Speakers at Tuesday's Webster school board meeting are asked to sign up by noon

Anyone who wants to speak at Tuesday's Webster school board meeting is asked to sign up with the district clerk by noon Tuesday.

The Webster Central School District Board of Education meets at 5 p.m. Tuesday in the second floor Professional Development Center at the District Office, 119 South Avenue. Public comment is scheduled for 6:40 p.m., at the end of the meeting. The board's visitor speaking policy asks people who want to address the board to register with the district clerk by noon on the day of the meeting. The clerk is Heather Murphy, at 585-216-0001 or heather_murphy@webstercsd.org. Fuller instructions are below.

The board is scheduled to vote on a $424,420 change order on a Willink Middle School site work contract, and to receive a report on pending challenges to property assessments in the district. The agenda lists Assistant Superintendent for Business Brian Freeman on both.

A $424,420 change order at Willink

The agenda lists a motion to approve the change order. It would cover rock removal on the Willink parking lot reconstruction. The contractor is Pooler Enterprises.

In a Sept. 1 memo, Freeman wrote that the change order "addresses an unforeseen field condition involving rock removal above the contract allowance." The scope covers the removal and export of 4,702 cubic yards of rock beyond the 1,500 cubic yards included in the original contract allowance, plus additional rock drilling on site.

"As full-depth removal of the parking lot was taking place in both the existing parking lot areas as well as in the expansion area, significantly more bedrock was uncovered and needed to be removed than was allowed for in the original contract," Freeman wrote.

In a change request to the construction manager, Pooler Enterprises priced the 4,702 cubic yards at $85 a cubic yard, or $399,670 of the $424,420. The same request puts the remaining $24,750 at additional rock drilling.

The memo puts the original contract sum at $5,250,700. It puts the net change from prior change orders at $446,327.18, which takes the contract to $5,697,027.18. Approving Tuesday's change order would take the contract sum to $6,121,447.18.

The project's architect is LaBella Associates, D.P.C. The construction manager is Campus CMG Inc. Freeman wrote that both have reviewed and approved the costs. The memo does not say what money would pay for the change order.

The district's work at Willink runs on more than one contract. The Ledger reported on the building work in July, and Tuesday's item is the site work contract covering the parking lot.

A worst-case $4.4 million in pending court challenges to property assessments

A second memo from Freeman, dated Sept. 3, summarizes pending court challenges to property assessments inside the district. The agenda lists it as a report rather than an action.

Freeman wrote that tax certiorari is "the legal process by which a property owner challenges their assessment in court, often to get a reduction in their property taxes."

The memo puts total potential exposure from all pending certiorari cases at $4,423,159, and says those figures "represent a worst-case scenario and not the expected final outcome." The memo lists 33 properties, all of them in Webster or Penfield. Webster property accounts for $4,155,028 of the total and Penfield property for $268,131.

Freeman calls the certiorari cases "the large commercial cases." He writes that the district handles "smaller residential assessment challenges" separately, through the Small Claims Assessment Review process.

The district holds $5,051,088 in a tax certiorari reserve fund, which is more than the worst-case total. Freeman described the fund as "a separate account set aside to pay for any refunds that result from these cases, which helps protect the district's operating budget from unexpected expenses."

Also on Tuesday's agenda

The meeting opens at 5 p.m. with liaison reports from students and the WTA.

The agenda schedules the WREA Citizenship Awards recognition at 5:15 p.m. Two reports follow at 5:45 p.m., a superintendent's report with campus news and a professional development report. Board business opens at 6:10 p.m. with a motion to approve the July 2026 treasurer's report. Board member highlights are set for 6:20 p.m.

The consent agenda comes up at 6:35 p.m. It carries the minutes of the board's Aug. 18 meeting and a set of personnel actions. It also carries recommendations from the Committee on Special Education and the Committee on Pre-School Special Education, along with a cooperative bid for bus parts. Those items are taken in a single motion under the board's rules, and the agenda's note on the practice says items may be removed from the consent agenda at the request of any board member.

How to be heard Tuesday

The visitor speaking policy printed with the agenda says people wishing to address the board "should register with the district clerk by noon of the meeting day by phone call or visit" the district's sign-up page. Speakers are asked to limit comments to 3 to 4 minutes. The policy also asks a speaker to be recognized by the president before speaking. It asks the speaker to give a name and the agenda topic, and to name any organization they are representing.

The policy does not set a consequence for missing the noon sign-up. It makes the president "responsible for the orderly conduct of the meeting," and says the president rules on the appropriateness of the subject being presented.

The district's Visitor Speaking page, which the policy links, carries the sign-up form and names the clerk. It does not repeat the noon deadline. The Ledger checked that page Monday.

The policy says the board "invites the public to comment on matters regarding the school district," and that "taxpayers, community citizens, school personnel, and school students may openly express themselves directly to the board." It also says the comment section "is a time for the Board of Education to listen," and that meetings "are not an opportunity to engage in dialogue and are not public forums."

The agenda schedules public comment to begin at 6:40 p.m. and adjournment at 7:10 p.m. The policy says public speaking time "will be no longer than 40 minutes." The agenda does not say which of those figures governs. Under the policy, the president may impose time limits on individual speakers.

The meeting is livestreamed at websterschools.org/boemeetings. The district says on that page that previous meetings may also be found there.

Previously in the Ledger: Willink Middle School construction is underway as part of Webster's $85 million bond (July 29) covers the classroom addition at the school. Webster's school board votes Tuesday on the tax warrant, with bills due out next week (Aug. 18) covers the board's last regular business meeting. Webster school tax 2026: deadlines and how to pay (Aug. 25) covers the bills those rates produced. Webster's Board of Assessment Review, explained (June 30) covers the grievance step an owner takes before going to court.

AI tools were used in drafting and research.