistake again. Acknowledging a mistake or problem is the first step to being better. It may not be fun but the pursuit of excellence demands it.

I do not believe OVCS will survive in ten years if it does not change. OVCS must be excellent not average if it is to have any chance of surviving budget cuts and consolidation of school districts. Yes, I know there is no talk of consolidation currently, but, given the financial costs and redundancies of many rural districts, and declining attendance, I strongly believe at some point there will be a move to consolidate. OVCS needs to prepare for that time now because later it will be too late. I think excellence, above and beyond neighboring districts is the best way to ensure survival. But that means we have to improve. We can’t aim for 75% of students reading at grade level. We can’t measure ourselves against the average accomplishments of nearby districts. Excellence requires change. Excellence requires addressing challenges and outright problems at OVCS. And our kids deserve a school that strives for excellence in students and the institution itself.

I strongly believe that an organization cannot demand excellence without striving for excellence in all areas. But, to do so means identifying and addressing issues. For OVCS that means striving for excellence by our Board, which has failed. The financial issues of the recent past cannot be blamed upon anyone but the BoE which failed to conduct proper oversite. Period. We must face that uncomfortable fact before we can improve. Ignoring it will accomplish nothing. I must accept that I have inadequately conveyed why I am doing what I am doing before I can do better. Owning our mistakes is the first step to improvement. I brought my concerns to the BoE and several members called me unprofessional for pointing out mistakes. That culture must change. Attacking the messenger does not move anyone towards excellence no matter how the message is delivered. This is one of the reasons I have advocated electing different BoE members. The BoE has not learned its lesson about oversite being their responsibility because they voted to give the new Superintendent the authority to veto any policy he wants. As though they learned nothing from their past mistakes. The BoE needs to be open to acknowledging mistakes rather than making excuses if it is to improve. I will continue to point out those mistakes, and, if I am part of them, I will own them so we can start to fix the problems.

The same thing goes for teachers and administrators. I have said teachers should be focused on doing their salary jobs to the best of their ability rather than trying to squeeze more taxpayer dollars out of the school. Jenny Osowski attacked me for that. Which is fine as it is her right to do so, but changes no facts. People are upset because I said being a teacher is not hard. I have been an educator. I do know what I am talking about. Being a good teacher is very hard. But doing the minimum and trying to get more tax dollars is not excellence. And again, attacking the messenger does not start to address the issue.

An institution cannot achieve excellence if it allows corruption and nepotism, which is a form of corruption. People like Jamie Davis can attack me for pursuing the end of that corruption. She has every right to convey her opinion in any forum she chooses. I did not expect that she would go online, under her own name, and admit to that same corruption less than 24 hours later. She can downplay it as harmless, inconsequential or meaningless, but it isn’t. Especially the intentional compromising of security protocols which endangers all of the kids. Corruption rots an organization from within. It creates different rules for different people. It is morally and ethically bankrupt. How do we tell our kids to do the right thing, and that hard work pays off when they clearly see that as adults, we do not practice what we preach. Another teacher publicly stated that it is tradition for family members to get roles at OVCS. This is astounding and the equivalent of saying that it is ok for cops to take bribes because they have always, traditionally, taken bribes. No. corruption is wrong even if it is explained away as being normalized in the institution. So how do we end those corrupt practices? By addressing them. By owning the problem and fixing it. I am addressing this issue not only because voters asked me to do so, but because it is wrong and OVCS cannot move towards excellence while turning a blind eye to corruption. I am not calling for people to be fired. I am not threatening anyone’s livelihood. I am simply addressing an issue that needs to be addressed for the organization to get better.

There are other issues that need to be addressed. I have no doubt that I will be attacked for bringing them up to be addressed. My stepson will continue to face backlash for my actions. There will continue to be resistance to change. People will demand that I not offend or hurt feelings by saying that we should do better. But at the end of the day our kids are better off if we address these issues because the institution that is responsible for their education will be better. And the better the institution becomes the better prepared our kids will be for life. And that, being the end goal, is worth every uncomfortable conversation.

I hope this better explains why I am doing what I am doing. It isn’t a personal vendetta; it is intentional and uncomfortable. I believe that if you look back at my posts or comments during meetings you will find a continuity and adherence to what I have said in this post. And while my personality or blunt manner may offend some folks, I seriously hope that problems and challenges can be addressed to make OVCS better for all.

03/21/2025

So March has come and we just concluded our regular meeting. A few take aways. As always, in my opinion.

First, a possible $500,000 dollar loss to our budget per year if the Department of Education provides no Federal funding. Ouch. But it is very unlikely that we will see that immediately or possibly we won’t see any reduction. Too early to tell. That $500,000 loss must be planned for just in case as a worst case scenario.

