HFCS Budget Hearing

by Alex Brooks
The Hoosick Falls School Board held its Public hearing on the proposed budget for the 2010-11 school year. The meeting was Thursday, May 6, and it was sparsely attended. In addition to the School Board and administration, there were two citizens, two students and one school Board candidate, Rick Ferrannini, present.
The budget proposes a reduction in expenditures of about $23,000 and anticipates no increase in the local tax levy. Because of an anticipated cut in state aid of $484,627, the District will cut staff in the upcoming year in order to avoid any increase in the tax levy. Seven teaching positions and ten Teaching Assistant positions will be abolished, but Superintendent Ken Facin said that the District will be able to continue improving student results and maintain its current diversity of offerings in the high school in advanced courses and electives, and maintain class sizes and AIS services in the elementary school.
All the details of the budget, as well as the School Report card, are available on the District web site at hoosickfallscsd.org.
In addition to the vote on the budget, there are other items on the ballot for the May 18 vote. Three Board seats are up for election – those of Bridget Foster, Don Skott and Dwain Wilwol. Foster is not running for re-election, but Skott and Wilwol are. There are two other candidates as well, Greg Laurin and Rick Ferrannini. Three of the four candidates will win seats in this vote.
There is also a bus purchase proposition, asking voters to approve purchase of two 60-passenger buses at a cost of $189,500. Approval of this purchase will have no impact to District taxpayers because 85% of the cost will be paid by State aid and the remainder from an existing bus reserve fund. These buses will replace two buses, a 1997 with 100,000 miles on it, and a 1999 bus with 118,000 miles on it. These buses have rust damage which makes it difficult to pass inspections.
There is also a proposition asking voters to approve establishment of a capital reserve fund. The current reserve fund is expiring, and the District must get approval from the voters to establish a new one. The proposition does not call for immediately putting anything in the fund – that decision would be made from time to time when funds are available.
Student Results
District Superintendent Ken Facin gave a detailed presentation on the results from student testing over the last three years, and the news was generally quite good.
Students in grades 3-8 made excellent progress in math over the last 3 years. The percentage of students achieving proficiency went up from 63% to 88%, and the percentage achieving mastery went from 8% to 19%. Results in ELA were also up, but less dramatically. The percentage achieving proficiency went from 63% to 82% and those achieving mastery went from 4% to 5%.
Student results in grades 4-8 science testing also had solid gains over the last three years, but results in grades 5-8 Social Studies were stable but not improving.
Facin said what these results show is that the continuing weakness in this group is reading skills, and this is an area he intends to focus on next year and thereafter.
He then went on to results from Regents testing in the High School. Results in English were outstanding in 08-09, with 97% achieving proficiency and 63% mastery. Earth Science and Chemistry results were also very strong. Facin said, “We’re right where we want to be in this area. We have a very strong science department.”
In U.S. History and Government, 91% achieved proficiency and 45% achieved mastery. Facin said the Board goal is 90% proficiency and 40% mastery, so the District achieved its goal in this area. In Global History and Math B, the District did not achieve its goals. In Spanish 98% achieved proficiency and 38% achieved mastery. Facin said, “These results are excellent; our challenge in this area is to do this with more students.”
The last statistic Facin discussed was the graduation rate, which has stayed stubbornly at 81-82% over the last three years. The Board goal is a 90% graduation rate. The state average is a surprisingly low 55%.
Facin said the District has made a big effort to get those who had dropped out into GED programs so they can have a diploma to get their career started with, but he noted that even if they succeed and these students get their GED, they still count as non-graduates. He said if they could count GEDs as graduates, the rate would be over 90%. Nevertheless, he said the graduation rate “is the biggest challenge we face in this school.”
Facin concluded by saying, “We have some good news here, but we have a lot to do.” He seemed confident that the District can continue to improve its results despite the tough economic times and the staff cuts that had to be made.