Island Dispatch, 2006-01-27

              Island Dispatch 24 Pages $1.00 V01.61 No. 45 For Home Delivery of the island Dispatch Call77s-7676 /Tf\ Niagara HI I UJ Frontier Publications proud publishers of Niagara-Wheatfteld Tribune Island Dispatch Lewiston-Porter Sentinel Grand Island Penny Saver www.vynypapers.com January 27, 2006 Vikings sink, swim page 14 Students flip the script page 16 'She Loves Me' page 24 Parents air concerns over health class by Kathy Duff >■ More School Board news, page 3 A routine Grand Island Board of Education meeting held Monday night at the High School ended in anything but typical fashion, with parents of sixth-graders at Connor Middle School strenuously voicing concerns over material presented to boys mid-December in the Family Living classes. Parent Cheryl Kostak said that health teacher Donald Saver stepped outside the approved, state-mandated curriculum to include detailed and inappropriate descriptions of homosexual sex. , "Parents have not been informed," Kostak maintained, "so they could counter-teach" the material presented. A letter to all Veronica E. Connor Middle School parents was sent home this week detailing the situation and announcing a meeting today for parents to discuss the incident and the curriculum further: Sensitive Topic Middle School Principal Bruce Benson wrote parents that "during the segment on HIV/AIDS, Mr. Saver shared some information which may be sensitive to some families" in response to a student's question about gay sex and AIDS. Benson wrote: "Mr. Saver had the students' health and safety as his highest concern; however, this information goes beyond that specified in the HIV/AIDS curriculum mandated by New York state." Benson said in his letter that he learned of the concerns through phone calls from four parents of sixth-graders. He explained that he immediately met with Saver, and that the teacher then spoke to each parent by phone. The principal's letter said it is a primary goal of the district "to ensure a safe and appropriate learning environment for all students in all subjects, including topics that may be sensitive." Benson wrote parents that he met with the Family living faculty to discuss the curriculum, to make sure everyone was following the same curriculum and to review the course material for next year. The information meeting will be held today, Friday, at 3:45 p.m. in the Middle School little Theatre. District administrators who will be available to answer questions and concerns are: Benson, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum/Instruction Dr. Karen Karmazin and Science Program Coordinator Jayne Schaber. Ramming to call it a career by Karen Keefe Superintendent Thomas Ramming's surprise announcement that he'll retire July 1 brings to four the number of top administrative posts to be vacated before the end of this year in the Grand Island School District. But Ramming said there's no common thread in the retire- ments of himself, High School Principal James Dempsey and High School Vice Principal William MiEer. (The fourth spot is that of Sidway Principal Frank Cannata, who resigned earlier this month after being sentenced to probation on drug possession charges.) The superintendent said it was just the right time for him in his life plan. "I had always looked at retiring sometime between 55 and 57," Ramming said. He turns 56 in August. Ramming said he wants to restore a balance to his life between work and leisure time. With work days that typically begin at 7 a.m. and rarely end before 9 p.m., there wasn't much time for anything else. He said a typical school superintendents tenure is three to five years, in large part because the school board that hires superintendents has turnovers itself, and may want to take the district in different directions. He stresses that is not the case on Grand Island, where he enjoys the full support of the board. Also, there are a great variety of job opportunities for superintendents today, which will continue to grow. A state superintendent's group says two-thirds of the current school superintendents will Thomas Ramming New GI firm embraces new technology by Karen Keefe Chuck Nilsson of Grand Island is a man who can see the forest for the trees. For 20 years, the organizationhefounded,Integrated Resource Information Systems, 0.R.I.S.) has provided forestry, natural resource and environmental information solutions throughout the Northeast. Based in Warren, Pa., 1.R.1.5. has recently branched out to Grand Island, where Nilsson has roots. He is happy to be back on home turf, running one of a handful of organizations in the country that specialize in such systems. 1.R.1.5.' clients include private landowners, forestry consultants, sawmills, gas and oil companies, mineral consultants, conservation organizations and environmental firms. They also include government agencies such as the U.S. Forest Service and the Department of Defense. A Time of Environmental Activism Nilsson graduated from Grand Island High School and went to Canisius College. After three years there, he transferred to one of the best environmental schools in the country, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse. Nilsson graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor's in natural resources management and a master's in resource information systems. "The 70s were not that far away from the '60s in terms of activism. There was a pretty good environmental push back then," Nilsson observes. Today, he finds the environmental consciousness is there, but with the war on terror and the devastation down South, there are a lot fewer resources to go around. Nilsson began in the field as a forester for International Paper Company, with responsibilities for timber management and supervising logging crews. But climbing densely wooded rocky terrain was not in his long-term future. "I destroyed my ankles in the Adirondacks," he says. Now, many of his integrated information systems help clients use field time more effectively, reducing both cost - and wear and tear on ankles. Chuck Nilsson Digital images by Chuck Nilsson, founder and director of I.R.I.S., are part of his company's information solutions for clients in forestry, natural resource and environmental firms Top and bottom photos are images of Grand Island. 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