Emilia Teasdale is reporting for The Columbia Paper the Ichabod Crane Board of Education recently held a budget workshop to review staffing of the district's art, music and foreign languages programs during the 2019-20 school year. School officials also discussed joining a distance learning group that would allow students to take classes from different schools via video conferences, and would make it possible for the district to offer classes to other districts via the same program. The board also discussed anticipated staff retirements in the art, music and foreign language departments and what that might mean for those classes. Those retirements could bring the district an estimated savings of $409,000. “We have developed various scenarios for the Board of Education to consider that we believe will strengthen our academic programs and save resources,” reads the Staffing and Program Options plan presented to the board by administrators. Several of the options include replacing the retiring teachers, but some options suggest moving forward with the programs without restaffing. One subject that may be phased out entirely is French, with one of the program's two instructors retiring next year. There are currently only 38 students in grades 9 through 12, enrolled in the French program. The board is also considering a staff request for more computers and electronic devices districtwide for teaching and testing purposes at the cost of $100,000 a year for the next three years. The board will unveil its proposed budget in the spring, and the final 2019-20 spending plan will be presented to district voters May 21. Read the full story in The Columbia Paper.