Fredonia board reviews safety plan and considers swapping Nov. 1 conference day with Nov. 5 election day at Wheelock

District staff summarized the district’s annual school safety plan and sought board input on a proposed calendar change designed to reduce student exposure to community election activity at Wheelock School.

A staff member described the safety plan as a website-hosted, high-level framework that omits operational response details to avoid creating a security risk. The speaker named the district safety officer, Tim Kathoyer, and emphasized the district’s collaborative relationship with the Fredonia Police Department, New York State troopers and the county sheriff’s office to keep campuses safe.

The staff member raised a separate concern about the scheduled Nov. 5 election at Wheelock, noting the district’s formal request to change the polling location had been denied. The district proposed swapping the scheduled Nov. 1 conference day with Nov. 5 so that Nov. 1 would be a regular instructional day and Nov. 5 would be a conference day, reducing the number of non-students in the building while students are present. The board was asked whether it foresaw any issues with making that adjustment; one board member agreed that the change looked like a proactive step and no objections were raised on the record.

What’s next: Staff said it will confirm the date change on the district calendar and notify stakeholders if the swap is finalized. The proposal required coordination with the district calendar and the local elections office; no formal board vote on the swap was recorded at the meeting.