001No, I am. >> Okay. [laughter] Good evening everyone. Thanks for coming tonight. Put together some comments so that uh I wouldn't forget anything and uh be complete with our information. Um this is just basically going to be a summary of the guidelines for the meeting with the agendas. There was a little more uh definitive uh set of rules and regulations, but I'm going to do some of the highlights. On behalf of the board of education, I welcome you to the public hearing in the future years of elementary school. We truly appreciate you taking the time to join us and share your thoughts on an issue that we know matters deeply to so many in our community. Before we open the floor for public comment, I'd like to provide some background and context with tonight's hearing.
002This conversation did not begin this year or last year and it did begin with this board. Questions about enrollment trends, building use, and how to best organize for schools been a part of our district discussion for quite some time now. As far back as the 201718 budget, the superintendent presented a report titled education redesign multiple pathways to the future of the district. That presentation raised early concerns about declining enrollment and encouraged the district to begin formal facility planning, including examining grade level configurations and transportation efficiencies. Like many other things, this work was slowed during CO as our attention rightfully shifted to more immediate needs. But the underlying chance did not go away. What has changed is where we are in the timeline. For many years, these conversations focused on what might happen someday. Now, the
003realities we've been studying are right in front of us. And the board has a responsibility to listen, reflect, and begin considering the next steps. In May of 2023, the board took the next step by approving a comprehensive facility study. The results of that study became available in 2024. As a matter of fact, last year we spoke in this uh gym about that study and we shared with municipalities that the makeup of our school district would be changing. Since then, the district has continue to look closely at enrollment trends, how our district uh buildings are being used, educational programming needs, and the long-term fiscal sustainability. This work has included administrative analysis, board discussion, and the creation of a facilities use subcommittee. So before I continue on, I want to give Mrs. Fox or superintendent a chance
004to weigh in here. >> Just good evening everyone. Building on what Mark has shared, I want to add some broader context about our community and our region. Uh if you've been to any of my conversations with staff, I talk about the four-legged stool. there's much going on in our community because the again as Mark mentioned the questions before us tonight didn't begin with this board and they aren't unique uh to our district. Cornell University's program on applied demographics studies long-term population trends across New York State including here in Franklin and Essex counties. Their work shows what many of us have experienced over time. Our region has been gradually getting smaller and older with fewer young adults and families with school-aged children and a growing proportion of older residents. In Franklin County, the population decline has
005been driven largely by out migration rather than more deaths than births. It's actually that age population leaving the community. In Essence County, there is a similar pattern with a significant share of residents now aged 65 or older. Across both counties, the number of children and therefore students has steadily decreased. That context matters for schools because our facilities and transportation systems were built for a different set of circumstances. When enrollment shifts and population patterns change, it's our responsibility to step back and ask whether the way we're using our building still makes sense. Looking at facilities is not a reflection of how much we value a school or its community. It's about understanding how our buildings can best support students while respecting our taxpayers. Aligning our educational spaces with current and projected enrollment helps ensure that all
006students across the district have access to strong learning environments. The demographic information we're sharing tonight doesn't tell us what decisions to make, but it does tell us this that standing still is not a neutral choice. Continuing to operate exactly as we have in the recent past despite the changing conditions places increasing strain on resources over time and can limit our ability to invest where it matters most in our students, staff, and programs. It's not easy work and it's deeply personal for many people. But by grounding our conversation in these demographic realities and what the board is doing tonight, listening carefully as the decisions [clears throat] come, they will be thoughtful, transparent, and focused on the long-term health of our schools and our communities. >> Thank you, Mark. >> So, tonight's meeting really is a listening
007session. Uh, no decision will be made this evening. The purpose of the hearing is to give the board an opportunity to hear ideas, questions, concerns, and perspectives from our community as we continue our review and deliberations. I would invite any member of the BOE or the committee members that are here tonight to respond when they feel is relevant and appropriate for the conversation. I also want to note from the onset, this is kind of a unique forum for us because the public uh because this is a public hearing rather than a regular board meeting. We're not going to follow our usual public comment rules. Instead, we've established participation guidelines designed to specifically support open sharing, thoughtful listening, and broad community input on the dot. To briefly summarize where we are, in May of 23, the
