New Paltz school officials are scrambling to update their budget figures for this year’s vote, but it’s not their fault and it’s definitely not bad. Speaking during the community budget forum held on April 7, district administrators explained that things are looking up based on what they’ve learned about the state budget deal crafted in Albany. Beset by allegations of sexual misconduct, Governor Andrew Cuomo has agreed to a plan that includes sending millions of dollars in aid that has been withheld from districts over a number of years, reversing course on a budget gimmick that undercut the established formula for funding education.
Describing it as “much better than we imagined or hoped,” business administrator Sharifa Carbon explained that the approved budget has some $900,000 more coming to the New Paltz district than was in the governor’s executive budget. That includes making up for a scheme that shorted the critical foundation aid, restoring the formula by which that aid is calculated over the next three years and nixing a plan to skim money off the top of federal stimulus funds to keep in Albany.
“We no longer have a budget deficit for the next school year,” Carbon said, but some of that money is expected to have strings attached. For example, Carbon was aware as of the meeting that 20% of the $3.7 million in federal stimulus money would have to be spent on the social and emotional needs of students, as well as helping them making up for the learning they have lost during the pandemic; those are priorities in the district in any case, and that string won’t hamstring those plans.
The last-minute news has thrown planning into disarray; administrators will study the budget in detail and come back with more specifics for members of the public on May 19. The updated line-item budget will be released on May 16.
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