McGraw BOE discusses vaping lawsuit; school’s Lego League presents projects

McGraw Central School District. (Photo Source: Chelsea Horak of The Cortland Voice).

The McGraw Central Board of Education (BOE) met Nov. 3 to discuss elementary enrichment and financial items.

The next BOE meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 1 in the school library.

Lego League 

The BOE heard from Mrs. Prince about the Lego League, an Elementary Enrichment program. Along with advisors Mrs. Bush and Mrs. Whitney, the students showed off models they had built from Legos during their hour-long meeting sessions and demonstrated how they program the models to move through courses and complete tasks. The students, who are mostly fifth-graders, have met about six times and have already completed and programmed models to perform several unique types of tasks, learning about the engineering principles behind each one as they go. Students will compete against other schools taking part in the league in January.

Juul Labs, Inc Lawsuit

The BOE elected to join districts nationwide in a lawsuit against a major manufacturer and distributor of vaping products. Through the district’s law firm Ferrara Fiorenza PC, and the Frantz Law Group, APLC McGraw will accept an invitation to become an active co-plaintiff to pending litigation filed on behalf of schools against Juul Labs, Inc. The suit proposes that the company is responsible for costs incurred by schools for staff time and disciplinary proceedings related to student vaping.

Money Moves

The BOE approved the establishment of a new scholarship, courtesy of Luigi’s Pizzeria. The scholarship is worth $100 and will be awarded to the senior with the most verifiable community service hours (completed between July 1, 2022 and April 28, 2023). The student will also need to have been accepted to a 2- or 4-year college, or business, trade, or technical school. The recipient will also receive a pizza party for 10 people at Luigi’s. 

The board also approved a donation in the amount of $5,000 from the Gordon D. Teeter Trust.