The recently announced grant of $1.6 million for an outdoor classroom at Montgomery C. Smith Elementary School was a topic of conversation at the HCSD Board of Education meeting on Tuesday.
The topic of the outdoor classroom was introduced by Kjirsten Gustavson in her Facilities Committee report. This prompted Maureen Sheridan to make a statement. After offering profuse congratulations to the community members who spearheaded the project and expressing the hope that what she was about to say would not interfere or jeopardize the funding, Sheridan asked, "How is it that we are laying off staff, cutting programming, raising school taxes to close a multimillion dollar spending gap in part because the State of New York is not able to or willing to increase its aid allocation this year, but there's 1.6 million readily available and offered to a grassroots parent group for an outdoor project that just a week ago few people knew about?" In her subsequent comments, Sheridan said, "No one had any idea that this kind of money was going to be allocated to this project," noting that organizers had originally hoped to get just $100,000 or $200,000. Diana Howard concurred, saying that her first knowledge of the project was when she read about it in the Register-Star. Howard and Sheridan stressed the fact that the board knew nothing about this.
Board president Mark DePace explained that the $1.6 million was coming from the Community Resiliency, Economic Sustainability, and Technology Program, for which more than $300 million had been earmarked specifically for capital projects. He told the board that he and interim superintendent Brian Bailey had used visit by Assemblymember Didi Barrett and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie to talk about the shortcomings of the state's Foundation Aid funding, explaining that "districts like Hudson, who have both extreme poverty and extreme wealth, are punished by the formula" used to calculate Foundation Aid.
Bailey said the visit from Heastie was "an opportunity to tell how different Hudson was from all of the neighboring schools that people constantly compare us to . . . and it needs different care from our legislators." He said there were "good conversations that happened that hopefully will have a lasting impact."
The entire discussion can be heard here, from 33:30 to 46:40.
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There’s a name for a $1.6 million outdoor “classroom” at a school where 1 in 4 kids read at grade level, and where they just terminated dozens of teachers due to a yet unexplained software error:
ReplyDeleteLuxury Beliefs, ideas that confer status on the upper class at little cost while inflicting the cost on the lower classes.
https://www.robkhenderson.com/p/luxury-beliefs-that-only-the-privileged
Hawthorne Valley (regional progressive private school) is growing so much they now hand out scholarships.
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Question for the HCSD board;
Why is HCSD the only school district with 3 private bus companies serving a relatively smaller geographic area?
All other school districts in Columbia County own their own busies or contract with a single private firm.
Correction: HV has been offering scholarships for a long time, maybe higher proportion of total now? .... either way kinda proves the point even more.
DeleteA few miles up the road, Hawthorne Valley delivers a superior product for about 60 cents on the dollar of what Hudson spends per kid. In an actual nature setting. Not a billboard classroom on Harry Howard.
And HV gives scholarships out of its own pocket, no $1.6 million grant of our NY taxes.
Thank you Maureen and Diana. More insider trading. Where's the evidence that this program benefits students? How many students? Where's the curriculum? Who are the teachers? Yes, Hudson is different than many other districts: it refulse to implement programs that actually work.
ReplyDeleteThe classroom itself is a “luxury belief”? Interesting.
ReplyDeleteFor folks who are unfamiliar: “luxury beliefs” is a term coined seven whole years ago and is one guy’s idea. The concept is not an accepted piece of social science; it’s one guy’s opinion.
That guy happens to be a conservative podcast regular and works at a conservative think tank that is actively trying to curtail freedom of speech.
Just so we all know where everyone is coming from.
Dear Michael B, you seem to be the kind of guy that would funnel the belief in the earth revolving around the sun through a partisan political sieve. What else do you call a $1.6 expenditure without evidence of its educational value than a "luxury belief." This is a district that can't educate its kids or even balance its books. Is that because it's conservative? Or progressive? As Lord Acton might put "There is no error so monstrous that it fails to find defenders among the ablest men."
DeleteGravity, the big bang theory, evolution — all ideas formulated by just one guy (though not all the same guy). None had podcasts though, so I guess that must be the basis of your critique. I also have it on good authority (ok it was a podcast) that Sir Isaac Newton was a racist and didn’t support gay rights. So who believes in gravity now?
DeleteAll stupid points and questions — see how that works, Michael B?
The idea that children learn better in an outdoor setting, or a library, or.classroom or a broom closet is clearly dispelled by the fact that we all know: kids learn wherever they are. It’s what their squishy little brains do — suck things in. The important part is the curriculum and the human element (we call them “teachers” — even if they’re conservative or liberal or apolitical). This outdoor classroom idea is pure unadulterated malarkey distracting us from the basic issue: little Johnny and little Jane can’t read, write or think critically. And the fault for that is solely on the HCSD and its incompetent, spendthrift leadership.
Michael, you and Micheal Chameides should grab a coffee. You reason identically.
DeleteWatch what you did here (again).
We cited Henderson, a foster-care orphan who clawed from California group homes to Yale and a Gates Cambridge scholarship, and wrote a memoir called "Troubled" about that climb.
