Friday, February 14, 2020

Capital project gets the green light; school budget development begins

I want to thank community members who came out to vote on our recent capital project referendum. District residents gave the green light to the $9.9 million capital project on Feb. 4 with a supermajority vote (more than 60%), which is required of small city school districts. Despite the low turnout, a total of 198 votes were cast, I am grateful that we had the support needed to be able to move forward with this essential work and repairs that will make our buildings safer, healthier and run more efficiently.

With the capital project vote now behind us, the district leadership team and I have turned our focus to developing next year’s school budget. As in years past, we will be seeking the support of state legislators to increase funding for K-12 education as they hammer out an agreement on the state budget. In mid-January, the governor presented his executive budget proposal, which signaled the start of the state budget process for the legislature. April 1 is the deadline to reach a state budget deal. Once that is approved, we will receive conclusive information on the amount of state aid we can expect and finalize our 2020-21 school budget proposal. The public will have the opportunity to vote on the school budget on Tuesday, May 19.

The governor’s proposal includes an $826 million increase in overall education funding for the 2020-21 school year, which is a 3 percent increase from the current year’s budget. While this sounds like a significant increase, keep in mind there are approximately 700 school districts across New York that share in the allocation of state aid.

The aid proposed by the governor falls far short of the $2 billion increase recommended by the New York State Board of Regents for the 2020-21 year; and also, the $2.1 billion increase the Educational Conference Board (ECB) has declared is necessary to allow schools to maintain current services and expand opportunities and support for students. (The ECB is a coalition of six leading educational organizations that represents parents, classroom teachers, school-related professionals, building administrators, superintendents and school boards from around the state.)

In his executive budget address, the governor highlighted more “equity” between wealthy districts and poorer districts as a major priority. As the leader of a small urban district, equity is a concept that I continue to fight for, given that we have limited resources and serve many students who live in poverty. The governor has also committed to continue the state’s investment in prekindergarten and after school programs, which I wholeheartedly support because these programs directly benefit our students and families.

Another priority outlined in the governor’s executive budget proposal, however, causes great concern for all school districts: consolidating and/or slowing the growth of certain reimbursements to schools. Under the governor’s plan expense-based aids, including BOCES programs and services, software, hardware, textbook and library purchases, and supplemental public excess cost (reimbursements for certain expenses associated with students with disabilities), would be consolidated – this will make budgeting for certain expenses significantly more challenging. His plan would also place a cap on growth in future reimbursements for student transportation, based on an inflation factor and enrollment growth, and create a new tier of reimbursement levels for school construction projects (fortunately, this would not apply to our recently approved capital project).

As always, I encourage community members to be involved and informed as we develop our school budget. Please attend our March Board of Education meeting for an update from our Assemblyman John McDonald on the state budget process and his thoughts on the legislature’s position on state aid for our schools.

Finally, a shout out to an amazing tradition at Watervliet Jr.-Sr. High School: Singing Valentines courtesy of the phenomenal Delta Force and our awesome music teacher Terry Bradway. Thank you for performing throughout our school and making Valentine's Day special for students and staff alike.

To our students, teachers, staff and families – I hope you have a relaxing and fun February break! 

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