The Strategic Plan was quite disappointing to me. I think it is heavily flawed and needs to be reworked to make sure we are clearing defining what we are going to do, in which way, with what means. Then followed by meaningful measures of effectiveness. As it stands in my opinion it’s a feel good piece with buzz words and generalities. But it Passed 3-1.

Betty is back. Betty Robinson is finishing Charlene’s period of service as Charlene has resigned. Welcome back Betty!

A big thank you to Jenny Osowski (sp?) and Jamie Davis for bringing their concerns to the board and being involved. I’ll address the concerns in a sec as they were directed at me. Everyone has a right to be heard. Participation is good. Issues must be identified to be addressed no matter how uncomfortable that may be. I encourage others to follow their examples and let your voice be heard.

I am going to paraphrase to the best of my recollection in these responses.

To Jamie first. Nepotism is a bad thing. It is the practice among those with power or influence of favoring relatives, friends, or associates. This creates a two tiered system in any organization where rules are not applied equally. It destroys any moral high ground to enforce rules, it is noticed by many, and it erodes the integrity of organizations. So while I know the answer to some of the following perhaps it would be better if you pondered if you have practiced Nepotism.

Does your kid get to use your key card for access to the building which is a security concern as well as Nepotism? Ever? Even once?

Does your kid get treated differently on the court and not have to sit after technical fouls like other kids? That’s Nepotism.

Have your kids dismissed accountability rules like signing into the library, or signing out to leave, while other kids have to? That’s Nepotism.

Does any adult not going to OVCS have the right to come to school when they want to use the gym? Traditionally no. That is why there are locks on the doors. Does your family get that privilege?

Does your family member get chosen to be the prom crown bearer simply because they are your family member and you want that? That’s Nepotism and the taking of the opportunity from another family based upon your position. As a side note the Superintendent was informed back in Sept that this would occur. Ask him. Because it was that predictable.

I could go on and on. But the worst part is you think I am targeting you and yours. I am not. I am targeting nepotism. Just like when I asked the Superintendent if it was acceptable for my step son to be alone at school during the summer. I don’t want to promote Nepotism. And believe it or not I have addressed other issues of it in regards to other teachers as well. I don’t care about your family any less or more than any other family. I care about ethical behavior and accountability. And while I am willing to address it, my motivation in this area stems from community concerns. You may want to think about how you appear if you can in fact answer no to all of the above. But in the end. If the perception is all wrong by everyone and it is all just a big misunderstanding then I do apologize if I have made you feel unduly targeted.

To Jenny. Thank you for the feedback. I don’t have a problem with just two coaches in the Athletic Department. I have concerns with more. The most egregious case being issue with coaching quality of our Varsity Basketball program. I think we need a new coach. I have been very upfront about this. But I don’t have it out for the Basketball Coach. I actually think he does fine at soccer due to several reasons. Not everything is personal. Sometimes feedback is just feedback even if it is that someone should do a better job.

One of my few real jobs on the board is to render my opinions (again I don’t speak for the board) to the public through either votes or comments. If you don’t like the comments and opinions I really don’t know what to tell you. Thanks for being honest I guess.

No being a teacher is not hard, again my opinion. Being a really good teacher is hard I believe. But no one is running into burning buildings. No one is going home in a body bag. And as indignant as you may want to feel ask around if most people think a 180 day work year is “hard”.

I get that there is a temptation to call the messenger names and attack them for the message. But I think maybe pondering the message is a better course.

And that is it for this month. I encourage people to run this spring. Get those signatures and be in it. 2 spots are open. Please participate. Even if it is to vent at me!

02/14/2025

I hesitate to post this because it is speculation based on numerous conversations. But if I am right action should be taken by the community.

I make no secret that I want OV to have a baseball team. I love being a volunteer and giving my time to it. I also want to see my step son Caleb Loomis play baseball. No question I have something to gain. But my interests align with something good for the kids so I don’t mind selfishly stating my desires.

We have enough kids for a baseball team. But we may not have enough kids for a baseball and a golf team. There are individuals that want OV to have a golf team. And if enough kids sign up for golf then OV should very much have a golf team. Period end of story.

Where golf would be played has an impact on it as well as personal interests maybe served. Unlike my openly stated personal interests I don’t see them ALSO being aligned for what’s good for the maximum number of kids.

Perhaps I am wrong. I hope I am wrong. But if we don’t have a baseball team when we have kids willing to play and qualified adults willing to coach then we are doing our kids a disservice. Let’s hope we are better than that. I do ask that people make their desires known to the school. If you want to see a baseball team then let them know.

All of this is of course my opinions and unlike usual quite speculative.