Thank you, Albany!!!

A successful budget vote in the books for another year, I wanted to take a moment to thank you for your continued support for, and contributions to, the City School District of Albany.

The work of any school district begins with the dedication of the administrators, teachers and support staff who are there for students and families each and every day throughout the year. Just a few days short of my official one-year anniversary, I have found that in abundance in Albany.

That work begins long before the school day begins, and continues long after, as our teams strive to meet the needs of our students, families and community members. I am thankful to be part of this strong team.

I also have had the great fortune of meeting scores of parents, guardians, community leaders and partners who are equally committed to the success and growth of our city’s public schools. We are certainly grateful for your support of our budget this year and every year, but even more so for your support all year round.

Tuesday’s unofficial vote results indicate both record approval of 83%, and a 21% increase in total votes, thanks at least in part to the new early voting-by-mail option that we were glad to introduce this year. Even though we appreciate every opportunity to meet with school and community groups each spring, we know that we don’t win your support on the budget communication trail in April and May.

We earn it every day of the year, and we appreciate the message our community provided Tuesday.

The 2,540 votes cast this year represent our district’s highest vote total since the all-mail budget vote of 2020, during the first months of the pandemic. We are excited to see the new early voting option expanding access for voters in our city, and hope that that trend of increased participation continues in the years to come.

We’ll keep working every day to earn your support as well.

Heading into the final weeks of this school year, we are looking forward to all of the end-of-year celebrations to come, culminating with graduation ceremonies for the Albany High School Class of 2024 on Sunday, June 30 at the MVP Arena.

We also are looking forward to receiving recommendations in the weeks ahead in some of the ongoing independent analyses we have undertaken this year.

This work, in areas such as communications, magnet programs, facilities management, human resources, organizational leadership structure and succession planning, will inform our preparation for the 2024-25 school year and beyond.

To everyone in our school community, please know how much your hard work and support means, and how much it matters. Building stronger public schools is a cornerstone of building a stronger community. We are all in this work together, and I am grateful for all that you do.
 
Which is why we say, today and everyday … Thank you, Albany!!!

Sincerely,

Joseph Hochreiter
Superintendent