Scotia‑Glenville presents budget that meets tax cap, proposes staff reductions to close $2.7M gap

Drew, the district presenter, told the Scotia‑Glenville Central School District Board of Education on March 16 that the superintendent’s recommended budget would hold the district at its maximum allowable tax levy under the tax cap and present a spending limit of $67,155,932. He said the district’s budget gap of roughly $2.7 million has been closed largely through expense reductions and modest revenue increases.

"We now are at the maximum levy allowable for the tax cap with the budget that the superintendent's presenting to move forward with," Drew said, describing a recalculation in the tax‑cap that reduced the allowable levy from about 2.22% to 1.78% after a commercial PILOT change that reduced district revenue by roughly $153,000. He said closing Glenwarden earlier reduced the budget by about $2.2 million and initial staffing adjustments accounted for a 25‑FTE reduction in the draft (13 of those were vacancies), leaving a net staffing impact of about 12 filled positions; further, the current plan includes roughly 7.61 additional FTE reductions in aides, teaching assistants and secretarial support to achieve the remaining savings.

The presentation summarized other reductions: about $44,000 in BOCES pricing savings, $12,000 from property and casualty insurance, a trimming of discretionary IT spending, and an athletics adjustment that reduced a previously proposed $56,000 increase by $20,000 while preserving uniform and supply funding. Administrators said they also identified roughly $130,000 in additional revenue tied to retiree drug subsidy and program placements.

Drew framed the package as preserving instructional programs and student services while reducing headcount. "This budget does preserve our instructional program from kindergarten through … twelfth grade," a district administrator said, listing AP courses, CTE, world languages, guidance counselors, psychologists, reading specialists, academic interventions and nursing coverage (a full‑time nurse in every school plus a float nurse) as maintained.

Board members asked for more detail at the next meeting about how specific positions were selected for reduction, whether impacted staff had been notified, and how reductions would affect summer programming and learning‑leaves. The administration said affected individuals had been contacted and agreed to provide additional memos and a bus replacement schedule next week.

What happens next: the board will continue public review at its upcoming meetings, with additional materials promised online. The presentation said the proposed levy increase tied to the tax cap would amount to about $615,002.67 (1.78%), and the district projected an incremental homeowner impact example of roughly $101 on a $160,000 house (before STAR).