By THOMAS LUCKIE III
North Country Now

OGDENSBURG – The Ogdensburg City School District Board of Education approved several retirements at their Jan. 14 meeting.

School counselor Richard Christy and school nurse Barbara Buscemi were both approved for retirement effective June 30, 2019.

Motor vehicle operator Wayne Bishop was approved for retirement effective Aug. 30, 2019.

Elementary special education Jennifer Quirk-Pickman was approved for retirement effective June 30, 2020, while secondary mathematics teacher Kathleen Swan was approved for retirement effective June 30, 2021. The board also approved several minor personnel appointments.

Superintendent Kevin Kendall also updated the Board of Education on the district’s projected 2019-2020 school year staffing needs due to upcoming retirements.

Currently the district is projected to be in need of two teaching assistants, a motor vehicle operator, three elementary teachers, one elementary special education teacher of deaf and hearing impaired students, one secondary social studies teacher, one school counselor, three elementary principals and a school nurse.

Kendall noted that the administration is still evaluating these positions in advance of the 2019-20 budget preparation season.