008district commissioned the facility study. Over the past several months, we've continued reviewing enrollment trends, facility use, program needs, long-term fiscal sustainability. While a great deal of information is gathered and shared, we've not reached any final decision regarding the future use of Bloomingdale School. and for that matter patrol within the high school. This hearing is not intended to be a forum for debate or rebuttal. Instead, it's an opportunity for board for the board to listen carefully and thoughtfully, board of committee members engaging if they feel it's appropriate. We ask the speakers keep their remarks to approximately three minutes so as many voices as possible can be heard. And please direct your comment to the board as a whole. While board members, administrators are present, we will primarily be listening and you should not expect in some
009cases have an immediate response to individual comments. We recognize this topic brings forward strong feelings and differing viewpoints. Those perspectives are welcome here. At the same time, we ask that everyone engage respectfully. Personal attacks or comments directed individuals not appropriate will not be permitted. For those who prefer to not to speak publicly or would like to provide additional details, written comments may also be submitted and become part of the public record. Your input matters to us. The board will listen for common themes, questions, and considerations as we continue this work, and we really sincerely appreciate your willingness to engage in a thoughtful and respectful way. With that, we'll begin. Who would like to be first? Don't rush the podium. >> [laughter] >> That way if it goes south we can leave really fast. My name
010is Stephanie Wel. Um I am a parent of a student here at Bloomingdale. Um and my daughter is in the UK class that started here this year. Um we transitioned into uh Sar Lake Central School District from Northern Lights. Um and having the opportunity to move into a school that is like just slightly larger than that program really helped ease the transition. Um even though it was still like obviously very different. Um, but she has really enjoyed getting to take the bus and like talk to the big school without it being like crazy overwhelming. Um, and we have really enjoyed getting to still be part of Bloomingdale even though we had lived on this side before they moved down closer to us. So, um, we're very appreciative of the community here and we like we
011like >> Thank you. I should probably share with you and some of people already know both my children were here as well. I live in lane clear and I agree with everything you said and I think it's important to note that uh uh any decisions about the school I don't think anyone reflects that as as uh the school not functioning as well as it should. We love what what goes on here. Anyone else? My name is Henry Shepard. I'm an adjacent land owner and I'm wondering what is going to happen to the school if you pull the plug. So, we we have no intention of uh disposing of the property at this time. uh we recognize it has value to our district and has value in this community. So I am unaware of any discussions
012about uh what happened with Lake Clear and then Kobe where we did sell those properties. So at this point I see no uh no movement in that direction. There have been lots of discussions of what could happen here. >> I'm sure >> you know they're just discussions. Um, but at this point >> concrete or Yeah. >> No, I don't think the district wants to uh in any way relinquish control of this property anytime in the near future. At least this particular board as it sits now. That's now been uh a topic of of uh turning it over. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Yeah. You're welcome. That's a great question by the way. Anyone else? >> Um, just wondering what those options are and I know there was a >> your name in please. >> Oh,
013my name is Rachel Lamb and wondering what those options are and I know there was a committee working on like transportation and other uses and I'm wondering what has been found in those meetings. >> So, we've not really discussed specific options. been informal conversations just brainstorming um what could this building be used for? So it' be a little premature to really say anything else because none of them have any basis and any any uh movement to to do right now. I think um that would take an additional amount of work moving forward and I think we got a a lot of work ahead of us just to get our district organized but we don't plan on closing the doors and shutting it down and and letting it rot away. Anyone on the committee want to
014weigh in? Well, I've not been quiet. [clears throat] So, you'll be shocked to know, Mark, I've not been quiet on some of the things that I think this school could be used for. I think this would make some lovely housing for um trans I don't mean transient as in homeless. I mean people who come to work for I'm sure there's a title for it >> who come to work for the hospital for six months or we've had trouble hiring people because getting here and finding a place to stay right away. It's who you know in Sarinac Lake in order to get a place to live. So moving into the community and not knowing anyone, it's very difficult to find a place to live. So, I've talked about how beautiful this this place would be to
