Expected wounds from state budget knife put districts in a triage mode
School aid is whacked worse than feared
School leaders across the region were expecting bad news Wednesday from Gov. David A. Paterson.
But not this bad.
Superintendents and financial officers are reeling after learning that the governor said he wanted to cut by up to 10 percent the aid that already was promised for this school year.
Poorer school districts such as Buffalo and Niagara Falls would feel some pinch under the Paterson proposal, while wealthier suburban schools would be hit hardest.
The Buffalo Public Schools, under Paterson’s plan, would see a 3 percent cut, or $15.7 million less than what the system was counting on from Albany this year. Overall, Buffalo still would receive 2 percent more than last year’s state aid figure.
But for the Orchard Park, Depew, Eden and Lake Shore districts in Erie County, and the Wilson and Royalton- Hartland districts in Niagara County, the midyear cuts would mean they would receive less aid from Albany this year than they did last year.
“The problem is, everybody built their budgets on that state aid,” Clarence Superintendent Thomas G. Coseo said. “We’d have been better off not having it to begin with and plan our budgets accordingly.”
Coseo was taken aback to learn that his district would lose $1.8 million, or 10 percent, of its total aid.
“I thought it would be 10 percent of the increase,” he said.
School districts received historic increases in state aid under the current state budget, and many added programs. Clarence added prekindergarten sections but would not have if it had known that the money was tight, he said.
Buffalo schools would likely be able to avoid cuts in staffing or classroom programs this year by cutting items that don’t affect students and employing funds from its reserves, said Gary M. Crosby, chief fiscal and operations officer.
But he painted a grim picture for the next school year.
“This is just incredibly devastating,” Crosby said. “It’s far worse than I expected. Whatever we don’t cut this school year will have to be cut next year.”
School Superintendent James A. Williams said the system’s dilemma is complicated by the fact that 80 percent of its costs are contractual or otherwise fixed and can’t be cut.
He said district administrators will soon present specific proposals to the School Board.
“It’s going to be painful,” he said. “We’ll look at options. What those options will be, I don’t know.”
Crosby said his priority will be to avoid midyear disruptions to teachers and students.
“Our orders are: “Protect the classroom.’ ”
Orchard Park Superintendent Joan D. Thomas and Jeffrey R. Petrus, assistant superintendent for business, huddled around a computer Wednesday morning to watch the governor lay out his plan.
“We didn’t have our heads in the sand, and we’ve been listening to the governor since July,” Thomas said. “It gets worse every day from Albany.”
Before Wednesday, Orchard Park was thinking that a midyear cut might mean as much as $500,000. But the governor proposes that aid to Orchard Park be reduced by $2.1 million, which is $610,899 less than the district received last year.
Like many other districts, Orchard Park already has cut field trips; reduced transportation, staff development and extracurricular costs; frozen equipment purchases; and lowered thermostats. Those actions may save $50,000 to $75,000.
“It’s nothing compared to what we would have to do if this comes into play,” Thomas said.
Williamsville Superintendent Howard S. Smith said that it is too early to say what his district might do if the cuts are approved by the State Legislature.
“It’s way early in this political process,” he said. “We’re not going to make any decision until such time as the governor and Legislature agree to any cut.”
“This is the governor’s proposal, so we’re taking it very seriously. Until the Assembly and Senate have a response to it, it’s still a proposal,” said Petrus of Orchard Park. “The sooner they make a decision, the better it is for schools because we have more time to react in this fiscal year.”
Aid to Niagara Falls would be cut by 3 percent, or $2.59 million, but the district would receive nearly 3 percent more than last year. Most Niagara County schools would see average cuts of between 3 and 4 percent.
New Staff Reporter Peter Simon contributed to this report. bobrien@buffnews.com
