Published: November 26, 2008 01:30 am      

SCHOOLS: Districts avoid mid-year aid cutback but receive warning for 2009

School districts received a warning from Gov. David Paterson after he withdrew his proposal to cut $836 million of the expected growth in state aid to schools during the current school year.

Be prepared for some major cuts in the 2009-10 school year.

“Fiscal management is all about making hard, painful decisions, and the rejection of a mid-year school aid reduction by the Legislature means that deeper declines in funding for school districts will now be necessary in 2009-10 to ensure a balanced budget,” Paterson said.

The governor’s proposal would have decreased the growth in education spending from 9 percent to 5 percent over last year and allowed most school districts to receive an increase from last year. Overall, school aid still would have increased by $1 billion from the previous year, instead of the previously expected $1.8 billion.

Paterson sent a letter to superintendents and school board presidents throughout the state Tuesday. The letter was sent to notify the districts that because mid-year reductions were not enacted, Paterson was withdrawing the proposal, and deeper reductions in education spending will be required in next year’s state budget. Paterson was giving advance notice so school districts could plan accordingly as they prepare to work on their budgets for the next school year.

Most of the local superintendents had mixed feelings about Paterson’s letter.

Starpoint received $20 million in state aid for the current year and was looking at a $900,000 cut if Paterson’s proposal had gone through.

“It’s good news for this year,” Starpoint Superintendent C. Douglas Whelan said. “It was going to be problematic. It’s difficult when you have a budget in place with revenue. It’s a very difficult thing for schools to have it taken away mid-year.”

Whelan said it looked as though districts would be facing greater reductions, but now have time to figure out a budget with the right aid figures.

“When it’s known, we’ll deal with it accordingly,” he said.

Barker Superintendent Roger Klatt didn’t like the news either way. Under Paterson’s proposal, the district would have lost $325,000 in state aid.

“It’s not good news,” Klatt said. “Deeper reductions next year will have an impact on programming and staffing.”

Lockport City Schools Superintendent Terry Ann Carbone said the withdrawal of the proposal wasn’t surprising.

“We knew education was going to suffer because of the great deficit in the state is facing,” Carbone said. “But we will do the very best for our children.”

School districts don’t know how much state aid they’ll get now. The governor will submit an executive budget proposal on Dec. 16. It will detail the level of support the state can afford to provide for school aid, Paterson said.

Royalton-Hartland was facing a mid-year cut of $499,000, about 5 percent of its school aid from the state. Superintendent Paul Bona said the district was pleased no mid-year cut was coming, but now faced another challenge, later. However, Paterson’s letter gives districts time to work on their budgets.

“It’s allowing districts seven months to prepare,” Bona said.

Paterson said the state simply cannot afford the increase, which represents more than one third of the state’s general fund spending. New York currently faces a $47 billion budget deficit over the next four years, including a gap of at least $1.5 billion in the current year and $12.5 billion for next year.

The Legislature met in August and was able to trim $1 billion from state spending without touching education. But as the economic crisis grew in the state, Paterson said cuts would be made everywhere in the budget. The Legislature had a special session last week, but did not act on cuts to school aid. Paterson said it was unlikely the Legislature will consider the school aid cuts any time soon, meaning districts could be well into the school year before any action would likely occur. As a result, the cuts would be impractical, so Paterson withdrew the proposal.

Contact reporter Joe Olenickat 439-9222, ext. 6241.