015be um that type of housing. We also have talked about our bus garage with electric busing and would we need a different location. We could actually do some solar here where we could generate our own power for our electric buses. So those are all but there is absolutely I have lots of ideas and I'd love to hear others because this is a beautiful piece of property and it's still in very good shape for us as a district and I wouldn't want to just sell it without really considering how best to utilize it both for the district and for the community. So So I've certainly been talking to people but there's been no no decision about doing anything specific >> if Go ahead, Zach. I didn't want to ask. >> Well, I was just gonna My
016understanding is is no decision would be made because we've not made a decision here yet. >> Correct. >> And it's we don't want to get too far down a road that we don't even need >> depending on what decisions here. >> Correct. But sometimes people like the whole picture, Zach, like this is A, B, C, D, and we're just not at >> the D. Sure. >> Regardless of any other >> Yeah. I I guess I'm just clarifying timeline and the reason why maybe we're not that far down the [laughter] road because we still got this one here we're talking about. >> You are absolutely >> well my thought is just that um you know while it's pretty clear the trends of of uh rural populations and which direction it's going especially for our youth and
017our student numbers. But that's not to say that that might not change. I don't think it's changing anytime real soon. But I I would hope and it's hard to look and you know predict the future but the community could change and we and we are faced with you know an increase in students and and that's what this is one of our nicest buildings really. So we you know I don't think anybody on board I can't really speak for everybody but you know is eager to you know saying you know we're never going in the other direction. It it might it might take a long time, but and I don't know how long we wait on the school to be here, but there there is a hope that the community can rally and bring in more
018children that you know we could we could use the school again. So >> I don't think anyone will be disappointed if we got a influx of school age children and the problem was we got to build this place up. >> Yeah. >> Anyone else? >> [snorts] >> Dry. Um, I actually have a high schooler and a second grader who used to be here, but he had to move to Croa because they couldn't support here. He loved it here. It's a great place. I understand that you've got a very difficult decision to make. Um, if and when you do decide, I totally understand it. had looked at it actually several years ago was thinking the same thing. How much money did you save? Because that's as we all know that's the big part of it is
019money is always the controlling factor. Um, one of the things is I'm looking at if you do close this building and you move all of those students to Petrova, my recommendation would be at the same time you take your seventh and eighth grade class and you move them into the high school. That does a couple things. That gives you your K6 program with your K6 teacher certifications all in one building. your seventh grade through 12th grade program. Those teachers all certified in that area and they're all in the same building. Unlike right now where you have a seventh grade, 8th grade school teacher who could teach a freshman class, but they're in a totally different building, which makes it a little more difficult. So, one of those things to think about. The other thing is
020people hate change. We all do it. It'll be easier if you make one change right now all at once. People are going to complain, but at the same time, you get it done and over with. And you don't have to hear them complain at this point. And then two or three years down the road, they're going to complain because you made a different change. And oh, by the way, you're probably going to affect the same students once again with that movement. So, do you want to affect those same students twice in a row? >> It's kind of one of those things. So, I appreciate everything you do and just that's my viewpoint. the members of the subcommittee have are looking at all that and we have a group of school personnel, our administrative staff and
021our guidance folks that are looking at schedules and exactly what you describe is something that is currently under consideration. >> Thank you. >> Anyone else? >> Would anybody on the board of the committee like to uh make any statements? Why don't >> we just go down the row? Zach. >> No, sounds good. Suzanne Tori, >> I want to just reiterate the fact that this is this is probably one of the hardest decisions um that we've had to make and that the board, you know, we've all have children in the district and we all want what's right for all the kids. And it I just really want to reiterate this is something that's kept us up at night. This is not a decision that's made easy. Um, so the more voices we hear from in the
022next couple days, it's the better. >> I've said this at some of our other meetings, but when you get on the board of education, one of the things that you know is on your mind is you try to make our operation more fiscally responsible. And then you quickly find out [clears throat] that you have so little control over the vast majority the decisions about where the money comes from and how it gets spent. And so you get squeezed into this corner of trying to make everything run without the means to control the income or much of the expenditure. That's what we're faced with. And everyone here will tell you that it's an eye openener. I worked for the district for 30 years. Even I didn't totally understand the uh the amount of constraints that you
