Monroe-Woodbury School Board digest

Central Valley — Here’s a summary from Wednesday evening’s Monroe-Woodbury School Board meeting, held at Sapphire Elementary: The Monroe-Woodbury School District was made aware that tax certiorari proceedings were commenced by Rutherford Chemical, the former owner of the Nepera Chemical Plant. A tax certiorari is a claim filed by a property owner seeking to reduce the assessment and ultimately the taxes paid on the property. Property owners are permitted to file such claims under Article 7 of the Real Property Tax Law. There are currently numerous claims on this property by both the current owner, ELT Harriman, as well as Rutherford Chemical, who sold it back in 2007. The total amount of claims against the property from both of these parties for all years is $ 1.4 million. The specific proceedings that the attorney will be representing the District on were brought in 2006 and 2007. At the time that Rutherford filed the claim with the court, it never served the school district, which it must do. The amount at stake for these two years is $ 423,000. The School Board authorized its attorneys to intervene in those proceedings. Usually the school is not a party to such claims although they are bound by their outcome. School Board member Theresa Budich resigned from the board’s Visitation Committee. She cited a changing work schedule as the reason for her request. During the his closing comments, School Board President Dr. Michael DiGeronimo talked about the effectiveness of the guest speakers brought into the district and why they are a worthwhile investment. Specifically, he made reference to Mark Brown, who presented his Emmy-nominated presentation “Words Count” to the sixth and seventh grade students last week. His message is part of a national outreach program against bullying. Brown has a “tell it like it is” approach and is known for challenging some of the most serious problems in schools today. In addressing our students, he challenged those who had bullied other students to take the time and apologize to their victims. As DiGeronimo’s story goes, the very next day, students were seen and heard in the cafeteria and in the hallways saying “I’m sorry for treating you so badly”, and “I’m sorry I picked on you.”