HFCS Finds New Money

by Alex Brooks
Hoosick Falls Schools Superintendent Ken Facin said at the September meeting of the Hoosick Falls School Board that he had received a letter containing an additional $15,000 in State aid for the District for “general purposes,” which he found both pleasing and puzzling. He suggested to the Board that one possible use for the new money would be to turn the very popular lacrosse club into a varsity sport. There was some discussion about this, but no decision was made.
[private]Clean Audit
The Board heard a presentation by CPA Emily Sanders of the Bonadio Group about the independent audit of the District’s finances undertaken by her firm under her leadership. The audit gave the District an “unqualified opinion,” which means they found “no material weaknesses or deficiencies” in the District’s financial practices. Their only recommendation was that the District keep better track of extracurricular accounts. Facin said the District is always glad to have suggestions on ways to improve its financial practices.
Teacher Evaluation
The Board certified all of the administrators as “Lead Teacher Evaluator,” pursuant to the new teacher evaluation system known as APPR (Annual Professional Performance Review). The administrators certified were Patrick Dailey, Kristin Philpott, Amy Netti, Pamela Hatfield and Stacy Vadney. All have completed the training required by the NYS Board of Regents to be certified as a Teacher Evaluator.  Those certified will begin doing classroom observations in October. The District uses an evidence-based evaluation technique based on the “Framework for Learning” rubric created by education researcher Charlotte Danielson. Facin said, “Everyone participating in the evaluation of teachers in this District has been thoroughly trained.”
Classroom observations are one component of the teacher evaluations which will be done this year for the first time. Student test results and other measures of student growth and achievement are used as well in the evaluations.
New AIS Teacher
The Board hired Jessica Dougherty as an AIS Mathematics Teacher to fill a new full time position created last month to address seventh and eighth grade math test results from last year that Facin called “unacceptable.” Facin said Dougherty came to the District with “outstanding references and recommendations.”
The Board also hired Kelli O’Shea to a half time position teaching English to speakers of other languages (known in educational circles as ESL).
The next regular Board of Education meeting will be on Thursday, October 18, at 7 pm in the High School Library.[/private]