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CASA wraps up 2024 events, looks forward to 2025
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The Cazenovia Area Senior Association held its annual holiday luncheon at the Lincklaen House on Dec. 12. BY KATE HILL STAFF WRITER On Dec. 12, the Cazen-
ovia Area Senior Association (CASA) presented its annual holiday luncheon at the Lincklaen House.
The event included carols by the Cazenovia High School Chamber Choir and a holiday trivia game before
lunch was served. On Dec. 10, CASA President Chuck Amos reported that the organization had
School board discusses grant application for comprehensive merger study By kate hill Staff writer
During the Dec. 16 Cazenovia Central School District Board of Education (CCSD BOE) meeting, Superintendent Christopher DiFulvio announced that the district is preparing an application for a grant to help fund a merger study to be undertaken jointly with the Morrisville-Eaton School District (MESC). The BOE passed a resolution authorizing DiFulvio to pursue a comprehensive merger study — including the engagement of appropriate consultants, the collection and analysis of relevant data, and collaboration with stakeholders from both districts — during the board’s Sept. 16 meeting. The resolution explains that CCSD is committed to exploring all avenues that may improve the educational opportunities and outcomes for its students. It also states that the BOE recognizes the potential benefits of a merger, including enhanced academic programs, increased extracurricular opportunities, and potential cost savings. “[The] board has received a recommendation from the superintendent of schools, Christopher DiFulvio, to explore the feasibility of a merger with the Morrisville-Eaton School District; and [it] is in the best interest of the Cazenovia community to fully understand the po-
tential impacts, both positive and negative, of such a merger,” the resolution states. According to DiFulvio, the grant that the district is pursuing would cover about $40,000 — $20,000 for CCSD and $20,000 for MESC. “It’s a tight timeline for not as much money as people would think it is,” he said. “Originally, I think we thought we could get $100,000; well, that’s if you have five districts involved. . . . What is interesting is that we get more points [for the grant] if we have a [reorganization] plan, but part of the district plan really should come from the study.” He noted that the tentative plan he and MECS Superintendent Gregory Molloy have been working on is the “merge and stay the same” concept that Molloy originally pitched to his community. It would involve consolidating district offices, transportation, and central services while maintaining current building operations. According to DiFulvio, he and Molloy have been meeting at SUNY Morrisville for the last eight or nine months with representatives of multiple municipalities to brainstorm different things they can try to do for kids. One of the group’s discussions centered on utilizing Sherburne-Earlville’s pool to teach kids to swim. “We’ve got a lot of kids, believe it or not, who can’t
swim,” DiFulvio said. “I know people say, ‘Oh, we have a lake;’ well, depending on how you grow up and the culture you come from, a lake can be very scary to some, whereas a pool has controlled conditions. One of the things we are talking about with our different municipalities here and Morrisville’s municipalities is a six-week program for students that would be at SherburneEarlville. We are trying to figure out how we could get aid and different ways to cover this for kids . . . I don’t have an official number, but we estimate that one in four of our students can’t swim.” DiFulvio also reported that during the meetings at SUNY Morrisville, many officials recommended that he and Molloy hold merger questionand-answer sessions in the community. The purpose would be to provide people with information, not to sway them one way or another. The application for the merger study grant is due in January, and the districts will hear if they have been awarded the funding sometime around the end of the school year. The study itself will take about a year to complete. According to DiFulvio, MESC put out a request for proposal for the merger study, and he requested some quotes, which came back higher than hoped for. DiFulvio also informed the board that he has
reached out to legislators regarding some bills that would eliminate the need to go through the grant process and have merger studies paid for in other ways. “We’ve encouraged legislators to just push these bills through,” he said. DiFulvio emphasized that at any point during the study, the CCSD and MESC school boards could decide “they want out” of the merger discussion based on information revealed through the process. BOE President JoAnne Race said that just because the grant application calls for a preliminary plan, it does not mean that that plan is binding. “This preliminary plan is just for criteria,” she said, “The grant funder needs criteria to base their decision on whether to fund a grant to these particular two school districts or these three over there.” CCSD BOE meetings are open to the public, and community members are encouraged to attend. Meeting dates are listed on the district website and the school calendar. For more information, visit cazenoviacsd.com. To contact the entire board, email boe@caz.cnyric.org. Anyone not directly affiliated with CCSD can sign up for the ParentSquare Community Group to receive newsletters and other information. Sign up at parentsquare.com/community_signups/94dc9c190570-4ecd-bd7a-868cb499bc46/new.
126 reservations for the event, and he was pleased that Mayor Kurt Wheeler would be among those in attendance. “The CASA Board and I are very committed to providing social and educational opportunities for our members,” said Amos. “The social events are especially important during the holidays as CASA provides an opportunity to celebrate
with friends; [this] particularly benefits members with no local family members.” The holiday event followed a successful 104guest Thanksgiving luncheon on Nov. 14. “During the November 2023 luncheon, we had the theme ‘Thankful for our first responders,’” said Amos. “Rick Macheda CASA l Page 5
New real state agency formed
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Eric Burrell and Sean Hagan standing in front of their new office in the old Pro-Tel building at 95 Albany St. Limestone Creek Properties, recently announced their formation of Upstate New York’s premier local owned, and operated, real estate brokerage. What started literally, as an idea on the back of a napkin, is now up and running and already listing properties in the local area. The company is lead by Sean Hagan a lifelong resident of Cazenovia, a 12 year veteran of the real estate industry and one of Central New York’s top producing licensed brokers with over $92M in sales. He is joined by Eric Burrell, retired CEO of Pro-Tel and owner of Pro-Tel Properties. Burrell has managed the purchase, sale and/or lease of multiple residential and commercial properties for ProTel Properties for the past 25 years. Burrell is a licensed real estate salesperson. Hagan and Burrell are also recently joined by Kevin Dewan, a Cazenovia native and licensed associate real estate agent with over seven years of industry experience and over $21M in sales. Limestone Creek Properties will focus on residential and commercial sales in Madison and Onondaga Counties as well as surrounding counties. Limestone Creek Properties is located at 95 Albany St. Call 315- 655-0303 for more information.
Volume 214, Number 51 The Cazenovia Republican is published weekly by Eagle News. Office of Publication: 35 Albany St., Second Floor, Cazenovia, NY 13035. Periodical Postage Paid at Cazenovia, NY 13035, USPS 095-260. POSTMASTER: Send change of address to Cazenovia Republican, 2501 James St., Suite 100, Syracuse, NY 13206.
CNYspce pet of the week: Meet Spanky, the curious couch potato.
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holidays: ‘Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.’
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Obituaries ������������������ 2
history ������������������������ 7
PennySaver ���������������� 8
letters ������������������������ 7
Sports ����������������������� 10