Guilderland school officials were able to remove some contentious cuts from next year’s budget with restored state aid, but reductions will still be hitting classrooms.
The Guilderland Central School District Board of Education unanimously adopted a $91 million 2013-14 budget on Tuesday, April 9, that holds a property tax levy increase of 3.39 percent, which is within the district’s state tax cap limit.
The budget increases spending by just under 2 percent, or more than $1.76 million, and reduces staffing by 28.25 full-time equivalent positions. Board members withdrew several proposed reductions after updated state aid estimates injected $374,000 into the revenues column. The district had been facing a $2.1 million budget gap.
“Reductions driven by declining enrollment or a reduced number of sections, as well as those informed by data indicating a decrease in needed services, were enacted first,” Superintendent Marie Wiles said in a statement. “Wherever possible, we avoided reductions proposed only to close the district’s budget gap.”
Wiles stressed the adopted budget maintains the “Guilderland education” valued by the community.
Of the 28.25 FTE positions being cut, 10.4 FTE teachers and 6.75 FTE teaching assistants would be eliminated. Outside of teaching positions, 1.6 FTE administrators and 9.5 FTE district-wide support staff would be eliminated. This school year the district cut 29 positions.
The budget would reduce one house principal at the middle school, which is being implemented as a leadership restructuring initiative following the retirement of a current building principal. This would leave one building principal but reduce the house principals to two, which is estimated to save $125,000.
Enrichment program axed
School board member Catherine Barber opposed eliminating the elementary school enrichment position at a $72,000 savings, but she failed to gain support for the restoration. This reduction eliminates the program after it has faced cuts in past years.
“I know that the reason it was proposed to be eliminated was because it had been reduced to one person from two and that one person was covering five elementary schools and then it was thought to be enough worth saving,” Barber said. “I don’t like totally eliminating a program, especially one that’s been longstanding and has been successful over the years. Once you totally eliminate something it is really hard to bring back.”
Fellow board member Allan Simpson bluntly asked how the district would pay for it. Barber said “it would raise taxes,” but the district would still be within its tax cap limit.
“If it means that we are not getting this magic 3.39 percent, that is the way it is,” Barber said. “I am less concerned about the exact tax rate — I’m more concerned about keeping as many opportunities for our students as we possibly can.”
Board President Colleen O’Connell argued the program is “only touching a few lives of fourth and fifth graders” and has become “too shallow and too superficial.” O’Connell said this wasn’t the fault of teachers.
“If we had the money … I would fully support restoring it to what was when your (Barber’s) kids and my kids were little, which is 2.5 (FTE),” O’Connell said. “We don’t have the money to restore that.”
Restorations from the superintendent’s proposed budget included one middle school enrichment teacher position, which saved the program; a 0.5 FTE middle school special education teacher; 2.25 FTE special education teaching assistant positions; 1.45 FTE unassigned teaching positions; and the high school’s summer school nurse. All assistant coaching positions were to be cut, along with JV golf, but were also restored.
Several middle school enrichment program students had petitioned the board to not eliminate the program. Parents and students had also pleaded for assistant coaches to be restored.
Sen. Cecilia Tkaczyk, D-Duanesburg, said Guilderland students visited her office to insist funding for enrichment programs. Tkaczyk has visited other Board of Education meetings throughout the 46th Senate District to hear budgetary concerns first-hand.
“These were four middle school students who demanded that they be challenged,” she said. “I said, ‘Look, I’m doing all I can.’ They wanted a commitment from me. They were not letting me forget that their school was important with classes that they needed to challenge them.”
Aid restored at last minute
Tkaczyk said she, along with fellow Capital District legislators, pushed for at least $350 million of additional state aid from what Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s budget offered. The adopted state budget included more than $936 million over last year, according to Tkaczyk.
“I think (Cuomo) did listen to a lot of the advocacy that was going on around the state on this issue,” Tkaczyk said. “This is the first year I have seen so many people come to Albany to talk about this.”
The preliminary state aid projections for Guilderland total more than $21.4 million, which is about $374,000 more than what was originally expected before the state budget was passed. District officials pointed out that Guilderland received less aid in this school year than what was promised.
“While there is still a lot of work to be done to eliminate the GEA entirely and to reform the foundation formula that determines state funding for schools across the state, we are very appreciative for some relief during this very difficult financial time,” Wiles said. “We are in a better position than we were a couple of weeks ago.”
O’Connell said after the meeting the adopted budget “made the best of a very difficult situation,” and she was pleased to be able to restore some proposed cuts to maintain programming.
“I’m certainly sad about some of the things we had to eliminate, primarily elementary enrichment,” O’Connell said. “I think we have been as transparent as we can when we started this in October, and people have been involved.”
O’Connell said listening to public comments helped guide the board’s decisions and she is “hopeful” voters will approve it on May 21.
Other business
Along with the 2013-14 budget, district residents will also vote on bus and equipment purchases totaling around $1 million. The proposition includes purchasing six 66-passenger school buses ($684,000), two 66-passenger school buses with chains ($231,000), two minivans ($43,000) and a commercial gang mower ($55,000). The purchases would be bonded and paid back over five years starting the 2014-15 school year.
Around 50 percent of the bus purchases would be funded through state aid, according to the district. The estimated cost to district homeowners would be around 1.2 cents per $1,000 assessed value. The median home value in the Town of Guilderland, assessed at $246,500, would pay approximately $3.01 per year after state aid reimbursement.
Before adjourning, board members adopted a resolution read during public comment by Guilderland Teachers Association President Maceo Dubose calling for an end to reliance on standardized testing to measure student and teacher performance.
“We need right-sized testing to assess our students in meaningful ways,” Dubose said.
The resolution was drafted by the New York State United Teachers Union and was unanimously approved by board members.
Dubose was pleased the board supported NYSUT’s resolution, which members had previously received before he read it that night.
“It’s great that they want to support the resolution, because I think they recognize … the effect it is having on students, the cost to districts,” Dubose said. “We are all working together, because we want to do what is right for our students.”