FALCONER – The Falconer Central School District is revisiting the issues being caused by the homeless population at the neighboring Quality Inn.

Stephen Penhollow, Falconer school superintendent, discussed the ongoing plans to address the issues, and seemed to have felt better about the responses from local governmental leaders than school safety officials did just earlier this month on Oct. 7.

Penhollow said district administrators are currently in discussions with both the Department of Social Services and numerous county officials. Penhollow stated that school has been in close contact recently with Carmelo Hernandez, county Community Mental Hygiene director; Janet Bowman, Ellicott town supervisor; and Falconer Mayor James Jaroszynski. The goal of this large collaboration of organizations and municipalities is to discuss and address the concerns of community members, while still trying to find a way to assist local families that are in need, according to Penhollow.

Jaroszynski made a statement on the growing concerns at the most recent Falconer Village Board meeting on Oct. 14. Jaroszynski said while the inn is located outside of village lines, and therefore the village had no authority over the decision, the village remains devoted to attending to community concerns due to the close proximity. This community-level cooperation is what Todd Beckerink, Falconer Central School community school safety advisor, noted is required to address an issue such as this.

“Village officials have been in regular contact with county representatives, law enforcement, and community stakeholders to ensure that any impact on Falconer is addressed swiftly and appropriately. While concerns have been raised to county officials by the village several times in the past, response has been slow and agreed upon new policies and procedures have not been properly carried out, or implemented at all, by the county,” said Jaroszynski.

Penhollow mentioned that a meeting is currently being planned for early November, which will likely contain representatives from the village, the town, the district, and the county. This meeting will be a place for these members to discuss the concerns that have been expressed by residents, and hopefully offer the opportunity for the creation of some sort of plan of action, said Penhollow.

A meeting to address concerns earlier on was initially held in May, and resulted in little success, according to Beckerink. Beckerink stated that at this meeting in May, DSS agreed that guests staying in the hotel would have to agree to sign a contract promising to stay off of school grounds. While this slowed down the problems at the school slightly, it did not prevent issues from continuing, said Beckerink. Beckerink also noted that there was discussion at the meeting of requesting that the hotel hire private security to assist school security and local law enforcement in handling issues. At the Ellicott Town Board meeting on Oct. 7, both Bowman and Beckerink noted that no private security measures had been implemented at the hotel to their knowledge.

Penhollow said he’s optimistic of better outcomes from the November meeting. Penhollow said he has personally spoken to County Executive Paul Wendel on the growing concerns within the district and said Wendel seems to be understanding of the problems and concerns being raised by district residents. Penhollow, and other members that will be attending, said they hope the November meeting will result in a better solution that can be put into action going forward.

“The most important goal is to make sure all of our students, and our staff, and our community is safe,” said Penhollow. “So our ultimate goal is to put together a time period where we can hear each others concerns, look at what the solutions are, and hopefully put a plan into action to make sure that those families that are placed within the hotel situation are those that are very much in need, but also are very much in support of making sure that our community stays safe.”