Enrollment Rising At Walter B
by Alex Brooks
The September 19 New Lebanon School Board meeting began with School Resource Deputy Patrick McMahon introducing himself to the Board and talking a little bit about the work that he is doing in the schools.
Business Administrator Kevin Fottrell said Mosaic Engineering has submitted plans for the $11,855,000 Capital Project to the State Education Department (SED) for review, and is anticipating that the SED review will be completed by the end of the fall, so that work can get started by early spring.
He spoke briefly of the funding plan for the project, mentioning the components that will go into the financing: funds saved in a capital reserve fund, “Smart Schools” grant funding, and State aid for building projects. For the portion to be paid by local funds, he mentioned that the District will be paying off a previous bond, so when a new bond is taken out for this project, the District’s debt service payments will be the same as before and there will be no impact on taxpayers. He said the goal is stable taxes and so far everything is “right on track” and the project’s schedule and finances are “completely on plan.”
Elementary Report
Walter B. Howard Principal Andrew Kourt said his school had “an amazing start,” and everything went smoothly although there are many new students in the building. Kourt said there are currently 228 students in the Elementary School, compared to 208 last year. He said school events in which parents and relatives are invited have been very well attended. A recent Open House was very full, with every parking spot taken and more cars parked on lawns. He said parents are getting involved and getting to know each other. “Families are bonding with each other and that’s how you build a school community.”
High School Principal Matt Klafehn said over the summer he did some research and some thinking about student motivation, and he is continuing to discuss the topic with his staff now that school has started.
He said the High School held its fourth annual College Caravan on Thursday, September 13, sponsored by the Capital District Counseling Association. 11th and 12th grade students had the opportunity to speak with admissions counselors from various two and four year universities across the region. Prior to the event, school counselor Mrs. Evans and English teacher Mrs. Dickson co-taught a lesson to prepare students with questions to ask the college admissions representatives. It was a great opportunity for the kids to get started on the college application process, said Klafehn.
Athletic Coordinator Josh Noble said turnout for fall teams has been pretty good and their seasons are starting now.
He said he is continuing to talk with Josh Weaver at Berlin about the details of how the new merged teams will be handled. He said he thought volleyball would mainly take place on the New Lebanon campus, and probably wear New Lebanon uniforms for the time being. The first wrestling meet will take place at New Lebanon, which he said is great for developing interest in the sport among the younger students. New Lebanon has few students on the wrestling team, and Noble hopes to drum up more interest in the team. He said work remains to be done on details of the track and volleyball mergers, but the coaches are looking forward to working with the merged teams.
Noble said he attended a conference with other Athletic Directors, and he said mergers were a big topic of conversation, as many schools are having trouble keeping all of their team rosters full. “JV teams are disappearing at many schools,” said Noble.
Noble said there was an action item at this Board meeting to excess quite a few uniforms. He said all of the uniforms being excessed have been replaced by new uniforms through a regular schedule of uniform replacement, except the cheerleading uniforms, which are not being used. “They’re pretty old,” he said. Noble said since he has been working at New Lebanon, no students have expressed to him any interest in cheerleading.
Superintendent’s Report
Superintendent Leslie Whitcomb spoke to the Board about staffing implications of the enrollment growth that Mr. Kourt spoke about earlier in the meeting. Some of the grades are approaching numbers that raise the question of whether there should be two sections or one. She said the second grade has had an influx of students so it is now 37 students. She told the Board she will be looking at the new numbers and asking for their opinion on where additional teachers might be needed because class sizes are getting larger than usual. She mentioned that one of the school’s technology teachers has resigned, and will not need to be replaced, so that might create space to add an elementary teacher to keep class sizes down at the Elementary School
Whitman said she is not making any specific proposal at this time, but she is looking at the issue and would like input from Board members on it.