School districts across Nassau County will take a hit in the 2020–2021 year due to financial uncertainty at the state level resulting from the coronavirus pandemic. How much schools will be affected is yet to be determined.
The Senate passed the New York state budget April 2, two days after the deadline. The budget outlines $177 billion in spending, just $1 billion short of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s pre-pandemic proposal, despite the state’s projected $15 billion revenue loss this coming fiscal year.
Lawmakers “passed something akin to a wish list and punted to the state budget director to figure out what can and should happen later,” said Maria Doulis, vice president of strategy, operations and communications for the Citizens Budget Commission.
The budget allows the state to receive up to $6.7 billion in emergency federal aid. Cuomo’s original plan included $2.5 billion in yearly Medicaid cuts, and therefore would have rendered New York ineligible for the aid, which is contingent upon the state preserving its existing Medicaid program standards and eligibility guidelines.
Robert Mujica, Cuomo’s budget director, clarified at Cuomo’s news conference on April 2 that the state has merely delayed the cuts until the coronavirus crisis has passed to allow the state to receive federal money.
Cuts to Medicaid funding “are part of the budget and will be enacted,” Mujica said. “We have the ability to delay them in the budget, so the effective dates can be changed.”
For the time being, school aid will remain nearly flat at $27.9 billion. Cuomo originally proposed a 3 percent school budget increase, prior to the coronavirus outbreak in the state.
The budget contains language dictating three reassessments of New York’s finances throughout the year and allowing the state to withhold payouts to school districts and local governments if the numbers do not match those the state used to pass the budget.
“The potential loss of any portion of our $10 million aid package (about 6 percent of our budget) will cause very difficult educational decisions to be made during the 2020-21 school year,” said Nora Johnson, president of the Port Washington school board.
The district will likely have to cut its spending, and the board is working hard to identify the areas that will have the smallest impact on the schools’ programs over the course of the next month, Johnson said.
State aid to Herricks schools is slated to be reduced by $363,475 (2.7 percent). The district will receive $115,941 in Federal CARES Restoration funding, Herricks spokesperson Michael Ganci told Blank Slate Media.
Budget cuts are likely to take the form of eliminating one-time expenditures such as facility improvements that are not immediately necessary for health and safety reasons, said Ganci .
“We are preparing our budget using the state aid projection provided in the legislative budget and anticipating the possibility of assigning additional funds to make up for the potential loss of state aid that may come mid-year by appropriating fund balance to cover the deficit,” he elaborated.
The Sewanhaka school district is still in the process of reviewing the adopted state budget and determining its impact on the 2020–2021 school budget, said Superintendent James Grossane. “The board and I are in daily contact and will present any revisions in our draft budget to the community as soon as it is available,” he said.
The Manhasset school district also has not yet determined the effect of Cuomo’s announcement on the schools’ budget, according to Rosemary Johnson, deputy superintendent for business and operations.
Already, 3,600 school bus drivers across Long Island have been laid off. School districts including Roslyn and New Hyde Park announced on Tuesday that they will no longer be paying their transportation contracts. Employees who work in these districts will receive their final paycheck today and will no longer receive health benefits.
The $177 billion spending plan is predicated on receiving billions of dollars in federal aid from a fourth coronavirus stimulus package. Without the expected national aid, the state will have to cut spending to $95.8 billion, according to the budget agreement.
“We understand the depth and breadth of the economic impact of this unprecedented crisis, nationally, statewide and locally,” Johnson said. “The governor’s proposal to adjust state aid throughout the year would put a very difficult strain on our budget process. We would need to ensure that we have enough in our fund balance to cover those shortfalls which would mean drafting a budget without using much money from reserves.”
The unusual budget plan was necessary in the current situation, some legislators said.
“This is a crisis budget that needed to be passed in the middle of a fast-evolving emergency,” said Liz Krueger, Senate Finance Committee chairwoman (D-Manhattan). “We can only speculate on where we will be in three months or six months, but we must still pass a responsible budget that grapples with the reality of our anticipated revenues—and the reality is that we need flexibility.”
Others disagreed, arguing that the provision allowing for potential school funding cuts could have been avoided.
“Rather than make difficult choices and do the job New Yorkers elected them to do, Assembly Democrats handed the governor unprecedented power to rip resources from hospitals, schools and local governments throughout the year,” said state Assemblyman Ed Ra (R-Franklin Square) in a statement released last Friday. “And in a budget that made painful cuts to healthcare programs, local libraries, and local governments, the Democrats found hundreds of millions of dollars in corporate giveaways for Hollywood Film Studios, $100 million for a taxpayer-funded incumbency protection program and billions for pork barrel spending controlled by the governor and the speaker.”
“This budget falls far short of the united, bipartisan effort New Yorkers were counting on the face of a crisis,” he added.
Between now and school budget votes — originally scheduled for mid-May, but postponed until at least June 1 by executive order — districts will re-examine their budgets for the coming year.
“We are committed to doing our best to balance the enormous financial strain this pandemic has caused in our community with our duty to provide a sound education to every student,” said Johnson.
“As always, the [Herricks] District remains committed to realigning resources to preserve core academic programs and ensure our students learn in a safe environment,” Ganci echoed.
