SARATOGA SPRINGS — When the Palladian-style Lake Avenue school building opened in 1924, no students crossing its entrance knew about the Great Depression or World War II or Beatlemania. 100 years later, the Saratoga Springs City School District is celebrating the history of Lake Ave Elementary with a bevy of proclamations and celebrations.

On April 30, Lake Avenue School Day was officially declared by a representative from Congressman Paul Tonko’s office, State Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner, State Senator James Tedisco, and Mayor John Safford. The group gathered outside at the corner of Lake Ave. and Regent St. to issue their decrees.

“The history of this school is so long and so great,” said Mayor Safford. “It kind of reflects this wonderful little city that we call our own.”

After the city’s former high school burned down, the Lake Ave building replaced it. The first graduating class was in 1924, and the building remained the city’s high school until 1965. It was briefly transformed into a junior high until 1972, when it then became the elementary school that it remains today.

In celebration of 100 years, an open-house style community event will be held at the school on Saturday, May 4 from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. Attendees can peruse a historical exhibition, take a guided tour of the building, play two-square games, listen to live music, enjoy some Ben & Jerry’s ice cream or Nally coffee, and shop for limited edition centennial merchandise. The event will also feature food trucks, face painting, and a book fair. 

For more information about the festivities, visit www.lakeavepta.com/events/centennial.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — At an April 25 2024-2025 budget adoption meeting, the Saratoga Springs Board of Education discussed proposed cuts to the district’s transportation department.

During the first public comment period, Dean Musgrove, a bus dispatcher, spoke in opposition to the cuts. “It’s really going to do a lot of damage to our department and I don’t think you realize the extent of it,” Musgrove said.

Bob Cohan, a substitute bus driver, echoed Musgrove’s sentiments. “It’s one of the lowest paying school jobs for people, and why you go after us is beyond me,” he said.

A prior budget presentation on March 28 suggested that two full-time transportation department positions could be eliminated: a bus mechanic and a bus dispatcher. The district is not planning on cutting any driver positions.

Superintendent of Schools Dr. Michael Patton said there had been “significant sacrifices” this year in order to achieve a balanced budget. “We truly appreciate the feedback that we do receive from transportation,” he said. “Mr. Musgrove and I had several conversations.” 

Dr. Patton said he would meet with transportation staff next Tuesday and had regularly been in touch with the department’s director. Dr. Patton also said that other similarly-sized school districts had fewer dispatchers and routing specialists than Saratoga Springs.

During the second public comment period, Musgrove said that on the morning of April 25, two dispatchers and three mechanics had to drive school buses to cover for five drivers. In the afternoon, Musgrove said that two bus runs needed to be canceled despite three dispatchers, three mechanics, and the transportation department’s assistant director all pitching in to cover for bus drivers.

“I have a hard time understanding why $180,000 can’t be located to cover these two positions that you’re talking about cutting,” Musgrove said. “Even though they’re not technically driver positions, they are actually drivers.”

Education Board member Amanda Ellithorpe said she felt for the transportation department. 

“I’ve been there,” she said. “I get it. I didn’t like having to make the decision tonight.”

Now that the board has adopted the 2024-2025 budget, a budget hearing will take place on May 9, followed by a budget vote on May 21.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Saratoga Mentoring program needs more volunteer mentors and is expanding its recruitment efforts.

Program Director Colleen Forneris said that her organization has attended a number of local events recently to help match more kids with potential mentors. Currently, the program has more kids than mentors. 

“They all absolutely benefit from having an extra adult in their life,” Forneris said. 

Mentees range in age from 7 to 17, and the majority of them are contending with challenging life circumstances that can range from problems in school to problems at home.

Mentors can serve as role models to these kids, giving them one-on-one support and granting them access to activities and events they otherwise wouldn’t experience. These activities can include hiking, going to the movies, exploring a museum, or bowling.

“The [mentors] that we have are absolutely fantastic and really have made a big difference in their kiddo’s life,” Forneris said.

Although mentors can come from many different walks of life, Forneris said they tend to fall into three categories: retirees looking for volunteer work, working professionals searching for a meaningful activity, and college students.

After filling out an application, prospective mentors meet with a Saratoga Mentoring representative to discuss their likes, dislikes, hobbies, and interests. That way, the mentor can be matched up with a kid who has similar preferences. This makes it easier for mentors and mentees to find activities they can do together.

