Statement from Superintendent Hoose Regarding Recent Events:
Dear Cortland Community,
Recent, tragic events in our country have reminded us of the work we have to do as a nation to overcome pervasive and persistent injustice and racism. We all grieve with the family of George Floyd as well as for the other named and unnamed victims of racism and oppression. We must commit to actively and collaboratively address and challenge systems of injustice and intolerance.
The success of our students is dependent on how we, as a district and a community, support all children and families affected by racism and prejudice. We must engage in the courageous conversations and reflect on the past while encouraging constructive conflict to arrive at solutions. We owe it to our children and society as a whole.
We must begin the process with education ...
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Cortland Board of Education Appoints New Superintendent:
The Board of Education of the Cortland Enlarged City School District is pleased to announce that it has selected Robert Edwards as its next Superintendent of Schools. His formal appointment as Superintendent of Schools took place at a special board meeting on May 28, 2020 with an anticipated start date of July 1, 2020
Mr. Edwards currently serves as Executive Director of Instruction and Personnel at the Phoenix Central School District, a position he has held since 2016. His prior administrative experience includes four years as a Building Administrator for the Baldwinsville Central School District. As many in our community are aware, Mr. Edwards taught social studies in the Cortland Jr/Sr High School for many years prior to his career in school administration. The Board is excited to ...
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2020-2021 Budget Update:
The Cortland Board of Education began the process of creating the 2020-21 school budget six months ago, prior to dealing with
Co vid-19 and all of the changes associated with dealing with the virus. As you are aware, it has taken a toll in lives lost and created huge financial challenges across the nation, especially in New York State.
The proposed budget reflects a 1.2% budget increase and a 1.09% tax levy increase. It is the first budget increase for the District in five years and it is the first budget in nearly a decade that does not use our dwindling reserves to balance the budget. It was a challenge to develop a budget with such a small increase due to the increasing costs in health care, contractual obligation, and legacy costs. The Board had to make difficult ...
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Athletic Stadium Will Light Up to Honor Seniors May 15, 2020:
On May 15, 2020 Cortland High School’s athletic stadium lights will turn on at 8:20 p.m. and shine bright for 20 minutes to honor the class of 2020.
Community members can show the #WeAreCortland spirit and join the celebration by turning on their home’s exterior lights during this time. If you have the chance to get a purple lightbulb, lighting your porch or exterior of your house purple would be a plus!
Those wishing to view the illuminated stadium on May 15th must do so from a distance and remain inside their motor vehicles. The District’s outdoor facilities, including the athletic stadium, will remain closed to the public as such social gatherings are prohibited. Please use the same loop for student pick up/drop off that has been taking ...
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Budget Vote by Absentee Ballot June 9, 2020:
Pursuant to the Governor’s Executive Order 202.26, the annual budget vote and school board election has been scheduled for June 9, 2020, and will be held by absentee ballot only.
The public hearing on this year’s proposed budget will be held remotely on May 26, 2020 at 6:30 p.m. Information on how to access the hearing will be posted on the District website at www.cortlandschools.org.
All registered voters of the Cortland Enlarged City School District will be sent an absentee ballot together with a postage-paid return envelope and instructions for completing the same. Any qualified voter that is not registered, please contact the District Clerk at 607-758-4100 X2202 to obtain a ballot. To be counted, all completed absentee ballots must be received in the ...
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Science Honor Society Makes Videos for Barry Primary Students:
Distance learning has provided a unique opportunity for students in the Science Honor Society. Advisor Charles Canestaro s aid, “the students in Science Honor Society approached me looking for ideas to help out other teachers with teaching science. After some brainstorming we decided to try and help elementary school teach science. One group of kids are helping coordinate the kindergarten unit on weather. They will be making videos and such that will be posted on the portal for K students to watch. Another group is working with Tom Dovi and Julie Lundeen to make phun videos that involve simple experiments and demos for 1st and 2nd graders. I’m super excited and super proud of the group, they genuinely love science and really want to encourage others to appreciate the wonder the ...
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Senior Athlete Spotlight:
If you have been following our social media accounts, you cannot help but notice the senior spotlight graphics that have been coming out each day on the @CECSD_Athletics account.
