On Tuesday, May 21, residents across New York State will weigh in not only on local school district budgets for the 2024-25 school year, but will also vote for candidates for boards of education.
New York State’s fiscal year 2025 budget has finally been settled, and the good news for local school districts is that Governor Kathy Hochul’s plans to cut foundation aid and eliminate the “Hold Harmless” provision that prevents districts with decreasing student population from seeing funding cuts has been kicked down the road another year.
Overall, the state budget increases school aid to $35.9 billion, including $24.9 billion in foundation aid. School aid has risen by $6.5 billion in the three years since Hochul has been governor. Both the governor and legislature agree that the foundation aid formula needs to be modified, and the state has engaged a Rockefeller Institute study to examine what that might look like. In the meantime, the budget lowers the inflation factor from 3.4 percent to 2.8 percent in an effort to “right-size” funding for the 2024-25 school year. State aid runs have not been released as of press time.
For the latest information on polling times and locations, visit the official school district website.
Each school board candidate was sent the same brief questionnaire, and their responses appear in the order.
Also included are the budget highlights that will put before voters for approval on Tuesday, May 21.
Onteora Central School District
(Four running for two open seats)
Coryn Nadeau, LCAT, ATR-BC
Occupation: Art therapist, education leadership/coach &teacher
Do you have prior School Board experience? No.
What made you want to run for School Board? Schools and teacher/mentors have a huge impact on our children’s development. Our children spend most of their time in school from age 6-18. I’ve seen the quality of a school, the district or teacher uplift or break a child. I have also seen the impact schools have on community culture (think about how they were a support during Covid for many people) — schools are the heart of our communities. My own extensive experience and the opportunities my leadership has had at the school, district and national level (director of mental health, SEL and student programming and education leadership coach) have shown me that we can positively influence our future through strong schools. I see a struggle in my own backyard, and I want the best for my children (upcoming in the district) and my community’s children. I also care deeply about social-emotional learning, mental health/wellbeing of students and teachers, 21st century learning skills, DEI action steps, and quality student enrichment/programming. My mother worked for the superintendent of schools in the small town I grew up in for 30 years and my dad (a local carpentry business owner) served on our town planning and zoning board for over a decade — their model has reinforced my own beliefs about being involved in my community.
What are the most pressing issues facing the school district? All of my three are intertwined because we have a complex overlapping systemic issue facing our district.
1. Aggressive consolidation. Aggressive consolidation and rushing forward, without sufficient data and feedback from the Phoenicia closing and to make informed decisions. Being data-informed means collecting data from various qualitative and quantitative metrics from a diverse set of perspectives, not looking at one lens and basing our decision on that and ignoring the rest. This is a complex issue that has a HUGE current and future impact, there is no piece of data presented yet that can 100% without a doubt prove the solution of school consolidation is going to be effective for our children and community. We need more data with a decision like this and the potential risk to our community. For example, what are the long term impacts on the community — real estate pricing, business development, families moving out? The closure to Phoenicia has been heartbreaking and the gateway to Woodstock is on the chopping block next. Local schools help center the community and provide additional legitimacy as a solid place to live and work — an investment of the town’s future to come. The majority of the community does not want consolidation — it’s deeply disruptive to families and local businesses — let the community be heard, respected and have a vision to invest in areas that make a positive impact.
2. Budget. It’s a large budget because we are a large spanning district and like many communities the bus shortage issue is present. Additionally, consolidation can cost more money than investing in current schools. Closing Phoenicia was an effort to save money in the busing area, however, we do not know if it will save any money until we do a cost analysis on bus routes post closure. On top of that, there is national inflation from bus companies and they are raising pricing this year on all contracts (not enough bus companies/big demand). So, I doubt we will save any money when these two things are assessed, and closing Woodstock will not even make a dent. We need to focus our efforts on state or grant support in order to shift this expense moving forward. Kathy Hochul recently announced funding to support electric school bus infrastructure — can we benefit from this and future NY bus infrastructure relief supports? It is important to note that empirical evidence shows that consolidation does not always save money and can often end up costing more — this is why we need someone who has experience in education leadership on the board and understands these nuances to support our superintendent. Keep in mind, according to Harvard Business Review, consolidation can often devastate rural economies like ours. We have yet to see a financial plan for the consolidation plan and cost comparison of investing in our current schools. We have operating classrooms at both schools and with room to spare at Bennett — why do we need to spend even more money than the 62 million dollar budget to consolidate? Let’s save money by investing in our amazing current schools.
3. Innovation and vision around enrollment. We need leadership and decisions that will help us thrive for years to come. Woodstock does not have an enrollment issue according to the numbers. If we need to boost enrollment, with the families that are present in our district and are choosing to attend a private or homeschool option, there are creative solutions that we can try before speeding forward to shutter Woodstock. I have a lot of questions around what we have already tried or ideas already posed, but a few of my ideas top of mind could be using the additional administration from Phoenicia to focus on outreach initiates to attract new families, gathering data to have a clear understanding as per why families are not choosing Onteora and developing strategies to address those concerns, securing aftercare contracts for elementary schools (a massive need for working families in the area), and writing grants to improve our arts and enrichment programming, particularly in diversity, equity and inclusion of all students. Closing Woodstock could drive enrollment even lower with families leaving and more Airbnbs & unaffordable housing moving in. Woodstock staying open benefits Bennett families because children statistically benefit from smaller emotionally safe classroom sizes, and if families leave with school closures, the enrollment dollars we are losing per student set us back even more (last year Woodstock area made up 41 percent of elementary school enrollment). Many families moved to this district because of our schools and more will come if we make appropriate and mindful decisions as our district continues to evolve.
