Community speaks out on closing Cold Spring

PINE PLAINS — The Pine Plains Board of Education (BOE) listened to public comment from the community on Wednesday, Feb. 20, requesting that Cold Spring Early Learning Center not be closed.During the board’s previous meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 6, Superintendent Linda Kaumeyer outlined procedures for closing a school, if the district were interested in doing so.Kaumeyer did not name a specific school within the district in her presentation, but rather presented generic guidelines from the New York State Department of Education at the prior request of the current BOE.Anne Arent, president of the Cold Spring Parent Teacher Association (PTA), stood up with roughly 10 other individuals to read a letter to the board.“Tonight I am here as a concerned taxpayer and community member in the school district. I am speaking on behalf of the group standing here with me this evening in regards to the board’s consideration of closing Cold Spring Early Learning Center. We’re a group of diverse individuals from throughout the district who are standing here as a united front to state we are strongly against closing the kindergarten through second-grade building,” she said.Arent then referenced Kaumeyer’s previous presentation in which several considerations were listed to the board that would have to be closely examined by a committee before determining to close a school.“One item that stood out from the considerations on that list was the ramifications on the community of closing [the school]. Closing Cold Spring would have significant ramifications not only on the town of Stanford but on the district as a whole,” Arent said.She continued, “For starters the town of Stanford will no longer have a local school of any kind. The children will attend a school in a completely different town for all 13 years of their education.”Arent was concerned about the possibility of an empty building in the town.“Stanford will now be left with a large, poorly lit, empty building on a lot that is just outside the center of town. Who is going to make sure that vandals aren’t damaging it or that the local teens aren’t using it as a new drinking hole?” she asked.Arent also noted that the building is used for many community activities, including the town’s indoor soccer team, local Boy and Girl Scout troops and the Taconic Little League Free Clinic.“These are programs that will no longer be available to us,” she said.Arent also spoke on the possible ramifications on property values and taxes.“What does this mean for our property values? While at face value this change may appear to save taxpayers money, it will in fact cost the town substantially. Property values will go down and new families will be deterred from moving here without a local school and with fewer activities to entice them,” she said.Arent noted that the decrease in property values may cause school taxes to rise.“At first this closure appears to affect only Stanford, but it indirectly affects the entire Pine Plains Central School District community. If our property values go down then so do our property taxes. That is less revenue available for the school district, which translates into either higher taxes for everyone to cover the loss or even more cuts to our already bare-bones budget,” she said.Arent noted that a previous school board had already considered closing Cold Spring and found the current configuration of students into two buildings, Cold Spring and Seymour Smith Intermediate Learning Center, the best option for the students.“Please, don’t lose sight of what is best for the children and their education,” she said.Everyone in the group sat down except for Virginia Stern, town of Stanford supervisor, who wanted to add to Arent’s comment.“I’m not speaking officially. I’m speaking personally as a concerned community member. Losing Cold Spring would really be a blow to the community of Stanford,” she said.Stern also wanted the board to be cautious before making a decision.“While negotiations and discussions always revolve around money and the bottom line, certainly that’s important as we’re all concerned with money,” she said.“It is equally important to think about what one is doing in human terms when making decisions about businesses, government and school,” she said.The board thanked everyone for their comments and did not respond to their concerns at that time.