by Alex Brooks
At the Hoosick Falls School Board November meeting District Superintendent Ken Facin discussed the 2009-2010 School Report Card for the District.
The District as a whole is in good standing, but there were two areas of concern, English test results for students with disabilities in elementary and middle school and the graduation rate. In all areas except these two the District exceeded the performance objectives by large margins.
Facin said this data, although it has just come out from the State Education Department, is actually rather old data. The graduation rate data is for the 2005 cohort, which means it relates to the class which was in ninth grade in the 2005-2006 school year, most of whom graduated in 2009. This class was already halfway through their high school careers when the current Superintendent was hired in the summer of 2007. This class had a 74% graduation rate. The target for adequate yearly progress was 80%.
Facin pointed out that students who get their GED after dropping out and students with disabilities who successfully earn an IEP diploma are both considered non-completers when this data is compiled, which he feels is not fair to the students involved or to the District. The Hoosick Falls District has made a big effort to reach out to students who had dropped out to help them get their GED, and they have been quite successful with this program. But this does not help HFCS at all when the graduation rate is computed.
Facin said the 2006 cohort, which will be the subject of the School Report Card graduation rate data next year, has an 83% graduation rate. If GEDs were counted, it would be a 93% graduation rate.
The other area of concern was English Language testing of students with disabilities in the elementary school. Their test performance was reported as 139, falling just short of the performance objective, which is 145. Director of Special Education Kristin Philpott said an intervention plan had been formulated to provide extra help (or in school administrator language, “AIS services”) for those students with disabilities who are struggling to keep up.
Bus Washing
The Board established a new part time position for a school bus washer, to wash buses on an on-call, as-needed basis at a rate of $9.50 per hour. Facin said the idea is to extend the useful life of the school buses by washing the mud and road salt off them more frequently. The District’s buses usually have to be retired not because the engine or drive train is worn out, but because of body rust causing them to fail state inspections.
New Clubs
The Board approved establishing two new clubs. The Camerata Club, with chorus teacher Ambigay Yudkoff as advisor, is for students who want to pursue vocal music as an extra-curricular activity. The Varsity Club, with Lisa Ferrannini as advisor, is for student run sports booster activities.
A Club Fair was held at the school this week to make students aware of the growing variety of club offerings and to encourage students to get involved in extra-curricular activities. High School Principal Stacy Vadney said research has shown that students who are involved in extra-curricular activities do better academically than those who are not.
Other Action
• After a presentation from History teacher Chris Farley the Board approved a trip to Gettysburg for seventh and eighth grade history students for May 30 and 31 of 2011.
• The Board accepted a donation of $600 from the HFCS PTA for elementary school art supplies for the extra-curricular art club led by Mr. Millman.
• The Board approved the budget development calendar. Building and Department budgets are to be submitted by early January; the first draft of the budget is to be presented at the February meeting, and the final draft is to be ready for adoption by April 14. A budget hearing will be held May 5, and the vote will be held on May 17.