Owego-Apalachin District Dealing with $2 Million Deficit

At a budget meeting for the Owego-Apalachin School District on Monday night, the district announced it’s looking at close to a $2 million deficit. Teacher and staff layoffs are currently on the proposal, and Superintendent Dr. Bill Russell said that the school board decided to make cuts to 21 jobs in an attempt to bring spending in line with current revenue. According to the district, state aid, while on the rise this year, is still $1.1 million less than it was seven years ago. The district is now looking to use $360,000 from its reserve fund. Of the 21 jobs cut in the proposal, 13 come in the form of layoffs, while the others come from merging positions, retirements, and other forms of attrition. Another public hearing will be held Wednesday night at 7:30 at Owego Free Academy. District residents will vote on the budget on Tuesday, May 20th.