Your move was to wave the "conservative" flag, as if conservative meant Maoist or cult recruiter.
Yet we've quoted Raj Chetty more often in these green pages, a center-left Harvard economist of the kind the Ezra Klein Show loves to book, and no conservative version of you ever sprang up hollering "look, look, HCS cited a progressive, ban him from the Farmer's Market and the car wash."
The asymmetry is the whole story. It tells us everything about your clarity of thought, and the illiberal left's reflex to sort ideas by tribe instead of testing them against reality and first principles.
Can HCS buy you a Free Press subscription, sincerely.
Everyone should read those they disagree with. Widen the aperture. Email us if interested.
I just wanted to chime in a share that this project started from a group of parents frustrated with that fact that on average our kids get to spend only 15 minutes a day outside. We spoke with the Principle Brenneman, sent a survey out to all the teachers at MC Smith, and got 34 responses. All survey respondents supported expanding outdoor learning opportunities. Teachers unanimously agreed that Hudson students would benefit from more time learning outside and expressed hope and excitement about what MCSES could create. Nearly half wanted to be directly involved in the planning and implementation process.
ReplyDeleteFour themes emerged consistently from qualitative responses from teachers:
1. Academic & Equity Benefits
Outdoor learning creates “hands-on, real time, visual, movement” experiences that benefit all learners. Many students do not have access to outdoor learning outside of school — dedicated spaces at MCSES ensure every child benefits regardless of socioeconomic status or living situation.
2. Mental Health & Regulation
Teachers observe that outdoor time helps students “reset, regulate, and return ready to
learn. ” Fresh air and nature exposure reduce stress, boost mood, and prepare the brain for
instruction.
3. Design & Accessibility
Spaces must be “well thought out” with teacher and staff input throughout. Accessibility is a priority: fully gated enclosures, wheelchair-accessible ramps and tables, and tactile features like raised garden beds ensure all students — including those with disabilities or elopement risks — can participate fully.
4. Purpose Over Playground
Teachers favor learning structures (tables, benches, writing surfaces) over playground
equipment. Multi-use spaces that support writing, science observation, Reader’s Theatre, and music performance are most valued. Gardens connected to curriculum — covering plant life cycles, habitats, and nutrition — are especially desired.
It’s unfortunate to celebrate this win at HCSD at the same time that there is so much loss. It certainly feels heavy- but it also gives us more motivation to build a long lasting positive impact to our school, students, and community- and fortunately, now we have the funds to do so!
As BOE President DePace stated, the money came from a completely different pot that was never on the table to help schools cover budget gaps. It’s worth noting that several projects across the state got funds from this CREST grant. Speaker Heastie also announced a $2.5 million grant for improvements to a track at Southside Elementary in Buffalo. This is not a high-performing district by state assessment measures. Apparently New York State understands that students deserve quality learning and recreational spaces regardless of their test scores. There was no “insider trading” as mentioned here. We are just a group of parents who had an idea, got organized, and through persistence, and some luck in timing- got the funding we needed to accomplish the goal!
When we got our survey results from teachers and created a preliminary design concept, we presented to the BOE- they were very enthusiastic- but also relived when we emphasized that we would be seeking outside funding for this. We did it, and it happened faster than we all expected! As I said, I think we got lucky with timing for funding, and we presented a clear and compelling idea, but also the proposal to support more outdoor time came as more parents and districts are pushing back on schools increasing reliance on technology with smart boards and Chromebooks. No wonder our kids struggle with attention! There is a substantial body of research suggesting that outdoor learning spaces are a worthwhile investment, and we are so happy that Hudson is getting this opportunity to get our kids outside more!
Was this presented to Diana Howard and Maureen Sheridan as well? According to them they have no knowledge. How is that possible?
DeleteThe proposal was presented to them, and the entire board, and they were supportive. I think she was referring to not having any knowledge that the money was going to be awarded. But it happened quickly, we were all taken a little bit by surprise!
DeleteThank you for the thoughtful comment HB. You clearly are well intentioned.
DeleteBut one outdoor classroom will not move the academic needle for ~1400 students, only 1 in 3 read at grade level.
[And if you assume kids will not be outside when it is below ~45F, then before you count rainy days the class can only be used 2/3s of the school year]
A $1.6 million garden classroom may make the elites in a community feel better about a school that cannot teach a child to read. Great for cocktail parties and Democratic Party Primary election week.
(Hence the photo of politicians attracting attention. Imagine if you all posted a photo of the average SAT score at HCSD being 75th percentile, or the average student going to a four year college without a mountain of debt due to merit or need bursaries)
The harder point: HCSD now eats close to half of every property tax dollar, yet almost all the families who can afford it put their kids in private schools (or manoeuvre for Red Hook or elsewhere) leaving a Working Middle Class in Hudson that cannot opt out to pay more and more into a factory that produces less and less. Meanwhile fixed income retirees subsidize all of it.
Just this week another neighbor told us they are moving to MA, specifically because of HCSD. She also worked within the City of Hudson.
That is displacement via tax bill, not bulldozer, and every budget increase you motivate through the Blue Hawks Boosters or similar group raises the cost of staying in Hudson for the people least able to pay it.
