A tighter budget has forced BOCES to move an adult literacy program from South Street to Congregation Shaaray Tefila, the synagogue at 68 Bay Street in Glens Falls. The move occurred a few months ago.
"Thus far, things are going really well," said BOCES' Turina Parker. "The partnership with the congregation has been great."
Parker is the Executive Director of Education and Support Programs for the five-county regional BOCES, the educational organization that supplements high school education in the region.
She said the group was happy that they could keep a program open in the Glens Falls area where there is a need.
BOCES has rented the basement and plans to use the space to help adult learners receive their high school diplomas through the state's TASC program, the Test Assessing Secondary Completion.
The basement had been used previously as classroom space for the synagogue's religious classes, but the children involved there have joined with another congregation for classes, and the space is not being used, said Larry Greenberg, the treasurer of the congregation. He spoke to the Glens Falls Planning Board on Nov. 3.
"They're using three classrooms as offices," Greenberg said. They are using half the larger conference room for classrooms for three or four students at a time, he added.
This is a site use change, so the request to rent to BOCES had to go through the Glens Falls Planning Board, which approved the application and has been approved by the Common Council.
"[The rental arrangement] will hopefully also provide us with some modest net income to support vibrant synagogue and Jewish community activities in Greater Glens Falls," wrote Mark Hoffman, president of Shaaray Tefila, in an email.
"Their [BOCES'] mission is entirely compatible with ours," he wrote, "Tikun Olam - perfecting the world."