Schools across New York State will receive 10 percent less than they were supposed to this December, in state aid, Gov. Paterson announced on Monday, Dec. 14. A total of $750 million will be withheld from schools across the state. That means that the school districts in Saratoga County will see their mid-year aid reduced by varying amounts, with Shenendehowa losing as much as $182,000 and Stillwater losing only about $3,000.
The schools, however, seem to be more concerned with state aid cuts still to come in January. That’s when the STAR payments are due and these are usually large chunks of money that can total several million dollars.
The state aid reductions for this month, about $90,000, are actually just the tip of the iceberg and we’re not as much concerned about them as about the next few months. We have enough money in reserve to handle cash flow needs right now, so while that money is certainly a concern, it’s not as big a concern as what might happen next month, said Christy Multer, public relations for the Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake School District. `The governor is saying that other state aid payments may be delayed as well; next month we’re due to receive about $4.9 million in STAR payments and he’s talking about cutting something like 19 to 20 percent of that. That will be harder for us to accommodate and a much bigger hit. We don’t know what we would do because it’s still a hypothetical, but that’s what is keeping them awake at night, not the $90,000.`
STAR payments stand for School Tax Relief program and is when the state pays a portion of homeowners’ school taxes. If large portions of this money are held back from districts come January, it will be an indication of just how difficult the 2010-11 budget year will be.
Multer said administrators are already deep in budget discussions and will solicit the help of the public in determining what the most important issues and factors are.
`Since the Board of Education will likely have to make some especially difficult decisions this spring, participation in the budget development process by many BH-BL residents and staff will be important. School members are also hoping that many folks will help the district lobby and inform our representatives in Albany about the impact that various proposals would have on ours schools,` said Multer.
Ballston Spa Superintendant Dr. Joseph P. Dragone said that while the district will miss the more than $120,000 it’s being denied this December, the real concern is the threat of withholding STAR payments in the first week of January.
`That’s significant money, so while we have the ability to manage our short term cash flow, the fact that STAR payments could be much higher and create short term and long term problems is the issue,` said Dragone. `We’ll just have to wait to hear more information and go from there.`
A coalition of education advocacy groups, like the New York State United Teachers, New York State School Boards Association and New York State PTA, is suing the Governor because they claim he doesn’t have the legal power to deny districts and municipalities money they were promised.
Calls to inquire about specific aid reductions at various Saratoga County school districts were unanswered as of the Spotlight’s press time.
For more on this story, check back at spotlightnews.com or pick up the Dec. 23 print edition of Saratoga Spotlight.
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