023are with what you must spend, what you're told to spend, and where your money comes from. So we're trying to do the best we can and all these decisions. and and this is a piece of it, but we're trying to reorganize things in a way so that in the next decade we're not in a fiscal crisis for our communities and our children. Mike, >> yeah, I um was I do educational research for for a living and I was speaking to a friend who lives in Tennessee and she was telling me that every year in Tennessee they have to open a new school in their school district and I said, "Oh, they have that problem." And um and I think my message would be for people like Jeremy Evans who's in the audience. Sorry to call
024you out Jeremy, but as a as a local political official um we we have to figure out this issue of housing and affordability and getting young people here. And as somebody who moved here eight years ago, it's a difficult place to to move to. And I think unless and until we figure that problem out, this is these are these are the hard decisions that we have to make. So I personally am really frustrated with this decision. Would love to not have to do this reorganization conversation. Would love to be opening a new school every year. I I I would urge our political officials to uh think hard about that problem. to be here >> speaking as one of your political officials. [laughter] Um we at the uh Essex County Board of Supervisors where this is
025town of state armed is in Essex County. We border Franklin County on two sides. So we're kind of in a little weird flux space. Um but the Essex County Board of Supervisors is taking um affordable housing very seriously. We have a new Essex County land bank that's three years old. Um we've been adding to that land bank. Uh we are doing other initiatives um to increase housing stock in our area including accessory dwelling unit grants um that the um pride of Tricon Roa uh and Aderond roots are doing uh working with us to bring more families to our area. Um, so this school is the reason I moved to Bloomingdale 35 years ago. Um, I have two boys. Both are adults now. Both went K through five here at Bloomingdale. And the thought of this
026school uh closing is very very painful to me. And um I'm I'm opposed to it on so many different levels. I understand financial constraints. I do. Uh, I also understand the the student population is declining. Um, I'm not sold on the idea of closing Bloomingdale is the best thing to do for our students. I'm not sold on that at all. I am a member of the buildings and facilities committee and we are working on going through everything and and looking at the finances for the school district and figuring out what to do. And just so everyone here knows, the buildings and facilities committee has not made any recommendation as of yet to the school board. We still have many more meetings to go um to get through the the full agenda of what that committee
027was tasked with. Um so believe me when I when I say I hear all sides. I understand all sides and if there is a way to keep Bloomingdale open, I'm going to find it because it really should in my opinion right now. I'm not saying that's how I'll feel at the end of the building facility committee, but that's how I feel today. It is a gem. It is very special. Um, this school has meant a lot to a lot of people over decades and generations of kids. So, um, I do know that we have a big apartment building um, going to be online, opening up, taking applications soon in Sarak Lake. that will alleviate some of the housing issues. There are more things working in the pipeline. Um we know that we have a lot
028of vacancies and positions in between Sarak Lake, Lake Placid, Jumper Lake. There's there's workforce needed. Um so hopefully we can find a good happy medium to get more people to come here. More affordable housing. Short-term rentals in our area is a big problem. You know, we are working on that in Essex County as well. A lot of towns have done, you know, short-term rental laws and things to try to keep housing stock for workforce housing. And as you mentioned, it is hard to find a home here. It's hard to afford a home here. And why is that? Because it's a beautiful place to live. It's a It's a fantastic place to live. People love to have second homes here. They they love to come up and go skiing at Whitesace. They love to come up
029and go voting up in the summer. Um so we're we're fighting with those people to to keep our housing stock affordable um for our residents, for our kids, for our grandkids. And hopefully um we can all come up with some solutions to make that happen. So, for the record, as a mom, I love Bloomingdale School and the thought of it closing breaks my heart. >> Thank you, >> Kina. Can I can I ask a question to her? >> When you're in those meetings, um, do you also talk about jobs, like the quality of jobs, because I think we have a very bifurcated economy here and it's and I it's not just the housing, right? It's it's are there jobs that are good enough for [clears throat] people to have stability and raise families and afford
