With Foundation Aid Secured, Pine Plains BOE Postpones Consolidation 

It was standing room only at the Pine Plains Central School District Board of Education meeting on Tuesday, Feb 3. More than 40 concerned citizens — many of them Stanford parents —  looked on as the board unanimously voted to form a community-based advisory committee to investigate the educational impact of school consolidation. The vote effectively postponed the district’s proposed shuttering of Cold Spring Early Learning Center until the 2027-28 school year.

The postponement became possible only after the board learned that, according to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s preliminary budget, the district would be receiving an estimated $6,586,823 in 2026-27 in Foundation Aid — a $65,216 increase over the current district budget. Declining enrollment and threatened state spending cuts, which could have eliminated $4 million in Foundation Aid for PPCSD, had prompted the board to begin considering closing one or more of its three schools in July 2024.

While that news alleviated some of the pressure to shutter a facility, other budgetary issues — such as huge increases in employee health care premiums — still loom, fueling ongoing consolidation discussions and potentially forcing cuts to school programs.

The board-created advisory committee will have six months to gather information before filing a report on Sept. 30. Education Law 402-A specifies committee membership. Superintendent Brian Timm said, “I think all the town supervisors [in our district] should be invited; we’ll have the three union presidents, our district attorney, Amie [Fredericks], Laura [Rafferty], and myself. We’ll also need parents, and representatives from business and labor. That’s already at least 20 people.”

The board discussed the need for subcommittees to divide the workload, and a strategy to choose participants fairly. “By the end of February, we’ll have an understanding of what this committee will look like,” Timm said.

In addition to the increase in Foundation Aid, Rafferty said that transportation and services shared with Dutchess County Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) were among other fully-funded district expenses. The district’s total state aid package for the upcoming academic year will total more than $8.9 million, a 2.26% rise.

At a board meeting on Jan. 8, Timm proposed a short-term cost-cutting plan to shutter Cold Spring (located in Stanfordville): Its pre-K through first grade students would move to Seymour Smith Intermediate Learning Center in Pine Plains, which currently serves grades two through five. The board had scheduled a vote on Timm’s proposal for Jan. 20.

But Stanford parents pushed back: Brooke Brown wrote and circulated a petition that collected 346 signatures, urging the board to “vote no” on school consolidation until “further analysis is done and greater community engagement is allowed.” They rallied more than 75 residents to attend the Jan. 20 meeting; at least 20 of those addressed the school board directly, echoing petition demands. The board ultimately agreed to postpone any decision until Feb. 3, and to consider forming the advisory committee.

At the meeting on Tuesday, Brown thanked the district for pausing its plan to shutter Cold Spring during the public comment section. But she said many questions have gone unanswered, including: Why is the school board reluctant to look into redistricting? What will the specific logistics be for the students if we consolidate, such as schedules, recess, and meals? What would happen to Mrs. Fischetti? (Kristen Fischetti is the elementary school’s principal.)

Despite the full funding of Foundation Aid, revenue from state support and property tax will not offset the anticipated expenses. Health care premiums for the district’s over 200 employees could jump by 16.43%, triggering a $1.6 million budget increase for 2026-27. This would pierce the state 2% tax cap by an additional 2.7%, requiring a supermajority to approve the budget — at least 60% of voters. (At the Jan. 20 meeting, School Board President Amie Fredericks said a supermajority vote is “rarely successful,” and the resulting contingency budget would cause school programming cuts.)

Liability insurance for buses and cybersecurity may increase, too. “I expected to see a 10% rise in cost,” Rafferty said. “Instead, it’s going up by 15%.” An increase in special education expenses was also a surprise. “[These costs] usually go up by 5% annually,” she added. “This time the projection is closer to 10%.”

According to Rafferty, expenses could be offset by using money from the district’s reserve funds — currently totaling $12 million, though three-fourths of that is earmarked for planned capital projects. Part of the appropriated fund balance (leftover money in the budget at the academic year’s end) could also be used. Board member Fred “Chip” Couse said, “The use of reserves or the fund balance is a dangerous road to go down. You can only use that money once, then the hole will be bigger the following year.”

Timm said a third possible solution was a cost containment strategy, which would mean cutting school programs. “We could also start charging outside groups for use of school facilities, but to be honest, that would be a drop in the bucket,” he said. “My sense is not to touch the reserve funds; we may need them the following year if there is no Foundation Aid. But we could use some of the appropriated funds.” 

Timm and Rafferty will bring their budgetary recommendations to the next school board meeting, to be held at 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 17 in the high school library.