Schools: Federal aid crucial for 2021-22

PLATTSBURGH | Area school districts are approaching the last stretch of budget planning with hope gleaming in federal aid. But even though New York will see a $9 billion boost for school aid through the American Rescue Plan, New York lawmakers may offset federal funds for schools with state aid cuts, dollar-for-dollar. State School Aid runs won't be released until April 1. And area superintendents are keeping a close eye on what happens next. $9 BILLION FOR NEW YORK SCHOOLS The federal $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan includes an Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) fund with $122 billion in relief to help Pre-K-12 schools across the U.S., the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Relief is intended to help schools reopen safely and "address the academic, social, emotional, and mental health needs of their students," according to President Joe Biden. Two-thirds of the funds—$81 billion in total—will be made available to states today, the president said on March 24. Remaining ESSER funds "will become available after states submit the plans they are developing and implementing for using funds to safely reopen schools and meet the needs of students to the (Dept. of Education)." The allocation for New York State was set at $8,988,780,836 (nearly $9 billion) with $5,992,520,557 released March 24. State allocation amounts are provided on the USDE's Office of Elementary and Secondary Education "Programs" web page: oese.ed.gov VARIED IMPACT ON LOCAL SCHOOLS Amounts allocated to individual districts vary in accordance with each district's state aid ratio. According to estimates from Sen. Charles E. Schumer, ESSER funding provides $271,000 for "Elizabethtown" and $702,000 for "Westport" schools, neither of which exist anymore. They are merged as the Boquet Valley Central School, which operates with a state aid ratio around 54 percent. At Moriah Central, which is a high-need school district, the federal allocation would provide nearly $2 million. At Keene Central, with a low aid ratio, federal relief would provide $14,000. At AuSable Valley, a large district encompassing nine towns in three counties, federal aid allocates $1.9 million. And Plattsburgh City Schools would receive $3.7 million in the federal aid package, according to Schumer, who provided estimates for federal aid to all districts outside New York City. "COVID brought unprecedented challenges that have cost a year of learning and development for students—challenges disproportionately felt by students of color, students from low-income families, students with disabilities, and more. As Majority Leader, I was proud to make funding for our schools a priority," Sen. Schumer said. "The American Rescue Plan will deliver this much-needed aid to get Upstate students back in school." Superintendents here are watching how the state distributes Rescue Plan resources. BOQUET VALLEY "The NYS budget has not been finalized yet, but at this point, our district is not guaranteed that any of the stimulus money will be additional money," Boquet Valley Central School Superintendent Joshua Meyer told the Sun. Meyer said the Boquet Valley district is slated to receive $181,000 in federal school aid, not the total indicated in Schumer's estimate. "The Governor's (Andrew Cuomo) proposal had the federal stimulus dollars supplanting the New York State dollars, meaning that. for every dollar that we were given from the federal stimulus, one dollar was subtracted from what the state contributes. "If this is approved, Boquet Valley would see no net increase to our total money coming in," Meyer said. The state legislature has pushed back against supplanting federal education aid, and Sen. Schumer is trying to get funds sent directly to districts and to bypass the state altogether. "There is still some uncertainty as to what will happen," Meyer said. "This isn't terrible news, as we are not getting less funding. I just don't want anyone to think that schools are getting this massive additional sum of money." Budget updates for the Boquet Valley Central School District are shared online: boquetvalleycsd.org KEENE CENTRAL At Keene Central, the estimated $14,000 in federal aid would not even cover what has already been spent on covid-19 pandemic response. Superintendent Daniel Mayberry said the budget process is going to be challenging for 2021-22, and even more so in 2022/2023, based on current economic conditions. "The real concern is for when the federal assistance aid runs out and states are left to 'go it alone' with their own tax revenue," Mayberry told the Sun. "I do not feel, based on the Governor's proposed budget, that schools are being fully supported. Foundation aid has been held flat for a second consecutive year and the Tax Levy Cap further constrains a district's ability to meet the ever-increasing costs of doing business. "Unfortunately, under the circumstances, the only option is to cut expenses, and in schools that always comes down to services and programs for students. By taking this approach you end up reducing the effectiveness of the education