Foundation Aid support for schools in review

PLATTSBURGH | Foundation Aid for schools in 2025-26 budget planning will likely follow aid formulas already in place, despite lawmakers' call to make cuts based on declining enrollment. New data indicates cuts will be made over time and based on local economic indicators. But the changes are not imminent. The Rockefeller Institute Foundation Aid Report was commissioned amid state budget discussions last spring. The details leave much up for review. In budget announcements last March, Gov. Kathy Hochul suggested revising the hold-harmless, or save harmless clause, a 2007 article that allows school funding to remain level despite declining enrollment. Lawmakers and state taxpayers all agree that the state needs to reduce school spending costs amid declining enrollment. The question is how to achieve that. The Rockefeller report provides a detailed look at options. But tying cuts in Foundation Aid to decline in enrollment could cause rural districts, including many in the North Country, to face significant funding cuts. Hochul told reporters in December that the state will take a thorough approach in revising hold-harmless provisions. "As we craft the upcoming Executive Budget, the governor believes we should avoid proposals that would negatively impact school budgets, such as eliminating the hold-harmless provision of the Foundation Aid formula," the statement said. In December, the New York State School Board Association urged a comprehensive review before making brusque cuts. "Where the report falls short," SSBA said, "is in its recommendations regarding save harmless and guaranteed minimum allocations. "Save harmless helps fill in the gaps where state aid formulas don't adequately recognize student need, but the report proposes several formula recommendations that would likely lead to reductions in foundation aid for many districts. "We strongly encourage the Governor and legislature to view the report in its entirety, and refrain from picking and choosing individual recommendations in isolation. We look forward to further discussions about how to improve the distribution of school aid in the upcoming legislative session," SSBA Executive Director Robert Schneider said. New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) President Melinda Person said the Rockefeller Report offers opportunities to address inequity in the state's school aid formula. "Updating the outdated funding formula is a critical step forward, and we support some of the report's recommendations," she said in a statement. "We remain concerned about recommendations that arbitrarily lower the Foundation Aid amount instead of considering the necessary support for our schools' evolving student populations. "Any changes to the formula must prioritize stability and predictability for school districts," Person said. "Beyond formula adjustments, policymakers must address broader systemic challenges that impact school funding, such as youth mental health supports, child poverty across the state, and infrastructure investments." LOCAL SCHOOL BUDGETS Area schools have begun organizing data to inform 2025-26 spending. At Boquet Valley Central School, Superintendent Joshua Meyer said the district benefits greatly from "save harmless" provision. "I assumed that the results of the Rockefeller Institute report would not be positive for our district and districts like ours," he said via email. "About half the districts in the North Country and in the state are on 'save harmless'. "I appreciate that many of the suggestions, like eliminating 'save harmless. would be phased in over 3 to 5 years, based on multi-year averaging. This would allow districts to plan more accurately," Meyer said. "I am not anticipating any changes to the formula for this year," he said, "but would expect that a committee will be formed to decide which recommendations will be implemented and which will not. The language that the governor used actually used gave her a little flexibility to still make cuts if she needed to." This is seemingly good news for Boquet Valley for the 2025-26 budget, the superintendent said. "But I will wait until I see the proposals from the governor. She could leave 'save harmless' alone and go after something else. There is a finite amount of money in New York State and ultimately they need to balance a budget. "The recommendations to change the formula should, hopefully, reduce the volatility and make the process more predictable and use more recent and more accurate data," Meyer said. Meyer and other area school leaders expect that districts currently on 'save harmless' will get a zero percent increase, or close to zero percent increase in foundation aid. "While this is certainly better than a cut, it still feels like a reduction because all of our costs increase from one year to the next," Meyer said. .................................................... COST AND STUDENT ENROLLMENT Research in the Rockefeller report detailed school enrollment by district in New York State over a 10-year period between 2012-13 and 2022-23. The numbers encompass a vast range of population centers, from tens of students in rural regions of the Adirondacks to over 30,000 in large metropolitan areas. There are over 890,000 students in New York City schools, where enrollment has dropped 12.1 percent, which is on the lower end of the scale of decline. Several North Country schools registered an increase in student enrollment, including Schroon Lake with 10.7 growth. AuSable Valley Central grew by 3.5 percent; Beekmantown grew 3.1 percent; Keene grew 1.2 percent by adding one student over the decade measured. Saranac Central grew 0.5 percent. Schools showing decline in enrollment include Chazy Central with a 0.5 percent population loss. Peru Central's student numbers declined from 1,971 to 1,869, or 5.2 percent. Northern Adirondack saw 46 fewer students over the decade, a 5.4 percent decline. Moriah saw an 8.9 percent decline. Plattsburgh schools saw a decline of 182 students, or 9.6 percent. Ticonderoga marked an 11.6 percent decline, which was the same at Northeastern Clinton. Willsboro Central saw an 11.9 percent decline. In Queensbury, the loss of 488 students over a decade counted a 14 percent decline. Johnsburg's loss of 46 students in 10 years marked a 14.2 percent decline. Warrensburg has 120 fewer students for a 15.3 percent decline. Boquet Valley, merging Elizabethtown-Lewis and Westport, is down 93 students from 2012-13, an 18.9 percent decline. Lake Placid's district shed 142 students, a 20 percent decline. Saranac Lake's sprawling district saw a 20.6 percent decline in enrollment. Hadley-Luzerne has 23.2 percent fewer students than it did 10 years ago. Lake George has 278 fewer students, a 30.6 percent decline. Newcomb and Lake Pleasant schools were among the top 10 schools exhibiting student population loss in New York State: Newcomb saw a 47.6 percent and Lake Pleasant saw a 40.2 percent decline in enrollment. COSTS PER STUDENT The Rockefeller report also presents the current cost of education per student, again indicating vast differences across New York State. For example, the school spending the most is Fire Island at $149,220 per student. In this region, small districts of Lake Pleasant and Indian Lake spend $55,687 and $54,021 respectively, per student. Lake Placid is at $44,738 and Keene at $41,313 per student. North Country schools that pull enrollment from a wide region have high transportation costs, which raise per student rates. At Boquet Valley, encompassing three rural towns and sections of several others, the cost per student is $36,877. At Saranac Lake Central School District, drawing student population from three counties and seven towns, the cost per student is $32,865. AuSable Valley spends $32,344 per student, also reaching across two counties and six towns. Plattsburgh City spends $28,865 per student with no busing program. At Saranac, which also transports students from three counties, the cost per student is $26,707. Chazy spends $26,536 per student. The least spent per student is in Watertown School District at $18,458. The Rockefeller Institute report offers many suggestions based on research. The appendices offer population and cost details for all schools in the state. The data was pulled in November 2024 from the New York State Education Department "School District Fiscal Profiles." The entire Rockefeller Institute Foundation Aid Report is available to view and download online: www.rockinst.org/foundation-aid-study

Signup for our newsletter

Foundation Aid support for schools in review

COMPANY

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

SUBMISSION FORMS

BEYOND THE NEWS