NORWICH – Faced with more than a $2.8 million gap between revenue and expenses, the Norwich City School District’s top administrator told school leaders this week that failure was not an option.
“We’re going to safely manage this crisis,” Superintendent Gerard O’Sullivan told members of the district’s board of education Monday. “It’s our new reality and we don’t have an option.”
O’Sullivan drew parallels between the fiscal crisis currently being faced by schools across the country and US Airways Flight 1549. The flight made headlines when, on Jan. 15, 2009, it struck a flock of geese minutes after taking off from New York’s LaGuardia airport. Its flight crew, led by Captain “Sully” Sullenberger and First Officer Jeffrey Skiles, safely landed the aircraft in the Hudson River.
According to the superintendent, the first item on the checklist used by the crew to deal with the emergency situation was to continue to fly the plane. This, he said, must also be the district’s top priority.
“We will continue to fly the airplane,” he said.
According to O’Sullivan, the first step of the district’s strategy will be to continue to “follow vital procedures” to ensure the health, safety and basic educational needs of students are met. The strategy must also include recognizing where to improve and where not to improve; recognizing how to operate in an increasingly complex set of circumstances; and managing the new environment.
“This is the new reality,” he reiterated. And it is one he says is being faced by not only Norwich, but schools across New York and around the country.
“The problem got real for us on February 1,” the superintendent said, referring to the date when New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo released his Executive Budget Proposal.
While the district’s foundation aid stayed flat at $16,080,766, they were hit with a Gap Elimination Adjustment of more than $2.5 million. While this amount was partially offset by increase in other formula aid, it translates to a net loss of $1,284,194 in state aid, a reduction of 6.34 percent.
