By Alex Brooks
The Hoosick Falls School Board began its meeting on February 15 hearing comments from residents of the District about what they would like the Board to do about the proposed Capital Project, which failed to win the approval of the voters last fall.
Tom Vallone was the first to speak. He felt that a vote for deterioration of the school (meaning a vote against the capital project) is a vote for deterioration of the community. He also said that since the School Board voted unanimously to move forward with the capital project, he thinks people should trust the Board members that they elected.
Several people expressed the idea that approving the capital project will save the local taxpayers money in the long run. Since the State pays 80.5% of the project, this is an opportunity to bring nearly $15 million of state funding into this community. Since most of the local funding needed is already in hand, the impact on school taxes will be insignificant.
Dennis Casey said, “We’ve got to take this opportunity now, or we’re going to pay a lot more later.” He and others said that if we give up on doing this capital project, it won’t be long before some parts of it urgently need to be done, and if the District pays for repairs or improvements out of its regular budget, it will cost five times as much (because it would not get the state aid).
Some residents said they had heard from others that people voted against the project because property taxes are too high, and a vote against the project was a chance to express opposition to higher property taxes, however small the increase. All present agreed that property taxes are too high, but no one present seemed to think that rejection of the capital project would lead to lower property taxes.
Superintendent Ken Facin said local property taxes in the Hoosick Falls District have gone up by 17.6% total over the last ten years, despite a significant drop in state aid during that period of time, and he said the District will continue to strive to do more with less, but that is difficult to do if they can’t access the state funds that a capital project brings.
School Board member Andy Beaty said he believes that there was “some misinformation out there, especially about the football field.” Apparently some voters believed that an expensive turf field was included in the project, which was not the case.
Facin said some in the community had the impression that the project involved some extravagant spending. He vehemently denied that this was so. He said the items included in the project are absolutely necessary to a proper learning environment, and he began listing them – a well-functioning heating system, better lighting, modern science classrooms, getting rid of asbestos in the building, several important safety items, technology upgrades, and renovation of bathrooms that are over 50 years old. In addition, many of these projects will reduce fuel, utility, and maintenance costs. He summed up by saying the project has been carefully vetted to be sure that everything in it is practical, cost-effective, and not extravagant.
Facin said he was heartened to find that nobody came to the meeting to tell the Board not to put the project back up for another vote. He said, “I’ve heard nothing negative here tonight. If anyone in the community feels differently, they should communicate with us.” He said the Board will probably make a decision at its March meeting about whether to put the project up for another vote. If there is a vote, it would be at the same time as the regular school budget vote in May.
School Shooting Incidents
There was a moment of silence for the victims of the Florida school shooting at the beginning of the meeting, and as the meeting began it was clearly still on the minds of those in the room. School Board President Greg Laurin said although he avoids being political in his School Board leadership, he felt compelled to respond. He said there have been 18 gun incidents in schools since January 1. He said, “our first responsibility is to provide safety for our children.” He asked the Board for permission to craft a letter to local elected officials asking them “to do something in defense of our children.” He said he would work with Superintendent Ken Facin to draft the letter. The Board voted unanimously to approve writing such a letter.
Superintendent Ken Facin then said one of the things the Board and the administration has been considering is adding a school resource officer. This is a law enforcement officer who works in the school on improving school safety, visiting classrooms and working with teachers to educate students about such things as internet and social media safety, drug and alcohol abuse and other law enforcement issues. Facin said the cost to add a school resource officer would be $80,000 per year. The Board directed Facin to include a School Resource Officer in the next draft of the budget for next year.
Staff Changes
The Board accepted the resignation of School Business Administrator Pam Hatfield, effective June 30 of this year. She will be retiring. The Board appointed current School District Treasurer Emily Sanders as School Business Administrator, to take Hatfield’s place. Sanders resigned as Treasurer. Superintendent Facin said Andy Nolan will be coming in as the new District Treasurer. He will be formally appointed next month.
The Board also accepted the resignation of School Lunch Manager Heather Brooks, who also plans to retire. Facin and Hatfield have often spoken highly of Brooks. Board President Greg Laurin said, “She’ll be tough to replace.”
School Board Election
The seats of School Board President Greg Laurin and Board member Laurie Gormley are up for election in the upcoming May election. Laurin said as far as he knows, no candidates have stepped up yet to run for the school board. He urged community members who may have some interest to become candidates for school board.
Next Year’s Budget
Business Administrator Pam Hatfield presented a first draft of next year’s budget. Overall spending in the proposed budget is $23,363,933, which is $85,000 less than this year’s budget, a reduction of 0.4%. The tax cap limit calculation for the District this year is -0.15%, so to present a budget that can pass with a simple majority, the District must reduce the tax levy. Superintendent Facin and the Board said they would make it their goal to stay under the tax cap, which would mean a small reduction in the tax levy. In the first draft of the budget, though, they were over $600,000 away from that goal. Some of that gap is expected to be filled by additional state aid in the final State budget, but some will have to come from savings that have not been identified yet. A more detailed story about the proposed budget will be in next week’s paper.