Welcome to the Gananda Central School District Fact Checker Page. This page is dedicated to providing accurate information about Gananda Central School District (GCSD). If you see or hear information about GCSD that you believe is inaccurate you can have it Fact Checked! Please send your contact information, the facts you would like checked, and where you found the information to: Shannon Bergstresser, Public Relations Specialist, at:
Sbergstresser@gananda.org.
Rumor: Superintendent abruptly shuts down public comment, BULLIES a mother to tears and calls her a TOOL. Then he calls the POLICE on parents who simply wanted to speak. In violation of their own bylaws.
SHAME on Superintendent Van Scoy and the Gananda School Board.
Source: Facebook/Twitter - August 12, 2021
Fact Check: The video was from the board meeting on August 11, 2021. This video has been edited and does not show the entire story. Fact #1 - the mother speaking in this video was not bullied to tears. Her story is a personal one and it is difficult to discuss. Fact #2- The superintendent did not call her a tool. Rather, he stated, "Do not let them use you as a tool." Fact #3 - There Board of Education allowed five parents/community members to speak for three minutes each. Prior to the start of the meeting, 15 minutes were set aside for public commentary. After the 15 minutes was up, the Board decided to move forward with the rest of the business they needed to attend to. Once they informed the audience, members of the audience began shouting at the Board, the Superintendent, and the other administrative team in attendance. The Board then voted to go into executive session. At which time audience members stood up at a podium and began to speak and record their speeches to an empty room. Once the Board came back from executive session, the audience continued to speak and record from their podium, disrupting school business at hand. For the safety of all in attendance, the police were called to provide assistance.
Rumor: Gananda Central School District is closing on Monday, March 16, 2020 due to the Covid-19 Virus.
Source: Parent Inquiries/Facebook - March 12, 2020
Fact Check: While the situation is continuously evolving, at this time, there are no confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Wayne County and no signs of community transmission. Therefore, we have had no directive from the Wayne County Department of Health to close our school. Ultimately, the directive to close will be made by Wayne County Department of Health. Should a student or staff member test positive for the Covid-19 virus, we would need to shut down for at least 24 hours per New York State Department of Health. We are however, preparing and planning in the event of a long term close.
Rumor "On just initial read, Gananda doesn't receive as much state aid ? The cost per student is over $23,000. National average is around $12,000 and NY average around $21,000."
"I want to know how it can cost 23,000+ per student with no discernible change in results over a school that operates with much less. Gananda is at the high end of the highest state in the country"
Source: Facebook Community Page - December 12, 2019
Fact Check:
Data is verified by NY State Education Department
Note: Report is published in year following data collection.
- In 2017-18 63% of the schools in New York State spent more per student than Gananda.
- Currently Gananda receives $5,967 in foundation aid per student, 60% of districts in NYS receive more aid per student than Gananda. Source: SSFC
FACT CHECK - DECEMBER 11, 2019
Facebook: I don’t get why the taxpayers have to keep sinking money and raising our taxes when not enough kids to even fill the schools?
Fact: The cause of the high taxes is that Gananda receives lower state aid than similar districts. The Gananda Board of Education has been meeting with senators and assemblymen for the last 3 years to lobby for state aid similar to other districts.
Facebook: No young families are moving in because of the taxes.
Fact: Homes in Gananda sell quickly, the enrollment decline started when Home Properties sold all their land to Geoca Homes LLC, and Ryan homes stopped building here.
Facebook: I don’t need the sign to tell me the date, time, temperature!
Fact: The sign is in response to concerns expressed in surveys and exit polls about lack of communication, the sign will provide current events.
Facebook: Where can I see what the improvements are? Our taxes are pretty high already, not looking to be taxed more for another pool or football field.
Fact: The pool is paid for, no more payments on the pool. 90% of the varsity turf and track were paid for by the state, 10% was paid for from a fund left over from the 90’s and district reserves.
Facebook: Thanks for posting, us senior citizens wouldn’t know about the vote otherwise.
Fact: A mailer about the Public Information Session, on Monday, December 16, at 7pm and the December 17 vote was mailed to every residence in the district.
Facebook: In addition, the location (of the sign) was poorly planned to be visible to more people.
Fact: The placement of the sign is the result of discussions with law enforcement about safety and distractibility, the need to avoid underground utilities that run along Waterford Road, to avoid the cost of running electricity under the parking lot, and maximize visibility.
Facebook: I was told by the Superintendent at a safety meeting that part of a capital project two years ago was to reconfigure the front entrance of the elementary school so that you walked directly into the main office. That still hasn’t happened.
Fact: The entrances of all three schools were reconfigured in the summer of 2019. All visitors, during the regular school day, must be buzzed into the building, new door sets force visitors into the main office where they must present their license for scanning before being allowed in any of the 3 schools.
Facebook: The school has no A/C and many rooms in the high school no heat. The high school parking lot needs updating along with its drop off point.
Fact: Only the high school has air conditioning through-out the building, the elementary school has it in the PreK-1 wing. The high school has heat, with two high efficiency boilers installed in the last 4 years.
Facebook: Where does the money come from to fund capital projects, and why is there always money in the reserves to cover the remaining balance of these projects?
Fact: Gananda receives 90% aid on construction projects. The remainder comes from 3 sources:
- At the beginning of a project we are required to borrow the full amount of the project, we invest that money, it generates more money.
- We receive donations.
- We budget for cold snowy winters, when that happens we expend our utilities budget, in a warm winter any unexpended funds go into a reserve to pay for future projects.
Rumor: Richard Mann Elementary students did not participate in the NY State mandated moment of silence on September 11, 2019.
Source: Parent Inquiries - September 2019
Fact Check: The NY State law that was signed into effect on September 9, 2019 requires that all public schools hold a moment of silence on September 11 of each year to honor those that died in one of the most horrific terrorist attacks in our nation's history. Schools were notified of this new law on September 9, 2019 from the New York State Department of Education. On September 10, 2019, the New York State Department of Education sent an update regarding the new law as follows:
"Yesterday, we advised you of the new law establishing September 11th Remembrance Day, which allows for a brief moment of silence in public schools at the beginning of the school day on September 11th. As an update to that message, it is intended that only high schools are required to participate in the moment of silence tomorrow morning with additional schools participating next year."
Because of the nature of the topic and the limited time to prepare our youngest students about the event in our history, our elementary school administration team and teachers decided to hold off on participating in the moment of silence this year. Next year, our staff will be working with our students in the beginning of the year using age-appropriate materials to help guide their understanding of this tragic event and give them a better sense as to why we are holding a moment of silence. Both our middle school and high school students did participate in the moment of silence this year.
Rumor: The Turf Field Cannot Be Used for JV or Varsity Football Games
Source: Facebook Community Page - July 2019
Fact Check: While we do not currently hold JV and Varsity football games on the newly installed turf field at GCSD, the field is in fact set up to hold Section V football games. The field is lined for regulation football games and cleats are allowed on the turf field. The district is exploring opportunities to hold games in the future, but the process to have approval is a lengthy one. We first need to have permission and work out a schedule to share facilities and game schedules with the East Rochester Central School district as Gananda's football team is a joint team with the Bombers. Once an agreed upon schedule is established, the schedule needs to be presented to New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) for approval. We hope to have games in the future!