The Elmira Heights school district is faced with a delicate situation.”How can we find that magical balance that will give us an opportunity to provide for students and mitigate the tax levy impact on our community?” said district superintendent Mary Beth Fiore said.
With a 1.8 million dollar budget gap, the school district needs to consider all types of options to make up for its loss in funding. Some of those options are large in scale.
“We are going to be looking at is consolidation the answer. The big caution there becomes, be careful what you wish for in making sure that you understand clearly what that step will mean and if that really will be a long-term solution,” Fiore said.
But while the district considers all of its options, one of the main issues becomes, what is left to cut? The district has already made concessions over the past two years and does not want to lose essential pieces of its curriculum.
“We’ve cut in athletics, we’ve cut in all the extra things that aren’t mandated. A lot of the things that we have left in the budget are mandated or are simple experiences that we believe are a part of a well rounded education,” said Fiore.
Other options include more program cuts or drawing money from reserve accounts. But whatever board members do to balance the budget, they will have to do it soon, as their deadline is a month away.
With a 1.8 million dollar budget gap, the school district needs to consider all types of options to make up for its loss in funding. Some of those options are large in scale.
“We are going to be looking at is consolidation the answer. The big caution there becomes, be careful what you wish for in making sure that you understand clearly what that step will mean and if that really will be a long-term solution,” Fiore said.
But while the district considers all of its options, one of the main issues becomes, what is left to cut? The district has already made concessions over the past two years and does not want to lose essential pieces of its curriculum.
“We’ve cut in athletics, we’ve cut in all the extra things that aren’t mandated. A lot of the things that we have left in the budget are mandated or are simple experiences that we believe are a part of a well rounded education,” said Fiore.
Other options include more program cuts or drawing money from reserve accounts. But whatever board members do to balance the budget, they will have to do it soon, as their deadline is a month away.
