by Alex Brooks
At the Hoosick Falls School Board meeting on September 18 School District Superintendent Ken Facin talked about the College Completion Project that he has initiated at Hoosick Falls.
He said many students don’t even start thinking about college until they are a junior or senior in the high school, which he said is “way too late.” He said, “We want to expose students at an early age” to the possibilities for higher education so that an awareness of and aspiration to higher education can help them prepare themselves to be successful getting into college and in their studies once they get there.
[private]Facin said he is defining higher education broadly as any post secondary education that will lead to certification and careers, including technical schools and programs for learning a trade.
Facin said he has been talking to many people and thinking about how to design this program for several years, and now he is able to implement it because State Senator Kathy Marchione has found funding for it. Facin said it will be funded at $25,000 per year for five years as a special grant of additional State aid earmarked for this program. At this month’s School Board meeting, the Board approved hiring Jane King as the College Completion Project Coordinator for a one year period at a salary of $10,000.
Elements of the program will be implemented at every level in the school, starting from the youngest grades. Facin called it “a real team effort,” because it involves teachers and staff throughout the schools.
State Senator Kathy Marchione visited the schools in Hoosick Falls on Thursday, September 18, to learn more about the College Completion Project that she has helped to launch. She met with the administration at the school and also visited Sarah Bushey’s first grade class and read a career book to them. Facin reported that the first-graders enjoyed the Senator’s visit, and one asked him if they could have another Senator visit tomorrow. He replied that he’s “working on that.”
Mentors For Graduates
Another thing that Facin is working on is developing a mentor program for graduates of Hoosick Falls Central School who are in college. He said many students in college, especially if they are the first one in their family to go to college, have difficulties and don’t know where to turn. Having someone to talk to who is familiar with the college environment can help them to get back on track. He said he has been discussing this with John Liporace, who has been engaged in mentoring programs for Hoosick Falls students through his JLS Foundation, and Dr. Todd Wysocki, who is an Associate Professor of Psychology at HVCC and a Board Member of the JLS Foundation. Both Wysocki and Liporace are graduates of Hoosick Falls Central School and are eager to help others coming out of the school succeed as they have.
School Board Vice-President Rick Ferrannini asked Facin if he has developed programs to help parents learn about options in higher education and especially about the costs of it. He suggested online and off-site programs of information for parents who haven’t in the past come to the school to see some of the existing information programs for parents. Facin said Ferrannini’s point is well taken – it’s critically important to reach out to the parents as well as the students to improve the numbers of students who go to college and who are able to be successful in college.
Facin said the college completion rate is about 38% at the SUNY colleges and lower than that at HVCC. He hopes to graduate students who complete college at a higher rate than that.
Energy Projects
Superintendent Facin said the pellet boiler project is moving forward. The boiler is being made in Troy and will be ready for installation soon. The pellet boiler will be installed in time to be used for heating this winter. Facin said the District will begin to realize savings in its heating costs starting in November this year. He said the District is working with its neighbor, Jeff Wysocki, to develop a major solar electricity project designed to generate 1.05 megawatts, or 110% of the District’s current electricity usage, which will lower the District’s electricity bill.
Capital Project
Superintendent Facin said he is working to finalize the elements of a Capital Project, hoping to go to the voters in December with the project. The Board will hold a Workshop meeting on the Capital Project on Tuesday, September 30, at 6 pm in the High School Library to go over details of the project. Some of the projects expected to be included are safety and energy efficiency items, replacement of bathrooms, which are original to the building, from 1961, and technology upgrades to improve the District’s connectivity and digital communications capabilities.
Paperless School Board
School District Clerk Pam Cottrell showed one of the Chromebooks which each Board member will be getting soon so that the Board packets can be distributed electronically instead of on paper. The District’s go-to administrator for tech issues, Pat Dailey, will be working with the Board to show them how the system works and smooth the transition.
Student Achievement Goals
The Board passed a set of goals for student results in the 2014-15 school year. These include a 90% graduation rate and a 90% Regents diploma rate with 50% earning advanced Regents Diplomas. The goals for Regents exams is a 90% passing rate and 40% mastery rate on all Regents exams.
The goals for grades 3-8 testing in ELA and Math were more complicated, setting very specific proficiency rates for Math and ELA in each grade, ranging from about 31% to about 55%. While these goals look a bit low at first glance, the method for arriving at them was explained in detail by the District’s Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment, Patrick Dailey.
He showed slides of student test results for the 2013-14 year, received only a few weeks ago. The students are given a numerical grade from 1 to 4. A 3 means the student had demonstrated proficiency, and a 4 means they have shown mastery of the material. But the data has a greater level of detail in it. Within each numerical grade, it can report low, medium or high. So there are actually 12 levels of achievement, 3 within each of the four numerical grades. Dailey said he believes an effective teacher can bring a student up one of those twelve levels each year. A student who was a low 2 last year can become a medium 2 this year, and a student who was a high 2 last year can become a low 3 this year. So to set his goals for the upcoming year, Dailey took last year’s data and projected that each student moved up one level and set his goals to reflect the changes that would result if that happened.
In reference to the test results from 2013-14, Ken Facin said, “These are not good results.” Although the low scores have to do with the recent implementation of the Common Core and the testing regime that went with them, Facin does not seek to evade responsibility for them. “I own these results,” said Facin, and he went on to express his determination to lead the teachers and the District to better scores on these tests in grades 3-8.
Paul Baker Appointment
Paul Baker has passed the Rensselaer County Civil Service Test, and, in recognition, the Board approved a change in his job title from Provisional Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds to Permanent Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds. There were many congratulations to Baker from members of the Board.
The next regular meeting of the Hoosick Falls BOE will be on Thursday, October 16, at 7 pm in the High School Library.[/private]