Board Debates Response to Capital Project Defeat
In its meeting on November 16, the first one since the defeat of its proposed capital project, one of the most pressing topics for the Hoosick Falls School Board was to figure out what to do about the District’s aging building in the wake of the second rejection in a row by the voters of its renovation plans.
Board President Greg Laurin began the discussion by saying since two capital project proposals have been rejected in three years, the message from the voters seems to be that they don’t want the District to do a capital project, and his inclination would be to refrain from proposing any more capital projects in the short term. He said we have three million dollars saved up, and we can use that to deal with the most pressing immediate problems.
John Helft followed, saying he felt personally responsible for being unable to communicate how urgently this work needs to be done and how little the project will impact the school tax. He said if we give up on trying to get a capital project and just spend our own money on repairs when they become urgent, it’s going to cost the District’s taxpayers a lot more in the long run, because when it spends 5 dollars on repairs it gets nothing from the state. If the District spends 5 dollars as part of a capital project, it gets four dollars back from the state. “Why would we spend $100 dollars to get something done when we can pay $20 to get the same thing done if it’s part of a capital project?” He said because of this, he thinks the taxpayers will end up paying more in the long run if the District does not do a capital project.
Andy Beaty said, “We need to sharpen our pencils and cut down the size of this project a bit, and put it back out in the very near future.”
Joe Patire said “I don’t think people get it.” He noted that when the District held an open house on the capital project, no one showed up. When Mr. Laurin and Mr. Facin made themselves available to talk about the capital project and hear what people had to say about it, one or two people showed up. So when a lot of people show up to vote no, you wonder if they realize they are turning down $15 million of State money that would have been spent on our school.
Superintendent Ken Facin said the District has to do a better job of reaching out to all segments of the community. He said, “We can’t ignore 450 no votes – we need to talk to the people who voted no.” He suggested a “Community Facilities Committee” that would include some of the leaders in the community who opposed the project. “Let’s figure this out as a committee.”
Facin said, “We have failed this community and these students. We need to pick ourselves up and get back at it.” He said the School District cannot afford to renovate its building using only the dollars of local taxpayers. “If we do that, we are going to limp along until things start falling apart,” and the District will then be in a bad situation, facing emergency building problems. Facin vehemently insisted there is no extravagance in the work that the District wants to do. Replacing a 55 year old heating system and bathrooms of the same age is not only necessary but will result in significant energy savings. Replacing lighting fixtures pays for itself in energy savings over a fairly short time period. Modernizing science labs and communications infrastructure is essential to a quality education these days, and the safety items and asbestos removal that are also included in the project must get done sooner or later.
Board President Greg Laurin said he didn’t disagree with anything that Facin said, but he said, “To me it’s a problem of overcoming apathy.” He said with 1200 kids in the school, if just one person from each kid’s family came out to vote in favor of the project, it would pass easily.
Laurie Gormley said, “This community does have a history of not taking care of infrastructure.”
The Board’s Facilities Committee scheduled a meeting for Tuesday evening November 28 at 6:30 pm to discuss next steps. At the top of the agenda is doing some kind of outreach to people in the community who voted against the capital project proposal to get them to join a committee that will decide what to do next.
Board Members Not Running Again
Board President Greg Laurin said he does not plan to run for another term on the School Board when his current term runs out next June. He said he wanted to say that publicly ahead of time so that anyone who would like to run for the School Board next spring can make their plans. Laurie Gormley also announced that she will not be running for another term on the School Board, saying she is a new grandmother and she has some new commitments at work that are taking up more of her time.
A Plaque For Gerry Surdam
Superintendent Ken Facin said the Board has an honored guest at this meeting, who was Gerry Surdam.
A group of senior girls (athletes all) presented a plaque to him, that was from the entire coaching staff at HFCS and all of the school’s athletes, to thank him for taking sports pictures for so many years and sharing them widely with others in the community. The plaque thanked him for his dedication and his time serving as the school’s sports photographer, and for being a “dynamic, captivating, and passionate photographer.” Surdam has been taking pictures of HFCS sports and sharing them with coaches, athletes, parents and anyone else who wanted them for 15 years or more.
The Board accepted the resignation of English Teacher David Coffey, who has taken a job at the State Education Department (SED). Apparently SED asked him to start his new job immediately, and he had to leave his post at HFCS on short notice. Superintendent Ken Facin said it was a painful decision for Coffey to take the new job and leave his students at HFCS. Facin said, “We wish Mr. Coffey all the best.”
Linda Huba, who has been teaching Freshman English at HFCS since 2008, agreed to take Mr. Coffey’s 11th grade English class and his Communications Class, which carries HVCC college credit. Lauren Brown, who joined HFCS this year as a Teacher of Literacy, will take over teaching 9th grade English. Her old position as Teacher of Literacy will be abolished, and replaced with a new social studies course taught by Brian Bushner.
Bushner had to begin teaching the course on short notice. High School Principal Patrick Dailey said there was an existing curriculum ready to go, and because Bushner has a Masters in History, he knew the material and was able to get up to speed immediately.
In other news:
• The Board approved plans for the Senior Prom, which will be at the Hilton Garden Inn in Troy on March 10 from 6 to 10:30 pm, and also plans for the Senior Trip to a Mets game in New York City, which will be from Thursday May 31 through Friday June 1.
• The Board approved “Walk The Halls” community recreation access on Mondays and Thursdays from 6 to 8 pm from December 1 through April 30, except on days when school is not in session.
• At the conclusion of the meeting, the Board went into Executive Session to discuss Pending Litigation and Specific Personnel.
• The next meeting of the Board of Education will be Thursday, December 21 at 7 pm in the High School Library.