Patrick Burk

Laying off nearly half the staff en route to an eventual goal to dismantle the U.S. Education Department has not left school officials with much certainty about the future of their district funding or even rudimentary items such as school lunches, Pat Burk says.

The department, which oversees $1.6 trillion in college loans, enforces civil rights laws, and provides federal funding for needy districts, announced on Tuesday the plan for the second round of mass layoffs to meet President Trump’s apparent goal to eliminate the department altogether, according to Reuters. 

As executive director of the Genesee Valley School Board Association, Burk has been hearing from school superintendents that it’s the not knowing that’s creating the most angst.

“The big concerns that are happening, from an educational standpoint with the Department of Education and other areas that deal with it, including the Department of Agriculture and other areas that the federal government, that deal with our local schools, is that the uncertainty is causing just as much of a problem as the certainty,” Burk said, offering an example. “The Department of Agriculture processes payments for school lunch, and part of that money is because of the Department of Agriculture to make sure that American agricultural products are processed through the school lunch program and used through school lunch programs. Now, what happens if they determine that those products are still going to be ‘used’ for the Agricultural Department and through school lunches, but they get rid of the 600 people that process the payments for that to happen?”

“That's the biggest uncertainty right now is that they can do things, and things can happen that do not necessarily change the ‘laws of the land,’ but can deter the process from being economical for school districts. And you look at some of our districts that have such a huge amount of money involved in federal school lunch programs and other areas like special education, what if the processes, the dollar process, is slowed down?” he said. “I think that's the big thing about the uncertainty. And I think that our local superintendents in my 26 schools that I represent, and the superintendents that are involved in this, are really very much on top of that, and we did have a really good session with Senator Schumer's office at our legislative event that we held, and we're in constant contact with people, but again, there's just no way that the uncertainty, which is really all it is, there's no way that the uncertainty is not going to have some impact.”

If this latest cut happens, the U.S. Education Department will have 2,183 workers left from a total of 4,133 when Trump took office in January.

Batavia City Schools Superintendent Jason Smith addressed district concerns by sending a question-and-answer message home to families Friday about the impending actions to be taken with the federal Education Department.

What will happen if they eliminate the Department of Education by Executive Order?
“At this time, we do not have a definitive answer. However, eliminating a department established by Congress requires congressional approval,” Smith said. “Even if such an action were approved, the executive branch would need to reassign the Department of Education’s responsibilities, as federal law mandates certain functions currently overseen by the department.

“For example, just in the past few weeks, the executive branch directed the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights to open several investigations,” he said. “If the Department of Education were eliminated, another federal agency would have to oversee these responsibilities.”

What about all of the grants we receive from the Federal Government? 
“BCSD receives several significant federal grants, including Title I, II, and IV grants under ESSA, as well as 611 and 619 grants under IDEA. The total annual allocation of these grants is currently around $1,736,838. While $1,736,838 is a significant amount, it represents only about 2.9% of our annual revenue,” he said. “Like other responsibilities of the Department of Education, these grants are mandated by congressional acts. If the department were eliminated, the executive branch would have to decide which agency would oversee and distribute these funds.”

What is the impact of the elimination of USDA (Dept. of Agriculture) programs for school meals?
“The recent termination of two USDA programs — the Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program (LFS) and the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program (LFPA) —could significantly impact districts nationwide,” Smith said. “The full impact remains unclear, as these programs are interconnected with other federal and state initiatives.

“Additionally, New York State plays a role in funding school meal programs, though some state programs rely on federal funding,” he said. “We are closely monitoring this situation, and I anticipate that the New York State budget may include provisions to maintain school meal funding if federal support is reduced or eliminated.”

Will all of this impact staffing or programming at BCSD?
“At this time, we do not anticipate any immediate changes to staffing or programming as a result of these federal actions, but we will continue to monitor developments,” he said. “As with school meal funding, we expect the New York State budget and legislative actions to address some of these concerns and provide further clarity.”

Burk said he thinks the uncertainty isn’t necessarily that the impact will be felt “sooner rather than later.”

“I was in a meeting with what's called the Coalition of Local School Boards Association yesterday, and we had a long conversation about the fact that we don't have anything to ‘worry about from the law side,’ because they haven't gone against the laws,” Burk said. “But when you have a commissioner secretary of education who admits her job is to close the department down without having the answers of how are the services going to be handled, that uncertainty is going to drive us into another whole realm.

