by Alex Brooks
The Hoosick Falls Central School Budget for the 2011-12 school year passed by a vote of 503 to 256. The bus purchase proposition passed by a vote of 500 to 254. Dave Sutton was re-elected to a 3 year term on the School Board with 587 votes. John Helft was re-elected to a 3 year term with 565 votes, and Greg Laurin was elected to a one year term with 499 votes.
Superintendent Ken Facin thanked the community for the strong positive vote and said it would allow the District to continue to improve student results. He said he knew it was a great sacrifice for the community to allow the District to go forward with a 2½% increase in the tax levy and he appreciates their solid support
for education.
There was much jubilation among the Board members at the results of the voting. Board President David Sutton could be heard singing as he walked back down the hall to the meeting room after the voting results were announced.
At this meeting the Board made presentations to seven retiring teachers and staff and gave tenure to 16 teachers and a Principal. Superintendent Facin described the contributions of each of the retirees, painting a warm and engaging portrait of each of them. The retirees were fourth grade teacher Dale Ninivaggi, reading teacher Deb Tudor, math teacher Sally Stetson, bus driver John Hickey, teaching assistant Cathy Denerley, cafeteria worker Lois King and cook Mary Waytkus. Each was given a corsage with a red rose.
Tenure was granted to reading teachers Denise Bardin, Jennifer Barron and Kerry Branigan, elementary school teachers Andrea Bearor, Kelli Donohue, Ann Marie Glover and Jonathan Laurin, social studies teacher Sara Bender, English teacher Lynda Bilow Huba, math teacher William Clairmont, technology teacher Eamonn DeGraaf, business teacher Leah Jachym, science teacher Darlene Kehn, art teacher Jonathan Millman, physical education teacher Landon Nelson, special education teacher Timothy Stockton and Elementary School Principal Patrick Dailey.
A small reception was held in honor of the retiring teachers and staff and the newly tenured teachers
Surveillance Cameras
The Board approved the purchase and installation of surveillance cameras to be installed throughout the campus. There were three bidders that offered to do the job. The lowest was from Monument Electric for $32,000. Sixteen more cameras will be installed at the school and three at the bus garage. Two-thirds of the cost will be the final item of the Capital Project, and the other third will be paid from the transportation budget. Both will be eligible for partial reimbursement from State aid.
Facin said the District will now have the ability to monitor the entire campus when the new cameras are installed and the purpose of the surveillance is to enhance health and safety.
Lunch Price
Business Manager Pam Hatfield said the lunch price will have to increase next year to $2.25 because the school is not allowed to charge less to people who are paying for their own lunch than the State pays the school for the free lunches. Facin said, “We did not want to raise the price, but we are required to.”
Presentations
The first presentation was about the elementary school mentoring program implemented by the Shared Decision Making Team. They recruited about a dozen students in fifth through eighth grades willing to serve as mentors. Some worked with a class of younger students, and some worked one on one with a particular “mentee” who was having academic or social problems.
They then did a survey of the participants to see how the program worked and found that it helped the students with their self-esteem, getting their work done and staying out of trouble. Two of the students who served as mentors – sixth-grader Dylan Granger and eighth-grader Shayne Richard – spoke to the Board about their experiences and did so with great aplomb.
Art teacher Jonathan Millman described the trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City that he is planning with his art students.
Jennifer McDonald and Kuan Chan presented an academic trip to China for high school students that they propose for next April. The trip would last nine days, visiting Beijing, Xi’an and Shanghai. It would be led by a tour leader from EF tours, which makes all the arrangements, and Kuan would be along to help lead because he knows the three cities and speaks Chinese. The cost would be $2,700 per student, and the students would have some opportunities to do fund-raising to defray some of the cost. The trip can accommodate up to 50 students, and it would be open to all students in grades 9-12. The Board voted unanimously to approve the trip.
