by Alex Brooks
At the Hoosick Falls School Board meeting held Thursday, November 13, there were many references to the school bus accident involving an HFCS bus which occurred two weeks earlier. Superintendent Ken Facin said it was Holly Snyder’s bus and luckily there were no students on the bus at the time. An SUV headed West on Route 7 crossed the center line for an unknown reason and hit the bus head on. A kayak that was tied onto the top of the SUV flew through the windshield of the bus, but Facin said it only grazed Snyder – her injuries were, luckily, minor.
The bus, however, was totaled. Business Administrator Pam Hatfield was still assessing what the economic impact of the accident would be. She said the bus was three years old, and the insurance will pay the depreciated value of the bus. The District, when it buys a replacement, will be buying a new bus, so the insurance won’t pay the full cost of the replacement bus. Hatfield said she still has to do more research before she can present the Board with a plan for replacing the bus and tell them what the budget impact will be.
Elementary Principal Patrick Dailey said at the time of the accident there were still 200 kids at the school and it was a difficult situation because, in addition to suddenly being down a bus and a driver, Route 7 was closed and many buses had to be re-routed. Dailey said things went remarkably smoothly in the face of this sudden difficulty, and he offered his thanks to all the staff who responded so well and got all the children home safely.
Superintendent’s Report
Superintendent Facin spoke first about the Basic Educational Data System (BEDS) submission, which is the annual foundation data about the school district sent to the State Education Department. This report was sent October 1. He said enrollment has declined by 15 students since last year, from 1273 to 1258, which is mainly because the entering kindergarten class this year is smaller than usual.
Facin said this year’s phase of the Capital project is just about complete. The new playground is completed and is “up and running.” There are still a few punch list issues being attended to, but all those should be resolved soon. The final phase of the project will be replacement of the other half of the windows next summer, which will involve some asbestos abatement so the school will not be usable next summer either, and all summer programs will again take place at St. Mary’s Academy.
Facin also commented on the State budget picture, which he said is looking worse and worse. The Governor’s proposal would cut 3.85% from this year’s State aid to the Hoosick Falls District, which if approved would mean the loss of $389,000 between now and July 1 when next year’s budget begins. Facin said the legislature may not go along with the Governor’s proposal, so the cut might be smaller or not happen at all; but even if it doesn’t, it is clear that State aid in next year’s budget is very unlikely to be as generous as this year, and the bottom line is “we’re going to have to do more with less.”
Board President’s Report
Board President David Sutton said he was very pleased that the wrestling team has its own room now where it can leave the wrestling mats set up. Until now, the team had to clean and put out the mats before practice and pick them up again after practice. The room is located between the gym and cafeteria at the end of the hall leading out to the sports fields on the north side of the school. It was formerly filled with storage items. Some of these were excessed and are gone from the property, and others are now stored in a smaller storage room, which freed up a good-sized room for the wrestlers.
Policy Review
Greg Laurin, Chairman of the Board’s Policy Committee, said the Board completed a top to bottom review of the District’s policies in 1998, and now, ten years later, many of the District’s policies are out of date again. “We can’t keep up,” said Laurin. The policies are based on laws passed by the legislature and regulations promulgated by the State Education Department, and these are always changing. “We have not stayed compliant. The only way to stay current and legal is to have a service that tells you when they change laws, so you can react.”
Business Administrator Pam Hatfield said she had looked into what outside services are available to help with updating policies. She found a contractor who would update all the policies for $8,200. Another option is offered by NYSSBA, the State School Boards Association. They would, over the course of two years, update all the policies and put them on a web site where each one is linked to the State law or regulation that is related to it. This then is available to anyone who can access the site by computer. The total cost of the NYSSBA plan is $12,500, but it is payable over two years, so it is $6,250 per year for two years, which Hatfield considered very affordable. Laurin pointed out that when his Policy Committee revises policies themselves, they always have to run them by the school attorney, which costs the District a significant sum of money each year. A very rough estimate was offered that $4,000 to $6,000 per year is spent on legal oversight of policy work done by the Board, but Laurin asked Hatfield to look at the attorney’s bills and see if she could come up with some reliable numbers on how much the District is spending on legal oversight for policy work.
Hatfield said she would present the options with more detailed information at a subsequent meeting.
In other action, the Board:
ź approved tenure for School Business Administrator Pam Hatfield. After the vote, School Board President Sutton rose to congratulate her and to praise the work that she has done for the District.
ź accepted a donation from the Hoosick Falls Performing Arts Booster Club of $189.62 to be used to purchase satin blouses for the Senior Chorus. The chorus will soon be performing on WMHT television on a Holiday Showcase program, and they will be looking good in their new blouses.
ź approved the Senior Ball, to be held off-campus at the Mt. Anthony Country Club on March 7, 2009. Superintendent Facin said he met with the class advisor to learn the details of the planning, and he said it is a well thought out, well-planned event.