Notes from around town

 Troy Mayor Carmella Mantello was not prepared for the amount of interest in Wednesday's public hearing at Proctors Theatre.

There were no chairs available in the meeting room adjacent to the theatre, which, per the Mayor, will be used for city council meetings after renovation is completed. The 4 upper floors have been renovated, and RPI, which had offices on those floors, has already vacated, freeing up more than 40 parking spaces in the garage behind the building. 

Mantello plans on having access to the theatre from the parking garage. Knowing how slow projects like these are in this town, I'll believe it when it actually happens.

====================================================

There are reports circulating that the Wynantskill Union Free School District is planning to merge with the Enlarged City School District of Troy.

SAY WHAT??

Wynantskill schools only go as far as the 8th grade. From there, students can attend high school at Troy, Averill Park, Tamarac, or Columbia. That is not going to change, per Troy superintendent John Carmello. Once the merger is completed, however, per the Troy Record, the Wynantskill board will dissolve. The Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) will be a part of the merger.

One Wynantskill school, Gardner Dickinson, is a member of the Colonial Council in modified sports. I would suspect that for the ladies, there is an additional option in Emma Willard, whose campus is on Pawling Avenue.

Stay tuned.

=========================================================

Over in Colonie, the school district there is apparently violating state law by moving two developmentally disabled middle schoolers out of Sand Creek Middle School, and into Colonie Central.

The two boys, both 12, are not ready for such a transition, their parents say.

Photo courtesy Albany Times-Union.

One of the two boys, per the Albany Times-Union, was set to transfer to an out of district school to continue his education, but has instead been reassigned to Colonie Central. District officials are keeping mum on the subject at the moment, but they shouldn't. Word is that there are budget problems, leading to special education teachers leaving the district.

And if you thought the GOP's plans to deteriorate our education system were little more than fever dreams, well, unfortunately, they're not. It's real.