Voting on the proposition, and 2005-06 budget, will be from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday, May 17.

Extensive information about the propostion will be in the annual budget brochure, which is scheduled to be delivered to households around Tuesday, May 3.

The brochure will also be available on the district's Website (www.erschools.org) by Wednesday, April 27.

Related Story:

District Considers Hydrogen Power

The E.R campus houses Pre-K to 12.

The East Rochester Central School District wants to save money on its utility bills. That's why it's considering installing a hydrogen fuel cell on campus.

"We are always trying to find a way to advantage our students,” said Howard Maffucci, ER’s superintendent. “We want our students to be better tomorrow than yesterday, we want our district to better tomorrow than it was yesterday."

Maffucci says creating a school on the cutting edge of technology is a priority. East Rochester was the first district in the area to install a state-of-the-art athletic field, create its own student management software, and install fiber optics. Every room in the school is wired for the Internet and cable television. The district is now looking at alternative energy.

"Hydrogen fuel cell technology is in many ways the future of energy, it's clean; the only by-product is water and heat," said Maffucci.

Michael Mamo, the district’s superintendent for business, secured a $1 million energy performance grant to help pay for the hydrogen fuel cell. The fuel cell would be used to generate electricity for the entire campus.

"It's energy savings, an instructional component and a community use of the facility whenever there are wide spread power outages,” said Maffucci.

The "mini-power plant” would be enclosed in glass so students can see how it works. The cost of the project is $2.5 million.

"I think the most important thing is to let the community know there is not going to be any tax increase associated with it, we are going to use the capital fund associated with the project," said Michael Mamo.

District residents will vote on the proposal in May. If approved, the hydrogen fuel cell could be powering up the district by the summer of 2006. The district will host a number of public hearings on the project prior to the May 17 vote. No dates have been set. 

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