030to live here on? And I think it's that four-legged stool, Diane, right? Is it it's housing and it's quality jobs and it's are these welcoming communities to newcomers? That's a whole another piece of this, right? Which we've done a lot of DEI work to make the school as inclusive as possible. are these welcoming places for people to come who might not currently want to live. I does that conversation happen at that level around all of those things because there's been a lot of focus on housing. I agree but but like you know I used to work at Paul Smith the institution is struggling the hospital struggling St. goes I mean exactly I don't you can update us on >> clear water man open horizon [laughter] >> but like it just seems like some of the
031major employers that provide kind of middle class jobs are all struggling and I that's not our I don't it's way beyond our purview but I think it's a piece of this story as well right >> sure so um as we all know tourism is our big driving economic factor in um Essex County I can speak for Essex Um I don't know the statistics for Franklin County, but I'm absolutely positive for our area. Yes. Well, Jeremy is here. Um [laughter] so, [clears throat] so 37% roughly of the economy of Essex County is tourism driven. Um so that means you know people working in hotels, motel, restaurants, um shops on Main Street in Lake Placid and Sarin Lake. And generally speaking, those aren't, you know, really great highpaying jobs. But there are jobs that, you know, go
032up the chain there. And I personally know many people who started, you know, waitressing at the the Golden Arrow and and now they're they're running the dining room and they make, you know, $100,000 a year. And so I mean that that happens. It happens all the time. Um, we have, you know, a couple of prisons here. We have Aderondac. We have the federal prison. Um those are huge economic forces uh for our area. The school district is also another huge economic um job provider for our area. And uh Aderon Medical Center, which is a fabulous um hospital and people, some of you might not realize, but people go to Aderonac Medical Center in Sarinac Lake from Pottstown, from Malone, from Canton. Um so our our hospital is very very good here. Uh, North Country Community
033College is also a a big employer for Eric County. I know Paul Smith College is in Franklin County as well. Um, but I will tell you I personally met um a group of women who were nurses. Uh, they were studying nursing at North Country Community College. One of them was driving three and a half hours one way to attend classes at North Country Community College. and she'd been doing so for a couple of years in order to get her nursing degree and she was doing it and she was very very close. I think she's graduating um in the spring. So they were all very excited that they were going to be getting their nursing degrees. So we we have you know these really fantastic pockets of opportunity. Um construction is also another huge economic driver
034in our area. Now, I don't know how many of you have tried to get a plumber lately, but you know, it's a tough thing sometimes to get somebody to come and that's why I am a huge proponent of the Boseies program, of um the automotive program, the the uh the the hair styling barber shop program, the construction program. There's huge need in our area for those types of jobs. Um, Essex County is also a huge employer in our area. Um, so the state police is in our area. We have Essex County Sheriff. They're always Essex County is short probably 150 workers, you know, and that includes really highpaying jobs, you know, attorneys, you know, nurses, different areas, all have jobs available. So, I see a lot of jobs not being fulfilled in our area. And
035a big one of the biggest problems is the affordable housing. And why is housing not affordable here? Because of the second homeowners. Because of short-term rentals. People are buying these houses. They're turning them into short-term rentals. You know, I saw an ad a friend of mine grew up in Lake Placid. They sold their house when their parents died years ago. Um they had three kids and the kids sold the house and the person bought it, flipped it, turned it into a rental. It's a It's a working family and they're paying $2300 a month for a threebedroom, two bath house. And it's not a huge house. I mean, it's it's just a regular house in Lake Placid. So, um, a company owns that house. A company. So, we have, you know, big problems here. And, you
036know, I I wish that there was one solution that would fit it all. I don't know what all of the solutions are. I know what we're working on in Essex County to try to alleviate it. Um, but certainly I would love to see growth. I would love to see more families here. I know here in St. Armen, I'm working on improvements to the the youth field. I know that that might not seem like a big thing, but when you can offer more programs to kids, you know, anything that we can do to get kids to stop doing this, I'm in. you know, whatever it takes, let's let's do that. Um, so that's another part of the stool is what can we offer to entice people to come. So, if we can get some affordable housing,
037you know, working, we have these apartments coming in at Sarin Lake soon, hopefully that will help alleviate some of the problems. Um, but it's a great place to live. It's a great place to raise your family. You know, we have low crime, clean air, clean water, beautiful location, and Bloomingdale school, right? But the the Sak Lake Central School District of course is a gem of itself, you know, so it's tough. I wish I could answer your question all the way. I really do. >> Mark, if [clears throat] I may, >> please. Let's do Nancy. Oh, I I'm sorry. I thought you'd gone with it. It's hard. >> I apologize for taking it. >> Well, I was just gonna, you know, reiterate a little bit. These are big, you know, national issues, regional, much larger than
