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June 11, 2013

Board of Education

Salamanca City Central School District

50 Iroquois Drive

Salamanca, NY 14779

Dear Board of Education,

After reading the most recent article in the Salamanca Press and reviewing the presentation on the

Districts website related to the closure and potential sale of Seneca Elementary School there are

questions that come to mind. In order to understand recent decisions made, that will have a significant

impact on students and families in our school community, could you please answer the following:

Even though it is not required, has the Board of Education considered Education Law 402 thatauthorizes and recommends an advisory committee be established to study the impact of closing aschool building? (See attached)

Does the District intend to present a detailed plan to the public regarding how common spaceswill be shared amongst grades 4-12?

How will the District create an elementary learning environment both indoors and outdoors inclassroom learning spaces designed for older students?

Will elementary class sizes increase as a result of the closure of Seneca School? The District has made the decision to discontinue being a host district for BOCES area special

education students. This decision will result in a loss of approximately $105,000 per year in

BOCES room rental revenue. Do the estimated savings of $1,000,000, from closing Seneca

School, over 7-8 years (approximately $125,000 to $143,000 per year) incorporate the loss of

$105,000 per year in BOCES room rental revenue? In other words, is the savings net of the loss

in revenue?

Will any Salamanca students, currently being served in Salamanca BOCES classrooms, need toattend BOCES programs out of District? If so, how many?

If so, has the Board of Education considered the impact of longer bus rides for these students? Does the estimated $1,000,000 in savings over 7-8 years include the additional cost of

transportation for special needs students if they were to be transported out of District to programs

hosted in Olean, Portville, or Pioneer? Also, does the District anticipate purchasing additional

buses to accommodate the transportation?

If the District closes Seneca School will it have enough classroom space to create specialeducation classrooms in District when the need arises? In other words will flexibility in space be

lost? As students enter and leave the District special education needs change. Often significant

savings in special education can be achieved if a school district has the space to be flexible in its

programming.

If the District closes Seneca School will it have enough classroom space for spikes in enrollmentthat could occur from time to time?

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Are there plans for a capital project to accommodate the closure of Seneca School? If so, is therean estimated cost of the local share of those capital improvements? Has this cost been

incorporated into the savings?

What is the outstanding debt service on Seneca as of June 30, 2013? What is the outstandingamount of the local share of debt service on Seneca as of June 30, 2013? What is the local share

of debt service on Seneca each year? When will the debt be retired? Will the sale of Seneca School cause the District to be out of compliance with IRS Code Sections

141(b) and 1.143-3? In other words, are there any private use concerns that could threaten the

tax exempt status of bonds from which proceeds were used to renovate Seneca School?

Has the District been officially notified that it will be receiving Federal Impact Aid? If so, what isthe estimated yearly impact of Federal Impact Aid once the District begins to receive funding?

If the District has not been notified, what is the status of Federal Impact Aid? How much has fund balance increased (decreased) for each of the last five years? Otherwise

stated, what has the excess revenues over expenditures been for each of the last five years?

What is the current fund balance of the District? How much does the District estimate that it willadd to fund balance as of June 30, 2013 and June 30, 2014?

What is the current enrollment? For each of the last five years, by how many students has theDistrict enrollment declined?

The list of questions posed above is extensive, but they are pertinent and warranted. The Salamanca

and Seneca Nation community would be well served by having answers to these questions in their

analysis of whether or not the closure and sale of Seneca School, at this time, is in the best interest of

the District and its children.

Respectfully submitted,

Ann M. OBrien