CHENANGO COUNTY – Local school leaders knew they would face tough decisions this year even before Governor Andrew Cuomo unveiled his executive budget proposal last week.
“We are far from finalizing a budget, but we clearly have identified a significant budget gap which cannot be addressed by tax levy increases and the use of reserves,” said Greene Superintendent Jonathan Retz.
Cuomo’s executive budget calls for $1.5 billion in aid cuts to schools across New York State as one of the measures necessary to eliminate the state’s $10 billion deficit without borrowing or raising taxes.
“Our state is at a crossroads. After years of overtaxing and overspending, we are at the fiscal brink. We can continue down our current road to financial ruin or we can take a new course – a road to recovery,” Cuomo said, of his proposal.
If the education cuts Cuomo has proposed make it through to the final state budget, Chenango County’s nine school districts stand to lose nearly $7.3 million in aid, based on numbers released Feb. 1.
For Greene, the governor’s plan translates to a $840,990 reduction in aid for 2011-2012, a 6.41 percent decrease from what the district is slated to receive in the current academic year.
Retz and his team are already hard at work looking at ways to cut costs.
“Like New York State, we need to review all areas of our business with a critical eye toward cost effectiveness,” the Greene administrator said.
It will not be an easy, or painless, process.
“We are facing a most difficult challenge and our decisions will all have an impact on someone or something within this district,” he reported. “Our method for addressing change must be focused, calculated, and consistent in its application.”
Greene isn’t, of course, alone in these challenges. The Otselic Valley Central School District is Chenango’s smallest school system, with an enrollment of just over 400 and an annual budget of approximately $ 9.1 million. Prior to Cuomo’s executive budget being released, school leaders were basing preliminary budget estimates on an expected 5 percent decrease in state aid. The governor’s proposal calls for an even greater reduction, however: $311,096 – a 5.94 percent decrease. Combined with rising health insurance premiums and retirement contributions, contractual wage increases and the loss of $154,000 in federal stimulus funds, the district could face more than a $750,000 gap.
“We are working through a bunch of ideas right now but none have been set yet,” said Otselic Valley Superintendent Richard Hughes. According to the first-year superintendent, efforts are currently being concentrated in two areas: exploring further options to share services, both through BOCES and with other districts, and “rebuilding ... class schedules to improve efficiencies while maximizing teacher contact time.”
“Each of these could have far reaching implications depending on what we are able to do,” he reported.
The Oxford Academy and Central School District is monitoring expenses in all areas of operation, according to Superintendent Randy Squier. They’ve already started reviewing bus routes to see if they’ll be able to eliminate runs next year, cut down on cleaning supply budgets and stopped waxing the terrazzo floor at the primary/high school campus, he said. In addition, they are investigating the possibility of teaming up with other districts to bid cooperatively for some services.
However, just as the state can’t effectively close its budget gap without making cuts to school aid - which Cuomo said will still account for 29 percent of the state’s general fund spending even after the reductions - school officials say there is no way around making reductions in their largest expenditure area: Personnel.
“All these good faith efforts to lower expenditures will not stop the need to look at personnel costs in reducing our overall expenditures to meet the anticipated loss of federal and state revenue next year,” Squier said.
“Now nearly the only way we can unilaterally reduce personnel costs is by eliminating jobs – layoffs – reducing services for students.”
While the governor’s executive budget proposal is generally considered the “worst case scenario,” Norwich Superintendent Gerard O’Sullivan said he and his colleagues aren’t expecting a reprieve.
“It’s not going to get any better,” he explained.
Like Otselic Valley, Norwich was anticipating a 5 percent reduction. Cuomo’s plan, however, translates to a loss of $1,284,194 in aid, a reduction of 6.34 percent. With this plus the disappearance of federal stimulus funds and all increases on the cost side of the equation, Norwich now faces a $2.8 million budget gap.
