Acceptance Of Non-Resident Students Approved By HFCS Board

by Alex Brooks
At its meeting on Thursday, February 16, the Hoosick Falls Central School District Board gave unanimous final approval to a policy which allows the District to accept non-resident students on a tuition basis when it has the capacity in its existing programs to do so. Any requests from the parents of non-resident students under this policy will be handled on a case by case basis.
[private]Special Ed Scores Lead To Quality Improvement Plan
Pam Roberge from Questar III BOCES made a presentation to the Hoosick Falls School Board at the February meeting on the Quality Improvement Plan that she and Director of Special Education Kristin Philpott had put together in response to sub-par test performances by Special Education students in grades 3-6. These children were said not to have made “adequate yearly progress” under the No Child Left Behind standards.
Schools Superintendent Ken Facin said that when the test that flagged these children as not making enough progress was originally given the students had done fine, scoring 121 when the target was 109. But when some complained that the test was not rigorous enough, rather than rewriting the test, the State Education Dept. just rescaled it, with the result that the score was recalculated to be 98, which did not meet the target.
Facin said there continues to be “a lack of confidence in the assessment instrument,” and he is looking forward to implementation of the new tests based on the new common core curriculum.
Facin said his staff put together a plan to respond to this problem immediately in August when they received the test scores, but there is a formal procedure that the District must follow in response to a finding of inadequate yearly progress, and this is what brings Roberge to the school to complete the mandated Quality Improvement Plan which was presented this month.
Roberge is a School Improvement Specialist. She is at the school every Tuesday, all day long. She will be here this year and next. Roberge said now that the plan has been written, she and Philpott will be working on implementation of the Plan. Roberge sends reports four times a year to the Office of Special Education at the State Education Department detailing what she and the District have been doing to improve results for these students.
Facin said Roberge is well-liked in the District and has proven to be a great resource for the District and a valued member of his team.
Facilities Committee Audits Energy Use
The Facilities Committee went over the energy audit reports that have been received. The lighting in the building was said to be “antiquated,” and, therefore, quite a bit of electricity could be saved by putting in more modern, energy efficient fixtures. The Facilities Committee is also looking at other energy saving proposals, including solar installations. Facin said they are trying to put together a capital project proposal that would pay for itself through energy savings. He said by doing it as a capital project, the District could maximize State aid for the project.
Resignations
The Board accepted resignations from Treasurer Mike Shea, from Transportation Supervisor Charlie Weeden, from Speech Teacher Colleen Doyle, from School Bus Driver John Miller and from Teaching Assistant Margaret Pine. These people are all retiring, and their resignations were accepted “with deep regret.” All have served the District well for two decades or more. Facin said they will be honored at the May meeting in the traditional recognition ceremony.
Donations
The Board accepted a donation of $900 from the HFCS PTA for the Art Program and another donation from the PTA of $1,000 to promote literacy through the Parents As Reading Partners program.
The Board also accepted a donation from Cumberland Farms for the Varsity Club in the amount of $2,337.
The next meeting of the Hoosick Falls School Board will be on March 15 at 7 pm in the High School Library.[/private]