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Voorheesville voters approve school budget; two propositions

Coffin, Dozier elected to Board of Education

(May 21, 2013) District residents voted in support of the 2013-2014 proposed budget by a vote of 459 to 341.  The $22.56 million budget for Voorheesville Central School District represents a $693,989 - or 3.14 percent - increase in spending over the current year's budget.

C. James Coffin, who has served as a Board member since 1989, was re-elected for another four-year term on the Board of Education.  Cheryl L. Dozier was re-elected to a second four-year term.

The two propositions put before voters also passed.  The bus proposition passed by a vote of 471 to 326; the repair reserve fund passed by a vote of 511 to 275.  

School Budget Vote; May 21, 2013
Message from Dr. Snyder

(May 20, 2013)
Dear Community Members:  Tomorrow is the School Budget vote.  The polls will be open from 2:00 to 9:00 p.m. in the Middle School Foyer.  We hope to have a good turnout.

As we advised in our budget newsletter, our budget is under the tax cap with the allowable exceptions.  This was a particularly daunting year for us as not only did we not receive additional State aid, we actually received a decrease in aid.  Still, we were able to construct a budget that did not cut a single teacher from the classroom.  In recent weeks we have received word that Voorheesville scored quite high on the Newsweek poll of the nation’s best high schools—in fact, we scored higher by a considerable margin than any other local school.  Just yesterday I went to the  fifth grade play—a musical production of The Wizard of Oz—it was spectacular!

I am proud of the work we do here with the children in our care.  Even with declining aid, we still do wonderful things!  It is  a remarkable learning community.  Hope to see you at the polls tomorrow.
                                 Dr.  Teresa Thayer Snyder

2013-2014 School Calendar

(April 26, 2013) The 2013-2014 school calendar was approved by the Board of Education on April 8, 2013.  To view the new calendar, click here. 

MS Odyssey of the Mind Team Advances to the World Competition

(March 25, 2013) The Voorheesville "Odyssey of the Mind" Middle School team will advance to the world competition in Michigan in May!  Congratulations to all the participants and thanks to their volunteer coaches.

Wellness Day

(March 25, 2013) Voorheesville Middle School and Clayton A. Bouton High School hosted a Wellness Day on Thursday, March 21, 2013, for students and staff.  All students attended a variety of workshops on topics that related to some aspect of health and wellness.  Many workshops encouraged students to be physically active, learning skills such as Zumba, yoga, fencing, self-defense, Tae Kwon Do, rugby, and golf.  Other workshops taught good nutrition, bicycle or driving safety, how to be prepared for a disaster, the benefits of humor, or ways to prevent suicide. There were also workshops that dealt with enjoying our planet, including caving, mountaineering, wilderness survival, and greener living.  Rise Above BMX performed a bicycle stunt show for all students with a message of safety and not using drugs.  Middle school students heard a message about overcoming adversity from Doug Bartling, a quadriplegic from a diving accident. Learn More 

A Warning from the Deputy Commissioner

(March 14, 2013) A few months ago I wrote a column on the upcoming 3-8 testing in ELA and Math.  I used prototype questions for each exam that are available on the EngageNY website.  This was the column that questioned if the materials were developmentally appropriate for students—how many third graders can independently read Tolstoy? How many third graders know what a hoarfrost  is.  You can reference that information  by looking back to my October 22 and my November 27 postings.  I am writing today to alert you that we have been informed by the State Education Department Deputy Commissioner, Ken Slentz, that we should expect significant declines in this year’s test scores, which will be based on the Common Core State Standards and which will have more intense rigor than past tests.  Slentz states in a memo to superintendents “the number of students who score at or above grade level expectations will likely decrease.  States that have already begun to implement the Common Core tests (like Kentucky) have seen this change in student performance.”  Indeed, Kentucky’s first run of Common Core tests saw scores plummet from 70% reaching proficiency to 40%.  I am passing this along to parents as I am very concerned that students will be somewhat overwhelmed by the content of the exams, by the complexity of the questions, and by the length of the exams themselves.  The prototype questions require multiple steps and have reading passages that are challenging for most independent readers.  I want our students to be confident and to recognize that these tests are nothing more than a snapshot in time and are  not indicators of their capacity.  I am very worried about the stress these children may experience during the testing timeframe.  When I was a principal of an elementary school in another district I collected a different data set during the testing back when the tests targeted only fourth and eighth graders.  I kept track of visits to the nurse’s office for fourth graders compared to other grades during the testing weeks and also on fourth graders during those weeks compared to the rest of the year.  The results indicated a huge spike in visits to the nurse—a set of hard data which is as telling to me as the outcomes on the tests.  Belly aches, headaches, other indicators of distress were all higher during testing among fourth graders.  Please help us diffuse the anxiety that many children may feel when confronting tests that they may not be able to do.  We will do our best to support them, and working together it is my hope that the children will be resilient, despite the difficulty of these exams.

