Board Discusses Proposed Capital Project; Hires New Teachers
by Alex Brooks
The Hoosick Falls School Board held a workshop session on July 27 to discuss the Capital Project which will be put to a vote in October, seeking the approval of the residents of the District. Since the content and size of the proposed Capital Project was settled by a vote of the School Board a month ago, this meeting was focused on getting the word out to the public about what’s in it, why it is needed, and what it will mean for school budgets and the tax levy.
The total amount of the proposed Capital Project is $19,755,973, of which $1,089,000 will be paid by a grant from the Smart Schools Bond Act, so the amount to be raised by the School District is $18,666,973.
Superintendent Ken Facin said there are a number of reasons why now is a good time for the District to take on a Capital Project. Payments on two previous capital projects are coming to an end, which creates room in the budget for the new capital project. The District has reserves in its Debt Service Fund and Capital Building Reserve of almost $3.4 million which can offset the cost of the project. Interest rates are currently low, and expected to rise in the future. The District is in a phase where it has a relatively young faculty, with the corresponding lower cost structure. Over time, as these teachers become more experienced and progress to higher steps, the District’s cost structure will rise. And finally, he focused on the urgency of the work which will be done in the Capital Project – bathrooms that haven’t been renovated since the building was built in 1961, science facilities that need to be updated, technology improvements needed for 21st century education, badly needed upgrades to the heating system, and safety items. He said overall it is a need to “invest in our kids,” and he felt the community will understand that.
Business Manager Pam Hatfield then presented in detail what the impact of the project would be on the District’s finances. She noted that there are currently two capital projects being paid off, and the District pays a total of about $300,000 in debt service annually on them. The last payment on the 1999 project will be paid this year, and the last payment on the 2007 project will be paid in the 2022-2023 school year. The first payment on the new project will be in the 2021-22 school year, so it will overlap with the 2007 project for 2 years.
Debt Service on the new project will be more than what is currently being paid for the two previous projects. estimates of annual debt service are in the neighborhood of $390,000 annually, but that will be offset using the debt service reserve, so the impact to taxpayers will be less than that. Hatfield said the impact to the taxpayers will be a budgetary increase of $22,000 each year for 15 years. This is less than a quarter of one percent of the annual tax levy.
After the financial presentation, the Board discussed ways to get information about the Capital Project out to the public. In addition to getting good information to the community, all the Board members agreed that the key to a successful vote is to get a good turnout of voters, and they discussed ways of encouraging voters to vote.
The Board also approved a resignation and a bunch of new hires. Special education teacher Alexis Hoffman resigned to take a job in another District. Heather Burdo was hired as Community Information Officer, replacing Brian Bushner, and Amy Sutton was hired as Teacher of Special Education, replacing Melodee James. Maurica Manning was hired as Teacher of Special Education, and she was also appointed as coach of the girls modified soccer team. Florence Thompson and Kirsten Lamphere were also hired as Elementary School teachers, and Jodi Hogsberg and Jessica Muzio-Coon were hired as Reading teachers.
Superintendent Ken Facin noted that Hoosick Falls occasionally loses teachers because of the salary differential between rural schools like Hoosick Falls and the big suburban schools, but on the other hand, he said, Hoosick Falls is getting very good applicants because the District has a good reputation in the Capital District education community.