Saratoga Mentoring expects a one-year commitment so that a connection can be built between mentor and mentee. On a weekly basis, most mentors spend anywhere from two to six hours with their kids. 

Forneris said that one unique benefit of the program is that Saratoga Mentoring can utilize other resources and charities to help mentees with other life problems, such as paying bills or buying groceries and clothes. 

To learn more about being a mentor or to fill out an application, visit saratogamentoring.org.

DELHI — The Skidmore College softball team walloped SUNY Delhi last week, taking both games of a two-game series on the road. The contests ended after only five innings, thanks to the mercy rule, which occurs when a team is ahead by eight or more runs after five innings of play. The dominant victories may provide a spark for the struggling Thoroughbreds.

Game One

Skidmore - 16
SUNY Delhi - 3

In the first game, four Thoroughbreds had triples and five had stolen bases. Three players had three hits: Grace O’Connell (3 RBI), Hailey Clarke (3 RBI), and Franchesca Casillas (2 RBI). Clarke, a freshman, was a perfect 3 for 3 at the plate and pitched all five innings, striking out four and allowing two runs. She earned her first win of the season.

Game Two

Skidmore - 12
SUNY Delhi - 0

In a shutout victory, O’Connell went 3 for 4 with a double and a triple, driving in two runs. Outfielder Bernie Berner and catcher Jessica Nachamie also went 3 for 4. On the whole, the team had 15 hits, scoring multiple runs in three of their five innings. On the mound, freshman Mallory Allen earned the victory, giving up only one hit. Allen’s ERA for the season is now an impressive 1.43.

After the pair of wins, Skidmore improved to 5-18 on the season.

Last week, O’Connell was also named to the Liberty League’s Honor Roll thanks to an eight-game hitting streak. During the previous week, she was 9 for 16 with 3 RBI, 4 stolen bases, and one dinger.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Hang on to your hats (or helmets), some buckin’ broncos (or bikes) are headed to town. 

On May 9, at the East Side Recreation Park, the Saratoga Springs City School District is hosting a Bike Rodeo event that will include mechanics on site for minor repairs, a helmet fitting station, a bike safety station, games, a bike obstacle course, and a physical education teacher race. The district will also have its bike fleet available for those who don’t own their own bike.

Last year, said Lake Avenue Elementary physical education teacher Jake Zanetti, about 200 kids attended the rodeo. But he and the district are hoping even more will come galloping in this year.

“This has been a very big year as far as the Saratoga School District and bikes go,” Zanetti said. “We’re actually the first school district in the entire country to have a comprehensive, K-12 bike program in our schools.”

The Bikes in Schools program, launched earlier this month by Saratoga Shredders, is designed to enhance the physical education curriculum by integrating cycling into the daily activities of students across the district’s six elementary schools. 

The program is one of several recent bike-related happenings in Saratoga. Last weekend, Biketoga had its first monthly Slow Roll in Congress Park.

“We have a great biking community here,” Zanetti said. “It’s really becoming a more and more bike-friendly community as far as adding bike lanes around the city.”

Zanetti cited the new Graphite Range Community Forest in Wilton as one of several recent examples of the area offering more trails for bikers. 

“Saratoga the city is just a great place to get from point A to point B on a bike,” Zanetti said.

This year’s Bike Rodeo will take place on Thursday, May 9, from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the East Side Recreation Park’s track and in-field off Caroline Street. The rodeo will be followed by Bike-to-School Day on Friday, May 17.

BALLSTON SPA — Spa Academy, a unique program that allows Ballston Spa High School students to study in a college environment and earn college credits, is being “paused” for the upcoming 2024-2025 school year, according to Superintendent Gianleo Duca.

For the last three years, Hudson Valley Community College’s North campus in Malta hosted the academy. But due to its expansion and increased enrollment, the college can no longer accommodate the program. Duca said he was notified of this in late February.

“The Spa Academy program takes up some pretty prime real estate at a really good time spot for college classes,” Duca said at an April 17 Ballston Spa Central School District Board of Education meeting. Duca said he hoped to restart the program in the Fall of 2025.

The district searched for an alternate site to house the program, but couldn’t secure one in time for the 24-25 school year.

