Community Budget Forum - February 25, 2009!

There is no doubt our nation is facing difficult times. The words recession, collapse, and bailout have become standard fare on the pages of newspapers and magazines both locally and across the country. According to experts, the current economic crisis will take years to play out. As a result, our district is going to be facing intense competition for limited resources at the state level.

The Watervliet City School District has been fiscally responsible, managing to work our way out of a $1.3 million budget deficit in left by a gap in funding in the 2005-06 school budget. As of the close of the 2007-08 fiscal year, the District has fully recovered from this deficit. However, it appears that the fiscal crisis at the New York State level will lead to reduced state aid this year, meaning that the district must look for ways to save money without affecting the quality of our educational program, or putting too large a financial burden on our taxpayers.

To that end, I would like to personally invite you to join us for an upcoming Community Forum to brainstorm together how best to plan for the 2009-10 school year budget.

The forum will be held on Wednesday, February 25, at 6:30 pm in the WJSHS Media Center and will feature a brief presentation on the current state of the district followed discussion on several essential questions related to the district’s budgeting process.

In times of economic uncertainty, schools can’t take the same approach as a business dealing with lost revenue, which would be to reduce either the quantity or quality of the product we produce. That’s just not an option in education – regardless of the state’s woes, our core mission is to inspire, educate and challenge every student every day.

While WCSD is lucky enough to be in better financial shape than many other local districts, the Board of Education may have to make some difficult decisions over the coming months, in an attempt to preserve our financial stability moving forward. Your input is very important to us. Navigating these rough waters is not something that the district should do in isolation. It is crucial that we work together as a community to find an appropriate balance. We hope that you will be able to join us for the upcoming Community Forum - I look forward to seeing you on February 25!