HFCS May Be Forced To Lay Off Teachers

by Alex Brooks
Business Manager Pamela Hatfield presented a preliminary budget document which detailed a very challenging budget season ahead.  Superintendent Ken Facin introduced her presentation by telling the Board that the Governor’s budget proposes cutting State aid to the Hoosick Falls District by over 10%, which would reduce the District’s revenue by $1.2 million. He said with a cut like that, if the District just went forward with a “status quo” budget leaving the program the same as it was last year, they would end up with 21% tax levy increase. He said they obviously can’t do that, so they have been working hard to find ways to spend less money, and it is clear that the District “will go into next year with less employees than we have now.” He said they would do as much of this staff reduction through attrition as possible, but it’s pretty clear that there will be some people laid off. After the meeting he said he expects to reduce staff by six teachers and ten teaching assistants.
The budget presented shows a tax levy increase of 6.8%, but Hatfield emphasized that this is a very preliminary budget. With the State aid picture still in flux and this year’s health insurance increase not known yet, there is still quite a way to go before coming up with firm budget numbers.
One page in the budget lists areas where the budget has been cut. In addition to staff cuts, some of the areas where savings were achieved are reductions in curriculum development, reduction in budget for legal counsel fees, reductions in mentoring, funding of the summer school and seven teaching assistant positions through grants. Total savings from these kinds of staffing and program changes were just under $1.2 million.
Board President David Sutton remarked that one of the perennial problems in the District’s budgeting process is the double digit increases in health care premiums the District has to face each year. As noted above, the size of this year’s health care increase is not known yet, but the estimate used in the budget shows an expense of $4,134,329, which is 21.3% of the District’s total operating expenses.
Climbing Wall
In view of the distressing budget situation, Superintendent Ken Facin recommended that the climbing wall for the Elementary Gym, a $26,855 purchase tabled at last month’s meeting, be rejected for the time being and be looked at again in June when the budget picture is more clear.
Accordingly, the Board voted unanimously against the purchase. Board Member Don Skott, who took a position against the purchase last month, said that in the intervening month, many people said they were glad he opposed it and no one said they wished he had supported the purchase.
St. Patrick’s Day Parade
Superintendent Ken Facin asked for Board input on the High School Band’s participation in the St. Patrick’s Day parade. The School Band leader had been upset last year by the pervasiveness of alcohol at the event and felt that it may not be an appropriate event for students to be involved in. Facin said the laws against open containers on the street appeared to be suspended, as people were toasting the band with full glasses of beer out in the street as they passed by.
Board President Dave Sutton said that drunken behavior in close proximity to the students was troubling  to him, but he was also troubled by the solution of just pulling the band out of the parade. Several people said the St. Patrick’s Day celebration is a great community event and it would be a shame if the students couldn’t participate in it. The Board discussed the matter for a while and seemed resolved to cancel the band’s participation unless they could get assurances that last year’s experience would not be repeated. They asked Facin to convey this attitude to the event organizers, the Mayor and the Police.
The next day Facin spoke with event organizer Kevin O’Malley and Police Chief Ashe and was pleased with the conversations he had. O’Malley told Facin that they have had some problems with the alcohol issue in recent years and they want to rein it in. They are planning to hold some meetings with the pub owners, the Mayor and the Police to set a new tone for the event. Chief Ashe said a greater police presence is planned this year and they feel they can keep things under control. Facin said the High School Band leader was excited to hear these assurances, and a decision was made to have the band participate as usual.
Retirements
The Board accepted “with deep regret” letters of resignation for retirement purposes from third grade teacher Darlene Barry, Special Education teacher Patti Zilinskas and math teacher Helen Hemendinger. They will be retiring at the end of this school year. Board President David Sutton thanked them all for their great contributions to the school for so many years. The meeting paused for a while, and a small reception was held in honor of the three retiring teachers.
Football Injuries
During the Board Forum, John Helft said he has been distressed to learn in recent weeks of the prevalence of head injuries among high school football players. He showed a cover story in Time magazine about it and cited a recent article in The New Yorker magazine about brain disease among retired professional football players. He said 40,000 to 60,000 concussions resulting from playing football are reported each year, and there are probably many more that are not reported.
Three other Board members, Dave Sutton, Rye Mausert and Don Skott had played football at Hoosick Falls when they were in high school, and they objected to singling out football, when many high school sports result in injuries.
Superintendent Ken Facin said, “We are taking a pro-active stance on this.” He said he has met with Dr. Martinez, the school physician, about this. He said every coach at the school will be required to attend an injury prevention clinic and to learn more about sports injuries.
Facin said the school physician has the ultimate authority on whether a player can go back into a game after an injury, and “Dr. Martinez takes that seriously.”
The matter was left there for the time being, but Board President David Sutton said on this as on other issues that come before the Board, they would be glad to hear the opinions of the public.
Technology Presentation
The District’s IT Manager, David Breese, along with the two Principals, presented information on how technology is being used at the school. He began by describing the computers. There are three computer labs, one for high school, one for middle school, and one for the elementary, with 24 workstations in each, as well as dedicated labs for Business, Technology and Art. There are also media centers in the libraries with additional computers.
The Board was most excited by the “Smartboards.” The high school had 19 Smartboards, installed last summer and paid for by Federal grants. These are computers with giant screens big enough for a whole class to see without crowding around, and they can be controlled by the teacher’s hand touching the screen, the way the mouse does on a normal computer. This opens up all kinds of possibilities for the teacher, some of which were demonstrated for the Board by Mr. Meyer. He showed how various graphic elements can be dragged around the screen and later dissected a frog on the screen. He said the more you use a tool like this, the more you think of more new ways to use it.
Upcoming Meetings
The BOE will hold a budget work session on March 4 at 6 pm in the high school library. The regular meeting for March will be Thursday, March 18, at 7 pm in the high school library.