PORT ALLEGANY — For decades, Port Allegany High School graduation has been on a Sunday, and while the end of this school year will be no different, the Class of 2017 will walk down the aisle to “Pomp and Circumstance” on a Friday night.
The Port Allegany School Board meet for its regular monthly meeting Monday, approving the tentative calendar for the 2016-17 academic year. That calendar has the last day of school scheduled for May 25.

Superintendent Gary Buchsen told The Era the question was posed to this year’s junior class — did they want to hold graduation on Sunday, as has been done for many years, or on Friday evening. The class voted to for the earlier graduation, and so it was presented to the board, and the calendar was adopted.

Also at Monday’s meeting, the board voted to approve a rental agreement with the Seneca Highlands Intermediate Unit Nine for the use of two classrooms for their Early Intervention Program.

The agreement will provide the school with $8,000 for the use of their facilities, but it has an added benefit, according to comments made by Elementary Principal Tracy Kio at a previous board meeting, of allowing younger students with developmental issues to get the help they need on school property, and that helps them get familiar with the facility and the staff.
The board adopted a resolution approving the 2016-17 operating budget of the IU9 in the amount of $1,259,043, with a cost to the district of $35,750. That vote required individual signed ballots, but was also confirmed with a unanimous roll call vote.
The meeting started off with a public comment period, and a number of students were present. About half of those students were in attendance as an assignment for a classroom project, and the rest were in attendance to represent the school’s girls basketball team. Several girls approached the podium to offer public support to the board for their team coaches.

According to one of the citizens at the meeting, the basketball coaching staff was not asked to renew their position, and they were concerned the district hadn’t yet hired any other coaches.
After running through the agenda items, the board went into executive session to discuss a personnel matter. After the session, the board reconvened to publicly approve a workman’s compensation settlement of $11,544.