“I mean, it's just unbearable for many people to think about it. Think about schools who have a high level of Title I kids, actual poor kids that, for whatever reason, have major economic difficulties who are in Title I schools who have a tremendous amount of need for additional funding,” he said. “Even they all want kids to succeed, but they don't want to pay for the extra reading or whatever. Where's that Title I funding going to come from if the Department of Education is closed down? We're finding that it's more and more of a, I don't even want to say it's a delicate balance. It's just like a ridiculous balance of what is being considered.”

City management’s “hold over tenant” status has apparently been replaced with an official offer of a lease for Batavia Players to pay $4 per square foot plus back rent of at least $500 per month in an effort to move forward from an original lease in December 2019.

The nonprofit group and city officials had been communicating through their attorneys since the rent had gone unpaid due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the Players’ Main St. 56 Theater shutdowns, and there was no renewal in January. 

City Manager Rachael Tabelski had asked for a five-year financial plan, and the Players had submitted and revised plans three times, Patrick Burk had said. 

The two sides were to meet after Tabelski issued a statement toward the end of 2024 that Batavia Players would be considered a “holdover tenant,” and the matter would be further discussed.

The new lease agreement is up for discussion at Monday’s City Council conference session. The commercial lease is for city properties 2, 35 and 39 in Batavia City Centre, including 11,052 square feet of “improved commercial space that was renovated by Batavia Players through a Downtown Revitalization Initiative and Anchor grant,” Tabelski said in a memo to council. “Base rent will remain $4 per square foot to be paid $3,684 monthly. Back rent will be paid $500 per month or more until the balance is satisfied. 

"The lease also recognizes the city’s capital projects for the roof and HVAC units previously approved by City Council and clarifies how the Batavia Players shall submit requests for maintenance to the property,” she said.

The lease is to take effect April 1 for a period of 60 months to March 30, 2030. The tenant would have the option to renew “so long as the tenant is not in default under the terms of this lease” for a five-year renewal term at a negotiated rent not to exceed $6 per square foot. 

If the city were to sell the premises, it would have to provide a six-month written notice of cancellation, and the tenant would be able to negotiate with the city to purchase the property at any time during the lease term, according to the lease. 

City Manager Rachael J. Tabelski issued a statement Tuesday afternoon about the situation between the city and Batavia Players in which the nonprofit owes back rent for Main St. 56 Theater and has been awaiting word as its lease comes up for renewal Wednesday.

"Currently, the City of Batavia considers the Batavia Players as a holdover tenant in the space that they rent at City Centre.  The Theater has provided myself and the City Attorney an executive plan and proposed budget forecast for the next five years," Tabelski said in an emailed statement. "The City recognizes the Batavia Players as a valuable asset to the community. However, they must prove their ability to remain viable and pay debts while continuing to operate.  We look forward to meeting with members of the Players' executive committee in the New Year. 

What the Dickens are the Batavia Players up to now?

According to Patrick Burk, the popular local theater group's president, they "wanted to do a wonderful Christmas gift to the community for the support of our new Harvester 56 Theater" this holiday season.

So they're putting on their own rendition of Charles Dickens' classic, "A Christmas Carol," the story of Ebenezer Scrooge -- a greedy, bitter, lonely old miser whose whole way of looking at the world gets turned upside down by a series of ghostly visitations on Christmas Eve.

Burk described the show as "bright and colorful as well as technically magical."

"It has a classic storyline and has always been one of my favorites," he said. "I could never find where an original version had been done (in Batavia, at least). A couple of contemporary versions with modern day spins were done in the '70s and early '80s."

The Players, on the other hand, will be giving folks pure Dickens, without any modern spin. All costumes and sets are going to be traditional. The music will be "contemporary for the time (the early 1840s, to be precise)," but with a few newer carols, according to Burk.

Performances are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, in addition to a matinée performance at 2 o'clock on Sunday. All performances will be at the Harvester 56 Theatre, at 56 Harvester Ave. in Batavia.

Sunday's performance will be held for the benefit of the Michael Napoleone Memorial Foundation.

"Many of (the foundation's) members have been very supportive of us," Burk said, "I am so happy to be able to do this for them."

For those who are not familiar with Dickens' story, one of its most well-known and endearing characters is a sick child named Tiny Tim. Burk felt the Napoleone Foundation would be a "good fit" for this story.

