> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://websterledger.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Webster schools are down to 11 residential assessment challenges, from a normal 85 to 120 - URL: https://websterledger.com/wcsd-board-recap-september-8-2026/ - Published: 2026-09-11T12:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-11T12:00:00.000Z - Description: Assistant Superintendent for Business Brian Freeman told the Board of Education on Tuesday that the district has 11 small claims assessment reviews this year, against a normal range of 85 to 120. Freeman said it may be "a little calm before the reassessment." - Author: Morgan VanDerLeest - Tags: WCSD Webster's school district is working through 11 small claims assessment reviews this year, against a normal range of 85 to 120, Assistant Superintendent for Business Brian Freeman told the Board of Education on Tuesday. The figures came during the district's report on pending assessment challenges. The district had four of the small claims reviews last year. Freeman called the last two years an anomaly and said the number should rise again. "I think maybe that's a little calm before the reassessment," Freeman said, "so I would imagine that would come back next year." Webster is scheduled for a [townwide revaluation in 2027](https://websterledger.com/2027-townwide-revaluation-webster/) and has already begun [mailing property owners about it](https://websterledger.com/revaluation-mailers-2027-roll-explainer/). Small claims assessment review is the [low-cost path](https://websterledger.com/what-is-the-board-of-assessment-review/) a homeowner takes to challenge an assessment without a lawyer. The challenge is to the town's assessment, and the district refunds its share of the school taxes if the assessment comes down. Larger commercial challenges go to State Supreme Court as tax certiorari cases, which Freeman presented separately, without a vote. ## The board approved a $424,420 change order at Willink The board approved Change Order No. 205-17 on the Willink Middle School site work contract. The change order covers removal and export of 4,702 cubic yards of rock beyond the 1,500 in the original contract allowance, plus additional rock drilling. The change order is 8.1 percent of the original contract sum of $5,250,700\. All change orders on that contract together come to 16.6 percent. Both percentages are the Ledger's arithmetic on the sums in Freeman's Sept. 1 memo, which [Monday's preview](https://websterledger.com/wcsd-board-preview-september-8-2026/) reported. Willink sits in an unusual spot geotechnically, Freeman told the board. The district knew it would have to take out bedrock for the OWL Middle School addition, short for One Webster Learning, and the parking lot expansion, and paid for testing before the work was bid. "The sampling missed a lot of bedrock," Freeman said. "The bedrock is deeper and it actually goes closer to the road than we had initially thought." "Could we have done a better job?" Freeman asked the board. The district could have paid the testing company to drill the entire property instead of sampling, he said. Freeman said the change order falls within the contingency the district budgets for every project. Crews digging utility lines at the District Office, where the board was meeting, once found a 1950s fuel tank encased in concrete, Freeman said. The tank was on no map, and that geotechnical sample came from a spot the tank was not in. A board member asked whether the contractor was sharing any of the cost, "because, again, they underestimated it." "No, it's not the contractor," Freeman said. "The contractor bids on what we set up. We provided the number and they bid on that number. And when it really came to fruition, the number we provided them was significantly less than what was needed." The Willink site work is part of the $85 million capital improvement project Webster voters approved on Oct. 11, 2023\. The Ledger's July report covered the [classroom addition](https://websterledger.com/willink-middle-school-construction-2026/). Tuesday's item is the separate site work contract. ## Freeman told the board the July figures may change The board approved the July 2026 treasurer's report. In the record the district published after the meeting, which the Ledger read Wednesday, that item carried a motion heading with nothing under it. The recording carries the motion, the second and the voice vote. "I will point out that on the ninth page of the Treasurer's Report, those numbers could change because our audit is still ongoing for June 30th," Freeman said. "And actually we just got all of our auditor adjustments today, so that could change our financials." Page nine is the district's fund balance summary, the table of its reserves. The report says operating cash on hand has decreased since last July, puts the drop at $8 million in investable operating cash, and attributes the decrease to significantly increased capital expenditures. The report also says the district "is in a strong financial position" and that "total cash flow is still above historical norms for this season." The district's July report a year earlier ran the other way. That report, presented to the board in October 2025, said total cash flow had produced an "$11 million increase in investable operating cash compared to July of last year." It put the district's investment portfolio yield at an average of 4.31 percent, against 3.94 percent this year. ## Citizenship awards The WREA presented its Citizenship Award to one fifth grader at each of the district's seven elementary schools, each introduced by a retired teacher. An administrator told the board the OWL Middle School's new permanent home at Willink opened Sept. 2, and that the district's theme for the year is community. ## About a third of elementary students finished the year off grade level in reading and writing The presenter on elementary literacy said about 68 percent of students finished last year reading and writing on grade level, against a long-term district goal of 90 percent. Schools added a 20-minute intervention block to the common schedule this year. A Webster Teachers Association representative told the board the union represents more than 800 members, and that a spring drive gathered more than 1,000 items for hygiene bags picked up by more than 260 families. ## The next meeting and previous coverage The board's next meeting is a workshop at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 22, at the District Office, 119 South Avenue, second-floor Professional Development Center. The next regular business meeting is Oct. 13 at 5 p.m. Previously in the Ledger: [Webster's Board of Assessment Review, explained](https://websterledger.com/what-is-the-board-of-assessment-review/) (June 30) covers the grievance step before going to court. [Willink Middle School construction](https://websterledger.com/willink-middle-school-construction-2026/) (July 29) covers the classroom addition. ## Get Webster news in your inbox Independent local journalism for Webster, NY. Subscribe free Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. 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