School districts with failed budgets consider options

Local News

Discussion

COMMENTING ON STORIES:

Welcome to our story comments feature. We welcome your thoughts and your opinions, including the unpopular ones. We only ask that you keep your conversations clean, civil and on the topic of the story you are commenting on.

Coinciding with our websites redesign, we launched our new story comments feature through Disqus.

Disqus gives users the ability to log into our story comments feature so that they may be able to track their conversations, receive emails when their comments get a reply or to even have your comments update onto your Facebook or Twitter accounts.

For the time being, our story comments feature will continue to have the ability to post comments anonymously. We reserve the right to require registration in the future using your name and verified email address.

Not all comments are deemed printable. Some are disqualified at the newspaper’s discretion for a number of different reasons. Please follow our Online Rules of Conduct at all times.

RULES OF CONDUCT:

We reserve the right to remove comments that are unacceptable, to wit:

1. False and inacurate statements.
2. Personal attacks. Explicit name-calling.
3. Harassing, harmful, vulgar, obscene and defamatory language.
4. Threatening statements or statements that suggest violence.
5. Hate speech of any kind.
6. Intolerant comments on religion, race, age, gender, sexual preference or disabilities.
7. Accusations of criminal activity.
8. Content that is harmful to children and minors in any way.
9. References to any type of sexual activity and other private matters.
10. Random and inflammatory statements that are off topic.
11. Advertising of any kind.
12. Typing in all caps.

WE ENCOURAGE REASONABLE AND COURTEOUS COMMENTS THAT:

1. Create conversation on issues of interest and concern to fellow readers and local community members.
2. Express opinions and contrarian views.
3. Stimulate debate with respectful language.
4. Stay within the boundaries of these rules.

WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO SUSPEND OR TERMINATE ACCESS FOR:

1. Violating any of these Online Rules of Conduct.
2. Deliberately disrupting discussions with repetitive messages, meaningless messages or spam.
3. Misrepresentation of identity or impersonating another user.

WE WELCOME:

1. Flagging violations of these rules that you observe to our attention.

MONITORING:

We monitor comments regularly Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Approval of comments outside of this time (including weekends) will be sporadic.

comments powered by Disqus

May 17, 2012

School districts with failed budgets consider options

By Mark Boshnack Staff Writer The Daily Star Thu May 17, 2012, 03:30 AM EDT

Local school superintendents in districts where budgets were defeated in Tuesday voting talked about their plans Wednesday on how to proceed.

In Oneonta City School district -- where the budget passed, but a related proposition that would have kept Center Street Elementary School open for classes failed -- one of those who supported the effort reflected on the loss.

All area school budgets that met the tax-cap limit passed. The budgets over the tax cap required a supermajority of 60 percent, according to the state law that took effect for the first time this year.

New York state voters approved 96.4 percent of school district budgets Tuesday, according to an analysis by the New York State School Boards Association. Forty-eight districts, or 7.2 percent, had budgets that exceeded the tax cap, of those districts, 60.4 percent passed budgets.

At Unadilla Valley Central School, where voters defeated the 4.3 percent tax levy increase, the tax cap allowed for a 2.4 percent increase. Superintendent Robert Mackey said the board will hold a special meeting at 8 p.m. today to discuss the next step.

"We are looking at the programs that are non-mandated to see what we are going to do," he said. They include sports teams, clubs, kindergarten, all summer and after-school programs, all middle- and high-school electives and college-credit classes. "We will look at what we can continue to offer," he said.

The board will have the final decision, but it will probably be a combination of cuts to different areas. He expected that the final determinations to go before voters June 19 for revote will be made Monday night.

This could be a reduced increase to the property tax or a contingency budget that allows for no tax increase. He was leaning toward a second vote, but it will be the board's decision.

"The contingency budget would be crippling," he said.

At Cobleskill-Richmondville Central School, the board will discuss the next step at its regular board meeting Monday.

"It didn't want to lose any more programs on the heels of last year's $1.9 million in cuts," Superintendent Lynn Macan said in explaining the tax levy increase. It would have been an increase of 4.54 percent, with the maximum allowable by a simple majority at 2.72 percent. Voters defeated the measure, 981 to 1,198.

"We are still in the process of analyzing exit surveys," she said. "We will be taking those into consideration" as we try to revise the budget to get under the tax-cap limit at the regularly scheduled board meeting 7 p.m. Monday at Golding Library. It will be a matter of setting priorities, she said.

At Oneonta City School District, the budget was approved but a proposal that would keep Center Street Elementary School open was defeated. Superintendent Michael Shea gave more information about a time line for a transition to send those students to other elementary schools at Wednesday's board meeting.

Jeffrey House was involved with the Save Oneonta Schools effort to keep the building open. Although he is an area resident, he was involved primarily because of his role as the city's acting community development director, he said. Although he was disappointed, he was pleased so many people voted. It's unfortunate that the community was put in this position because of state budget woes, he said.

But his concern was the effect the closing would have on Center City and efforts to revitalize downtown.

"We don't know how much of a blow it is," he said, "but my gut feeling is it will have an impact."

In results that weren't available Tuesday at Schoharie Central School, the budget and a bus proposition passed. Board members elected are incumbent Barbara Monsees and Nancy Liddle.

In Middleburgh Central School, a bus proposition was defeated. At Hancock Central School, Rebecca Smith and Frank Brown were elected to the board of education.