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Ask the Superintendent -
June 11, 2008
Whenever a school district faces a budget
defeat, it becomes an emotional time for all those
involved – Board members and administrators,
teachers and staff, community residents, and
students. In some cases, if a district decides to
reduce its original budget proposal and put it up
for a revote – as Goshen will do on June 17 – it is
inevitable that educational programs will be
reduced, “things” (equipment and supplies) will be
cut, and people will lose their jobs. It is never an
easy time, especially when questioning what items to
cut – and how much.
A budget that has taken eight months to construct
and refine is now subjected to even more scrutiny.
Over those eight months, the district held meeting
after meeting: meetings in each school building,
administrator meetings with Central Office and the
Board of Education, and Citizens’ Budget Advisory
Committee meetings as well as many budget
presentations to the community.
What resulted was a budget proposal with no
increases for the 2008-09 school year in all four
school buildings and the Technology Department.
There were no new programs added and there was a
reduction of two teachers by attrition. Special
Education, Buildings & Grounds, and Transportation
saw increases, and our contractual obligations and
State mandates had to be met.
In preparation for the revote on June 17, the Board
of Education and administrators reduced the original
budget by a half million dollars. With that
reduction came the emotion. There are cuts into
program by eliminating teaching positions, teacher
aide positions, and athletic teams, as well as
“things and stuff.” Obviously this has impacted
programs in our schools. (Last week’s article
outlined all of the reductions).
On Tuesday, June 17, the community will have one
more opportunity to vote on our school budget. If
defeated, the district will have no other choice but
to adopt a contingency/austerity budget as mandated
by the State of New York. A contingency/austerity
budget would limit the spending increase to 3.36
percent, which means that the district would be
required to make an additional $885,000 in cuts on
top of the $506,250 it has already reduced in the
revised budget – i.e., all of the cuts described
PLUS another $885,000 in cuts would have to be made.
Federal and State mandated programs, as well as
contractual and legal obligations, cannot be cut in
a contingency/austerity budget. Additional cuts
would be made from the remaining equipment, since
equipment purchases are prohibited by law under
contingency/austerity. Additional reductions would
all come from program:
• Elimination of additional teacher positions;
• Elimination of additional teacher aide positions;
• Elimination of Co-curricular activities (clubs);
• Major reductions in inter-scholastic athletics.
Making a half million dollars in cuts for the budget
revote was a very difficult process, especially
knowing that the cuts will no doubt begin to limit
the quality of programs and services we have
developed over the years. If the school district is
forced to adopt an austerity budget, the educational
and co-curricular programs for our students will be
eroded even further.
Roy Reese
Superintendent of Schools |
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