038the Sarinac Lake School District that's impacting the decision that we're looking at right now. And I also, you know, have like many of us on the, you know, in the table here have a child that went to school at Bloomingdale. He loved Bloomingdale school. thrived here. I love Bloomingdale School. It breaks my heart that we are we are at this decision. I never thought I would ever, you know, think what I'm thinking. But being on the board all of a sudden put gives you a different perspective. You're not looking at your own, you know, um, you know, your own view from Vermont or from wherever. You're looking at all the children. you know, you're looking at, you know, everybody's family and the taxpayers and the um you know, the teachers, our staff, everybody. You know,
039what is the equitable best decision for for everyone? And and it's a it's a very different perspective. Um, and I would just ask the community to trust the the teams that are looking at scheduling and that are looking at busing that that they're really trying to make the best decision for for the district and [clears throat] for the for our students. uh not a personal vandetta against this building or this community that that um you know we do the best we can but we are fighting a big fight here against these things that we don't have a lot of control over >> Tori >> so I I'd like to address just a couple of things that Deina said as the plumber's wife [laughter] >> and number And and I will say this and it's probably
040a taboo thing to say tonight and on this board. I was born and raised in Lake Placid. So I grew up my first job was as a bicycle mechanic and then I sold t-shirts and I worked in at least half a dozen downtown shops. So I know a lot of people in Lake Placid and I know a lot of people here. I I I'm fifth gen My daughter's fifth generation from the area. The problem is the jobs that are coming in. I am the plumber's helper. If you call to have your sewer line snaked, I will be the one coming with him because first of all, we can't get anybody because they can't afford to live here. Second of all, the work is seasonal. So many of the things are seasonal. And yes, you're right.
041Some people do go on, they start out as a waitress, they start out as a bike mechanic, they work their way up. But for every manager of a restaurant, for every manager of a hotel, what are there 30 or 40 that are working? And I looked today housekeeping jobs, one of the major jobs in Lake Placid and Sarak Lake makes $18 an hour. $18 an hour. That's not going to change. I you everyone will tell you I am the the logical let's sit down, let's figure out this. There are so many issues that we can't address. But I look at I look at the customers that we serve every day that can barely pay bills. I look at the jobs that are available today and even the good jobs aren't making money that they could
042buy a house to live in. So they're destined to be renting forever. And I think we really need to think about those people, the bluecollar people that work every day, that struggle to get by every day, and make sure that we can keep a great school system. And I know it shouldn't come down to dollars, but so much of our existence comes down to dollars. It comes down to where you live comes down to dollars. What you eat comes down to dollars. And unfortunately, as much as I wish it didn't, I think it it comes down to dollars. And it's I want to make it clear that I don't that's not what I want to see it close. But in the end, when it comes down to the dollars, we have kids in a whole
043district to take care of all the kids in the district. And I feel very badly. I know a lot of people. I live out in Sarinak in and to get to Sarinac Lake District. My daughter went by two schools that closed and I sure Lake Clear was I remember Lake Clear. What an awful fight that was. And like Colby and what an awful fight that was. And those are horrible decisions have to make. This is a horrible decision to make. I do think though we have to look at for the good of every child in the district. >> Thank you, Tori. Anyone else from the audience like to [clears throat] uh address board? So, a couple of things. One, we're going to do go ahead. >> When is the comment period period >> for tonight?
044>> No. >> It says on the sheet. >> We have another hearing in the auditorium at Sar Lake High School tomorrow. >> How long is the Can they keep submitting? >> Anytime. Anytime. >> Anytime. There's no there's no no end for >> we'll we'll we'll take feedback all the way. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> So, that was be our next point. So, tomorrow night we're going to do this again at the high school auditorium at 6:30 and you know I'll stick around afterwards. People want to come and chat with me. I'm happy to have any conversation you want. Um you can reach out to board members, committee members, Mrs. spots. Uh, anything that works for you and we will take feedback right up to the very end. I'm real sure that after a decision is made,
045we'll get feedback on that too from one group or another. I mean, we said from the beginning, no matter what we do here, somebody's not going to be happy. We know that we can't make a decision that reaches everybody and makes them all whole and happy. So, we're going to do the absolute best we can do to do the best we can for our our students, our children, our staff, and our communities. We try to balance as many things as we can. So with that, we'll adjourn and if you think of something, send it our way or we'll see you tomorrow night. >> But thank you for coming. >> Yes. Thank you so much for coming. It's very important.