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Ask the Superintendent -
October 17, 2007
It was almost three years ago when a small group
of citizens, administrators, and three board
members, assembled to meet to discuss how to deal
with current and future student enrollment within
the Goshen Central School District. Known as the
Growth Task Force, this committee eventually grew to
more than 30 people representing a cross-section of
our community. After several years of discussions,
planning, two demographic studies, visitations to
other schools, much research, and many conceptual
drawings, the work of the Growth Task Force
culminated on Monday, October 1, 2007, when the
Board of Education endorsed, by resolution, a
capital project totaling $69,949,000.
In a short 6½ weeks, on December 4, 2007, community
residents will have the opportunity to cast their
ballot on this referendum. Once again we are on
“tour” to meet with any organization or group
willing to have us present accurate information and
answer any and all questions on this proposed
building project. In addition to the many meetings
that are being scheduled throughout the community,
the Board of Education will hold a Public Hearing on
November 20th at the Main Street School at 7:00 p.m.
The building project is a huge undertaking for this
district, but it is one that has been studied
carefully and enables us to get the best dollar
value to meet the educational needs of our students.
It is important to understand that a large portion
of this capital project will be financed by the
State of New York. The State recognizes that schools
must grow and provides funding to districts to help
them meet this need. While it is not nice to look
the proverbial gift horse in the mouth, government
agencies always have complicated formulas when it
comes to dealing with money (whether they are taking
it or giving it away). By way of example, school
districts receive different percentages of aid for
new construction. Currently our building aid ratio
is 58.4%. It would be too simple to think one could
just multiply $69,949,000 by 58.4% and arrive at the
answer as to what the state will aid us for this
project.
No school building project is ever 100% aidable.
Building aid ratios differ based on the type of
classroom, the type of common space (i.e. cafeteria,
auditorium, library, administrative space, hallways,
lobbies, site work and renovated space). Our goal is
to maximize our building aid so that 90% of this
project would receive the 58.4% state aid.
The good news: the
State of New York will pay for slightly more than
one half of the total cost.
In the next few weeks, I will offer more specific
and concrete examples as to how this project will
impact each community resident with regard to an
increase in their taxes.
One question often asked of me is, “Why are we
building rooms for BOCES students in our capital
project?” This is a very good question.
Orange-Ulster BOCES serves 17 component districts
and many of these districts, like Goshen, are
dealing with enrollment increases. BOCES is actually
growing more rapidly than our school district and
has a desperate need for more classroom facilities.
Legally BOCES has the right to request classroom
space in any new construction undertaken by a
component school district. BOCES has requested six
to eight classrooms and support space for each of
the three buildings scheduled for additions. This
actually helps our district and our community.
- The Goshen
School District will receive BOCES building aid
on these rooms during construction phase;
- Upon completion, BOCES will rent these rooms
from the district as they did at Scotchtown
Avenue School and still do at Goshen
Intermediate School;
- This rent
translates into substantial additional revenue
for the Goshen district;
- Many Goshen
students, who regularly attend BOCES programs
off campus, will now be able to stay in
district. This will eliminate expenses normally
paid for transportation. More importantly,
Goshen students will not have to spend extended
travel time on buses which equates to more
instructional time in class;
- If our
district continues to grow, which the two
demographic studies indicate, these classrooms
can be reclaimed for our use much like what has
happened at the Scotchtown Avenue School. This
is added insurance against overcrowding.
More to come on the
proposed capital project next week.
Roy Reese
Superintendent of Schools
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