Hometown News: Business First School Report

A study by "Business First" shows that female Western New York public school students have an edge over their male counterparts. Girls outnumber boys in the ranks of "elite students," with the 100 members of the Business First 2009 All-Western New York Academic Team consisting of 62 girls and 38 boys. New York State testing also showed that girls did better than boys in all 98 Western New York school districts.

That Business First report shows that Amherst's Smallwood Drive School is the region's top-performing elementary school for the third year in a row in the total of Rounding out the top five are South Davis ES of Orchard Park, Maple East ES in Williamsville, Southern Tier Catholic School in Olean and Charlotte Avenue ES of Hamburg. Coming in last was Potters Road School in West Seneca.

HTN:Big Schools Pay Big Bucks

Western New York's biggest school districts pay their administrators and teachers big bucks. A "Business First" analysis of the eight-county region shows that ten Western New York school districts have over five-thousand students each, with an average superintendent salary of 173,680-dollars. Niagara Falls and Williamsville top the list for classroom teacher base-pay, with about 42-thousand-dollars-a-year in both districts. Williamsville's median salary is 63,918-dollars for classroom teachers. The Buffalo superintendent takes home 220-thousand a year, while the top educator in Williamsville grabs 206,500 dollars.

HTN: Fifth-Year Senior Challenges Athletics Rules

A mentally challenged fifth-year senior at Amherst High won't be allowed to race in his last two track meets. School officials have explained they can't change the rules and aren't able to make any exceptions. State Education Law states that tudents who have been in school for more than four years are not allowed to compete in athletics. Twenty-year-old Jordan Maliken's parents have been trying to garner support to change the decision.

Reason with Scott Leffler 4/20/09

Buffalo School Board - you're paying for their free meals.

HTN: Parents Protest Tonawanda School Closing

Tonawanda parents will have another chance to speak out today about the closing of Highland Elementary School. A group of parents, teachers, and community members formed a committee to come up with their plan, which they will present later to the school boards today. The district's plan involves closing Highland Elementary and sending students to Fletcher, Mullen, and Riverview schools, with each location hosting only a couple of grades.

HTN: Boy Left on School Bus

A five-year-old Cheektowaga boy woke up alone on an empty school bus yesterday afternoon. The boy had been picked up at his home in Cheektowaga just after noon yesterday, and should have arrived at the Bethel Head Start Program in Cheektowaga, but fell asleep. When he awoke, he was alone on the bus in Buffalo. The boy got himself off the bus and went wandering around downtown Buffalo, screaming at passersby until someone helped him. He made it home about two hours later.

HTN: Former Teacher Pleads Guilty

A former South Buffalo Charter School teacher has admitted having sex with a 14-year-old student. 30-year-old Cara Dickey, a mother of three, pleaded guilty to non-forcible sex with the teenaged boy. Rape was charged because of his age. Dickey faces two to five years behind bars when sentenced on April 22nd.

HTN: Small School Boards Might Merge

The Ripley and Westfield School Boards will take the next steps toward a merger at a joint meeting Thursday night. The two boards will set a February 5th date for a preliminary referendum on consolidation. The "straw vote" could lead to a binding referendum March 18th. If that vote is in favor, the districts would merge formally on July 1st. Westfield serves 824 students from kindergarten through 12th grade. Ripley has just 371 students.

Reason with Scott Leffler

Scott has strong feelings about school policies like half-days for ELA testing.

HTN: Falls Teacher Takes Plea

The Niagara Falls High School teacher accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a female student has agreed to resign and turn in his teaching certificate. That was part of a plea deal for 39-year-old Paul Chiarella, who had charges reduced from sexual abuse to disorderly conduct. His lawyer says this does not amount to a criminal conviction and he will not have to register as a sex offender. Chiarella was accused of trying to kiss and fondle a 16-year-old female student from October 2007 to January 2008. Chiarella now has seven days to officially quit his job, and promises never to seek a teaching post again. He also will spend 30 days in the County's work program.

