Schools prepare for potential cuts

At Schuylerville Central School District, whose current budget is $30.5 million, this could mean a $1 million cut for next year's budget. With rising costs of operation, district officials are left to decide what makes the cut.

Superintendent Leon Reed said there are three options for the district: to make immediate cuts, make no cuts and rely on reserve funds or phase in the cuts over time.

"If we make huge cuts all at once, it would create chaos. If we did nothing, a year or two down the road there would be great chaos," Reed said. "The proper way would be to phase in the cuts over time, but we need to change our spending habits."

The governor's executive budget cuts funding in many different areas; however he stated that he "maintains a commitment to both long-term increases in education investments and the formulas created to equitably allocate these funds."

After the cuts, school aid will total $20.7 billion for the 698 school districts statewide. Over a multi-year period, however, Paterson said he plans to increase school aid by $7 billion.

"The State of the State address was a great pep rally for the people of New York, but the governor really didn't address how to carry on without the aid," Reed said. "It was a good talk, and he makes us believe we can persevere in hard times, but there were no answers. He didn't mention the reality."

Schuylerville Central School District relied on New York State aid for 48.5 percent of the current school year's budget. When the budget was passed last spring, there were no new initiatives or positions added in the district and a freeze was enacted for supplies, equipment, field and sports trips and Arts-in-Education programs. However, the 2008-09 budget was $1.3 million higher than the previous year's budget due to rising costs of utilities and insurance. In order to make ends meet with less aid, changes will have to be made throughout the district, Reed said.

"I really don't know where we will make up the funds yet, but we have to do it the proper way. We have to not only address the kids' needs, but also the taxpayers' needs," he said.

One thing is certain to Reed. The district needs to change its spending habits. While there are funds in a reserve or "rainy day account," the district can't completely rely on that to make up the difference.

"If we don't make changes and only use the reserve, when the reserve runs out, we'll be bankrupt. Any school district that doesn't have a reserve to help get them through this time will have a real problem. We need to make corresponding reductions in the budget along with using the reserve funds," he said.

Though Reed doesn't exactly know yet what would be affected in next year's budget, cuts will most likely come from a combination of areas, such as bus drivers and routes, sports programs and possibly other staff positions. His goal is to cut at least $250,000 each year to phase in the reduction of aid.

"Whatever happens, we'll all have to work a little more to cover lost ground," Reed said. "The question really is how will we do it? It's not only a matter of the students' needs, but taxpayers are also struggling in their own lives. We all need to give this some time and live within our means."