The Corning-Painted Post (C-PP) area school district held its first board meeting of the 2025-26 fiscal year on Monday.
The district began the new year with business that included approval for a $600,000 legal settlement payment in a case of alleged sexual misconduct. The item was added to the agenda during the board meeting.
The board clerk also administered the oath of office to returning board members, newly elected board members, the newly appointed president and vice president of the board, and the superintendent. Earlier this year, the board president abruptly stepped down. The superintendent cited personal health issues as the reason for the president’s resignation.
The board approved contract extensions for several district administrators, including a five-year extension for the superintendent of schools, Michelle Caulfield.
The legal settlement approved by the district involved alleged sexual misconduct by a district teacher at the middle school between 2009 and 2010.
The board approved the settlement filed in New York State Supreme Court in “exchange for the withdrawal and release of all claims and other valuable considerations to be set forth in the settlement agreement and general release.” The resolution was read aloud by the newly appointed board president, Kelley Bacalles.
WSKG reached out to the district for comment on the legal settlement and did not hear back in time for publication.
It is the second six-figure settlement approved by the school district in less than a year. In 2024, the district paid a total of $420,000 for three cases of alleged sex abuse dating back to 1970.
The legal settlements come amid fiscal struggles for the district, and frustration from local taxpayers.
Voters voiced concerns about the cost and tax levy of the district’s initial budget and rejected it at the polls in May. It was the second time in two years that the C-PP school district’s initial budget failed.
A reduced budget and tax levy was eventually approved by voters in the district with a second vote that was held in June.