Celebrating our senior student-athletes is something that the Athletic Department felt was important to do this spring. Athletic Director Tim Wagoner said, “We wanted to do something to honor our student’s senior season. Many of these athletes play 2-to-3 sports for the Cortland Tigers Athletics program. I decided to contact each senior and ask them for photos, and a favorite highlight or achievement from their high school athletic career. This was a great way for me to reach out to them and discuss their future plans and reminisce.”
The images below are the Senior ...
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CHS Student Continues to Run Purple Pantry:
11th grade student Alex Shaffer has long been aware of the issues that many Cortland families face regarding food insecurity. “My mom is the executive chef at Guthrie hospital and she always told me that a quarter of families in Cortland County struggle with food insecurity. Knowing that number was so high, I came up with a plan two years ago to expand the Cortland High School Purple Pantry.”
The Purple Pantry is normally run out of the English Department book room and it is meant to target students at Cortland High School. Alex explained, “I saw a need because we have a backpack program for students at the K-6 level. So if high school students had a younger sibling they would get a backpack of food on the weekends. But if the high school student did not have ...
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Smith Intermediate School Supports Local Community:
When the COVID-19 closure happened, Principal Angela Wanish and her staff knew they had to find a way to support
the Cortland community.
Principal Wanish said, “I kept thinking about all of our families who, due to COVID-19, are currently unemployed and not getting paid. So m any of our families depend on the school to feed their children breakfast and lunch. Now, they will also need the support of our community resources, which means our local food pantries will be relied upon more heavily than usual. We quickly put together a food drive to help fill this need.”
During the last week of March through April 3rd, teachers dropped off food items in a donation bin outside of Smith Intermediate School. Staff in other buildings were also encouraged to donate items ...
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Retired Cortland CECSD Employee Makes Masks for Essential Employees:
Laura Simon retired five years ago from the Cortland Enlarged City School District after twenty eight years of service as the District
Tre asurer. Although she has been officially retired, Laura has continued to help the district with special projects and training new business office employees. During her time with the District, Laura has helped out in many different ways -- when there has been a crisis or a need with which she thought she could assist.
When COVID-19 forced us to shift to distance learning, Laura saw another opportunity to help. She observed that there were essential workers who still came to work assisting with food distribution, including food service employees, bus drivers, and some teacher aides. Laura realized that she could use her sewing and quilting skills ...
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Cortland Family 3D Prints Shields:
“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother said to me, “Look for helpers. You will always find
people who a re helping.” -Fred Rodgers
This is the quote that inspires the Senno family to look for ways to help no matter what our country is facing. During this time of the COVID-19 outbreak, we have all been facing the reality that our country is facing.
The Senno family is composed of mom Paula, father Norman “Andi”, daughter and Smith Intermediate student Lauren, Randall Middle School student Caden, and Cortland High School student, Brett all came together to figure out a way they can help.
Lauren said, “my family has been working on making face shields for people that need them. My dad figured a ...
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District Update March 25, 2020:
All of our lives have changed in the past weeks. This situation is unprecedented and we are trying to adapt the best we can. Rest assured that everyone in the Cortland Enlarged City School District, like everyone in our community, is completely committed to the well-being of all.
We know that Cortland County declared a state of emergency on March 15, 2020. The District has shifted to distance learning at least until April Break. We are scheduled to return to school after April break (at least for now).
During the time our students are distance learning, we have continued to provide instruction. A portal is on the district webpage where all assignments are communicated -- it will be updated each week by the end of the day each Thursday. Information such as how to contact ...
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2020 Winter Sports Wrap Up:
Click on the link below to jump to the recap for the specific sport.
Girls Varsity Volleyball , Girls Varsity Basketball , Boys Varsity Basketball , Varsity Girls Indoor Track , Varsity Boys Indoor Track
Varsity Cheerleading , Varsity Boys Wrestling , Varsity Boys Ice Hockey , Girls Varsity Bowling , Boys Varsity Bowling
This winter, close to 400 students participated in our modified, JV and Varsity programs! A highlight from the winter season was th at the Girls Volleyball team won the Section III Class A Championship on 2/15/2020! Below is a recap of how all of our sports teams did.
Girls Varsity Volleyball - Cheri Olson, Head Coach
Girls Volleyball finished a successful season by clinching the Section ...