Cynthia “Cindy” Bishop (incumbent)
Occupation: Retired after a 25-year public school career, and current Onteora School Board president.
Do you have prior school board experience? I am completing a three-year term on the Onteora Board.
What made you want to run for School Board? Over time, I have observed Onteora School Boards that prioritized short-term narrow interests over long-term planning. I believe this approach is misguided. I can bring a calm, open-minded, experienced and informed perspective to the board, one that will be especially needed in the coming years.
What are the most pressing issues facing the school district?
1. Onteora’s student enrollment has declined by half since 2004. We are closing an elementary school at the end of June 2024, and are resolved to close another over the next several years because of significant under-enrollment. This all occurs at a time when the cost of heating and maintaining underutilized buildings and transporting students to under-enrolled schools far from their homes is rising and State Aid funding is decreasing as a direct result of our declining enrollment.
2. Prohibitive housing costs have forced families out or prevented families from moving into our district. Ours is a predominantly aging population. Careful management of our spending is crucial to make sure our tax levy does not overburden seniors on fixed incomes, or make housing even more unaffordable.
3. Our community is deeply divided over how to solve the fiscal challenges of our declining enrollment. Parents and community members are understandably upset at the prospect of school closures. These are challenging times that require strong, compassionate leadership and sound decision-making.
Jillian Kahn Urrutia
What are the most pressing issues facing the school district?
1.Consolidation. The most obvious question facing the district, or at least the one getting the most focus, is consolidation — yes or no. As I have stated from the beginning of my campaign, I am considerate of declining enrollment and budgetary issues. A myriad of questions which haven’t been answered by the current board and superintendent concerning this are: What’s the savings? Let’s see a comprehensive savings analysis and how that was arrived at. Less bus runs versus longer bus routes may be a wash. What is the cost of construction? What’s the reality of a bond passing? These are only some of the unanswered questions. And the major intangible — what is the impact of closing a community school — does not seem to be a consideration.
2. Budget. A blossoming budget in the face of declining enrollment is an issue. Salaries/benefits, and physical maintenance — is a majority of the budget that isn’t voted on by the taxpayer. Attrition only addresses a small portion of this shortfall. I’m really interested to see what the Rockefeller Foundation and the State Education Department come up with as an alternative way to fund schools.
3. Student enrichment. Enriching students through the use of a very talented and knowledgeable arts community. Artist in residence programs can enhance student learning in the area of fine arts, music and theater. Why not expand that idea and have visiting engineers, scientists, athletes? A day of being able to listen to and learn from people working in a particular field can spark students to explore the possibilities for their futures.
Eric “Rick” Knutsen
Occupation: Musician (semi-retired).
Do you have prior School Board experience? No.
What made you want to run for School Board? My extensive experience as a public school PTA president and arts volunteer combined with my ability to listen, empathize and think longer term make me suited to the job of trustee. I think the district is at a crossroads; we’ll need to skillfully navigate coming challenges in order to keep faith with both our children and the taxpaying community that supports them. I think I can help.
What are the most pressing issues facing the school district?
1. Protecting our ability to robustly resource our teachers and academic programs, as well as the extracurriculars that bring our kids joy — music, theater, athletics, etc. This is especially critical in light of reductions in the amount of state foundation aid the district relies on every year that are likely imminent, and significant.
2. Making sure we continue to have the resources to support all our students’ learning and mental health needs, especially for those who suffered setbacks during the pandemic.
3. Healing the wounds opened by the understandably emotional public discourse around building reconfiguration and reigniting a community commitment to a common mission- that of giving every student in the district the best educational opportunities, experiences and supports possible.
Onteora Central School District budget and propositions on the ballot
The OCSD will present a proposed $62,325,550 budget for 2024-25, an increase of a little over $1 million, or 1.64 percent, over the current spending plan. The district will seek a 3 percent tax levy increase of around $1.48 million.
The district identifies its budget in three distinct parts: Program, administrative, and capital. Of the three, program is the biggest piece of the pie, with a proposed increase of $728,425 over the current spending plan. Among the increases are salaries of teachers, teaching assistants, and paraprofessionals; textbooks; co-curricular activities; athletics; staff development; and transportation.
Administrative costs are expected to rise by $162,357, including administrative salary and benefits; insurance; legal fees; data processing; and BOCES administration.
In the capital section, an increase of $112,168 would cover school bus purchases; debt service; facility costs; utilities and maintenance’ and custodial salaries and benefits.
In addition to their budget proposal, the district will seek approval for a proposition to authorize the board of education to spend a maximum of $1.95 million from the 2021 and 2023 capital reserve funds to cover any additional costs, if needed, for ongoing facilities projects, including the Onteora High School generator project; the Phoenicia/Woodstock exterior door project; and the Classroom Renovation Phase III project, which includes districtwide classroom and gymnasium updates, roof repair, a security vestibule and canopy at the high school and middle school campus, and a new serving line in the high school and middle school cafeteria.
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