HTN: Metro Hikes Mean Higher School Costs

The Buffalo School District is getting hit with an additional half-million-dollar in bussing fees because of the fare hikes on Metro Bus and Rails. That added expense wasn't provided for in the current budget, so school officials have worked out a deal with the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority to pay the money next year. The city relies on public busses to transport more than eleven-thousand kids to school each day. Over the course of a full school year the fare hikes will cost the school district more than one-million dollars per year.

HTN: Batavia School Bus Driver Cheered

The Batavia school bus driver who talked a a six-year-old into surrendering a weapon is being hailed. James Henning told the boy if he didn't want to get in major trouble he needed to hand the weapon over. The boy produced a purple sack with the gun inside. Twenty other kids were on the bus. The boy's father and older brother, who don't live with the little boy, are facing charges of child endangerment and weapons violations, as police say both of them knew the unregistered gun was in the home and had handled it before. The boy said he found the gun under his mother's bed. She has not yet been charged. Authorities are still investigating.

HTN: Schools to Open Early Next September

Labor Day is typically the unofficial end of summer, but next year kids in New York State may already be back at school. That's because the holiday is as late as it can get, falling on September 7th, of 2009. Some hometown districts don't want to wait that long to get children back to class. So next year, school is set to begin the week before, and kids will get a three day weekend just a few days into the school year. Officials say waiting until the following week might put vacation days at risk or run the chance of not getting the required 180 school days in before the end of June.

Buffalo School Board Considers Closings

The Buffalo Board of Education heard "emphatic and often eloquent requests" by a student and a board member, as well as numerous parents, to keep open two of five schools proposed to be closed. Poplar Academy, Community School 53, the Dr. Charles R. Drew Science Magnet-Zoo Site, Days Park Bilingual Early Childhood Center and Montessori School 78 are still slated to have their door closed for good. Community meetings will be held, and the board will make its final decision soon.

Buffalo School Cafeteria Workers Finally Get Raises

A new deal for some 400 food service workers who'd been working without a contract since July 2004 was approved by the Buffalo School Board Wednesday. The retroactive agreement, which only has one more year to go, says members will receive raises worth a total of ten-percent, and a onetime signing bonus of 150 dollars. The union has agreed to withdraw from a lawsuit against the school system over a wage freeze imposed by the Buffalo Control Board. The contract still needs to be approved by the control board. Next year, a three- to- four year extension will be sought.

Amherst, Tonawanda Schools on Alert after Stranger Danger Cases

Amherst and Tonawanda schools have followed up on two reports of motorists offering rides to middle school students. The districts are now on alert after incidents last Tuesday within a couple of hours of each other. Descriptions of the driver and the vehicle were similar in each case.

School Shooting in T-O

An apparent school shooting in Toronto today: Bendale Business and Technical Institute was in lockdown after a 17-year-old boy was shot in the hallway. The victim was rushed to the hospital in serious condition. Police are searching for either one or two suspects.

Buffalo Teachers' Aide Resigns

The Futures Academy teacher's aide who threw a seventh grader into a wall will not serve jail time. Forty-four-year-old James Wilson pleaded guilty to reduced child endangerment charges, and resigned from his job. Wilson will also have to pay court fees and perform 50 hours of community service. The judge in the case issued an order of protection to the child that Wilson assaulted. If that order os violated Wilson would face a year in jail.

Business First Lists Top Elementary Schools

Business First Newspaper has released its listing of the best elementary schools. The top school again this year is the Smallwood Drive School in Amherst. The first Buffalo city school on the list is Frederick Law Olmstead School Number 64 which ranked 24th. The entire list of schools can be found at buffalo.bizjournal.com.

Boys Lagging in State Grad Rates

Girls are graduating from high school in New York at a much higher rate than boys. Statewide in 2007, 73-point-four-percent of girls graduated after four years of high school, compared with 64-percent of boys. A state Education Department committee plans to explore ways to boost the graduation rates of Hispanic and black males. Only 41-percent of Hispanic males graduated last year, compared with 54-percent of Hispanic females. The African-American graduation rates were 44-percent for males and 57-percent for females