Updated 03/14/2013 12:26 AM
Possible budget cuts loom for Corning-Painted Post School District
The Corning-Painted Post School District is facing a budget crisis for the upcoming year. A multimillion dollar deficit could put dozens of programs on the line. As YNN’s Crystal Cranmore reports, educators fear the worst is yet to come.
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STEUBEN COUNTY, N.Y. -- “They, right now, are sitting at a kitchen table, wondering how they will ever find a job,” said Rick Gallant, the president of the Corning Teachers Association.
School officials say 116 jobs are on the line if the Corning-Painted Post School District doesn't get the money they need to address a $6.6 million budget deficit.
“These members and their families and all of us for that matter, are going to go through a time where we don’t know what's going to happen to them and the uncertainty of it all is tough to deal with,” said Gallant.
At a board meeting Wednesday night, school officials outlined several scenarios, including raising the tax cap as high as six percent. Officials estimate that would bring the deficit down to $5.5 million. But even with a tax levy that high, coupled with possible outside donations from Corning, Inc., officials say cuts are still highly likely.
Among programs to possibly go could be athletics and extracurricular activities, as well as music, gym and art for elementary students.
“The state has really put us in a position where districts are struggling to be able to offer those things. The villain isn’t the tax cap. It’s the lack of state aid,” said Mike Ginalski, Corning-Painted Post superintendent.
The board will meet again next Wednesday to continue discussing the budget before it adopts it on April 17th.