Capital Project On Budget After Bids Were Received
by Alex Brooks
HFCS Business Administrator Emily Sanders said the bids for this summer’s phase of the Capital Project were received last week and are now being reviewed by the District and its architects and engineers. This phase of the project includes asbestos removal in the boiler room and replacement of the boilers and hot water heating equipment.
Overall the bids are pretty much as expected. Superintendent Pat Dailey said taken together they add up to $30,000 less than the total sum budgeted for Phase 1 work by the District’s architects, so the Capital Project so far is on schedule and under budget. The District plans to accept bids at the February 13 Board of Education meeting.
Dailey said the asbestos abatement work will not begin until after the school year is finished and the students are no longer in the building.
Sanders said the District is continuing to work on plans and designs for the larger Phase II work which will take place in the summer of 2021. The architects expect to have those plans finished by June and submit them at that time to the State Education Department for approval.
Dailey said summer school will meet at the HFCS campus this summer, but will start a few weeks later than usual. For the summer of 2021, though, the District is looking for an alternative site for the summer school, as there will be construction happening all over the campus that summer.
Combined Teams Approved
Dailey said Section 2 has approved the sports team mergers with Tamarac that both Districts approved a month ago. The outdoor track team and the two lacrosse teams will be merged for this spring season, and the football teams will merge in the fall.
Dailey said these agreements are renewed year to year, so the commitment to the combined team is at this point just for a year. He said coaches and administrators are working out details such as which District’s code of conduct rules will be in effect, how uniforms will be handled, etc. Dailey said in general the rule is that when on the Hoosick Falls campus, Hoosick Falls rules apply, and at Tamarac, Tamarac rules apply. High School Principal Michael Hall said the process of comparing the two student handbooks and code of conduct rules will be a good thing, as they might pick up some good ideas by looking at the Tamarac policies.
John Jennings gave a mid-year report on the PATH program and the TASC (former known as GED) program, which are operating this year out of new quarters in the lower floor of the Youth Center. He said attendance is up this year compared to last year, disciplinary incidents are down compared to last year, and academic results are up compared to last year.
Jennings said he has introduced some on-line education elements. He said, “on-line was a struggle, but they’re getting there now. These kids are doing some really good work.” He said not every day is a good day, but, “the hope is there.”
The TASC program initially has four students. Two have passed the exam and will receive diplomas in the spring, and two are still in the program and will take the exam at the earliest opportunity. Three more have recently joined, so there are currently five in the program.
Raising Standards
Assistant High School Principal Nicole Mahoney said the High School is increasing academic rigor. Students will need to get the required credits to stay with their class and be promoted to the next grade. The rules concerning summer school are also more rigorous. Whereas formerly if a student failed a class but passed it in summer school they could get credit, now the final grade is composed 2/3 of the student’s grade during the regular school year and 1/3 of the student’s summer school grade. In other words, the summer school grade plus twice the regular school year grade divided by three must be above the passing grade. She gave an example of a student who got a 40 during the regular school year who would not be eligible for summer school because even if they got 100 during the summer school session it would not be enough to get a passing grade overall.
She said so far they have explained this new system to the 7th, 8th, and 10th grades, and they will be presenting it to grades 9 and 11 after the break.
The Board approved non-resident tuition rates, which are calculated by the NYS Education Department based on the District’s expenses. K-6 tuition will be $5,275, and grades 7-12 tuition will be $9,060. The K-6 tuition went down, and the 7-12 tuition went up since last year.
The Board held an executive session after the public meeting.