Area School Budgets Pass

Voters across Tioga and Broome counties approved their school budgets on Tuesday. Some margins of approval were greater than others, with the greatest margin of approval in the region belonging to Chenango Valley, whose budget passed by a 6-to-1 margin. One of the toughest budgets in the region belonged to the Owego-Apalachin district, whose plan called for 21 staff cuts including 13 layoffs. The budget still passed with 820 votes in favor of the budget and 316 votes opposed. The cuts in the budget come as a result of O-A looking to rely less on its reserve funds. Over 97 percent of the districts across the state did draw from their reserves as they looked to balance their budgets. A number of schools also had plans approved for new buses. Those schools include Owego-Apalachin, Tioga Central, Newark Valley, Johnson City, Maine-Endwell, Chenango Valley, and Susquehanna Valley. Whitney Point also voted to establish a capital reserve fund for the district. In Owego, three Board of Education members were voted for 3-year terms, including Becky Goodrich, Stacey Riegel, and Lee Dunham. Also included on the ballot in Owego and Apalachin was a vote for additional funding for the Apalachin Library, a vote which was approved 692 to 378.