NEW BERLIN – Following a year of unprecedented cutbacks to several programs and the elimination of two dozen positions, the Unadilla Valley School District, like many others, is again facing steep cuts in Governor Andrew Cuomo’s proposed budget.
Superintendent Robert Mackey said the governor’s projected $706, 397 state aid reductions combined with the disappearance of federal stimulus funds and increasing costs leaves the district with a $1.3 million budget gap in the 2011-2012 school year.
Mackey said the budget cuts are unprecedented in his ten-plus years of experience in school finance.
“We really have to begin looking in earnest at how we’re going to move forward as public schools because these kinds of cuts are simply unsustainable. To say it’s just an economic problem is really not looking as deep into it as you need to,” said Mackey.
“A 1.3 million reduction, you can’t gap that. We’ll look at reserves, we’ll look at the need to cut programs, we’ll look at expanding shared services, we’ll look at reduction of work force. We’re looking at everything we possible can when it comes to cutting costs.”
“This is the worst I’ve seen it,” agreed UV Business Manager Mike Brown, who has been assembling school district budgets for the last two decades.
Cuomo’s executive budget would reduce aid to New York Schools across the state by $1.5 billion as officials attempt to bridge a $10 billion deficit without borrowing or raising taxes.
Currently Cuomo’s proposal would cut about $7.3 million in aid to Chenango County’s nine school districts.
Mackey added, “People should understand that this is not going to be pretty. To sustain this loss of aid in public schools needs to be accompanied by real mandate relief, especially to programs only partially funded by Albany.”
The governor’s Mandate Relief Committee is expecting to offer its findings to Cuomo March 1, but a public release date for the recommendations has not yet been announced, said Mackey.
Mackey said UV has been working closely with the Gilbertville-Mt. Upon, Morris and Edmeston school districts since last year to examine the possibility of sharing costs and services.
UV has also appointed 13 different internal committees to examine areas of spending such as food service, instructional programming and recreational activities, to name a few.
“There isn’t anyone who doesn’t understand the challenges we’re going into more than the teachers and staff and if there’s a positive note, it’s how people are coming together to meet those challenges,” Mackey said. “We will get through this and we will maintain our students as our highest priority,” he said.
The UV Board of Education will be holding a special School Budget 101, presentation at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the library. Mackey said he and board members hope to show the public the budget process step by step.
Apart from the cuts to aid Mackey said the district saw a 30 percent jump in the total retirement costs for administrators, teachers and support staff. The 2011-2012 costs are projected to rise by $211,836 from the current $701,667 expenses to $913,530 in the next school year.
Mackey said basic expenses such as food, energy and fuel have also increased. “Any family going into the grocery store knows things cost more today than they did a year ago; now imagine how much those increases might add up in providing cafeteria service to hundreds of students each day. The same is true with putting gas in the tank and keeping the lights on,” he said.
Mackey said the rising cost of doing regular business along with retirement and other contractual obligations leaves little room for the district to make up for a proposed $1.3 million in cuts.