WILLIAMSVILLE, NY (WKBW) — Western New York School leaders are sounding the alarm bell saying future funding for their school districts could be in major jeopardy.
“We can't keep asking districts and teachers to do more with less support,” Michelle Licht, Williamsville teacher, president, Williamsville Teachers Association. “It means cuts in programming. May mean larger class sizes, fewer counselors and mental health staff, fewer electives, and accelerated courses.”
I was at Williamsville South High School Friday where some members of the New York State United Teachers (NYSUT)union, joined several Western New York school superintendents and state lawmakers. Together they're demanding Governor Kathy Hochul stop her proposed cuts to Foundation aid that would slash more than $400 million to all schools.
“We know what we need to educate our kids and we cannot educate our kids with shrinking budgets,” remarked Senator Sean Ryan, New York State Senate.
"This is a shocking, short-sighted, proposal that frankly we didn't expect and schools themselves weren't prepared for at all,” stated Bill Conrad, assembly member, New York State Assembly.
But state lawmakers say the assembly and senate have issued new bills, rejecting the cuts. They're calling for a three-percent increase for all school districts.
“Introducing any level of unpredictability is simply not feasible for these districts and makes an already complicated budget process almost impossible,” stated Karen McMahon, assembly member, New York State Assembly.
“Now is not the time to reduce funding to schools, so then we can't support students in doing what we know as educators,” noted Darren Brown-Hall, superintendent, Williamsville Central School District.
“We have students who are facing anxiety because of social media use. We have students that have additional mental health needs, so the answer right now isn't to cut funding to schools so that they cannot provide those services,” explained Brown-Hall.
School leaders tell me this happening while those American Rescue Plan dollars are going away will create a recipe for disaster.
In February, the Buffalo Public School District shared its potential plans ahead of the ARP funding expiration.
WATCH: BPS Board of Education shares potential plans ahead of ARP funding expiration
"These are post-pandemic times, and the needs of our students have not gone away,” stated Dr. Tonja Williams, superintendent, Buffalo Public School District. “And so certainly we are looking at the vacancies and not filling those, retirements, and not necessarily filling those, but that’s going to impact greatly our schools, our teachers and what our children need and what our children deserve.”
Earlier this week 7 News spoke with Rich Nigro, president of the Buffalo Teachers Federation (BTF), about the potential cuts in Buffalo. We also spoke with Mark Laurrie, Superintendent of the Niagara Falls City School District about the deficit his district is facing.
WATCH: ‘Very stressful for everybody involved’: School districts navigate fiscal strain
On Thursday, high school and middle school students in the Hamburg Central School District walked out of school to protest teacher layoffs the district said are due to budget mismanagement, the loss of federal COVID relief funds, and declining enrollment.
"We're also encountering a population that has so many more needs, that are diverse and increasing and it's putting a tremendous amount of pressure on the responsibility of schools,” explained Timothy Oldenburg, superintendent, City of Tonawanda School District.
The Governor’s office tells me school aid for Western New York has increased 20 percent since Hochul took office.
Statement from a spokesperson:
“Governor Hochul’s Executive Budget makes record-setting investments in New York’s future while ensuring the state remains on a stable long-term fiscal trajectory, and she will work with the Legislature to craft a final budget that achieves these goals.”
“But for Grand Island, we would be negative $159,000 if we went with the governor's budget,” replied Brian Graham, superintendent, Grand Island Central School District.
