SCSD needs Community Input

Schodack 

District Presents Second Draft of Budget

The Board of Education will hold a special meeting on Thursday, March 31 at 6:00 p.m. in the High School library to discuss a third draft of the 2011-12 budget.

After reviewing the second draft budget at its March 17 meeting, Board members instructed school officials to prepare a third draft that would require a tax levy increase between 4 and 6 percent and maintain all sports, co-curricular activities, and arts and music.

The second draft budget proposal is available here…

The Board of Education is not scheduled to adopt a budget until April 14. The community vote on the budget is scheduled (by New York State) for May 17.

At the March 17 Board meeting, school officials presented the latest draft of the budget, which totals $20,646,716, an increase of 0.78 percent over the current budget.

Sherri Fisher, assistant superintendent of business and support services, explained the district has cut spending the last three years as state aid continues to be reduced.

For 2011-12, the state has proposed cutting the district’s aid by $879,916. In the past two years, state aid has been cut by over $2 million.

The district also hasn’t increased the tax levy, the total amount of money collected in school taxes, in two years, Mrs. Fisher noted. However, residents did experience a tax rate increase in 2010-11 due to a loss in property assessment. In the past three years, the district’s assessment base has dropped by $28.1 million.

“We’ve cut spending for three straight years and our tax levy hasn’t increased in two years,” said Mrs. Fisher. “We cannot continue to make deep spending cuts without significantly harming our programs.”

Superintendent Robert Horan encouraged anyone interested in the budget process to attend the March 31 meeting. He thanked community members for their attendance at the district’s six public meetings on the budget so far this year.

“The community’s comments, concerns and ideas have been very informative and has helped us as we continue to develop the budget,” Mr. Horan said. “We have some difficult decisions to make and it’s essential we hear from our community.”

 

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Maple Hill Student-Athletes Named to Conference All-Star

Congratulations to the following student-athletes for being named Patroon Conference All-Stars for the winter season. Girls Basketball: Katie Roth – MVP, Sierra Legge – 1st team, Aubrey Racz – 2nd team; Boys Basketball: Jon Chesky – 1st team; Boys Volleyball - Jeremy Kelly – 1st team, Eric Berney – 2nd team. Posted on Schodack's website 3/14/11.

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