“Most people didn’t know this was happening at all,” said Shannon Hanson, a Ballston Spa resident and mother of children who attend the Ballston Spa Central School District.  “I feel we didn’t receive enough notice that Malta Avenue Intermediate School was closing and we don’t

have a say.”

Another mother stated that part of the reason her family bought a house in Ballston Spa was its proximity to Malta Avenue School. 

The district currently has one primary school housing grades kindergarten through second grade, two intermediate schools housing grades three through five, one middle school for grades six through eight and one high school for grades nine through 12. The district does not have a full day kindergarten but will implement four full-day classes in September after the reconfiguration takes place. The reconfiguration was adopted by the Board of Education in February after more than a year of research and discussion.

“We will take into consideration all of your concerns,” board president Keith Stewart said. 

The Board of Education will be adopting the 2008-2009 yearly budget during their regular meeting on April 23; however, because of the delay in the New York State Budget, final numbers are not ready.  The preliminary budget proposes $69,867,578 to run the district, an increase of $3 million over last year’s budget.  This is a proposed 1.5 percent tax increase for district residents; however, each municipality will be affected differently due to tax rates and appraisals. 

“One and a half percent is right where we need to be. If the case can be made to raise it higher, we will listen, but we have to be careful,” Stewart said.  “We can’t spend money we don’t have.”

Main reasons for the increase are rising gas prices and higher costs of food and health care, said Board of Education Clerk Brian Siriani. He added that the district is trying to prepare for gas prices to raise over four dollars per gallon and has allotted $107,000 for diesel and gas for student transportation.

“Overall, spending is up, and we need to prepare for that,” he said.

In other business, the Board of Education will have a decision for a new superintendent by the end of April.  Finalists in the search are Mr. Joseph Hochreiter, Deputy Superintendent at Elmira City Schools, and Dr. Joseph Dragone, Assistant Superintendent at Albany City School District.