CHENANGO COUNTY – Chenango County’s school districts could face a reduction of more than $3.3 million in state aid for the current school year if the governor has his way.
The proposed cuts to formula-based school aid are only a portion of the $5.2 billion two-year deficit reduction plan unveiled by New York State Governor David Paterson earlier this week.
“The only way we are going to overcome this unprecedented crisis is through shared sacrifice,” said Paterson in his Nov. 12 announcement.
In addition to school aid, the governor’s plan for mid-year cuts also slashes funding in health care, higher education, the state’s workforce and human services as well as other areas such as economic development and environmental conservation.
According to a statement issued by the governor’s office, the plan would “entirely eliminate the state’s $1.5 billion current-year shortfall, protect against further declines in revenue in a volatile economic climate, and make a substantial down payment on next year’s deficit.”
While local school districts were anticipating the announcement of mid-year aid take backs, news of the full extent of the proposed cuts was still a blow.
Norwich City School District Superintendent Gerard O’Sullivan said he was “absolutely shocked” by the extent of cuts his district could face.
The governor’s proposal could mean a loss of $695,547 in aid, a decrease of 3.3 percent of the total amount they expected to receive for the 2008-09 school year.
“This will have a huge impact on the district,” he said. O’Sullivan said the district will wait to determine a course of action after state legislators meet on Nov. 18.
“I hope they come to their senses,” said O’Sullivan. “We can obviously not afford a $700,000 cut three months into the school year.”
Sherburne-Earlville could face the second highest dollar amount cut in current state education aid at $588,192, 3 percent of their total for the year.
“I don’t think that it will necessarily be enacted as proposed,” said Sherburne-Earlville Assistant Superintendent Tom Strain. But even if it is, Strain said, the district has enough in reserves to cover the difference for this school year.
“We’re prepared,” said Strain. “We’ll weather this.” He said the district has been proactive, and has even sent notices to teachers asking them to limit discretionary spending.
“Most of our expenditures are salary expenditures,” he explained. The district has already made the determination not to replace several staff members that are retiring at the end of this school year.
Strain is pragmatic. “You can’t spend what you don’t have,” he said.
According to the assistant superintendent, a significant raise in taxes is not likely to occur this year or next. “Before we’d see anything like that, we’ll make some pretty drastic cuts.”
Oxford Superintendent Randy Squier said the proposed mid-year cut “doubles the pain” for districts trying to plan ahead for next year’s budget cuts. Paterson’s proposal would slash his districts total aid by 3.06 percent, or $312,633.
“Here in Oxford, we were already anticipating the 2009-2010 budget as more of a concern,” said Squier. Cuts to the current year will mean less of a cushion for future cuts.
“There will be nothing left to absorb anything for next year.”
Squier will sit down next week with teacher and support staff associations to discuss a spending freeze. He said they will do everything they can to lessen the impact on kids and classrooms.
The superintendent is also focusing on what can be done to lessen the blow of further state aid cuts. The district will look at maximizing resources, lowering administrative costs and other ways to streamline, he said.
“We’re looking more long term to see how we can save now for next year,” said Squier.
Superintendent Robert Mackey said the $358,528 cut faced by his district, Unadilla Valley, would deplete the majority of the school’s reserves.
Mackey said his goal is to work cooperatively with his administrative team and the teachers union to find ways of absorbing the loss without a direct impact on student learning, but he is also worried about the effect on the local community and economy.
“School districts in Chenango County are among some of the largest active employers,” said Mackey. Like S-E, salaries make up a large part of his district’s expenditures.
According to statistics obtained from Senior Economist Christian Harris with the New York State Department of Labor, roughly 2,100 people are employed in the local government education (public school) sector. This represents 12.8 percent of non-farm jobs in Chenango County.
Gary Smith, superintendent of Greene Central Schools, is also concerned about the greater implications of Paterson’s proposal.
“I think the governor’s proposal will widen the gap between rich and poor districts,” he said.
Smith said that looking at the percentage cuts can be deceiving. He cited a Long Island school district whose cut was 8.5 percent of state aid, toward the 10 percent ceiling determined by Paterson. Because of the district’s wealth, however, that amounted to around $240,000, which represents roughly half a percent of the school systems total budget. Greene, on the other hand, faces a $433,314 cut in aid, which is approximately 2 percent of the districts yearly budget, he explained, four times as much as the wealthy district.
“I’m really concerned about the poor, rural districts once again bearing the brunt of the budget cuts,” said Smith.
Squier said he is hopeful the area’s elected officials will try to intercede on the behalf of local districts. But he also recognizes that the governor’s proposal will affect other sectors as well.
“It’s not going to be pretty anywhere,” Squier said. “I would suspect that next week Albany will be filled with lobbyists.”
Sun Staff Writer Tyler Murphy contributed to this article.