Board Of Education

30-August-2017
   On Tuesday-29-August held the Bogota Board  of Education held their meeting for the month of August. This was once again held in the High School Cafeteria. Superintendent Dr. Vincent Varcadipane's opening remarks were mainly an update of the work done to the Public Schools over the Summer.  All three Schools have new, or refurbished boilers, and the emergency generator at the High School's needs one final inspection to be put online. Many of the stairs cased in the High School have been repainted, along with new carpeting and fresh paint in the band room. New strips lights and an upgraded sound system has been added to the stage.  The Biology labs have new ceilings, cabinet and  new flooring. The floors still need a week to cure then a coat of sealing wax followed by the installation of the new furniture. This may continue into the first week of the school year. The new Outdoor Recreation area is undergoing paving with marking and fixtures to be added in the following weeks. 
    Speary Gym is close to being fully functional. It has started to be used by the Lady Bucs Volleyball team for preseason training. The floor has been leveled, replaced and repainted. New Volleyball supports , and new netting has been added. The banners have been replaced with brighter vinyl ones and re-hung. The new layout on the floor will have the base and side lines a combination of Bogota Purple on the outside and a thinner Bucs Gold line on the inside. The Center Court Logo will still be the Buccaneer head, with the rest of the tip-off circle being Bucs Gold.  The lettering will now read  "Jay Mahoney Court" in front of the Home bench, and " Bogota Bucs" in front of the Visitor's bench the lettering will be reversed in front of the bleachers. The new bleachers will molded plastic seats based in Bogota Purple with the word "Bucs" in gold. The new padding will also be installed later this week.
   The one area of concern of Superintendent Varcadipane is the replacement windows at Bixby School.  One room has been closed in order to to a survey of the work needed.  This has allowed the construction company to size and order the replacement steel for the project. The inspection also revealed that a number of the stone trim is also in need of repair, or replacement.  Superintendent Varcadipane gave a timetable of February 2018  to fully complete the project. So that there is a minimum of class disruption, one room will be worked on at a time. A class schedule for Bixby Students will be announce as needed.
    Some of the agenda items approved was a new full time Bus Driver, who will also perform maintenance work. New safety seating in the Board vehicles that requires them. The seating were installed by members of the Bogota Police Dept.  The Board also approved a large number of activity event that will take place throughout  the school year. Times and dates will need to assigned as the school year progresses.
   In new business items to be further discusses was an idea to combine the grades of Steen and Bixby schools. One school would serve pre-k to Third grade. While the other would be used for Fourth to Sixth. The board would like to  do a study to see if there would a greater focus on teaching, or a significant saving to the Board of Education. Another proposed item was the replacement of the snack bar at Fiegel Field.  The unused "snack shack" is becoming cost prohibitive to renovate. The existing structure is insufficient.  An idea was to rent, contract, or purchase a food truck, or trailer which could be used for all the sports in or near Fiegel Field. A movable unit could be used for Football, Soccer, Baseball, and Softball while being under the control of the Board of Education. All new business item will need to discussed and added to future meeting agenda for approval or denial
   The next Board of Education meeting will be on Tuesday -12 September This will be held in the Bogota High  School  Cafeteria starting at 7:30p. This is open to the public. The Cafeteria is located on the second floor at 2 Henry Luthin Pl. Bogota, NJ

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newly painted stairs

paving the new outdoor recreation area 

upgraded Biology labs

renovated Speary Gym

window work at Bixby School

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