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2020-2021 Budget Outlook & Fiscal Health of the District:
The Cortland Enlarged City School District strives to provide a rich and engaging educational environment while being fiscally responsible. Each year, balancing the budget gets increasingly more difficult due to the following reasons:
Increases in health care costs
Contractual obligations
Large increases in out of district placements
In addition to the increase in expenditures listed above, the District has used its reserves or “savings” to close the gap between revenues and expenditures since the 2015-2016 school year. Due to the continued use of our savings in this way, Cortland has been deemed one of the five districts to be in “moderate stress” by the NYS Comptroller . This is not a designation we wish to have moving forward, however ...
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Cortland Voters go to the Polls March 31, 2020 to Decide on the Sale of Parker School:
Due to declining enrollment, the Board of Education made a difficult decision to close both Virgil and Parker Elementary Schools at the end of the 2018-2019 school year. We have been working with the City of Cortland and the Town of Virgil to plan for the potential sale of the buildings.
After securing an independent appraisal for the building and having a number of meetings with the City of Cortland, we were able to negotiate a contract for the sale of Parker Elementary School. The City plans to rent the building to the YWCA and CAPCO who will provide affordable daycare and early childhood education services. There is a Facebook page titled, “ Vote Yes Parker '' available to view.
In order for the district to sell the building, a vote must be held. Therefore, ...
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Interested in Running for School Board?:
Have you ever thought about serving your school district in a greater capacity? Running for school board may be for y ou!
Many people hesitate when they consider running for school board because they do not know the basic facts about what it exactly entails. The most frequently asked question is, “Is it time consuming?” The duration of time you would be committed to would be twice a month meetings. In addition to regular meetings, all school board members sit on additional committees as well, but most committees only meet once a month. All school board members come to each meeting prepared ahead of time which includes reading material in advance.
Many people consider being on a school board a rewarding experience. Board members are exposed to the logistics ...
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100 Days of School Celebration at Barry Primary:
On February 25, students and teachers at Barry Primary were buzzing with excitement, and it was not because of Mardi Grais! February 25th marked the 100th day of school.
The literal meaning of the 100th day of school is imply the 100th day school or class is in session. The symbolic meaning, however, is more important for students. The 100th day marks a chance for students to realize and reflect that they are 100 days smarter and have grown academically and socially since September.
Most of our teachers wore matching 100 days of school t-shirts, classrooms were decorated and students celebrated in a variety of ways. Special Education teacher Kelley Peri said, “each day we count down our days and we talk about how much smarter the students are. Today it is important to ...
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High School Hosts P.S. I Love You Day February 14 , 2020:
As part of the French Honor Society, students are required to do community service. Mrs. Chapman wanted to raise awareness for mental health issues that many students in our district face. She could not do it alone so she enlisted two French Honor Society officers - Claire Dearie and Bridget Riley. Cortland HS had in the past celebrated P.S. I Love You Day - and this was something that Claire and Bridget thought aligned with their goal of raising awareness for mental health.
The mission of P.S. I Love You Day is to bring awareness to the importance of mental health and decrease bullying. The organization believes that by educating students earlier about mental health, the conversation will be easier to discuss and students will be able to recognize when they or others around ...
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Cortland Clinches Section III Class A Volleyball Championship:
Fierce and fearless play is what the No. 2 Cortland Purple Tigers brought to the Section III Class A girls volleyball champion ship match on Saturday to overpower the No. 1 Carthage Comets for the title. The match was held at Jamesville-Dewitt High School.
Consistency and a sense of strategic calm for both the Carthage Comets (19-0) and the Cortland Purple Tigers (19-1) rounded out the first set.
Comets Coach Angela Robbins said pre-game, even though her team had not previously seen Cortland in action, the team was confident it could defend their side of the court against any plays the Purple Tigers could offer. But Cortland kept pace with ease and took the set 26-24, although their on-court communication was confusing at times and players fumbled a few straightforward plays.
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Superintendent Search Launched:
As a result of the announced retirement of Superintendent of Schools Michael Hoose, the Board of Education has engaged Dr. Jeffrey Matteson, District Superintendent of TST BOCES as search consultant to conduct a search for a new Superintendent of Schools.
This position is now posted as a vacancy with an application deadline of Friday, February 28, 2020. During this month, the applicant materials will be received, and the board will review them prior to selecting individuals to interview. Stakeholder involvement in the process will begin soon with a community survey and the thoughts of our faculty/staff will be solicited in the coming weeks. The goal is to have a superintendent in place by July 2020.
All questions or comments are to be directed to Dr. Jeffrey A. Matteson, TST ...
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