by Alex Brooks
Hoosick Falls School District Superintendent Ken Facin said that it is apparent to him, as he sizes up the budget situation for the 09-10 year, that “We are going to have to take a serious look at downsizing our staff.” He said the Governor’s budget will give the District $550,000 less in State aid and the costs of running the school go up every year, so there will be a significant gap between rising expenses and falling revenues. He said flatly, with the economy as it is, “The taxpayers cannot pay more.”
Facin said that although there are hopes that State aid will be cut less than it is in the Governor’s budget, the District cannot build its budget on such hopes. “We are going to build a budget based on Governor Paterson’s proposed budget.” He said the only way to achieve savings of that magnitude is to cut staff.
Facin said, “Downsizing while remaining committed to academic excellence and to raising academic standards is a very difficult task, but it is do-able.”
The meeting began with a presentation by High School principal Steven Leunig about a new curriculum guide for grades 7-12, which became an occasion for a lengthy commentary by Superintendent Facin about raising student aspirations and accomplishments. He touched on adding electives, starting language courses earlier, having less study halls in the students’ schedules. He talked about alternative ways for students to excel other than traditional academic pursuits, through vocational programs like woodshop, the automotive program or computer skills like graphic design and web design. He mentioned that the District is expanding the number of courses for which students can get college credit at HVCC. There is already a communications class in this program, and the District is working on getting some courses in business approved by HVCC. He said this program is very helpful to some of the students, providing a bridge to college by giving them confidence that they can do college level work and a head start on their college credits when they get there.
Later in the meeting he discussed his participation in a program he referred to as “Get to Great,” which is more formally known as the Rensselaerville Institute Results Leadership Program. He said leaders from about six school districts in the Capital District have been meeting with Dr. Loomis, who was the Superintendent of the Bethlehem School District when it became the #1 school academically in the Capital District, learning methods of making a good school great.
Ken Baker Memorials
School Board President Dave Sutton reported on behalf of the Ken Baker Memorial committee that they are on schedule to provide scholarship awards in both the Hoosick Falls and Cambridge districts in the spring of this year. They are working on criteria and application protocols. They are also working on establishing a new trophy for the WASAREN League Ken Baker Wrestling Tournament.
New School Bus
The Board accepted a bid for the purchase of a one year old 2008 Blue Bird school bus to replace the one that was totaled in an accident last fall. Business Manager Pamela Hatfield said the new bus cost $76,500 and the insurance check for the old bus was $30,500 so the cost to the District for the new bus is $46,000. Hatfield said there was money available in the Contract Transportation part of the budget because outside transportation contracts were eliminated when the bus routes were re-organized last fall. This allowed the District to acquire the newer bus without taking on new debt. Much of the cost of the new bus will be paid back to the District over a five year period through State aid. The new bus has 14,575 miles on it.
AP Scores
Early in the meeting School Superintendent Ken Facin said AP scores of students in the Hoosick Falls District have been disappointing. He said, “We have been falling short in this area,” and he asked High School Principal Steven Leunig to take a look at it and come up with a plan for improvement. John Helft’s academic standards committee also looked at AP scores, and Helft reported that there are some “major disconnects” between grades given in an AP class and grades earned on the AP exam itself. He said that in Biology there was a very good correlation between grades given in the class and actual results on the exam, but in other AP courses there is very little correlation between the two. He also noted, as Facin had, that results on some AP exams are “well below what they ought to be.”
Facin said he met with a group of three local school districts and several towns who will be participating in a grant application aimed at finding ways of saving money by having contiguous towns and school districts get together for shared purchasing and shared services. If the grant is awarded, it would pay for a professional consultant who would identify areas where the towns and school districts could save money by working together.
Facin told the Board that he has been working on setting up an “Outdoor Day” to help introduce students and others in the community to the wonders of the local environment. It will be on Friday, March 13, and will be for the school and the community. Details will be announced soon, but Facin said New York State Wildlife Pathologist Ward Stone has agreed to be the keynote speaker for the event.
The Board approved a two year “Physical Education Plan” and a two year “Professional Development Plan” for this year and next. Facin said the Professional Development Plan had been “a long time coming,” noting that the lack of such a plan had been a bone of contention with the teachers. Everybody was excited to have a comprehensive plan in place.
The Board accepted a donation of $200 from Alloy, Inc, which was connected in some way with the U.S. Army setting up an informational table at the last football game. Facin said Army recruiters are very welcome at the Hoosick Falls School; they are offering valuable opportunities to the students. He said he had learned that they wanted to make a donation only after he had welcomed them in, and the District is pleased to have the donation.
The District also accepted the donation of a fish tank with chiller, filters and equipment from the Rensselaer County Conservation Alliance, valued at $500. The tank is offered as part of a science program in which trout are raised by students and teachers in the school to be released into the Hoosic River when they are partially grown.
The next regular School Board meeting will be on February 10, at 7 pm in the High School Library.