While the district continues its search for a new site, current Spa Academy juniors will be able to finish their high school careers on the Hudson Valley campus, where they can take both high school and college classes. Current freshmen and sophomores (about 30 students total) will come back to Ballston Spa High School until a new academy site can be secured.

“It’s an unfortunate situation,” Duca said, “but I do think we’re going to be able to relaunch Spa Academy for Fall 2025.”

Hailed as a “new and innovative high school model” upon its launch in 2021, Spa Academy students can earn a high school Regents diploma while simultaneously enrolling in courses that give them college credits. 

SARATOGA SPRINGS — At an April 18 Board of Education meeting, two Saratoga Springs City School District transportation department employees questioned proposed budget cuts that could eliminate two full-time positions in their department.

Dean Musgrove, a dispatcher, expressed his concerns during a public comment period, saying that he spoke on behalf of other transportation workers. “We’re very concerned about the situation that we’re in right now,” he said. “The cuts proposed are going to make things significantly worse.”

In a prior education board meeting on March 28, a budget presentation suggested that two full-time department positions could be eliminated: a bus mechanic and a bus dispatcher. 

Musgrove said his department was “at the end of our proverbial rope” and said fellow transportation workers in the audience were there to ask for the board’s help. 

David Gonzalez, a first-shift dispatcher who works with Musgrove, said he understood that “cuts have to happen, but we are putting safety at risk with cutting a mechanic, cutting a backup dispatcher.”

“I think these decisions need to be reconsidered,” Gonzalez said. “There are other options.”

Saratoga Springs, along with many other school districts nationwide, has struggled in recent years to hire bus drivers and maintain all of its bus routes. 

GANSEVOORT — Congresswoman Elise Stefanik promoted the Saratoga Flag Company’s Flag Advocacy Challenge in a social media post last week, calling the campaign a “great initiative.” The challenge is designed, in turn, to spread awareness about Stefanik’s Make American Flags in America Act. 

“I’m always inspired by seeing the strong patriotism and values of Upstate NY and the North Country,” Stefanik wrote in an X post. “Thank you @SaratogaFlag!”

The Saratoga Flag Company is a Gansevoort-based business known for its American-made flags. As part of its Flag Advocacy Challenge, it encourages people to take photos of themselves posing with an American-made U.S.A. flag.

The Make American Flags in America Act of 2023 was introduced by Congresswoman Stefanik last year. The bill states that any American flags displayed on taxpayer-funded federal property, and any American flags purchased by the federal government, must be made in America.

Stefanik was recently named one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people of 2024. She’s also frequently cited as one of Donald Trump’s potential running mates.

SCHUYLERVILLE — At an April 15 Board of Education meeting, the Schuylerville Central School District formally recognized and celebrated the high school career of star basketball player Luke Sherman, who set the school’s all-time boys scoring record earlier this year.

At the meeting, Varsity Basketball Coach Matthew Steinfort discussed Sherman’s accomplishments as both a player and a person. Sherman, a multi-sport athlete, stood by wearing his baseball uniform. 

“Luke made his first appearance on varsity as an eighth grader,” Steinfort said. “We had a handful of injuries that season and so we decided to bring him up. From that point on, he never looked back.”

In his final season with the Black Horses, Sherman averaged 24.5 points per game. In 20 games, he scored more than 20 points, and in four games he scored more than 30. In a home victory against Queensbury, he netted 38 points.

“Teams are scheming for him,” Steinfort said. “They’re planning for him. He’s the number one variable that they’re trying to take away. Despite that, he’s still able to put up numbers like that.”

Among his many accolades, Sherman was named to both the Foothills Council First Team, and the Section 2 All-Tournament Team for Class B. In his career at Schuylerville, he scored 1,536 total points, making him the school’s all-time boys scoring leader. In a game against Hudson Falls in January, he surpassed Eric Stover’s 1,317-point record set in 1978.

“As impressive as those statistics are, at least for me, it doesn’t define him,” Steinfort said. “He’s a talented young man, a talented student-athlete. But he put the work in. He worked on his body. He worked on his mind. He worked on his game. That came to fruition with the success that he’s had.”

“There’s such a unique balance with Luke,” Steinfort continued. “There’s a real confidence there, and he exudes it, but at the same time, there’s a real humility, which is rare.”

Sherman is still deciding which college he will attend, with SUNY New Paltz and Utica being two options. He plans to continue playing basketball in college and hopes to one day become a special education teacher.