Transportation Committee: Single Bus Run Not Feasible
by Alex Brooks
At the November 15 Hoosick Falls School Board meeting, HFCS Business Administrator Emily Sanders presented the findings of the Transportation Committee, which was tasked with studying the feasibility of transporting all of the students K-12 in one bus run. The idea is that a single bus run has the potential to improve the school schedule and save money by driving less miles and using less bus driver time.
The committee included most of the bus drivers, several parents and teachers, Sanders, and Board member Andy Beaty. It met twice, on October 10 and October 24. Its conclusion was that it would not be practical to transport all of the K-12 students in one run. Sanders said they found that to do so they would need 6 more buses, and that many buses would exceed the capacity of the school parking lot and the bus garage. So the bus runs will remain as they are now.
A committee formed to respond to the dress code concerns brought to the Board last month by a group of senior girls made a recommendation for some changes to the student handbook concerning female dress codes. These had to do with spaghetti straps, “bralettes” and “off the shoulder” styles. Several of the men on the Board seemed to be puzzled by this terminology and unsure what they were agreeing to, but the revisions were approved anyway. High School Principal Pat Dailey summed it up by saying the administration had agreed to two and a half of the girls’ suggested changes.
Superintendent’s Report
Superintendent Facin said he has been talking with people from the Tamarac School District about ways the two Districts might be able to collaborate. This might include combined sports teams, or academic collaboration on electives or specialty subjects in which one or the other District might have a unique capability. He said the discussions are still in the exploratory stages, and he has no specific proposals yet, but he wanted to let the Board know that such discussions are happening.
Facin also said he is talking with Hudson Valley Community College about establishing a satellite campus at the Hoosick Falls CSD. He is proposing to make space in the HFCS building available to HVCC without charge in order to make HVCC classes and programming more accessible to the local community. The programs to be offered by HVCC might be grant funded, and would probably be focused on workforce training, teaching skill sets needed in various local industries so that the training might lead directly to employment. He cited as examples classes to train solar photovoltaic technicians, or working with Southern Vermont Health Care to train nurses, or classes to learn about operation and maintenance of heavy equipment.
Facin said such courses would not offer academic credit, but would be aimed at employment opportunities available in the area, and might be offered to adults in the local community as well as high school students and those studying for a GED. He said he has not yet worked out any specific proposals, but he is interested in fast-tracking this initiative if possible, so that some of these classes could be offered in the spring semester this year.