Important Budget Information:
Gap Elimination Adjustment

The Gap Elimination Adjustment (GEA) law was first introduced for the 2010-11 fiscal year by then Governor Patterson as a way to help close New York's then $10 billion budget deficit.  Under the legislation, a portion of the funding shortfall at the state level is divided among all school districts throughout the state and reflected as a reduction in school district state aid.  The GEA is a negative number - money that is deducted from the aid originally due to the district.  In 2012-13, Voorheesville Central School District saw an overall loss in funds of $929,363 as a result of the GEA.  In the 2013-14 Governor's proposal, it will cost the district $874,932 in aid.  Over 3 year, the total loss amounts to $2,869.736.

For more information information on the GEA, click here.

VCSD Regional Odyssey of the Mind Winners

(March 5, 2013) Winning smiles closed out a successful day for Voorheesville Middle and Elementary School students who competed in the Odyssey of the Mind regional tournament at Shenendahowa on March 2.  Three teams from Voorheesville won first place and will advance to the State Tournament at the University of Binghamton later this month.  Another Elementary School team won second place.

A message from Dr. Snyder regarding the Newtown, Connecticut Tragedy

(December 17, 2012) I have waited to address the tragedy in Connecticut because I felt it was important to process the unimaginable thoroughly, filtering through so much information to get to facts.  What happened in a sweet little school in a sweet little town resonates with all of us at Voorheesville.  As I spent the weekend watching this nightmare unfold over and over, I was struck by how utter lunacy can shatter tranquility.

I was also amazed at the bravery and determination of the responders.  We practice emergency drills all year.  The drills worked at Sandy Hook and prevented even more tragic loss, as teachers led children to closets and offices for shelter, and police urged them to evacuate to the safety of the firehouse.  The saddest part of event is that, even with all of the safety precautions in place, an insane individual bent on destruction, can figure out a way to accomplish his horrific mission.  As we begin this week before the break, I assure you that we will be vigilant in watching for any signs of stress in our children.  We will once again re-visit our safety plans and our monitoring systems.  We will make our guidance people and social worker available if we see children demonstrating a need to talk about this event or their own safety in school.  There has been a host of recommended resources posted for families on how to discuss tragic events in an age appropriate manner.

Those beautiful little people and the adults who died trying to protect them will be in our minds forever.

Welcome to the “Blackbird Café”

(December 11, 2012) At the December 10, 2012 meeting, the Board of Education resolved to begin the process of dissolving the relationship between the District School Lunch Program and the National School Lunch Program.  This decision has been made with careful consideration of multiple factors.  LEARN MORE

School Lunch Update

(November 27, 2012) Over the past few weeks we have been really struggling to implement the new government guidelines for school lunches.   At some point, it becomes imperative to review whether the guidelines are effective.  School lunches generate about 31 cents per lunch in revenue from the federal support we get because of our involvement in the federal school lunch program.  In the first quarter of this school year, our participation rate has declined dramatically as the students are finding the portion size inadequate to sustain them, the mandated fruits and vegetables to be unappealing, the ingredients not satisfactory.  LEARN MORE

Federal guidelines on school lunch:
Message from Dr. Snyder

(September 12, 2012) We thought it might be a good idea to explain the changes that were mandated this year by Federal legislation and the impact they have on the actual lunches that are served at school.
»LEARN MORE

Dignity for All Students Act (DASA)

(August 22, 2012) Voorheesville Central School District complies with the Dignity for All Students Act (DASA), passed into law effective July 1, 2012.  »LEARN MORE