The second budget committee meeting of the annual series took place on Tuesday, March 11, 2025. Superintendent Kathleen Skeals introduced the Instructional Support Budget Development team, which includes the Transportation, Facilities and Custodial, and Instructional Technology Departments.
“They do so much work behind the scenes to help all our students get here safely and have great experiences when they’re here,” said Skeals. “They are so integral to our student success.”
Transportation Department
The meeting began with Director of Transportation Denise Towne, who discussed the status of the department and reflected on future plans. Towne reviewed the decrease in regular drivers within the department, but also highlighted the current and future recruitment efforts for hiring more drivers. Towne also discussed how the department is planning for current bussing needs, as well as the implementation of electric buses.
“We’re replacing a few more buses this year than we would normally be doing because we’re trying to get ourselves in a good position when we’re ready to move forward with the electric buses,” Towne said.
Due to limitations for wheelchairs on some electric buses, Towne has recommended the district purchase more buses that can hold up to three wheelchairs. The standard electric buses that are wheelchair compatible currently only allow for one wheelchair and 12 passengers. Towne hopes that by purchasing these buses now, the district will be able to bridge the gap until there are more electric bus options available.
Towne also discussed important upgrades to Wayfinder, which assists with navigation, building routes, taking attendance and more. In utilizing this software, the department is able to evaluate bus routes and see if there are improvements to be made with pick up and drop off. Additionally the software allows for attendance tracking, so drivers can alter the route based on who is on the bus.
Maintenance: Facilities and Custodial Departments
Facilities and Custodial Department Director Brian Craft began the presentation focusing on the maintenance data for the district. With 13 locations and over one million sq. ft., there is a large amount of work to be done to keep everything running smoothly throughout the district. In addition to the yearly upkeep in the form of mechanical equipment replacements, Craft highlighted some of the stand alone requests. One is the replacement of a 2009 Ford F-350 truck with a plow that is in poor condition, estimated to cost $70,000. The continuation of annual maintenance items includes playground mulch, window shade and ceiling tile replacements, parking lot striping, and abatement work.
The Custodial Department has 53 employees, responsible for eight school buildings and four ancillary buildings. Based on the numbers, the average custodial worker in North Colonie cleans 28,000-31,000 sq. ft. per eight hour shift. It’s a sizable job to do. In addition to the employees, the Custodial Department has three vehicles, one of which needs replacing. In the upcoming budget, the department is requesting the replacement of a 2009 Ford E 250 van in poor condition, estimated at $60,000.
Each year, a large portion of the facilities budget goes to some of the things we take for granted, like air filters, whiteboards, door hardware, paper towels and toilet paper, cleaning chemicals, vehicle maintenance, and more.
Mr. Craft also referenced some of the Capital Transfer Project work that is scheduled to begin this summer. At Shaker High School, work will begin to resurface the track at Walker Field and upgrade the fencing, create a new secure H-Gym Athletic entrance and walkway, upgrade an elevator and bathrooms in C-wing and at the security desk entrance. Some of those projects will continue into the school year. All elementary schools will be receiving gymnasium equipment upgrades, Southgate and Latham Ridge will get new sound paneling in the cafeteria, Blue Creek will undergo wall abatement in the cafeteria, and Latham Ridge will get gymnasium ventilation upgrades. Other maintenance projects not under the purview of the Capital Transfer project include several SHS classroom expansions, a room conversion at the Goodrich building, paving at Shaker Middle School, speed humps at Blue Creek, and water meter upgrades and Smart Board installations across the district.
Instructional Technology Department
Instructional Technology Director Julie Scriven began her portion of the presentation with a review of the technology statistics in the district. This is the fifth year that the district has provided a Chromebook for every student K-12. Combined with other technology such as PCs, Macbooks, iPads, phones, security cameras, LED Touchpanels, etc., there are more than 14,000 devices district-wide. When it comes to Chromebooks, they are scheduled to be replaced every four years, which means new Chromebooks are budgeted for students in grades 1, 5, and 9 as well as special education students and staff members. The total budget for Chromebooks is $625,850. The IT team is very proactive about saving parts, specifically workable screens and keyboards from our Chromebooks being phased out, to use those as replacement parts for any Chromebooks that are broken. This helps save the district a tremendous amount of money and keeps the work done in house.
In the high school, there are laptops and PCs in some of the technology labs that are budgeted for replacement, as well as staff laptops that will need replacing around the district. As North Colonie moves away from standard televisions in classrooms, they will gradually be replaced by Viewsonic touchscreens, which are also part of the IT budget along with the brackets to go with them. iPads are used for communication purposes by some of our special education students, as well as for drawing and design purposes by many of our art classes. Replacement cycle technology will account for more than $600,000 of the IT budget.
The IT Department also takes on requests for new technology by many departments. For example, next year’s budget includes 3D printers district-wide for the art program, new iPads for hall monitors and 83 of the aforementioned Viewsonic touchscreen devices and mounts in classrooms that have yet to receive them.
When it comes to maintaining network infrastructure, most costs will come from the replacement of wireless access points with less money spent on switch and server replacements than in years past. The district also budgets to purchase network cable, but instead of outsourcing the cost to run the cable that work is all done by the North Colonie maintenance team, again saving money for the district. A large chunk of the network infrastructure budget will come from the firewall maintenance contract, which will need to be purchased in the spring of 2026. Several items seen on the network and infrastructure equipment budget are new this year, because they were transferred over from the custodial department, so while FirstLight internet and dark fiber is a new cost for the IT department, it is not a new addition for the district overall.
The IT team always tries to make use of technology and devices that generate eRate aid and BOCES aid, and in this case, the hope is for that aid to cover more than one third of the network infrastructure costs in the budget. Finally, the department is also requesting a new vehicle to replace the 2007 Suburban van it currently uses. In the next couple of years, IT will be hauling many of those new Viewsonics around to different buildings and has put in for a new Ram Promaster van with a liftgate to help move that equipment. The estimate for the vehicle is approximately $65,000, but that will be put out to bid.
One of the biggest concerns of Scriven and her team is the potential fluctuation in the cost of items in the IT budget. For that reason, the pricing and estimated numbers on some of the items could change, which means they’ll need to prepare for the possibility of cost escalation.
“I recognize that with all three of the departments we talked about tonight, prices on all of the stuff is volatile, but we do so much of it in house because all of you are so competent and good at your jobs and it could be so much worse. So, thank you, every one of you for that because we could be in a much worse place than we are right now,” said North Colonie Board of Education member Sam Johnson.
In summation, North Colonie Assistant Superintendent for Business Cybil Howard agreed with Mr. Johnson and thanked all three department heads for their effort in creating a student-centered and fiscally-responsible budget.
“Brian, Denise, and Julie have been tremendous partners in the budget development process to me and to my team, but also in this second year of me being here they have been very curious and willing to try new things and work on really maximizing efficiencies in their own departments and with the district,” said Howard. “They provide just a significant service to our kids and families and enjoy working with them very much.”
The next in the series of budget meetings is Tuesday, March 18, beginning at 6 p.m. in the Shaker Middle School auditorium. The topic for this meeting is New Programs and Initiatives, Projected Staffing Needs, Updated Building Enrollment, and Professional Development and Summer Curriculum Priorities. Join us in-person or via livestream. Visit our Budget and Finance webpage for additional information.