by Alex Brooks
The Hoosick Falls School District’s $17 million Capital Project failed to gain the approval of District voters and was voted down by a tally of 245 no votes to 216 yes votes.
When the Board returned to its meeting after hearing this news, Superintendent Ken Facin said, “Well, the community has spoken. We will need to go back and take another look at this project. But we have pressing infrastructure issues that need to be addressed.”
[private]School Board President Greg Laurin said, “We can’t just say there will be no capital project. There are things that absolutely have to be done.” Both Laurin and Facin noted that ceiling tiles that have asbestos in them will need to be removed whether there is a capital project or not. But if it is done as part of a capital project, the State pays 80% of the cost. If it is done from the general budget, it does not get this aid from the State.
Facin said he thinks the Board needs to “respect this vote” so he advised that putting the same project up for another vote would be unwise. He suggested that the Board scrutinize the project and find ways to lower the total cost.
There were already suggestions for how the total might be lowered.
Facin said that since the State’s “Smart Schools” bond has passed, the District may be able to pay as much as $1 million of the cost of technology upgrades with that funding instead of through the capital project.
Board Member John Helft pointed out that the current capital project plan assumed that all of the ceiling tiles will need to be replaced, but it may be that testing will show that some do not have asbestos in them and do not need to be replaced, which could significantly reduce the cost. An asbestos testing contractor has been hired and will be getting started on the work soon.
Superintendent Facin said the District may have to do less work on the bus garage in order to bring the overall cost down.
Facin recommended a meeting of the facilities committee as soon as possible and probably a Board Workshop in January to discuss what to do next. “We need to study this, talk to the public, prioritize and come up with a new proposal,” he said. “The public wants us to cut this down a bit. The number was too big. That’s what I’ve been hearing when I was presenting the project this past month.”
Budget Schedule
Earlier in the meeting, the Board approved a budget development calendar for the 2015-2016 District Budget. Starting now, the school’s staff and administration will be reviewing programs and expenses and meeting regularly to develop a draft budget. It will be presented to the public for the first time on February 12, and budget presentations and Board budget workshops will be held through March. The final budget is expected to be adopted at the April regular Board meeting on April 16, and the budget vote will be May 19.
Rules Change
The Board agreed to make a change to the Parent/Student handbook which would no longer bar students from school social events for poor academic performance. Facin said he has no intention of lowering the pressure on students to succeed academically, but he feels he does not need to bar kids from proms and social events to do it. He said, “We’ve created a culture of academic excellence,” and he does not think this change will threaten that.
Facin said he feels it is important to the students’ social and emotional development for them to attend these social events. “The eighth grade formal is a teachable moment,” he said.
Facin noted that behavioral and disciplinary issues can still bar students from school social events. He said High School Principal Stacy Vadney was an advocate for this change in the rules, and he had a lot of good conversations with her and with parents about it. He said that after the new rule has been in place for a year its effect can be assessed.
The Board passed the rule change by a 7-0 vote.
Foster To Eastern States Classic
The Board also approved an overnight trip for varsity wrestler Nolan Foster to an invitational wrestling tournament called the Eastern States Classic. He will be accompanied by wrestling coach Landon Nelson, and he will be competing against some of the top high school wrestlers in the country, according to Facin.[/private]