District Contact Information

Daniel T. Connor
Superintendent

227 Main Street
Goshen, NY 10924
(845) 615-6720

Central School District

Budget News

State budget passed with modest restoration in school aid

April 5, 2011 - On March 30, the New York State Legislature passed its state budget for 2011-12 that includes a restoration of $272 million from the Governor’s proposed $1.5 billion cut in funding for education.

The Goshen Central School District will receive approximately $300,000 more in state aid next year than stated under the Governor's proposal. Most of this increase is due to the restoration of funds under the original Gap Elimination Adjustment (GEA), equaling about $2.8 million for Goshen.

Even with approximately $300,000 being restored to the district, Goshen is still facing a decrease of approximately $1.26 million in state aid for next year.

What is GEA?

GEA was first introduced for the 2010-11 fiscal year by then Gov. David Paterson as a way to help the state manage its funding deficit. Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the state Legislature are continuing to apply a GEA for 2011-12 school funding, which means districts will receive less Foundation Aid than the state is legally required to provide. However, it appears that the state budget has restored some of the GEA funds to school districts for 2011-12.

What will the district do with the additional funds?

At a Board of Education meeting on April 4, district officials and the Board of Education decided to use $200,000 of the restored funds to reduce the tax levy for 2011-12. By doing so, the district estimates next year’s tax levy increase to be 3.96 percent. Learn more about what's driving up the budget

The remaining $100,000 will be retained by the district in anticipation of mid-year retractions from the state. Last year, after the budget was passed, the Legislature took back approximately $149,000 from Goshen Schools. The retraction of these funds – mostly from state aid and STAR payments – was due to Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) reductions for Medicaid and auditor claims from prior years. In addition, there are always talks of mid-year cuts to education, and the district must be financially prepared to address these issues.

“Such a small restoration in state aid is disappointing but every bit counts,” said Superintendent Daniel T. Connor. “We plan to use these additional funds to help alleviate the financial burden on our community while showing financial prudence for what promises to be tough years ahead.”