by Alex Brooks
The Hoosick Falls School Board voted unanimously at its January meeting last week to purchase cameras for all the District’s school buses. The cameras will record both video and audio, which will allow the District to review and evaluate any incidents that happen on its school buses. [private]The cost is not to exceed $30,000. School Superintendent Ken Facin said this expense is eligible for State aid. The State will reimburse the District for 81% of the cost, so the net cost to the District will be less than $6,000.
Facin told the Board and the assembled citizens at the January 15 meeting that the school bus drivers “treat their bus like a classroom,” and are trained in student safety and in how to handle disciplinary matters on their buses.
Facin said he has received a lot of comments and complaints since an incident on one of the District’s buses last month which resulted in the suspension of the driver pending an investigation. He assured the public that he has read all of those comments and shared them with the School Board and the administration. One of the big concerns coming out of this incident was about bullying in the Hoosick Falls District. Facin gave a presentation about the District’s efforts in this area.
He defined bullying as purposeful and repeated acts of meanness where there is an imbalance of power. He said all teachers and staff are charged with maintaining a respectful climate at all times on all school facilities and any incident which breaches that respectful climate is expected to be reported to the administration, which is pledged to actively address any incidents reported.
A 2012 State Law called the Dignity For All Students Act (DASA) mandated a proactive approach to prevention of bullying, and it has been energetically implemented in the Hoosick Falls District over the past two years. In September 2012 there were presentations to students, parents and staff on DASA requirements to make everyone aware of the no tolerance policy toward bullying. There is yearly training for all staff and monthly meetings of the DASA Committee. Facin said because of the District’s proactive stance, the numbers of disciplinary referrals and DASA referrals are both falling from year to year.
Facin said he would like to improve communication with parents about behavioral issues, and he is actively seeking parents who would like to be members of a parent communication committee. He said he was disappointed when the District tried to do a survey of students about bullying issues and received permission from only 10% of the parents. The District cannot survey its students without parent permission, and the result in this case was that the District couldn’t do the survey because the statistical sample would have been too small.
Retiring Teachers
The School Board accepted, with deep regret, resignations for the purpose of retirement from Special Education teacher Michael Fritz, Elementary School teacher Mary (Terri) Burdick, Technology teacher Roy Nielsen, English teacher Lia Nielsen, Spanish teacher Kathleen Crannell, Special Education teacher Sheryl Rifenburg, Science teacher Bruce Bailey and teaching assistant Margaret Lemire, all effective at the end of the current school year. A reception honoring these retirees for their service to the District will be held at the May School Board meeting.
Pellet Boiler To Be Delivered
The District’s new pellet boiler, which was fabricated at a facility in Troy, will be delivered this week and is expected to be operational by the middle of February. The fabrication and installation of the boiler has gone a little slower than expected, but District officials are very excited to have the new heating system up and running soon.
Impressive Graduation Results
Pat Dailey, Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment, showed a slide about the 2014 graduation data released by the State Education Department on December 18. Based on graduation rates and the percentage of students receiving advanced Regents diplomas, the Hoosick Falls District ranked 9th among the 84 districts in the 11 county Capital District area.
Interim Principal
At its December 18 meeting, the Board approved maternity leave for High School Principal Stacy Vadney from on or about March 1 through June 30, 2015, and approved hiring Gregory Chase as Interim High School Principal during Vadney’s leave. He will begin on or around February 25.
Chase is familiar with the Hoosick Falls District, having served here as an interim School Counselor in the fall of 2013.
He has served in a number of administrative positions during the 23 years that he worked for the Ravena Coeymans Selkirk School District from 1987 through 2010.[/private]