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Schools Confront The Cost Of Language
PBSD Caught In The Middle For Funding Options

PINE BUSH – New superintendent Tim Mains gave a presentation on what might be done to challenge Pine Bush students in their senior year, given how many achieve most of their necessary credits to graduate before then. He highlighted the 32 varieties of opportunity available to students, from AP to college credit courses, discussed the Excelsior Academy program, and then balanced this information with the fact that 117 current seniors, more than a quarter of the class, have early dismissal/later arrival allowances. Should PBSD raise its requirement to 24 credits for graduation, as some other schools have done?

Following Mains, Donna Geidel gave a presentation on the costs of increasing foreign language offerings by laying out four options: reinstating grade 7 Spanish at an initial cost of $368,429; adding a second foreign language, most likely French, at the same grade level for an initial cost of $206,983; adding French in Grade 9 for $96,716; or introducing Spanish at the elementary level for $432,877. Geidel added that such costs would rise as salaries and contractual increases came into effect.

Discussion varied between board member Dori Johnson's suggestion of holding off on elementary school implementation while expanding language education elsewhere, to mention of the failure of Mandarin Chinese classes at nearby school districts where students found it too difficult.

Next up, assistant superintendent for business Mike Pacella updated the board on the budget, noting that the increase in state aid without the increase in building aid was limited to just 0.72 percent of the budget. After adjustments such as a 20 percent increase in health insurance rates, teacher retirements, software upgrades and other items, the district was currently facing a $430,927 shortfall on an overall budget of $113,987,930.

Pacella added that any increases in language offerings would increase such a shortfall, and such a gap could only be closed with fund balance money. The state demands that school districts keep no more than 4% of their budgets in fund balance for emergencies. A proposed budget will be presented on March 2, before final state figures have been finalized.

Mains said he couldn't recommend any of the language options because of the fund balance situation. Johnson wondered how the district could offer more languages, noting that many have asked for it. Mains replied that as a district, Pine Bush wasn't poor enough to get more state aid and not rich enough to just raise taxes for what it wanted.

Taking a completely different tack, board member Matt Watkins wondered how the district would cope with losing litigation against Utica State insurance, which it is suing and being countersued by in regards to the lawsuit settlement of several years ago involving anti-Semitic charges. Pacella said it was a wait and see what happens situation while Watkins noted that the $4.48 million at stake would be hard to find.

A final note came from 17 year old Caroline Zink, who had written to members of the board disagreeing with their decision not to vote on a resolution opposing the appointment of Betsy DeVos as Education Secretary. She had been angered by the response she'd received from board president Lloyd Greer, which she characterized as disrespectful and insulting. Zink will be attending NYU this fall and has a 101.3 grade average.



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