LET’S BE CREATIVE: September 5, 2024

By EMILIA TEASDALE

KINDERHOOK—The Ichabod Crane Board of Education discussed the electric school bus mandate at the board’s regular meeting February 6. The board also heard the third budget presentation for the 2024-25 proposed school budget, with administrators pointing out that their district is the only district in the county not to lose any state Foundation Aid.

At the meeting, District Business Manager Michael Brennan also commented on the Office of the State Comptroller’s (OSC) Fiscal Stress Monitoring System report for 2023 which said that the district was Susceptible to Fiscal Stress under the designation. Mr. Brennan said the district receives the evaluation and report from the OSC every year and, “We’ve always had the highest rating of No Designation.” He said the district has taken some exceptions to the report.

In a letter to the OSC, Ichabod Crane Superintendent Marie Digirolamo wrote, “I would like to express my concerns and disagreement with the NYS Office of State Comptroller’s 2023 Fiscal Stress rating assigned to the district. The rating of Susceptible Fiscal Stress does not authentically reflect the district’s past, present or future financial position. Not only is this the first year the district has received a score other than No Designation, but a closer examination of the ST3 and the district’s year-end independently audited financial statements clearly and undoubtedly indicates that Ichabod Crane is not experiencing fiscal stress.”

Superintendent Digirolamo continued, “The outcome of the district’s 2023 fiscal stress as conducted by OSC is the direct result of outstanding federal and state grant reimbursements, outstanding State Aid and a fiscal stress measuring tool without the capacity to recognize government owed funding as a component of cash position.”

Mr. Brennan discussed the response with the board at the meeting. He said district officials met with the OSC. “We were disappointed by it,” he told the board of the report, but said he did not anticipate this rating happening again. He also reported that the district’s Moody’s credit rating is strong.

The board looked at the non-instructional budget in the 2024-25 budget presentation. Much of the budget includes benefits like medical insurance and Mr. Brennan said medical insurance may be going up by about 10%. The budget presentations are on the district website at www.ichabodcrane.org/district/budget

Mr. Brennan and Superintendent Digirolamo both mentioned that all the other districts in the county have lost Foundation Aid in the proposed state budget. Ichabod has an increase of 4.2%, about $523,000. When asked by board President Matthew Nelson what will happen if the state changes the loss of aid for the other districts, Mr. Brennan said he had heard that there would not be a reduction of the district’s aid.

There will be another budget presentation at the March 5 board meeting and a draft budget will be presented at the April 9 board meeting. A special meeting will be held on April 23 for the adoption of the final budget and then a budget hearing on May 7. The annual vote on the budget and election of board members will be May 21 in the high school gym from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. All meetings are held at 7 p.m. in the high school library.

Also on the budget will be a school bus purchase proposal to purchase three 72-passenger buses at $498,882 and one 28-passenger bus at $85,136.

Every year the board asks residents to approve a bus purchasing proposal for a few large buses and some smaller buses, depending on the need. Mr. Brennan presented the board with a slide about the district’s bus fleet, which includes 35 large buses, 16 small buses and five minivans. He said five buses will “be retired” in 2024-25 and that 20 buses are coming due for retirement in the next four years. He also pointed out that the average bus’s life is about 9 to 10 years but Ichabod keeps them for 11 to 12 years. The district is the largest population-wise in the county.

The electric school bus mandate was part of the state’s fiscal year 2022-23 budget. It established a “commitment for all new school buses purchased to be zero emission by 2027 and all school buses in operation to be electric by 2035” according to the state Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA).

At the meeting, the board looked at purchasing new electric buses with Mr. Brennan and Transportation Supervisor Dan Doyle. Currently, an electric bus costs about $446,000 while the current buses cost $164,000 and the district does not have a lot of funding options. District officials said that the Taconic Hills and Chatham school districts have received some funding but because Ichabod is of “average need,” the district doesn’t qualify for a lot of grants or cover the funding needed to replace the fleet. And they would need to replace the whole fleet in eight years to meet the mandate. Mr. Doyle also pointed out that the electric buses might not make it to certain districts that Ichabod plays in sports like Cobleskill. They would have to see if those districts the teams travel to have charging capabilities.

Mr. Brennan also said that the bus garage would have to be refitted for the electric buses and the mechanics would have to be trained.

“We need more information,” Mr. Brennan said. He added that they are still in the wait-and-see stage.

On February 13, state Assemblyman Scott Bendett (R-107th), who represents the district the school is in, released a statement saying, “The current timeline for transitioning to all-electric school bus fleets places an undue burden on our school districts, both financially and logistically.

“We must prioritize the well-being of our students and taxpayers by reassessing this mandate and providing an appropriate amount of time for school districts to accommodate such lofty goals. A thorough cost-benefit analysis and a revision of the current timeline to ensure the sustainability and affordability of this transition is basic common sense.”

The next school board meeting is Tuesday, March 5 at 7 p.m. in the high school library.

To contact reporter Emilia Teasdale email eteasdale@columbiapaper.com