COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS/ PROGRAMS

In February, Mr. Murphy, Mr. Rushman, and Ms. Krowicki took 29 students to compete at the annual Future Business Leaders of America’s Spring District Meeting. Out of 15 events Shenendehowa students placed first in six of them, while earning a total of 23 awards.

The winners include:

• Accounting II - Inge Chen (1st Place)
• Business Communications  - Alyssa Dalrymple (2nd Place)
• Business Calculations - Tim Johnson (3rd Place), Courtney Howard (5th Place)
• Business Law  - Eric Wang (2nd Place), Preston Amsler (3rd Place), Sam Newman-Plotnick (4th Place)
• Business Math  - Trevor Hennigan (1st Place), Kyle Murphy (2nd Place), Brandon Valvo (5th Place)
• Entrepreneurship - Eric Wang (1st Place)
• Introduction to Business- Brandon Valvo (1st Place), Carly Tashjim (2nd Place), Caitlyn Runyon (3rd Place), Trevor Hennigan (4th Place), Kyle Murphy (5th Place)
• Marketing - Alyssa Dalrymple (1st Place), Sarah Nealon (5th Place)
• Personal Finance - Inge Chen (1st Place), Courtney Howard (3rd Place)
• Sports Management  - Jordan Brustle (2nd Place)
• Impromptu Speaking - Josh Koopman (4th Place)
• Job Interview - Dakotah Jones (4th Place)

• Snacks for kids
• Dried Soups
• Tomato Products
• Soup
• Peanut Butter
• Tuna
• Prepared Meals: Ramon Noodles, Chef Boy-ar-dee, Hamburger Helper, Dinty Moore

FOOD STAMPS COVER ONLY FOODS. IF YOU CAN DONATE PERSONAL ITEMS, THEY WILL BE VERY MUCH APPRECIATED

• Toilet Paper
• Tissues
• Diapers – All sizes.
• Wipes
• Laundry Soap
• Toothpaste & toothbrushes & Floss
• Deodorant, Shampoo, Body Wash

For more information, contact Cathi Barbaro, RN, Shenendehowa SADD Club Advisor at the HSE Health Office 881-0310 Ext 61419

Date: February 11, 2010
Time: 4 pm to 7 pm
Location Shenendehowa’s District Office, 5 Chelsea Place, Route 9, Clifton Park, New York 12065

PLEASE NOTE:

• There is no fee and no appointment is necessary to come to this clinic.
• Only the H1N1 shot will be given at the clinic. Please note that there may be preservative (thimerosal) in the vaccine.
• Parents that want their child to receive the H1N1 nasal mist may check with their Health Care Provider or call Saratoga County Public Health at 584-7460 to schedule an appointment
• Children under 10 years old will need to receive a second dose after 28 days. You may get this from your Health Care Provider or from Public Health. Please keep the Patient Copy form that you will be given after the first vaccine and bring it with you for verification for the second dose.
• We do not anticipate a vaccine shortage for anyone coming to the school clinic.
• A parent/guardian will need to be present to sign for the consent to receive the vaccine for any child under 18 years old. If you need to send your child with another adult, a parental permission letter must be sent in that is signed and dated.

The district just received the state aid runs with the cuts proposed by Governor Paterson. While we all anticipated significant changes in state aid, the proposed reduction of 12.25% or $4.4 million dollars for Shenendehowa will have a devastating impact on program and services for the coming school year. This loss in aid is compounded with the fact that the district is also faced with a mandated increase in retirement costs of more than $2 million dollars. This means that we start the budget process for the 2010-11 school year with a $6 million dollar gap even before we account for contractual agreements and cost adjustments. Clearly, critical decisions will have to be made over the next several months. We will also continue to lobby our legislators, recognizing that the strength and future prosperity of the State of New York hinges largely on the quality of its schools. This aid proposal will inevitably place that future into jeopardy and places a significant burden on property taxpayers across the state.

WHAT ABOUT THE DISTRICT'S RESERVES (FUND BALANCE)?

As we enter this the budget development process, we are faced with numerous budgetary challenges including the state's fiscal crisis. Gov. David Paterson has repeatedly suggested that school districts use unrestricted reserves known as "fund balances" to cover possible losses in state aid for the 2010-11 school year. New York State law allows each public school district to carry a fund balance of no more than 4 percent of its current budget, currently Shen’s fund balance is $4.7 million or 3.21% of its budget--below what is allowed by law. The district can use the fund balance to close revenue gaps such as cuts in state aid, as well as to help stabilize the tax levy. In fact, the district uses its fund balance every year to lower the impact on property taxes. Last year, the district used $3 million dollars to mitigate the tax impact, and will look to do so again this year. However, this is even before we begin to address the proposed state aid reduction in the governor's budget. Further, the district's fund balance, is an "emergency fund" set aside to pay for situations that could otherwise close school or restrict daily operations if not handled immediately. If one of the boilers stopped working, the district would use its fund balance to repair it right away and ensure a properly heated building for students. Or, if a student with special programming needs moves into the district, the district has money set aside to pay for that student’s educational program which is required by law.

The bottom-line is that totally depleting the fund balance would not be a sound financial decision and will translate into a large burden on tax payers the following year when those funds are not available. We simply cannot predict what the new year may bring with regard to our facilities student programming needs or, quite frankly, the state's continued fiscal crisis. Once depleted, the reserve is gone. What happens in the year 2011-12 when or if the state is still in crisis?

As it is, Shenendehowa only receives about 30% of its revenues from state aid. That means that about 66% of the school budget is funded by property tax dollars (the remainder is from other sources such as interest income). So, when the governor talks about the "district's" fund balance, keep in mind it is not the "district's" anything, it is the funds invested by the tax payers of this community to keep the district solvent from year to year and avoid facing a financial crisis. In this time of tough decisions, the most financially responsible thing to do is what we have done for years…carefully ration the fund balance to plan for possible emergencies and economic challenges in the future and systematically use it to mitigate the impact on property taxes for our residents. The district has done a tremendous job managing resources and providing a quality education to our students. We are proud of our efforts and we will embraced the harsh economic climate as a district, taking the necessary steps to avoid sacrificing the education of our students, today or in the future, without an undue over-burden on tax payers.

Shen is now on Twitter --

Don't know how to set up account for text messages...When you log in to Twitter or sign up for an account, click on the settings link (top of page). Then click on the link that says "Mobile" and follow the directions.

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Character Education at Shenendehowa

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Grade K-12 Summer Reading lists