Quoted from benny salami

Instead of only closing 2 schools-consolidate the entire district. Why does Rotterdam need two separate school systems? One Rotterdam United School District. Imagine.

     The savings due to increased buying power and half the administration would be in the millions. Everyone talks a good game about consolidation but NIMBY. I want the school I went to 30 years ago to stay open come hell or high water. The house you save maybe your own.

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OSC School Tax Rate and Levy Data
Fiscal Year Ending 2007
Organized by School District Segment within Municipality  Municipality Levy Year Roll Year Equalization Rate
Used for Apportionment Sch. Tax Levy Sch. Tax Rate
Per $1000 AV
421500 City of Schenectady  
  Schenectady  2008 2007 68.00       47,752,898 32.43
422000 Town of Duanesburg  
  Amsterdam  2008 2007 28.25       23,349 62.80
  Duanesburg  2008 2008 26.21       6,395,561 52.86
  Schalmont  2008 2008 26.21       2,154,853       65.28
  Schoharie  2008 2008 26.21       207,270       62.31
422200 Town of Glenville  
  Amsterdam  2008 2007 90.00       281,166       19.71
  Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake  2008 2008 85.00       12,024,841       19.77
  Galway  2008 2008 85.00       12,368       14.35  
  Niskayuna  2008 2008 85.00       3,568,401       19.30
  Scotia-Glenville  2008 2008 85.00       24,468,477       20.20
422400 Town of Niskayuna  
  Niskayuna  2008 2008 100.00       35,991,533       16.80
  South Colonie  2008 2008 100.00       5,490,150       15.52
422600 Town of Princetown  
  Duanesburg  2008 2008 28.43       13,004       48.73
  Schalmont  2008 2008 28.43       3,693,409       61.52
422800 Town of Rotterdam  
  Rotterdam-Mohonasen  2008 2008 95.00       19,435,664       15.00
  Schalmont  2008 2008 95.00       21,021,636       19.15
  Schenectady  2008 2007 100.00       1,414,976       22.05

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Schalmont Central School District (#422801)
Municipal Code Municipality Rate Type of Rate and Status
013000
Town of Guilderland
79.09
Final 2009 State Equalization Rate
272600
Town of Florida
54.00
Final 2009 State Equalization Rate
422000
Town of Duanesburg
26.61
Final 2009 State Equalization Rate
422600
Town of Princetown
29.40
Final 2009 State Equalization Rate
422800
Town of Rotterdam
95.00
Final 2009 State Equalization Rate

Quoted from TippyCanoe

want people to show up mention

merit pay raises based on student performance for -  teachers and administrators

Quoted from Shadow

The union will oppose that type of thinking with every dollar they have because the union spends most of their time trying to get more money from the school district and defending teachers that should be fired. I agree that teachers should be judged on the results of state tests which their students attain regardless of time on the job.

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Decision to close
schools due tonight

    ROTTERDAM — The Schalmont Board of Education will decide tonight whether to close Woestina and Mariaville elementary schools.
    Both schools have about 100 students each and are recommended to be closed in light of rising costs and declining district enrollment. School officials have said they could save about $1.5 million with the closures.
    The meeting will take place at 7 p.m. in the high school auditorium.
    Under the proposal, students from both schools would go to Jefferson, which would become the district’s sole remaining elementary school. Jefferson would only go up to fourth grade and the fi fthgraders will be sent to the middle school/high school campus. Those students will continue to ride elementary bus and be in a separate program designed for fi fth-graders according to the resolution.
    In addition, the district will work with members of the Woestina Mariaville communities to find ways the buildings could be used following the closure. It also plans to establish a committee charged with determining whether sixth-grade students should con tinue to ride on the buses with the older students or with their younger peers and whether there should be a fi fth/sixth intermediate grade structure.
    This committee would report back in December with recom mendations for the 2012-13 school year.

Quoted from Kevin March

So, not only do they want to shuffle the kids around, pushing 5th graders up into the middle school, they're also planning on additional running for the busses, not only bringing the kids in from Rotterdam Junction and Mariaville, but they want the kids that are going to the middle school / high school campus to go there at 2 separate times, and make more running around right here in Rotterdam?  Gee, that's the idea behind saving.  If you're going to pick up kids to go to school, why not pick up and drop off all the kids that are at the same school at the same time?  If you want kids to go to the middle school, have them ride the middle school bus at the same time.

Quoted from TippyCanoe

in other communities in the state all students(k-12) ride the same damn bus  - driving cost down

beats walking to school uphill in the snow both ways

btw rotterdam used to have one school Draper!

Quoted from TippyCanoe

i saw an interesting ad on TV the other night

young teachers asking for pay and job guarantee for performence

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ROTTERDAM
2 elementary schools set to close Shutting Woestina, Mariaville to save $1.5M
BY MICHAEL GOOT Gazette Reporter

    Woestina and Mariaville elementary schools are shutting down at the end of the school year to save about $1.5 million.
    The Schalmont Board of Education on Monday unanimously voted to close both buildings, which was one of the recommendations from a consultant’s report on improving efficiency in the district.
    The district’s kindergarten through fourth-grade students will go to Jefferson Elementary School. Fifth-graders will be sent to the middle school/high school campus and will continue to ride on the elementary bus.
    Mariaville parents were especially disappointed in the decision. Carmella Cervera, whose children include a first-grade boy and a girl heading into kindergarten, worried about the safety of her daughter. “She’s 30 pounds. Put her on a school bus with fi fth-graders. I’m not quite sure how this is going to work.” She also believes the decision was pre-determined and the months of community roundtable discussions were pointless. “This wasn’t an open forum. This was a dictatorship.” Parent Noelle VanAlstyne-Rosa, who has a fourth-grader and 10thgrader, said she chose Mariaville because it was a small school.
    Jeanette Ray said the decision was unfair. Her child, who cries every morning when she gets on the bus, will now have to travel 45 minutes to school. She wished that somebody from the board would deliver the news personally to the affected students.
    “Make sure you let them know. They were a dollar sign — not a kid.”
    Other speakers questioned whether fifth-graders would be emotionally ready to be in the middle school environment, whether the district was taking into account future growth and how much is owed on bonds taken out to improve the buildings.
    A couple of speakers spoke in favor of the closure because it will prevent taxes from skyrocketing further.
    Board members were in agreement that it was a difficult but necessary decision in the wake of decreasing state aid and declining enrollment. The district is facing a $1.1 million reduction in state aid. Its enrollment has dropped by about 350 students to 1,900 and it has cut about 10 percent of its staff.
    “This is probably the toughest vote I’ll have to make in 16 years,” said Sandra Beloncik, whose children attended Woestina.
    “I think everyone is going to pull together and make this a workable option,” board member Greg Campoli said. ..........................>>>>.....................>>>>........................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r01101&AppName=1

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    A couple of speakers spoke in favor of the closure because it will prevent taxes from skyrocketing further.