Casper appointed Assistant Principal in Marion
Story and photo by Beth Hoad

When the doors of Marion schools open for the 2005-06 school year, Jeffrey Casper will greet the 5th - 8th grade students as their new principal. Casper, one of 39 applicants for the position, was appointed by the Board of Education as Assistant Principal for Grades 5- 8 at their July 5 meeting.

Jeffrey Casper (right front) is shown with School Board Vice President Kevin Adriaansen, Linda Bush, Board President Sharon Varalli and Kim Tennity.

Previous to coming to Marion as a Science teacher in 2001, Casper taught at Wayne Central, was Assistant Principal at Lyons and Wayne Central Schools and served as Middle School Principal at Lyons. In addition to his local teaching experience, he served on the Budget Advisory Committee, Building Planning Committee, Steering Committee, School Improvement Team and School Building Team. Superintendent Dr. J. Richard Boyes cited Casper's knowledge of Middle School students, Marion students and the community as one of his strong points. 'I am confident that his experience as both a middle level teacher and administrator, along with his commitment to and knowledge of Marion students, staff and community, will help the school district to achieve the goal of providing effective support to all parties during the critical middle level school years.'

Board members also elected new officers for the coming year. Sharon Varalli was chosen Board President with Kevin Adriaansen serving as Vice President. Board committee appointments remain the same as 2004-05.

In regards to this year's Regents exams, Assistant Superintendent/High School Interim Principal Kathryn Wegman said 60% of students statewide who took the Math B Regents failed the test. The consequential rescoring impacted one Marion student. Along the same lines, Boyes said there was general improvement in most of the Regents scores within the district with some being significantly improved. He also announced the 4th and 8th Grade Math Assessment scores would not be made official until August. He then added, 'However, suffice it to that Mrs. Murdock [Elementary School Principal] is extremely pleased!'

Representatives of the Marion Cemetery Association were present for the news that in line with their request at the previous board meeting, steps are being taken to authorize roadwork on Cemetery Road. They said the road has been subject to construction woes for several years and was patched by the town highway department, but not sufficiently nor permanently. Boyes said he has an estimate for just under $10,000 to resurface the access road and he is seeking another quote. The school district also plans to contact Wayne county about reimbursement for work completed. Boyes cited the rising cost of asphalt and said it was likely no money would be saved by 'dragging our feet.'

Other business: Architects will take the preliminary plans for the capital project to the State Education Department as soon as next week, with hopes of going out to bid in six to eight months.

The next Board of Education meeting will be at the High School Library, date TBA.

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