http://www.rotterdamny.net/ http://www.eblah.com en http://www.rotterdamny.net/m-1282733655/ http://www.rotterdamny.net/m-1282733655/#num1 ROTTERDAM
District OKs tax rate figures
Many residents’ bills to increase
BY MICHAEL GOOT Gazette Reporter

    Rotterdam and Colonie homeowners in the Mohonasen school district will see a increase in taxes, while Guilderland residents will have lower bills under the final tax rates the Board of Education has approved.
    The school tax rate for Rotterdam has been set at $15.19 per $1,000 of assessed property value — an increase of roughly 25 cents. Owners of an average home assessed at $100,000 would pay about $25 more in taxes, for a total bill of $1,519. For Colonie residents, the tax rate increases 99 cents to $22.67 per $1,000 and the tax bill for owners of a $100,000 home would see their bill increase $99 to $2,267.
    For Guilderland, the new rate is $17.86 and residents of a similarly valued home would see their tax bill drop roughly $15 to $1,786.
    This is before any STAR exemptions.
    Assistant Superintendent for Business Denise Swezey said the reason for the differing rates is the different assessments in each of the three communities.
    “Because property values are going down, the equalization rate is going up, which is something we haven’t seen in a number of years. That shifts the amount of tax levy that each community has to pay,” she said.
    Rotterdam is assessed at full value, whereas Guilderland’s equalization rate increased from 79 percent to 85 percent and Colonie’s rate went from about 66 percent to 67 percent. This meant that Rotterdam residents are paying a greater share of the total taxes.
    Voters in May approved a $42.7 million budget by a vote of 1,323 to 881 that increased the tax levy by about 2.3 percent. The spending plan eliminated 17 full-time-equivalent positions to offset a state aid cut of about $1.9 million.
    The district appropriated an additional $500,000 of fund balance to reduce the tax levy, Swezey said. ...............................>>>>.................>>>>..................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r01103&AppName=1]]> Wed, 25 Aug 2010 05:54:15 Admin http://www.rotterdamny.net/m-1277376746/ http://www.rotterdamny.net/m-1277376746/#num1

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ROTTERDAM
District ponders options now that it has OK for land purchase
BY MICHAEL GOOT Gazette Reporter

    Mohonasen school officials are refining their options for the district’s next building project now that voters last month approved purchasing adjacent land for expansion.
    Architects from CSArch presented to the Board of Education some updated plans for renovations of Bradt Primary School, Pinewood Intermediate School, Draper Middle School and Mohonasen High School and construction of a new transportation facility.
    Residents in May voted to purchase land adjacent to the high school and middle school campus owned by the O’Hare and Lindenman families at a price of $1.425 million. Mohonasen gets a rate of 90 percent reimbursement from the state and would get that for this land project if it is tied to this capital project.
    Among some of the details the board is still mulling is the nature of the fitness addition to Draper and the size of the transportation facility.
    Architect Ron Bagoly presented three different options for the fi tness center at Draper, varying in cost. Option one would construct a nearly 4,000-square-foot addition off the back of the girls’ locker room to house the fitness room and renovate storage space.
    However, one drawback of this plan is that this space would not be eligible to receive aid reimbursement from the state.
    The second option would be to renovate the girls’ locker room and put the fitness center at the end. A classroom that is used for special education would be displaced and moved to the music and art wing.
    The third option would be to leave the locker room where it is and renovate an existing classroom to make that the fi tness room.
    The total price tag for the middle school portion of the project would be $17.6 million for option one, $18.2 million for option two and $17.4 million for option three. ...................>>>>>................>>>>..................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r01602&AppName=1

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ROTTERDAM
Board resolves teacher contract issues
BY MICHAEL GOOT Gazette Reporter

