Plans Return To In-Person Learning
By Alex Brooks
As this paper goes to press, the Hoosick Falls School District is still planning to resume in-person teaching on Monday, January 4, using the hybrid model it used from the beginning of the school year until it had to switch to all remote learning in response to rising numbers of COVID cases in December. Superintendent Pat Dailey said, “We have very few positive cases remaining on quarantine in the building, all of which will be released by this weekend,” although he said a few staff members and students remain quarantined due to contact. However, Dailey warned, “The number of positive cases in Rensselaer County has not abated and continues to rise. A post-holiday spike in cases could shut the building down again very quickly. Things can change in a matter of hours with COVID-19. This could all change tomorrow.”
Dailey spoke of efforts to ramp up local medical capacity. He said the District is working with BOCES, Twin Rivers Medical and SVMC to put in applications to set up local testing facilities called Limited Service Laboratories (LSL). He said the District has taken over contact tracing for COVID cases connected to the school from the County Health Department, because staff at the school know the local community so much better, they are able to do contract tracing more effectively.
Dailey said at the December 17 Board meeting that he has received no start date for Wrestling, Basketball, or Competitive Cheer, and with the way things are going, these sports may get going late or not at all this year. He said that Bowling was scheduled to start January 4, so unless something takes a turn for the worse, there will be a bowling season.
School Finances
Dailey said the New York State budget “is in a strange place.” He said the District is being informed that the Governor does not plan to submit a budget until March, apparently because he hopes that the Federal Government will enact some aid to the states by that time, and budget adjustments in response to the State’s massive deficit will not have to be as drastic. The result is that the School District, which normally formulates at about this time the first draft of its budget for next year, has no information at all about state aid for next year.
Meanwhile, some significant doubt remains about state aid for this year. School Business Administrator Emily Sanders said the State is officially holding on to the idea of a 20% emergency reduction in aid for the current fiscal year, but they might relent on that too if new aid comes in from the Federal Government. Sanders said the District is about $80,000 short on state aid so far this year, but it is still treating that as a receivable until more information is forthcoming. She said the really big state aid payment (about $9 million) comes in March. She believes the State does not currently have that money. If 20% of that is withheld, it would be a big hit to the District.
Facilities
John Helft said the contractors are tuning and checking out the new boilers now that the heating season has arrived. Boiler #1 is running great, but boiler #2 has some issues they are still working on. Indications are that the new boilers are using a lot less fuel than the old ones. Figures aren’t in yet on what the savings might be, but Helft speculated that the savings might be as high as 50%.
In other School District news
• The Board accepted, “with deep regret,” the resignation for retirement purposes of long-time school bus driver Janet Davendonis. Dailey talked about how deeply the District appreciates the service of Davendonis, and he talked about the significant role played by bus drivers in the life of the school. But Davendonis signed up as a substitute bus driver, so she may occasionally still be seen behind the wheel of an HFCS bus.
• The Board approved the appointment of two substitute nurses, Therena Davendonis and Heidi Bossoni. Dailey said with all the COVID issues facing the school, the nursing staff needs additional support.
• Business Administrator Sanders said the District had an excellent tax collection season even though there were no in-person collection locations, and 100% of the taxes had to be collected by mail. The District has collected 90.7% of the taxes, which she said is the most the District has ever collected. She thanked the community for this excellent response.