ICC won't merge with Schodack

After months of study, discussion, district won’t combine with Schodack 

Findings included data from both districts on educational programs, enrollment projections and property tax estimations to discern the feasibility of combining both districts into one reorganized district.

Board member Thomas Neufeld said, “it would be a fiscal disaster to go forward with a merger for our district.”

Study: Merger means ICC tax hike

    
Written by EMILIA TEASDALE  
Thursday, 24 May 2012 11:53

Districts many steps away from decision to combine

KINDERHOOK--The Ichabod Crane School Board met this week to review the data collected by the merger study team looking into the feasibility of a merger with Schodack Central Schools. What the team found was a 33% difference in the current property tax rate between the two districts, which would mean lower taxes for Schodack residents and higher taxes for ICC residents if the districts merge.

The study team, made up of three former superintendents who conduct merger studies for districts in the state, worked with community members from both districts to create a “road map” for a merged district with a budget of $57 million.

Possible school merger being debated

Posted at: 05/21/2012 4:42 PM | Updated at: 05/21/2012 6:28 PM 

Saddled with budget cuts, the Schodack Central and Ichabod Crane Central School districts are considering joining forces.

A community forum is being held Monday night, at Maple Hill High School and Tuesday night at Ichabod Crane High School.

Both meetings are at 7p. 

The earliest the districts could merge would be July 1, 2013.

By: Andrew Murphy

Local Budgets Approved

From the School's websites...  

2012-13 School Budget Approved; Thank You to Voters

The 2012-13 school budget was approved tonight by a vote of 655 to 331. A proposition to purchase a fuel-efficient minivan was approved by a vote of 538 to 403. Michael Charsky, Michael Hiser and George Warner were elected to three-year seats on the Board of Education. The district would like to thank everyone who came out to vote. 

Posted 5/15/12.

Merger Feasibility Study

Draft Merger Feasibility Study to Be Presented to Committee – Wednesday, May 2 at 7:00 p.m.

Consultants will provide a presentation on the draft merger feasibility study to the Community Advisory Committee on Wednesday, May 2 at 7:00 p.m. in Maple Hill High School library. Interested community members are also invited to attend. Please note, the State Education Department insists that hard copies of the draft study cannot be provided to the public until it approves the study. However, copies of the final report will be available to the public when the district holds community forums scheduled for May 21 at 7:00 p.m. in Maple Hill High School auditorium and May 22 at 7:00 p.m. at Ichabod Crane High School auditorium. The final report will also be posted to the districts' websites. Once the community forums are held, the districts' Boards of Education will hold meetings to decide whether to move forward with community votes on a possible merger.