School Board President Jackie De Angelis announced at the Oct. 9 school board meeting that she and Village of Pelham Mayor Chance Mullen would be meeting privately on Oct. 11 to discuss the village’s storm sewer project and the ongoing legal dispute over Julianne’s Playground.

“I thank the mayor for his willingness to engage with me,” said De Angelis. “I’m committed to building on this dialogue as quickly as possible to reach a resolution for the sake of our community affected by flooding.”

In early September, the village board voted to use its eminent domain power to condemn portions of the school district-owned park for a storm sewer project. In the condemnation, the village seeks to gain easements in two areas at the playground and to take possession of a third smaller parcel. The village plans to build an underground reservoir and an above ground pump station at the Sixth Street park as part of a $39 million storm sewer system overhaul designed to reduce increasingly severe flooding in the north Pelham and Highbrook Avenue neighborhoods.

The school board voted Sept. 25 to have its lawyers seek to overturn the condemnation in appeals court.

On the ambulance that caught fire Oct. 8 near the entrance to Pelham Middle School, Superintendent Dr. Cheryl Champ reported that as the blaze started at the beginning of the school day, it was too late to delay opening since many students were already in the building for early morning classes. Teachers re-routed middle school students away from the main entrance of PMS, she said, adding the PMS and Pelham Memorial High School air systems were shut down so toxic air was not pumped into the buildings.

Champ said October is Digital Citizenship Month, and two new committees will be established at the high school. The first will focus on digital literacy, while the other will look at academic honesty and artificial intelligence.

The superintendent thanked the technology staff who have taught students in all grades the importance digital literacy skills and Pelham Together for its partnership on multiple events and activities to promote healthy digital habits.

Scott Oling, a partner with the PFK O’Connor Davies accounting firm, gave the annual audit presentation to the board of education. The district received a clean bill of financial health in each of the three audits.

“What our responsibilities are for the audit is to primarily deliver the financial statement, and within that financial statement, you get three auditors’ opinions,” said Oling. “The main auditors’ opinion is on the regular financial statements for the district, and we’ve issued what’s known as an unmodified or clean opinion on that as the highest form of insurance an auditor can provide. It means we believe your financial statements fairly present what happened financially.”

Oling said the district also received clean opinions from the audit of internal controls and compliance, as well as on its use of $750,000 in federal funding. The latter compliance audit for the federal government ensures the district spent the money as required, he said.

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