Last week the Highland School Board approved a $54.3 million budget for the 2024-25 school year. Residents will vote on this proposed budget as well as on a proposition to purchase two, 65 seat propane buses in an amount not to exceed $357,360. The vote is scheduled for Tuesday, May 21 from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.

 

After weeks of delay, New York State finally passed a budget, with Save Harmless for Marlboro, resulting in $12,671,215 in Foundation Aid being earmarked for the district. The amount collected by the tax levy is $33,039,254 and the district will tap $1,150,000 from the Fund Balance to offset the impact to the taxpayers. The board also approved taking $250,000 from the Employee Retirement Restricted Reserve fund to be used to retain as many teaching and staff positions that have been under consideration for reduction and/or elimination. The administration and school board have not yet decided on which positions and programs will be impacted.

 

At last week’s meeting, the Administration and School Board heard from a number of teachers, who said their years teaching in the district have been the highlight of their careers, and many students spoke about the impact of losing a number of their favorite teachers, especially in the arts, after the end of the current school year. Both teachers and students expressed the sentiment that the arts are not just fun activities but are taught in school to help students succeed emotionally, physically and in their academic careers. They urged the board to reconsider the removal of anything from the arts programs and to also consider filling some of the mental health positions that were removed last year but were not reinstated this year. One student said it was hard to put into words what her art teachers have done for her during her high school career, noting that they have helped her find a path for what she wants to do when she is older.

 

Superintendent Joel Freer commented on the challenges facing the Administration, School Board teachers and students.

 

“Our students tonight were the bravest of all of us. Standing up there [at the podium] and putting your heart on the line is not an easy thing to do. We are so proud of our kids and what you stand for and we want to give you everything that we possibly can. I can promise you that my Administration has worked tirelessly to try to find any savings that we could find across this district so that it [shortfall] was felt across the district and not in any one department. I know some people aren’t going to believe that but we had hours and hours of conversations about how we could come up with - at the time it was $1.8 million - that we were projected to be short.”

 

Freer said he could blame the state for the district’s financial shortfall but noted that when Foundation Aid was created, “it was a promise to school districts to put money into a system that was going to benefit our communities but first and foremost our students. That formula, which was created many years ago, is a flawed formula.”

 

Freer said he is not the only Superintendent in the area who is disappointed in the aid figures that Albany came up with in the state budget, fearing that the state would return to Save Harmless, “and not a penny more.” He said his fears were actualized on the evening of April 18 when his phone “started blowing up with outrage from Superintendents from across the county, something that school districts could not predict. New York State promised to stand behind our schools, our students, our teachers and that promise was not realized in this [state] budget.” He thanked all of the teachers, students and community members who reached out trying to change [elected officials] minds in Albany, “and I feel that all of our efforts fell on deaf ears.” He noted that Save Harmless was originally put in place as part of the Foundation formula to save schools when they lost some enrollment and were promised that the district would receive the same amount of state aid as they had the prior year.

 

Freer is no stranger to fighting for promised money, nor to dealing with deficits.

 

“It’s not the mindset that anyone in education should have to go through every single year and unfortunately those in Albany are the only ones we can turn to other than asking the community to pay more in taxes,” he said.

 

Freer said many residents pleaded with him to not raise taxes because living in New York State is becoming unaffordable. He said when difficult financial matters arise he does not want to pit one teacher or program against another, “but I can tell you that my Administration has turned over every single stone to try to find a little savings in every department.” He said after the approval of the school’s 2024-25 budget, “nothing is set in stone,” pointing out that while proposals were put forth on reducing or eliminating positions and/or programs, he will be looking for guidance from the Board of Education on a way to move forward.

 

Freer touched upon retirements, stressing that he is not pushing anyone to make a decision. He said HTA folks, “you are all set but HSA folks don’t have to let the district know they wish to retire until the summer but if you are thinking of retiring and are in a bargaining unit, the sooner you let us know, the better we are...because there are people’s jobs on the line that we could possibly save.”