At the South Colonie Central School District, budgeting in the face of cuts to aid might seem like performing emergency surgery. But one result of tough times is that some students are taking it upon themselves to deal with minor nicks and bruises.
Last fall, when members of Colonie Central High School’s Key Club heard reductions meant the school’s health office was having trouble budgeting for Band-Aids, the club took action. In a few months, the students organized a donation drive and collected more than 200 boxes of Band-Aids to hand over to nurses.
“It sounds simple. And we’re not in dire straits, but it was more a demonstration that we’re Key Club and we want to help,” club co-advisor and special education teacher Courtney Bellouny said. “This is something little … simple but effective to save money and help people.”
More than 100 students are involved in Key Club and the group has held several collections throughout the school year, including collections for jeans for unfortunate teens, applesauce for Equinox and supplies and apparel for Superstorm Sandy victims Downstate. Collecting Band-Aids for the health office was a no brainer for the students, and Key Club Secretary Oneida Schushe said the club can “still make a difference, however small.”
“It’s nice to give back to the school because we get so much from it,” said Schushe, a tenth-grade student.
Like many school districts, South Colonie has made cuts most everywhere. It is contending with the combination of a loss of state aid and the new state tax cap law. Including aid adjustments proposed in Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s budget this year, the district will have lost close to $14 million in aid, Superintendent Jonathan Buhner said.
With the loss in state aid, the district has downsized across the board, including through attrition or not replacing positions when people leave. Buhner said they are trying to make the necessary adjustments “strategically and thoughtfully.”
“This year we face between a $7.5 and $8 million budget cut based on state aid loss,” Buhner said. “We’ve been working out our budget since July to make baseline adjustments and still provide the programming that our parents would expect. We’re an average-wealth district and we seem to have really taken the brunt of reduced state aid.”
Buhner said while officials are cutting across the board, they are still trying to protect key initiatives, like AP offerings, early literacy programs and full-day kindergarten.
Last year, the first year schools budgeted under the state tax cap, South Colonie kept its tax increase within the limit. But holding the line of taxes comes with a price of its own, Buhner said.
“Each year, we are trying to cut the budget, reduce spending and try to adjust to the loss of state aid,” Buhner said. “We also have used our fund balance over the last four years to keep the levy low … we can no longer use the fund balance because we don’t have it. Our fund balance has reduced significantly to keep the levy low.”
Buhner said initially the tax cap is not necessarily a bad idea, but pairing it with state aid loss provides a very difficult situation for schools.
“That’s why you see schools around the state struggling,” Buhner said. “They could do one or the other, but not both. And they did both.”
As for the health office, Buhner said nurses are still getting the supplies they need, but the district is unable to order extra Band-Aids for teachers to have in their classrooms. Buhner said he thinks it is terrific Key Club members want to help out the school.
While Band-Aids are just a small step to help out, members and advisors of Key Club are nervous about the future of the school’s finances.
“It’s a little unsettling, not knowing what’s going to happen,” said Tami Sherry, co-advisor for Key Club and a foreign language teacher. “It’s education everywhere. It’s the future of education in our country.”
South Colonie will hold several public forums prior to the public budget vote in May. The next forum will be on Wednesday, Feb. 27, at 7 p.m. at Veeder Elementary School.