    The Mohonasen Board of Education on Monday unanimously approved a new teachers’ contract, settling a nearly two-year dispute.
    Superintendent Kathleen Spring said the new fi ve-year agreement contains an average of about 2.8 percent raises per year, including the step increases.
    In addition, the Mohonasen Teachers Association agreed to pay more in co-pays for doctors’ visits and drugs, and the union gave back some professional development days. This year, they had agreed to give back two days to save two positions.
    The union, which has more than 300 members including teachers, teachers assistants, counselors and nurses, had been working under the terms of a three-year agreement that expired on June 30, 2008. Teachers are not getting retroactive pay.
    Among the sticking points were pay and benefits and the work schedule. The district gave up its request to have the elementary teachers work a longer day. District officials had wanted to extend the day by 40 minutes to provide new after-school programs.
    Union President Sue Nelson said the extra time would have been to allow teachers to have meetings and for students to receive extra help. However, Nelson said teachers like the flexibility of the current format. “We can provide those things so it fits into our schedule,” she said. Instead, the union agreed to give up “rotation time,” which is a half a day every month the teachers can spend out of the classroom to do planning. “It’s about 2 /2 hours a month back with kids,” Spring said.
    The superintendent said she believed that additional instructional time is needed with the increased expectations that students face and the more demanding curriculum.
    “The more time teachers can spend with students, the more prepared we can help them be,” she said. ...........................>>>>..................>>>>................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r00704&AppName=1

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ROTTERDAM
‘Arithmetickles’ uses games to make math fun
BY MICHAEL GOOT Gazette Reporter
Reach Gazette reporter Michael Goot at 395-3105 or mgoot@dailygazette.net.

    Although counting numbers is a seemingly easy task, this one had a twist.
    Bradt Primary School and Pinewood Intermediate School students lined up in a row and were asked to substitute the word “boo” for any mention of the number seven or multiple of that number. If they mentioned seven — or any combination — they were eliminated from the game. Fourteen, which is seven times two, tripped up one student and seventeen tripped up another. Eventually, just one student remained.
    It was all part of Arithmetickles, a comedy game show designed to get students interested in math. About 40 elementary students attended a recent performance at Mohonasen High School.
    Matt Wilder served as host for the event, which mixed music and jokes.
    “Math plus fun equals Arithmetickles,” Wilder said.
    In another exercise, Wilder had a group of students pretend to be members of a family. He assigned them their roles and quizzed them about their ages and occupation. The family was headed to Grandma’s house.
    “If you left the house at 6 a.m. to get to the hotel and arrived three hours and 30 minutes later, what time did you arrive at the hotel?
    The children also purchased a gift for Grandma that was originally priced at $84 but was now half price.
    “How much did you pay?” Wilder asked.
    “You take eight and you saw it right in half and you get the number four and you take the four and you cut it in half, you get two. You smoosh the two together,” Wilder responded.
    The answer — 42. ...................>>>>...............>>>>................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r01401&AppName=1

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ROTTERDAM
Mohonasen theater named for beloved teacher
BY MICHAEL GOOT Gazette Reporter
Reach Gazette reporter Michael Goot at 395-3105 or mgoot@dailygazette.net.

    “Doc” Margaret Gray was more than just a theater director at Mohonasen.
    “In my growing pains and both good and bad times, Doc was always there to offer a kind word,” said a tearful Claudia DeMartino, a Class of 2007 graduate.
    DeMartino, who is still involved in acting, said Gray found a place for everyone in all of the productions and imparted wisdom to the students. “She taught them the value of working together to achieve a successful result,” she said.
    Because of her decades of service to the Mohon Masque theater program, the district this week dedicated the high school theater in her honor. Family, friends and former and current students feted Gray’s accomplishments at a ceremony on Monday. DeMartino was just one of the speakers who read testimonials about how “Doc” changed their lives as a slide show of images from the various student productions played on a large screen.
    “This is a great tribute to have the theater named after me,” Gray said. “I’m in shock. I want to thank the community and the Board of Education for the opportunity they have given me.”
    Following her graduation from The College of Saint Rose, Gray started her career as a music teacher in 1952 in what was then the Draper School District. She continued there until the school district merged in 1986 with Mohonasen. Along the way she also earned her master’s degree in education and doctorate, leading to her affectionate nickname of “Doc.”
    She continued teaching music until she retired in 1991. She was asked to stay on as theater director, which puts on two shows a year.
    Gray said her love of theater could be summed up by a sign. “There’s a plaque at Draper School that said ‘God’s greatest gift are the arts. What you do on that stage will be your gift to God.’ ”
    The theater gives some people an outlet. “There’s some kids, that’s all they have is that time on that stage. Some kids are not artistic. They’re not sportsmen. It’s those kids that I mentored. That was my goal in life to give something to those kids.”
    Scott Ziobrowski, a graduate of the Class of 2002, said Gray taught him about the value of a good work ethic.
    “I remember spending 12-hour days rehearsing for a show. She always had high expectations. She always instilled a hard work ethic that I carried on in my career,” he said................>>>>..............>>>>..............http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r01800&AppName=1

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