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Ask the Superintendent - April 4, 2007
There have been very few days in the past few
weeks when the newspapers that serve our area have
not published a story or printed a chart in an
attempt to explain the struggle between the state
legislature and the new governor as they worked to
reach closure on the 2007/08 New York State Budget.
This process has not only been arduous and
frustrating, it is complicated and exceptionally
confusing as it relates to state aid for schools.
The charts and comparisons for school districts,
which have been printed are often misleading because
they are incomplete and very often lack specific aid
components, which skews the projections.
An example that comes to mind was a chart published
in many newspapers in February where an increase in
state aid to schools by district was illustrated.
Simply viewing that chart gave the impression that
school districts were going to receive an increase
in state aid. Unfortunately, those figures were in
error because there was a co-mingling of different
aid components. In the weeks that followed, all of
the media sources have continued to report on the
state budget process and with each story came a
different interpretation. This is confusing to the
public and frustrating to school officials because
we are dealing with a time constraint of our own.
The Board of Education must adopt the budget for the
school district by April 16th, and without accurate
revenue projections, their job and ours is very
difficult.
Although the “eleventh hour” is approaching, we are
still confident our stated goal of a tax levy
increase of less than 5% is within reach.
Roy Reese
Superintendent of Schools
I will not have an article next week, but will
return after the break.
My best wishes to everyone as they enjoy their
holiday celebrations.
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