It is rare that this column provides current newsworthy stuff, but that is the case today. It happens to be a followup to a column written in June headlined “You don’t know what you got ’til it’s gone.”
That article delved into the online hate campaign launched against Waterloo Central School District Superintendent Terri Bavis by a vocal minority interested in getting rid of her through endorsing school board candidates that would help execute that agenda.
Bavis is proud of the improvements that were made to the instructional program during the last eight years. Given the totality of the situation surrounding her future the past few months, she decided to submit her official letter of retirement, which was approved at a special Board of Education meeting Saturday morning and took effect Sunday.
Social media is a powerful tool for good and — sadly — bad. Because school board elections and budget votes often feature low voter turnout, her opponents’ online campaign appeared to be successful.
The $50,164,414 budget given to voters in May, a 9.56% increase from 2022-23, was rejected by eight votes. The second budget of $49,992,679, a 0.34% reduction from the initial spending plan, was defeated by one vote in June, after which the school board adopted a contingency budget that was 8.78% higher than ’22-23. Bavis hoped there would not be much impact to daily operations.
Bavis, who has faced some contentious battles in her Waterloo tenure, has had, overall, good performance ratings and was due for a contract extension. The extension didn’t happen, and it had become clear her base of support wasn’t the same, due in large part to the result of changing the athletic program’s nickname and mascot.
Many in the community were furious that Bavis was proactive in replacing the school’s Indians moniker (Waterloo’s athletic teams are now known as the Tigers). It seemed to fall on deaf ears that not only had the symbol become politically incorrect and offensive to Native Americans and others, New York State was moving in the direction of eliminating any nicknames related to Native Americans. In fact, Gov. Kathy Hochul and the state Legislature ultimately did mandate that school districts change nicknames deemed offensive or face the withholding of state funding.
The fact Bavis was ahead of the curve in that respect should have been something deserving praise. Instead, there was backlash that continues today. Bavis always has maintained that the mascot issue wasn’t the political one so many made it out to be but rather a humanitarian decision based on thorough research.
As she heads into retirement, Bavis also wanted to clarify some misinformation that was reported by many media outlets regarding her interest in the superintendent job in the Dansville school district. Bavis was among more than a dozen applicants for that position and was one of two finalists.
Media reports, including those in the Times, indicated she was not offered the job. In this exclusive interview, she said she was, in fact, offered the position and accepted. She produced a copy of the draft contract to prove it. However, the parties could not agree on retiree health insurance. At age 58, Bavis found this to be of great importance for her future.
She says it was a difficult decision because she described the staff at Dansville as “great,” the students as “thoughtful and reflective,” and the community stakeholder group as “engaged and supportive.” She thought it would be a great fit, and says their Board of Education agreed.
Now, Bavis has decided to move forward with no regrets.
“I wanted to be a teacher since I was old enough to understand what school was. I think I was 5. I have been a public educator for almost 37 years because I wanted to help kids learn. I wanted to make the world a better place, to give students hope. I felt like education was the way to do that.”
She was a school principal for over a decade before getting her first opportunity as a school superintendent … at Waterloo. She took the job there because, again, she wanted to try to make the world a better place, and impact a larger group of individuals in a district with significant needs and some poverty.
Fast-forward to today. She said the move to Waterloo has come at a personal price, all over what she believes was related to a mascot change that was beyond her control.
“I have heard it said before that sometimes in life, you have a plan and God laughs,” Bavis said. “My life has not really ever gone ‘as planned.’ I never would have thought years ago when I began my college coursework to become a teacher that I would ever do anything but teach. I have always been open to new ideas, new challenges, and try to be flexible in my thoughts about what motivates me each day. That has always been working with students, their families, and other teachers who work so hard to do the right thing.”
BIGGER PICTURE: Bavis retires from Waterloo
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05.12.2023
It is rare that this column provides current newsworthy stuff, but that is the case today. It happens to be a followup to a column written in June headlined “You don’t know what you got ’til it’s gone.”
That article delved into the online hate campaign launched against Waterloo Central School District Superintendent Terri Bavis by a vocal minority interested in getting rid of her through endorsing school board candidates that would help execute that agenda.
Bavis is proud of the improvements that were made to the instructional program during the last eight years. Given the totality of the situation surrounding her future the past few months, she decided to submit her official letter of retirement, which was approved at a special Board of Education meeting Saturday morning and took effect Sunday.
Social media is a powerful tool for good and — sadly — bad. Because school board elections and budget votes often feature low voter turnout, her opponents’ online campaign appeared to be successful.
The $50,164,414 budget given to voters in May, a 9.56% increase from 2022-23, was rejected by eight votes. The second budget of $49,992,679, a 0.34% reduction from the initial spending plan, was defeated by one vote in........
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