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WELLSVILLE -- Changes and improvements are coming soon for the Wellsville school district as it gets closer to receiving funding from the South Field Energy plant.
During Monday's Board of Education meeting, Superintendent Richard Bereschik discussed the latest developments between the district and South Field, a subsidiary of Advanced Power of Boston, as construction nears for the gas-powered electric power plant to be located off Hibbetts Mill Road in Yellow Creek Township.
Per the agreement with South Field, the district will receive $700,000 within 10 days after the completion of the closing to provide financing for the plant construction, along with $500,000 from South Field on the first and second anniversaries of the contract's closing, and possibly as much as $1.5 million should a school credit on South Field's end results in a negative balance.
Bereschik reported that, during a special meeting earlier this month, the board approved a consent to assignment which transfers the monetary value from the contractors to the district.
"This is the closest we've ever been to a deal," Bereschik said. "That doesn't mean it's done, but we've never been (this close) before, so it's going to be a good year."
"It is great news to finally hear after, I don't know how many years, we've been hearing 'something's coming,' and every single time it doesn't, and now we're on the cusp of this power plant being here," board president Gary Althiser said. "It's going to benefit our kids immediately."
Bereschik said the first $700,000 from South Field will go toward permanent improvements, which would include the development of an smartphone app for the school district so parents in the district will have a better opportunity to receive news and information from the district in a timely manner noting the wide usage of smartphones.
"Websites are becoming somewhat obsolete," Bereschik said. "Everybody's got their phone, everyone has it out. So we're going to modernize and we'll get the good news out from Wellsville much more rapidly."
Meanwhile, in other matters, the board reported the 2018 Back to School Bash held last Thursday was a huge success, as several hundred children and families attended.
Several businesses and groups offered time toward the event, including the Wellsville Elks Lodge, which, according to Althiser, donated $1,250 in school supplies through a grant from the National Elks.
Bereschik stated, as announced earlier this month, all school supplies for students in the district will be free of charge and purchased by the district, which he and Althiser stated received very positive reviews from the public.
"It's a good thing to do as long as we can do it," Bereschik said.
"I've never had so many comments and so many compliments from excited parents, and not only from our district but from other districts who wished they did it there," Althiser said. "I had a parent tell me they were school shopping in Boardman and talking about it amongst themselves, and the cashier wanted to know where they were from where they could get free school supplies, so it's been met with a round of applause."