The Cold Spring Early Learning Center gymnasium was crowded with concerned community members on Wednesday, Nov. 20 — participants in the Pine Plains Board of Education’s second and final forum addressing possible school consolidation. Faced with declining enrollment and potentially deep cuts in state funding, the district has considered shuttering one of its three buildings. Then at the school board’s sparsely attended forum on Nov. 12, Superintendent Brian Timm announced that moving all students into Stissing Mountain Junior-Senior High School may be necessary.
Speaking to more than 40 forum attendees this week, Timm said, “I hope to build a case for why we are discussing the need to right-size our school district.” His presentation highlighted the near 50% drop in student numbers — from 1,420 to 783 over the past 20 years — and the threatened loss of $4 million in Foundation Aid.
Timm said that Gov Kathy Hochul’s office will provide preliminary state aid estimates in February, with firmer figures in April, when her proposed 2026-27 budget is released. Because the district budget must meet a March 2026 deadline, a school consolidation plan must be set before then. “Our decision will be made in January,“ he said. “This is a school-year decision; there will be no midyear closures. I am confident that whatever we decide to do, we’ll be prepared and ready.”
Audience members peppered Timm with questions, including whether it was safe for 4-year-olds to be on the same bus as high schoolers. “Our students are the greatest — they’re empathetic,” Timm said. “Many other districts couldn’t do this, but I feel confident that we can pull it off.”
One parent asked if school redistricting was feasible. Timm said that because of an impact on the tax base, redrawing school attendance zones usually falls apart. “It would have to be mandated by the New York Department of Education and the governor for it to work,” Timm said.
When asked who else the community can partner with as the school district’s advocates in Albany, Timm recommended State Senator Michelle Hinchey (D-4l) or Assemblymember Didi Barrett (D-106).
Participants completed a Future-Ready Forum survey, which will be reviewed by the school board in December. (Those unable to attend can register to obtain an online survey here.) The community and town boards will also receive the results; Timm plans to post an FAQ on the district website.
To close the funding gap, Timm said either district revenue must increase or expenses must decrease. “One way would be to raise taxes, but that would have to be by 23%,” he said. “The other way would be to close a school, which would save $1.5 million per building. The question is, which to close?”
Timm said the decision in part rested on building maintenance costs. “Cold Spring is [smaller, but] newer, and cheaper to maintain,” he said. “And we recently replaced the roof. All the elementary students could fit into Seymour Smith [Intermediate Learning Center], but it is old — built in 1932, and needs quite a lot of work, including the facade and roof.” (The district has estimated repairs to be as much as $25 million.)
According to Timm, the school board is considering several consolidation scenarios, including closing Cold Spring and moving all the students to Seymour Smith. (Based on the district’s 2024 building utilization study, this option would leave class size, programs, and services unaffected.) Another option is to close Seymour Smith: Second graders would join pre-K through first graders in Cold Spring; third through fifth graders would move to Stissing Mountain. In either case, additional revenue could come from renting or selling the unused building.
A third solution involves shuttering both elementary schools. “The high school would house all students — similar to the Germantown and Taconic Hills Central school districts,” Timm said, adding that building modifications would have to be made (such as dedicated bathrooms) to accommodate students in second grade or younger. “We would be one campus, with a one-bell schedule. Transportation costs would be cut in half,” Timm said. “We would also have to right-size our number of employees; any workforce reduction would be based on seniority.”
Timm told attendees he had been confident that state Foundation Aid would be fully funded in 2026-27. “It’s an election year,” he said. “Why would the governor [Kathy Hochul] want to pick a fight with the school districts and the teacher’s union when she’s trying to get re-elected?”
But Timm said federal funding cuts have forced New York to look for ways to save money. “The feds don’t want to play nice with New York,” he said. “And since the state’s priority is providing healthcare, my concern is they’ll go after Foundation Aid.”
Established in 2007, Foundation Aid is protected by Hold Harmless, a state mandate that ensures the district receives no less money than the previous year. If it is revoked, the district’s changing demographics — fewer students and an increase in multimillion dollar homes — would affect the calculation of Foundation Aid, resulting in the loss of half of the district’s state funding. Timm said that over 350 of New York’s estimated 700 school districts would be impacted. “I hope they’ll do it in a humane way, and not take [the funds] all at once,” he said. “I recommend they decrease the money by 10% annually over 10 years, or 20% over five years. If this gets cut in one fell swoop, we’re in a pickle — and so is half of New York state.”
If Pine Plains had played nice with Carvel, there would be plenty of students, plenty of tax base and life could continue un affected. Heck, we might have even grown. But, no, we don’t want the weekenders up here and we cannot support them and no, we don’t want their money. We might have even added dining establishments, and kept the grocery store open. Too little too late now. The next time a gift horse offers, maybe we should be willing to accept.