Press release of May 13, 2009

Gains 3 new softball fields

BH-BL cutting costs on health insurance & copier paper

BURNT HILLS:  Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake Board of Education members received several pieces of good news at their business meeting on May 12.

    Superintendent Jim Schultz reported that he has decided to accept recommendations from the district health insurance committee that are expected to save over $120,000 in the 2009-10 school year by deleting one health insurance plan currently available to staff members and adding two options that will reduce prescriptions drug costs and encourage the use of generic drugs.

    BH-BL currently offers staff the choice of two HMO-type health insurance plans, The committee found that premiums for one plan are higher now and are expected to be higher next year as well, even though the benefits offered are essentially the same, he said. "Since both our employees and the district pay a portion of these premiums, moving staff out of the more expensive plan next fall will save money for both the employees and the district."

    Schultz commended health insurance committee members for coming to consensus and making these recommendations to him. "Representatives from all our bargaining units serve on the committee, so this is another example of what we can accomplish when we work together for the common good," he said.

    School board members voted to approve bid awards for duplicating paper. Assistant superintendent Jacqueline St. Onge said that, as they have for the past 20 years, BH-BL business office staff arranged a cooperative paper bid for a group of school districts.

    This spring the eight school districts taking part in the bid (BH-BL, Ballston Spa, Bethlehem, Mohonasen, Niskayuna, Schalmont, Scotia-Glenville and Troy) will jointly save $52,848 on white xerographic paper alone, compared to what they would have spent using state contract prices.

    "Year after year we're able to get really great prices because we bid this as a large group and we make it attractive to vendors. We require vendors to hold their price firm for only 60 days and allow them to deliver to only one location per school district in palette loads, which both meets our needs and holds the vendors' costs down too," she explained.

    The winning bidder was W B Mason Company of Albany, who will be providing the eight school districts with 14,400 cases of regular white xerographic paper for $24.49 per case, compared to the state contract price of $28.16 per case. WB Mason was also the winning bidder for colored, legal-size and three-hole punch paper, while Hudson Valley Paper Company of Albany secured the bid for white and colored heavier-weight paper.

    St. Onge also announced that the district has been notified it will receive at least $12,000 from FEMA to reimburse costs incurred when pipes burst during last December's ice storm.

New softball fields

    School board members also learned that thanks to a joint community / school district project, on Saturday, May 16, Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake girls and parents will be inaugurating the use of three brand new softball fields behind the Charlton Heights elementary school on Stage Road.

    Members of the BH-BL Girls Recreational Softball program created the fields with the approval and supervision of the school district. "This project reminds me of the Magic Maze playground also at Charlton Heights," said Schultz. "In these tough times when the district is cutting staff and budgeting fewer services, I'm proud our community continues to come together to provide services and opportunities for kids in alternative ways like this."

    According to softball program president Deidre Emerle, parents provided at least 250 hours of work to create the fields. They removed the existing sod and leveled the fields, then brought in and raked special dirt called "infield mix" for the infield areas. The infield mix was donated by Carl Clemente of Troy Sand and Gravel.

    "We've grown so much," says Emerle. Enrollment in the program doubled in the spring of 2008, so this winter parents began talking to the district about ways to make more playing fields available for the 2009 season.

    Currently the parent-run program serves approximately 260 athletes. Girls ages four to 14 play on 23 recreational teams plus four travel teams for the oldest girls.

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