More than 60 percent of voters supported the Guilderland Central School District’s proposed spending plan for next school year, holding a 3.39 percent property tax levy increase.
Guilderland’s 2013-14 budget totals $91.02 million and increases spending by more than $1.76 million, or about 2 percent. Around 64 percent voters supported the budget, with 1,771 voting in favor and 1,006 opposed, according to district officials. The district’s $1 million bus and equipment purchase proposition also passed by a similar margin of 1,723 votes to 1,041 votes. Three incumbent Board of Education members were uncontested and thus reelected.
Voter turnout continued its steadily decline since the recent peak of 3,935 voters in 2010. Around 435 fewer voters cast their ballots this year compared to last year’s total of 3,212.
District officials project tax rates to increase by roughly 3.4 percent.
Superintendent Marie Wiles has touted the budget as maintaining the “Guilderland education” valued by the community.
“On behalf of the students that we serve in Guilderland, I offer a heartfelt ‘thank you’ to our community for supporting the budget and bus/equipment proposition,” Wiles said in an email to The Spotlight. “I am also thankful for all those who participated in the budget development process by attending our community forums, asking questions, and providing feedback and so informing the spending plan that will now be in place for 2013-14.”
Wiles also thanked faculty, staff, parents and students for advocated for the district to elected officials, which she said “made a real difference.”
This is the fourth year “difficult decisions” were made about programming, Wiles said, with the district performing a “balancing act” between cuts and the burden on taxpayers.
The budget reduces staffing by 28.25 full-time equivalent positions after 29 positions were cut this school year. Next school year’s staffing cuts include 10.4 FTE teachers and 6.75 FTE teaching assistants. Outside of teaching positions, 1.6 FTE administrators and 9.5 FTE district-wide support staff will be eliminated.
One house principal will be reduced at the middle school following a retirement. This change keeps one building principal but reduces the house principals to two. The restructuring is estimated to save $125,000.
Resident Michael Mathioudakis, 52, voted in favor of the budget and said the increases in his school taxes have been reasonable.
“My decision was based on the quality of education we are getting here, and that we’re getting for what we pay for,” Mathioudakis said.
He didn’t support the bus and equipment proposition because he said a similar proposition was recently proposed.
Last year, district voters approved $1.05 million bus and equipment proposition allowing the district to purchase 10 new buses and a maintenance box truck. In 2011, voters supported a $778,100 proposition to purchase nine new buses.
“The idea is to rotate out buses at the end of their lives and replace them with new ones,” Transportation Supervisor Danielle Poirier previously said. “New vehicles carry lower maintenance costs for the first five years, when they are still under warranty.”
The proposition approved by voters this year includes purchasing six 66-passenger school buses, two 66-passenger school buses with chains, two minivans and a commercial gang mower. The purchases totaling around $1 million will be bonded and paid back over five years starting in the 2014-15 school year.
Resident Bernard Kinlan said he voted against the budget primarily due to the district’s choice to use additional state aid to restore cuts and not to lower the burden on taxpayers.
“The state gave some supplemental aid, which we were not expecting, and instead of using that money to add to programs I believe they should have given that money back to the taxpayers,” Kinlan said.
Kinlan, 64, said it was the first time he voted “no” on the district’s budget.
Guilderland state aid projections total more than $21.4 million, which is around $374,000 more than what was originally expected.
The Board of Educated opted to use the influx of state aid to restore several cuts proposed within the superintendent’s budget. Restorations included a middle school enrichment teacher, 0.5 FTE middle school special education teacher, 2.25 FTE special education teaching assistants, 1.45 FTE unassigned teaching positions and a summer school nurse at the high school. All assistant coaching positions, along with JV golf, were also restored.
An uncontested Guilderland Board of Education race saw three incumbents reelected: Gloria Towle-Hilt (1,789 votes), Colleen O’Connell (1,783 votes) and Barbara Fraterrigo (1,765 votes).
Alice O’Neill, a Guilderland resident and South Colonie school teacher, said Gov. Andrew Cuomo has “no idea of the ramifications” cuts to education funding are having on schools. She said the tax cap is a “ridiculous thing.”
“(Cuomo) is not a fan of education,” O’Neill said. “He doesn’t seem to understand that public schools educate everyone and they are actually doing a really good job.”
South Colonie Central School District successfully presented a 2013-14 budget exceeding the tax cap.