by Alex Brooks
At its regular March Board of Education Meeting, the Hoosick Falls School District rolled out the second draft of its proposed budget for next year.
[private]The tax levy increase is less than half what it was in the first draft, and Superintendent Ken Facin said he was very confident that the levy can be brought down to the tax cap or below by the time the next draft comes out.
The District has cut the cost of proposed additions to its program in half, from just under $600,000 in the first draft to just under $300,000 in the latest draft. The cost of adding vocational training at the Vermont Career Development center was cut in half. Facin said that was because the program will not be offered to Seniors. The District also decided to forgo one teacher assistant and one full-time maintenance person that were in the first draft, and also to forgo the purchase of a floor scrubber that would have cost $12,000. They also have two retiring teachers, which will decrease overall salaries by $53,377
Health insurance premiums and “State and Federal Mandates” were also significantly reduced since the first draft.
The remaining piece of the puzzle is what State Aid for operating expenses will be after the State budget is passed. Facin said the news is that the legislature is proposing to add $1.2 billion more statewide in operating aid, which he feels bodes well for bringing the Hoosick Falls budget down to a point where the tax levy is below the cap. The tax cap for Hoosick Falls for this year is a 1.1% increase.
Most of the meeting was taken up with budget presentations from various departments. Covered during this meeting were BOCES, Athletics, Technology, Buildings and Grounds, and Transportation.
Towards the end of the meeting, Facin did express some concern about what might happen with Federal aid to education, known as “Title 1.” The Hoosick Falls District get $400K to $500K per year in Title 1 funds, and all of it goes to pay teacher salaries. He said over the last eight years Obama has kept that program pretty steady and predictable.
Facin said he has been reading about plans to use Federal education aid to promote school choice, which may take it away from where it is now. Board member Rachel Boisvert asked how many teachers would be lost if Title 1 funds to the Hoosick Falls District were cut in half. The answer was three reading teachers would be lost. Facin said, “That would be 60% of our reading department.”
The District doesn’t get Title 1 grant awards until July, so the budget will be already adopted by the time the District finds out where they stand with Title 1 money.
Panther TV
Near the beginning of the meeting, Brian Bushner and some of his Panther TV crew made a presentation to the Board about what’s happening with Panther TV. There are about two dozen students involved, and the ones who were present said they are having a blast making Panther TV shows. Some are learning technical skills working on video, audio, and editing, while some are developing their “on-air personalities.” All seemed to be surprising themselves with their new-found abilities. The presentation of course included a special video they had made for the School Board. They also commented that it made announcement time much more interesting than just having someone talking over the school PA system.
The Board was very impressed with their presentation. Superintendent Facin said, “This is an outstanding addition to our program. It gives students a voice.” He spoke of the ways in which the students have enhanced their confidence and competence through Panther TV activities. [/private]