Too Much Too Fast

The awkward dance between Albany and local school districts over funding led to a major tumble on the dance floor last week, as Governor Kathy Hochul threw in a clumsy two-step that nobody expected.

The governor is trying to close a state budget gap. In her executive budget proposal, she included significant cuts to foundation aid provided by the state to school districts, with the formula hitting particularly hard in “wealthy” districts on the South Fork. In some cases, it meant double-digit declines in foundation aid, up to more than 25 percent, which is a six-figure impact that would be particularly difficult for smaller districts to shoulder.

Context is key: This is in the midst of a period when the state has been stepping up and, as federal aid has increased, sending more money to local districts. That’s appropriate since the state also enacted a cap on tax levy increases a few years back, which limits local districts’ ability to easily balance budgets on their own through property tax increases.

The state also has had, for more than 15 years, a policy of “hold harmless,” which says that a district’s foundation aid will not decrease from one year to the next. It gives districts more stability in budgeting — again, a critical benefit to the smallest districts, which simply can’t handle big swings in revenue from year to year.

But Hochul’s proposal, with one fell swoop, would bring a new economic reality crashing down on local schools, whose administrators will be forced to take a scalpel to programs and can count on even greater challenges in adequately staffing classrooms.

First things first: The State Legislature has to step up and negotiate a softer landing for school districts. The “hold harmless” policy should remain in effect until a designated future date, if it’s necessary to revisit it for budgetary reasons. It’s simply not fair to give local districts whiplash with such sudden changes.

Local legislators have stressed that the governor’s proposed budget it mostly just an opening volley, so there’s reason to be optimistic that things will be ironed out as the always thorny talks get underway in earnest.

In the long run, this is just another reminder that the time for the region’s smallest school districts might be waning. Certain districts, like Springs, are already facing troubled financial waters, and such unexpected shocks to the system can be really devastating to them, though even the larger districts will feel the impact. Springs, which found itself on a state list of districts with a potential for significant fiscal woes, as well as test scores that aren’t up to snuff, would lose $200,000 under Hochul’s spending plan — one more weight added to a barbell that the district is already struggling to keep aloft.

The choreography of funding schools with both state and local money is complicated. But some moves are just impossible to achieve.