CHENANGO COUNTY – Governor David Paterson’s latest deficit reduction proposal could mean rocky times for local school districts, which collectively face more than $2.3 million in mid-year cuts if the state leader’s plan is approved.
Once again “education is on his hit list,” said Unadilla Valley Superintendent Robert Mackey, who learned late yesterday that his district could lose $277,565 in state aid in the current year under Paterson’s plan.
On Thursday, the governor revealed his latest proposal for narrowing New York State’s budget deficit. According to the governor, the two-year plan would reduce budget shortfalls by $5 billion by cutting spending and instituting reform, but not raising taxes. It won’t be without a steep price to schools and other agencies which depend on the state.
“During a time of uncommon difficulty, we need to work together for the common good and enact a consensus plan that helps us avoid the severe consequences faced by other states that failed to swiftly address their budget problems,” Paterson said. “This will mean hard and painful choices, but that is exactly the type of leadership New Yorkers deserve from their public officials.”
Tell that to the Norwich City School District, which stands to lose $525,522 in aid during the current year if the governor’s plan is approved. Although Superintendent Gerard O’Sullivan said the district has been preparing for such an eventuality, it won’t make actually making the cuts any easier.
“To take that kind of hit we’d immediately start prioritizing all operations such as eliminating overtime, weekend activities, cutting back on facilities and buildings and ground maintenance, material and supplies and not filling vacated positions wherever possible, etc.,” said O’Sullivan, who explained that every effort would be made to keep the impact as far away from the classroom as possible.
“[W]e do not want to interrupt the work in the classroom and the good progress we’ve been making here in Norwich,” the Norwich superintendent said.
Earlier this month, Paterson tasked state agencies with reducing spending in the current year’s budget by $500 million. Now he’s calling for an additional $1.3 million in reductions, a 10 percent cut in “all remaining, undispursed local assistance” already allocated through state programs.
According to figures released by the governor’s office, this will include a $287 million cut to Medicaid; a $184 million cut to other health and mental hygiene programs; a $28 million cut to social service programs; a $67 million to aid and incentives to municipalities; a $125 million cut to transportation programs; and a $62 million cut to higher education programs.
While the governor stressed that school aid was an exception, as it would be reduced by a lower percentage, his proposed cuts to education total $686 million for the 2009-10 school year.
Before these mid-year take backs can occur, Paterson’s plan must first be approved by New York’s state legislature.
“The governor’s proposal is a first step in what should be a heated partisan battle in Albany,” said Oxford Superintendent Randall Squier, whose district would see a $239,890 reduction under the deficit reduction plan. He, Mackey, O’Sullivan and other administrators from across Delaware, Chenango, Otsego and Madison counties have already begun to join forces in opposition to Paterson’s plan.
Sidebar: Proposed Gap Elimination Adjustment for Chenango County Schools