Tickets are $10 for adults, $8 for children and seniors. They can be purchased through www.showtix4u.com.

Batavia City School Board Member Patrick Burk was in a Catch-22 Tuesday evening.

Burk is a Genesee County elections official, and also the president of Batavia City Democrats. So naturally he was at the polling place at 9 p.m., when police walked in and attempted to confiscate the voting machines. It seems Jane Corwin’s campaign had obtained a court order to block any immediate counting of the votes.

“Corwin ‘allegedly’ had a court impound the machines, but I heard it was overturned,” says Burk.

While talking with police, Burk received a call on his cell phone from fellow board member Steve Hyde, which he ignored.

Then Hyde called again. Burk picked up – and suddenly found himself at the center of a debate over the Batavia City School District budget. Fellow board members had split 3-to-3, and Burk’s seventh vote would decide between a contingency budget, and a budget proposal improvised by Hyde.

“Give me about 35 minutes,” Burk said.

Forty minutes later, Burk walked into the board of education meeting on Washington Avenue, visibly out of breath.

Shortly after calling the meeting back into session, Board President Andy Pedro asked if there was any further discussion on the proposal to adopt a contingency plan.

“Well,” Burk deadpanned, “I’d like to see the options first,” receiving a chorus of laughs from the remaining board members.

A bit later in the meeting, Superintendent Margaret Puzio remarked tongue-in-cheek that board members “had all night,” to which Burk cheekily replied: “I’ve been awake since 4:30 a.m., Margaret – make me feel better.” More laughs.

Asked later in the evening about his frantic night, Burk simply stated: “Well, it was the right thing to do.”

(Photo courtesy Batavia City School District)

The Batavia Players present:

...an original play, written and directed by Patrick D. Burk. 

Starring:

Nikki Lanich as the Young Girl

Nick Russo as the Southern Preacher

Brittaney Lang as the Emily Bronte Girl

E. Jane Burk as Mrs. Davenport

Shellene Bailey as the Jane Austen Girl

Norm Argulsky as Mr. Fisher

Caryn Burk as Honourine

Tiffany Widrick as Nancy Reagan

Ben Liebrand as the Young Boy

Matthew Mayne as Russell

Amanda Taylor as the Dance Hall Girl

Burk as the Older Man

Jeffrey Fischer as the Movie Man and Pianist

and David Porter as Robert

See Gretel Kauffman's article, "A romantic debut for the Harvester Theater," for background.

This first Batavia Players performance at the new Harvester 56 Theater kicked off Valentine's Day weekend with a series of monologues on a variety of experiences with love and infatuation.

With memorable dialogue and well-developed characters, "Love Lines" takes a look at ideas about and experiences with love and lust across time -- from Shakespeare to Jane Austen, Emily Bronte, love letters from the 1940s and modern day text-messaging.

It also spans the age spectrum, from a teenage boy and girl -- who attend an all boys' and all girls' school, respectively, of course -- meeting on a bus to an old man whose marriage is "not the same anymore...but what the heck? It's still love."

As the play opens, all of the characters gather on the set, each taking a seat. As the show progresses, relationships among the characters are revealed, attesting to Burk's talent as an imaginative playwright.

The actors did a superb job, especially considering the short time they had to memorize lines and rehearse.

Just a couple caveats:

• The theater's three-quarter round space and black-box format require some getting used to, depending on where you're sitting. It isn't like the typical theater experience, where everything is laid out before your eyes no matter where you're sitting.
• As can happen with plays for adults, there are some moments, words and opinions (expressed by characters) in the show that might upset people's moral sensibilities. 

All in all, "Love Lines" was a pretty impressive freshmen effort on the part of the Players as they settle into their new home.

Congratulations are in order for one of our favorite guest posters: Patrick Burk, president of the City of Batavia Board of Education.

Patrick was recently elected as the president of the Genesee Valley School Boards Institute, a nine county organization that represents over 70 upstate school districts.

From the press release:

The purpose of the organization is to promote and train school district support personnel in the areas of Food Service, Transportation, Teacher Aides, Safety & Security, Educational Clerical and Facilities. Training Conferences are held annually in these areas in the nine county area.

"I am pleased to once again be serving nine counties in Western New York as we strive to continually train our educational support employees," Burk stated. "It is by far an honor to be chosen to represent our member districts. This is just one way that we all can work together to improve and enhance our districts."