GUILDERLAND — Guilderland Central School District (GCSD) residents have been invited to take part in an online survey identifying budget priorities for the 2017-2018 school year.
“Even though we are only at the half-year mark of this school year, your leadership team at GCSD has already spent quite a bit of time thinking about how we will best serve your children next year,” said GCSD Superintendent Mary Wiles in a message to district residents. “Over the last two months, the district office team, building principals, instructional administrators and program directors have been reviewing information about current programs to assess the extent to which we are meeting student needs this year. They have also been studying data to project next year’s enrollment, anticipate student needs and to consider potential changes to our programs to maximize the number and quality of learning opportunities available to your children.”
On Thursday, Feb. 2, the district released an online survey asking residents to weigh in on budget priorities. The short survey, approximately ten minutes, is accompanied by a list of all the significant changes within each area, which contains a brief description of those changes, the costs or savings associated with them, the impact those changes will have on staffing, and the impact those changes are likely to have on students. The survey will remain open through Feb. 13.
“There are certainly more proposals to consider than we are likely able to afford,” said Wiles. “That is why we need your input.”
Anyone interested in participating in a face-to-face dialogue about the budget, the district will host the first of several public budget meetings from 6 to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 15 in the Large Group Instruction (LGI) room at Guilderland High School. We will be releasing the results from the survey at this meeting. This session will be held immediately preceding the regular board of education meeting.
District residents will vote on the proposed budget on Tuesday, May 16. See timeline below:
