Board of Ed moves ahead on septic project

The Board of Education took a step forward to link a third of the school to the new septic system to be installed across the street at the American Legion Post/Youth Center.

The Board voted on April 16 to declare the project a “Type II action,” a designation that requires no further study of the environmental impact of the project.

The $86,000 project, funded by a Suffolk County grant and money from New York State, has not moved as quickly as school and town officials had hoped. But the town recently made a decision to move its part of the project forward and allow the school to tap into the lines whenever its part of the project is ready.

Some of the delays on the school district’s part resulted from personnel changes in the school’s business office. Board President Thomas Graffagnino also pointed out that there was a period when Town Engineer John Cronin, who had been assisting with the project, was unavailable because he had far exceeded the hours for which he was being paid.

When the project first got underway, the school district’s business leader was Tim Laube, who was succeeded by Idowu Ogundipe and this year by Linda Haas.

In other actions, the Board:
• Accepted the resignation effective on June 30 of Sheryl Stelljes as a teacher’s aide. Ms. Stelljes joins five others who are retiring from their district jobs at the end of the school term.
• Approved extra teaching periods for Lynne Colligan, Laura Mayo and Bryan Knipfing.
• Appointed additional substitute teachers Sara Grammatica and Stephanie Loizance at $110 per day.