provided to our students and our future." Mayberry said he believes the stimulus will help many districts but would likely have limited effect at Keene Central. "In the initial run, it appears that we will receive around $14,000 while most other districts receive more than $100,000 in aid. In the end, if that amount holds true the amount we receive won't cover the increased expenses associated with the pandemic over the last year." As budget planning progresses, Keene Central provides information online: keenecentralschool.org PLATTSBURGH CITY At Plattsburgh City schools, Superintendent Jay Lebrun said budget development is going well, even with variables in the funding equation. "Each week we solidify or learn of a couple of additional factors," he said. "The next bit of information we are expecting, which is also one of the most significant, is the release of the State budget and final State Aid runs by the April 1st deadline. "In terms of the federal stimulus, while our district's allocation certainly appears robust, we will wait to react until it becomes clear whether the State budget will feature a corresponding Aid reduction —as has sometimes occurred in the past. Should there be no such offsetting reduction in State Aid, our Board of Education will surely discuss the most prudent application of these stimulus funds." Lebrun said Plattsburgh City schools work to maintain stability in programming, on spending, and with tax rates. "Though not yet fully decided, I view it as very likely that our district will once again offer a budget with a corresponding tax levy which is compliant with the tax cap," Lebrun said via email. Plattsburgh City School District has a detailed timeline of the school budget and vote process on their website: www.plattscsd.org AUSABLE VALLEY At AuSable Valley Central, Superintendent Paul Savage III said the state's budget provision has been a real challenge. "There is no increase in aid proposed for schools for the second year in a row. This is a huge issue for most schools as state aid is a big part of how we actually operate our schools and programs," Savage said. "The potential good news is that the American Rescue Plan shared by Sen. Schumer brings hope and is so important to all schools as we try to fill both the academic and budget gaps created by the covid crisis. "The exact details of the plan are still unknown at this time, but our early review of the information shows that, if it holds true, AVCS would receive about $1.9 million dollars under this new plan. This could be a game-changer on how we can best use the funds to directly support our students and programs while filling the budget gap that has been created, something that we haven't been able to do under the current aid freeze and various caps." Savage said it is imperative that American Rescue Plan funding for schools goes directly to the schools and not used by New York to supplant other aid initiatives. "The federal funds need to supplement state aid especially as schools are all trying to get their heads above water after the covid crisis," Savage said. The pandemic crisis has been extremely difficult on all schools, he said. "But it has been especially challenging to our wonderful students. The additional resources would give us the support needed to be creative in addressing our needs with programming, services, offerings, enrichment, summer school, students with disabilities, after school programs, and much more. All with the goal of catching students up after such a tough year of much uncertainty." Budget information will be shared on the AuSable Valley Central website as it becomes available: avcs.org/budget-information MORIAH CENTRAL At Moriah Central School, the Executive Budget called for a less than 1 percent increase when first released in January. And Superintendent William Larrow said that does not offset rising annual costs, let alone close the gap from a challenging year with added costs. "Looking at last year's executive budget compared to this year's currently proposed executive budget, Moriah Central is expecting to receive a 0.80 percent increase, which does not support spending at this time and does not help offset the rising costs associated with yearly expenses, especially during a pandemic where the cost for PPE and cleaning supplies has increased dramatically since last March," Larrow said. Any benefits or added resources from the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan remain unknown in Moriah, too. "We have an idea of the amount of federal help we should receive, but have not heard if that is the actual number," Larrow said. SCHOOL VOTE: MAY 18 The school vote date is set for May 18 in New York this year. But districts have to get 2021-22 budget materials, facts, and figures online and available for district voters by April 28. Most are looking to hold public hearings in early May. When it becomes available, New York State Education Department presents state aid data online: stateaid.nysed.gov

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Schools: Federal aid crucial for 2021-22

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