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Kinderhook schools consider drastic changes
Jan 05, 2011 6:59 am
[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="200" caption="The closing of Ichabod Crane's Martin Van Buren Elementary School, along with district consolidation with southern Rensselaer County school districts, is being discussed as a means of solving systemic budget problems in Kinderhook's education this month."]
[/caption]The Ichabod Crane Central School District in Kinderhook is in the midst of some major growth and budgeting pains, according to a pair of stories in today's Register Star. John Mason reports first tha the district is joining in a grant application with four Rensselaer County districts aimed at consolidating their central business offices. The stated goals are reduced costs and improved operational efficiency. For that purpose, ICC and the other four districts, the Lansingburgh Central School District, the Rensselaer City School District, the Schodack Central School District and the Troy City School District, have together formed the Rensselaer-Columbia CBO Cooperative. At Tuesday’s ICC Board of Education meeting, Mason reports, board members authorized the Lansingburgh district, as the lead applicant, to apply for two grants under the New York state Department of State Local Government Efficiency Grant Program. The first, a planning grant, would study, according to the board’s resolution, “the feasibility of shared general ledger accounting, payroll, accounts payable, accounts receivable, purchasing and other business functions,” and would “develop intermunicipal agreements leading to the implementation of such cost saving opportunities.” The amount applied for would be $45,000, with the school districts each pitching in $1,000 for a total project cost of $50,000. A second grant would be in the amount of $1 million, the projected total project cost of creating a central business office for all five districts. Of this, 10 percent, or $100,000, would be provided by the five districts, divided proportionally according to their enrollments. Troy has 4,259 students, Lansingburgh has 2,509, with Ichabod close behind at 2,056. Schodack has 1,203 and Rensselaer has 1,082. Mason also reports on two upcoming forums at ICC on whether to close Martin Van Buren and Martin H. Glynn elementary schools, the first of six community forums on the future of Ichabod Crane Central School District. The first such meeting will take place at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 11. Subsequent forums will be Jan. 25, Feb. 8, Feb. 15, March 15 and March 29.
For consolidation story click HERE...
For the school closings story click HERE...
[/caption]The Ichabod Crane Central School District in Kinderhook is in the midst of some major growth and budgeting pains, according to a pair of stories in today's Register Star. John Mason reports first tha the district is joining in a grant application with four Rensselaer County districts aimed at consolidating their central business offices. The stated goals are reduced costs and improved operational efficiency. For that purpose, ICC and the other four districts, the Lansingburgh Central School District, the Rensselaer City School District, the Schodack Central School District and the Troy City School District, have together formed the Rensselaer-Columbia CBO Cooperative. At Tuesday’s ICC Board of Education meeting, Mason reports, board members authorized the Lansingburgh district, as the lead applicant, to apply for two grants under the New York state Department of State Local Government Efficiency Grant Program. The first, a planning grant, would study, according to the board’s resolution, “the feasibility of shared general ledger accounting, payroll, accounts payable, accounts receivable, purchasing and other business functions,” and would “develop intermunicipal agreements leading to the implementation of such cost saving opportunities.” The amount applied for would be $45,000, with the school districts each pitching in $1,000 for a total project cost of $50,000. A second grant would be in the amount of $1 million, the projected total project cost of creating a central business office for all five districts. Of this, 10 percent, or $100,000, would be provided by the five districts, divided proportionally according to their enrollments. Troy has 4,259 students, Lansingburgh has 2,509, with Ichabod close behind at 2,056. Schodack has 1,203 and Rensselaer has 1,082. Mason also reports on two upcoming forums at ICC on whether to close Martin Van Buren and Martin H. Glynn elementary schools, the first of six community forums on the future of Ichabod Crane Central School District. The first such meeting will take place at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 11. Subsequent forums will be Jan. 25, Feb. 8, Feb. 15, March 15 and March 29.For consolidation story click HERE...
For the school closings story click HERE...