Darrin Paschke, left, takes over as Interim Secondary Principal at Westfield Academy and Central School from departing Interim Secondary Principal Todd Crandall at the December Board of Education meeting.

A familiar face to Fredonia Central Schools will be serving in Westfield.

Todd Crandall, who was approved by the board as Interim Secondary Principal through the end of December, will be returning to his work at BOCES. Board members approved the appointment of Darrin Paschke as the Interim Secondary Principal, effective Dec. 29 and continuing through Feb. 28.

Also at their meeting this month, Westfield Academy and Central School Board members learned the bids for the Capital Improvement Project came in low enough to include several extras while still remaining under the referendum amount.

Westfield Superintendent Ryan Sikorski told board members the district recently opened the sealed bids and were extremely pleased with the results.

“We are able to include almost all of the alternates,” he said. “I’m really pleased with the work our architects and project management group did.”

Some of the alternate projects that the district will be able to have done include enclosing one stairway, redoing the drainage between the baseball and softball fields, replacing some flooring in the music wing and completing some tile work in the senior hallway, Sikorski said.

Even with all the extras, Sikorski said, the project is still at least a half million dollars under the amount that voters approved in the spring.

Also in his report, Sikorski told the board that, according to a recent study, all three of the district’s buildings are above 10% for chronic absenteeism. He noted that this is about par with regional and national numbers for absenteeism.

Sikorski said the district is looking into several ways to improve attendance. “We are looking at identifying the barriers,” he said. “What are the reasons kids are not coming to school?”

Sikorski said the COVID experience may have contributed to some of these barriers, especially in terms of relationships and technology. “We’re going to take a deeper dive into the barriers,” he said. “The district is also looking at developing a mentor program in which older students encourage younger students to attend school.”

The district also plans to approach the absenteeism problem from a perspective of growth, Sikorski said. “If a student is absent eight days this quarter, we want to see if we can get that down to five days next quarter,” he said.

Crandall reported the district plans to revisit the Sandy Hook Promise Program and is reinstalling the anonymous tip line. Also, he noted that the “We the People” class had a very successful trip, finishing fourth in the state.

Crandall noted four Westfield students have been selected for the All-Eastern Music Chorus which will take place in February. “This is a very rare and great accomplishment because this event includes the entire East coast,” he said.

Elementary Principal Molly Anderson said the excitement in the halls is palpable. “It’s December – you can imagine there’s both chaos and joy in the halls,” she said. “There are lots of good things happening, along with a lot of excitement and magic in our elementary school.”

Anderson also reported occupational therapist Julie Matthews has begun a walking club to help improve core strength in some of the students. The club, while small, is open to any student and it is hoped to also promote interaction between different grades, she said.

In other business, the board approved Lauren Harper as the Acting Athletic Director. Board members also approved the work for the Capital Improvement Project and authorized Turner Construction to send a Notice to Proceed to Musco Sports Lighting LLC.