Deferment Of State Aid To HFCS Deemed Unfair

by Alex Brooks
The December Hoosick Falls School Board meeting took place in the auditorium because it began with the presentation of awards for academic achievement. It began with the Principal’s List, and proceeded to Drama Scholar awards and Scholar Athlete awards. Attendance for these ceremonies was very good, with most of the recipients present to receive their awards, and many parents as well.
State Aid Deferment
District Superintendent Ken Facin said the Governor has instituted a 10% deferment of State aid, which means Hoosick Falls will receive $85,543 less than promised for this year.
He said although the Governor is calling it a deferment, with the implication that it will be paid later, he suspects it may never arrive. In addition to questions raised about whether the Governor has the authority to do this, Facin said he feels that the Governor has done it in an inequitable way. Since it is set up as a percentage of State aid, it disproportionately impacts Districts for whom State aid is a larger percentage of their revenues, such as Hoosick Falls. By and large, these are districts in less-wealthy areas of the state. Facin questions whether it is fair to put the burden on these districts. For instance, he pointed out that Niskayuna and Queensbury will have the same dollar amount of deferment as Hoosick Falls, even though their annual budgets are 3 to 4 times that of Hoosick Falls.
Fifth Grade Social Studies Testing
Facin said the results of the fifth grade social studies exam given in mid-November shows great progress. In 2007, 77% of the students passed this test. In 2008, it was 82%, and this year 91% of the students passed. This exceeds the Board goal of a 90% passing rate, and the 20% achieving mastery is well on the way to the Board goal of 30%. Facin had many compliments for the fifth grade teaching team, as well as for the students themselves, for this achievement.
Senior Citizen Exemptions
Business Manager Pamela Hatfield raised the question of whether the District should update its income limits for senior and disability property tax exemptions which are currently much lower than the ones that Rensselaer County uses. Hatfield said raising the income limits to give more seniors a break does not reduce the School District’s revenues. What it does is reduce the amount paid by low income seniors, and that amount is made up by the other taxpayers. She said if the Board wants to do this, to be effective this year, it would have to be in place by March 1 which is the deadline for seniors to submit their income verification. The Board agreed to hold a public hearing on it, to be scheduled in January, so that action on this matter could be taken at the January meeting if the Board so chooses.
Amendment To 403-B Plan
The Board agreed to amend the District’s 403-b retirement plan to include all District employees rather than just full-time employees as before. This will not cost the District any more than the current plan because these accounts are funded 100% by employee contributions.
In other business, the Board accepted the donation of a piano from Amanda Haar and family, and they accepted a bid of $145,350 for bleachers and a press box from Dant Clayton Corp. This will be one of the final elements of the Capital Project.
The next regular meeting of the Hoosick Falls School Board will be Thursday, January 21, at 7 pm in the High School Library.