HFCS Reduces Budget

by Alex Brooks
The Hoosick Falls School Board adopted its proposed budget for 2010-11, and for the first time in recent memory it calls for less overall expenditures than the previous year. The budget is $20,744,112, which is about $23,000 less than this year.
The tax levy will remain exactly the same as last year despite an anticipated drop in State aid for operating expenses of $484,627.
To achieve this result, the District will be laying off a Reading teacher, a Home and Careers teacher and ten Teaching Assistants, as well as reducing staff through several retirements and resignations. Since last month, the District was able to add back into the budget funds for renewal of the contract with Rensselaer County for a Student Assistance Counselor because of an additional retirement.
As part of the budget presentation, Superintendent Ken Facin reviewed information in the District’s School Report Card. Overall, Hoosick Falls is classified as a “School District in Good Standing.” Facin noted that the District has seen improved Regents passing and mastery rates this year and improved results in the grades 3-8 Language Arts and Math assessments.
Also on the report card are figures comparing expenditures in this district compared to other similar districts. Hoosick Falls spent $7,722 per pupil on instructional expenditures, compared to a $9,104 average for other similar districts in the state. Total expenditures per pupil were $14,277 in Hoosick Falls, compared to $16,987 average in other similar districts in the state.
Facin said, “Although we have seen very nice gains in student results over the last three years, we still have much work to do to in order to see continued improvement.” He said he is aiming for a higher graduation rate and higher reading scores. “We will maintain our focus on reading in the elementary.” He said when the Elementary School is more successful teaching reading in the regular Language Arts classes, less remedial reading teachers are needed and both the students and the District’s bottom line benefit.
Facin said the rate of classification of Special Education students has dropped in the District over the past three years, from 15.6% to 13.9% to 12.5%, and is now the same as the state average. This gives the District less need for Teaching Assistants, who are mostly used in Special Education. Facin also noted that the student population has declined over the last three years, from 1,278 to 1,238. Enrollment in the lower grades suggests this will be a continuing trend, so staffing needs to be reduced accordingly.
Facin often talks about doing more with less, but he felt that a small concrete example would help people to see exactly what he means by this. The example he gave was that the District reduced staff by one hall monitor this year. To make up for this, he put the Assistant Principal’s office in the third floor hall, and, as a result, behavior in that hall has been better than before, even with one less hall monitor.
Facin also noted that the Federal stimulus money has been a huge factor in the District’s finances. Many of the technological improvements in the District with the computer labs and the Smart Boards, would not have been possible without that money, and Federal grants are a significant piece of the District’s revenue on a continuing basis. He estimated that without these grants, the tax levy would have to be 10% higher.
In addition to adopting the budget by a unanimous vote, the Board approved a Bus Purchase Proposition, which does not add to local property taxes but which must be approved by the District voters, and a proposition to establish a Capital Reserve fund. The Board also approved a Science Symposium field trip on an ocean research vessel in Buzzards Bay in Massachusetts. Eleven students from Environmental Science classes and the Earth Club will be taking part.
There will be a Public Hearing on the School Budget on Thursday, May 6, at 6 pm, and the vote on the budget will be held on May 18 from 9 am to 9 pm.