This is ironic because many in town blame "transplants" from Brooklyn for the cost of living. When new residents are more likely to champion what you should; lower taxes & better services.
HCSD is now the "displacement" driver.
The one bill no family can dodge, the one monopoly product nobody loves, quietly priced into every rent check and tax bill in this city.
Next year it will go up again, while school enrollment will go down.
When will we hit $45k per kid per year just at HCSD?
Isn't Hawthorne Valley around $20k?
Could you please share some of the "substantial body of research suggesting that outdoor learning spaces are a worthwhile investment"?
DeleteSo once the initial “ construction” and supplies needed have exhausted the grant monies how is this “ classroom” funded?
ReplyDeleteThere are too many of these “ pots” in NYS. It’s ridiculous that “ pot” money gets set aside rather than be added to school budgets.
Hopefully no seniors get displaced…..
The classroom will be a permanent structure that teachers can use. We have discussed with the Facilities committee about designing the features so as not to overburden the groundskeepers. The garden will be managed by a group of parent volunteers- as to not put extra work on the teachers, and High school agriculture students have expressed excitement about working with the younger kids- to tie the two schools together. There are many grants out there to support outdoor/nature learning and garden education- because many people believe in the importance of getting kids outside and in the dirt. We have been in conversations with organizations like Sylvia Center, Slow Food Hudson Valley, and Cornell Cooperative extension who are excited to lend their resources to our project. We have met with other schools in our area that have similar projects that have had long lasting positive effects and are a real point of pride- like Redhook, Kingston, and Beacon.
ReplyDeleteThis is worse than expected.
DeleteWhen you and Kjirsten move on, or your kids graduate, the classroom and bill stays: maintenance, eventual replacement, forever.
It will go into the budget...
~
The Kings of Siam handed sacred white elephants to courtiers they wanted to ruin:
too holy to work, too holy to kill, very expensive to feed.
During droughts they would let other more useful animals die because no one notices, but the visible white elephant will be a scandal.
A grant that builds the thing but funds none of its upkeep is exactly that, a White Elephant.
The parents and politicians get the photo. And this is how Hudson / Greenport / Stockport residents get a ~5% a year higher tax.
Hannah - IMO it is always best to let parents speak first. Esp those who are actually involved, like you. You need to be thanked but you need to recruit more parents I think. Maybe I don't know enough but that is my signature. I just think the timing and optics of this outdoor classroom at $1.6 million dollars was ALL wrong. We just voted to give the architects and others doing the capital project more than a million dollars in their fees alone. And a budget that seems like NASA created it. It truly is heartbreaking to me that as a community we can't find a solution to educating that doesn't involve so many millions of dollars. Who really is the expert here on so-called outdoor classrooms? As we all know, it can later become an outdoor mess. Check out that those two current campuses. And to me it seems like we are moving the disaster from indoors to outdoors. Maybe if we all stay still for a moment and cooperate on how to get the money to match up to results that would be the start. I recall my "outdoor classes" in both high school and college and in both cases it was first considered a total relief to go outside and do much less work than inside. And in college my professors just wanted to suntan. And as far as outdoor classrooms go, we already have them. they are called athletic fields where kids can learn as much if not more than an indoor classroom. And has anyone talked about the weather issue? So, we don't have a permament superintendent yet, we have absentee rates that are astronomical and we have a community that can't agree on a way out of this mess. Then we find out that our politicians can find $1.6 million just floating around to fund something that seems so far out of our needs wheelhouse. Why not hold the $1.6 million and divide it up for scholarships for the kids who want to go on to further education or need it to find jobs. I don't personally get how this became a priority other to garner votes. Hannah, I am sorry. I really am. But the word "million" means alot to all of us. Why is it that there was $1.6 million hiding in the State coffers and none of it was truly going toward addressing core problems. I think there should be an audit of all the spending and then decide if Hudson really wants to accept a grant of $1.6 million dollars for an outdoor classroom. And the BOE should decide if it rally wants more money from New York State while managing a massive capital project budget and a budget that seems untethered to reality. But Hannah can answer this better than any of us I suspect.
ReplyDeleteWell-said, Ken. This project was not good timing, as Hannah says, but "ALL wrong." And it only highlights how dysfunctional this BOE has been for much of the last five years, spending tens of thousands of dollars ignoring evidence about what works, asking regular people how to fix the academics while a few smart parents, in cahoots with a couple of board members , slide through a project that will add to a budget already "untethered to reality."
DeleteHCSD has been a continuing sickening drama for all the 28 years I've lived here. More architecture isn't a solution to its problem of inadequately educating kids .... HCSD already has the best facilities ... learn how to use them
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHCS Letter to the Editor by Linda Mussmann, Hudson 4th Ward Supervisor, reshared here:
Delete"Now a 1.6 million dollar disaster to add on to the bigger problem, that this school has failed and failed again to help kids read, write and do math."
"There are limits to how much failure a community can take."
Read the full letter here:
https://www.hudsoncommonsense.com/milliondollardisaster