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Two school board incumbents running

    ROTTERDAM — Two incumbents will run unopposed on Schalmont's Board of Education during the election later this month.
    Incumbents Carl Strang and Kevin Thompson are the only two candidates. Terms on the seven member board are unpaid and last three years.
    Strang is running for his third term. He works as the director of the Northeastern Regional Information Center and was once a teacher at Mohonasen High School.
    Thompson is running for his second term. He serves as the chief fi - nancial officer of Quandt’s Foodservice Distributors, Inc., and coaches Rotterdam Little League.
    The election is May 20.

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Serving the needs of special little ones
Schonowe Preschool open house helps tell public about programs

By JENNIFER PATTERSON, Staff writer
First published: Wednesday, April 30, 2008

ROTTERDAM -- The hallways inside Schonowe Preschool offered a cool respite for teachers and the parents of seemingly tireless children.
     
The youngsters were red-faced from dancing in the sun to the tunes of a live band and frolicking on the playground during an open house on Friday.
The "Nurturing Our Children Toward Milestones of Success" program was one of the first major events held at the school since moving to its new location on Giffords Church Road nearly four years ago, Executive Director John McQueen said.
"We want the community to come in and see what we do, especially to see our new therapeutic garden," McQueen said. "We also want to make people aware of what programs we have available for children, especially with autism."
The school has been serving special-needs preschoolers for more than 20 years. It went through a transition in 1996, when McQueen came on board. The school had been a for-profit entity owned by three people, but they wanted out and approached McQueen, who in turn went to the state and led successful efforts to turn the institution into a nonprofit operation.
Schonowe's special education program teaches toddlers and preschoolers through a variety of play and movement activities, based on a sensory integration dysfunction treatment model.
Sensory integration dysfunction is a neurological disorder that causes difficulties with processing information from the five classic senses -- vision, auditory, touch, olfaction and taste. For people who have it, sensory information is gathered normally, but perceived abnormally. The information tends to be analyzed by the brain in an unusual way that may cause distress and confusion.
It can be a disorder on its own. But it is also characteristic of other neurological conditions, including autism spectrum disorders, attention deficit disorder, dyslexia, developmental dyspraxia, Tourette's syndrome, multiple sclerosis and speech delays, among others.
Schonowe students are taught through individualized programs that combine occupational and physical therapy to help them organize sensory information, develop age-appropriate motor skills and interact functionally.
The Alphabet Soup Early Learning Center and Schonowe Preschool share the facility, which provides a supportive learning environment for children with and without learning disabilities.
"Kids from our special-ed preschool are integrated in all classes with typical nursery school kids, which makes them sensitive to the needs of others at an early age," school psychologist Jennifer Leary said.
For information, call 355-0826. Patterson can be reached at 454-5340 or by e-mail at jpatterson@timesunion.com.

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ROTTERDAM
Fuel costs push spending higher
Schalmont spending to rise $1.45M
BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter

    Fuel prices are driving a 3.63 percent increase in the Schalmont Central School District operating budget expected for the coming year.
    The percent change is slightly less than the increase in the current year 2007-08, when the district had a 4.5 percent jump in spending. Overall, the 2008-09 budget calls for an additional $813,074 to be collected through property taxes, up by about 2.99 percent, according to figures provided by the district.
    “We feel it’s a fiscally responsible budget, but at the same time, it is meeting our students’ educational needs,” Superintendent Valerie Kelsey said Thursday.
    The proposed budget would increase district spending by $1.45 million over the $40.1 million this year.
    Kelsey said a drastic increase in the cost of diesel fuel is reflected in the proposed budget. She said district transportation costs have risen, along with an increase in the cost of supplies such as food an paper.
    The district also witnessed a flattening in its proposed state aid increase from 4 percent in 2007-08 to 2.19 percent in 2008-2009. The district is slated to receive about $11.8 million in aid in the fiscal year beginning July 1.
    Kelsey said the district will cut two teaching positions next year and shed the equivalent of another. She cited enrollment declines at the middle and high school levels.
    Kelsey said the district was able to save money by its participation in the Capital Region BOCES.
    The district also saved by switching the administration and support staff unions from the selffunded Schalmont health insurance plan to a private provider.
    Kelsey said it’s too soon to determine how the proposed budget increase would affect local property taxes in Rotterdam, the largest of the five municipalities within the district. In the current year in Rotterdam, residential property owners paid $17.22 per $1,000 of assessed value, while commercial businesses paid $20.63 per $1,000. District Business Administrator Mark Kellett said a residents with a $200,000 home and a basic STAR exemption paid $2,726 in school taxes to the district.
    The district will host its second community budget forum in the Schalmont Middle School at 7 p.m., April 7. Following the forum, the district’s Board of Education will vote on adopting the budget.
    The public vote statewide is May 20.