Scott Gray.

BY JEFF CHUDZINSKINorth Country This Week

CANTON -- Multiple school districts may see a significant reduction in foundation aid from the state, state aid that has been essential to school districts' fiscal health.

In his "Gray Area" address on Jan. 22, Assemblyman Scott Gray spoke to the proposed cuts which he said disproportionately affect a handful of districts within the county.

Gray pointed to the proposal in the executive budget to remove the hold harmless clause, which would allow the state to cut foundation aid as they see fit.

With the clause in place, the state is required to offer at least as much foundation aid each year as it did the year prior, essentially ensuring the state is unable to reduce aid indiscriminately.

"That would be removed under the executive budget," Gray said.

Gray said those funds, which were largely used for salaries, academic development and emergency projects up to a certain dollar amount, would be heavily cut.

"That has basically kept districts whole so they didn't see a decrease year over year in their foundation aid funding," Gray said.  

Gray said those funds will be shifted to other areas the governor has prioritized in the proposed executive budget.

"This year that's been removed and we're seeing significant shifts in where the school aid is going," he said.

Districts that would be affected include Canton, Hammond, Madrid-Waddington, Morristown and Ogdensburg.

"The majority of those districts have waterfront property, that's where the significant shift has been made," Gray said.

Gray said under the proposed budget, funds typically earmarked for the county would also be intercepted.

"This is a property tax shift and places the burden on the taxpayers," Gray said.

Just where those funds are going is not cut and dry but Gray did point to the significant increase in aid the governor hopes to put aside to handle the migrant crisis.

"Let's keep in mind, last year we put in the budget $1 billion to deal with the migrant crisis," he said.

Now, Hochul is hoping to secure $2.4 billion to assist with the crisis.

"We are cutting district aid as we're raising revenue for the migrant crisis," he said.  

Gray suggested that the model is one that is not sustainable for the taxpayer.

"A budget is a set of priorities and this is a misaligned priority," Gray said.

Critics of the budget proposal also point to budget cuts for rural and smaller suburban school districts, while aid will be increased for city districts as well as larger suburban districts.

That move, critics say, could hurt smaller and rural districts with low student populations.

Assemblyman Ken Blankenbush was equally critical of the proposal, saying that over half of  individual school districts in predominantly rural and suburban areas are expected to experience a $168 million decrease in aid.

“Don’t be fooled! It’s important to point out how this will affect North Country and Mohawk Valley students. School districts will now be forced to scramble and amend their upcoming budgets to make up for any losses. Many heavily rely on the state to alleviate the financial burden on local taxpayers,” said Blankenbush. “This is not an equitable solution when we’re throwing extra funding into foolish city projects. Communities will be forced to make tough decisions about what areas to cut while Albany Democrats push our children’s education further down the list of priorities," Blankenbush said in a press release.