The latest budget proposal for the Owego-Apalachin School District would call for 21 positions being cut. At a meeting Wednesday night at Owego Free Academy, changes were made to the budget to keep a foreign language position, two elementary teaching assistants, and a part-time elementary music teacher, but if the voters approve the current plan next month, the 21 positions will be cut. The original proposal called for 25 positions being cut. The spending plan currently sits at $42.4 million, and the district is looking to close a $2.3 million structural deficit. This adopted budget includes $1.6 million in cuts and uses $361,000 out of the district’s reserve fund. A vote will be held on the spending plan on May 20th.
Wednesday’s meeting drew a number of students looking to make the school board reconsider cutting the French program from the middle school curriculum, and the board eventually did vote to keep the foreign language position by a 4-to-3 vote. That position, along with the teaching assistants and music teacher position, were all kept, and the cost of the four positions, just over $200,000, will be covered by the use of reserves. The district also managed to keep the tax levy at the 0.02 percent limit calculated by the state. Previous discussions had the district considering asking for a 1.99 percent increase, but exceeding the tax limit would require a 60 percent approval from voters for the plan, instead of a simple majority. Exceeding the limit would also disqualify taxpayers for a property tax rebate program which would allow certain taxpayers in the district to get a rebate if the local school districts and municipalities stay within the state-calculated tax limit.
