Supporting our students and our schools

The continued presence of COVID-19 throughout society, the economic impact forecast for the next 2-4 years and the months-long gridlock over COVID-19 aid in Washington, D.C., underscored the need to make our voices heard on behalf of our children, our schools and our community, Board President Anne Savage said. 

“We recognize that the economic impact of COVID-19 will be deep and lasting for students and families across New York, especially if the federal government continues to do nothing to help our nation’s public schools,” Savage said. “But communities of color are already bearing the brunt of the health and economic impacts of COVID-19. 

“We expect our state and federal leaders to ensure that school funding decisions will not exacerbate that impact by reducing school aid the most in the communities already hit the hardest.”

The state indicated during the summer and reiterated through the fall that, in the continued absence of federal aid, it will withhold 20% of its aid for schools during the 2020-21 school year. For Albany, a 20% reduction in state school aid would mean a loss of $16.5 million-$23.2 million. The district reduced 215.6 positions in September in response to the looming budget crisis caused by COVID-19.

Although media reports have indicated the state intends to protect high-needs school districts like Albany from aid reductions to the greatest extent possible, there has been no official guidance on what that would mean in terms of potential fiscal impact.   

To date, the state has withheld $1.94 million of the district’s final state aid payments for the 2019-20 school year.

• The district received 100% of its first state aid payments of the 2020-21 school year in September and October, totaling approximately $20.7 million. That represented about 17.5% of the district’s total anticipated state aid for 2020-21.
• In November, the state withheld $700,000 of our federal CARES Act funding from our anticipated payment of $8.1 million (an 8.6% reduction). However, the state did provide guidance on how those funds may be accessed later in 2021.
• In December, the state notified us that it would withhold 20% of our Charter School Transition Aid for the 2020-21 school year, a loss of $302,000 in anticipated state aid.

On the normal payment schedule for school aid, we would receive about 66% of our total state aid (nearly $75 million) from March through September.

“In order to plan responsibly, we need clarification about how the governor’s commitment to equity will translate to dollars,” Savage said. “We need to know how much aid we will have so that we can retain the staff we need to serve Albany’s students. We have exceptional staff, and our district is seeing improving outcomes every year. Reductions of this magnitude are going to impact our ability to serve our students.”

I am reaching out to request that you do whatever is in your power to ensure that any reductions in school aid due to COVID-19 are fair and equitable for all publicly funded schools in New York.

A 20% across-the-board withholding would hit the most vulnerable school districts and communities like Albany the hardest. That’s not fair, and it’s not right.  Our communities have been hit hardest by COVID-19; they should not also be hit hardest by school aid reductions that further jeopardize our children’s futures.

I know the Division of Budget has said in media reports that it would protect high-needs districts, and I am encouraged by those statements. However, the Albany school district saw reductions of 20% of its final state aid payments for the 2019-20 school year this summer, and in one case even has yet to receive a full $420,000 aid payment for 2019-20. The total amount of state aid for the previous fiscal year withheld from Albany was $1.42 million.  

While I am relieved that Albany received all of its first state aid payments for the 2020-21 fiscal year in September and October, a $700,000 reduction for our district in November, coupled with the 2019-20 withholdings and the federal government’s long-standing inaction, leave me deeply concerned for our school district and the students it serves. 

Not knowing how much aid is going to be available in 2020-21 forced Albany to eliminate more than 200 positions in September. That uncertainty also resulted in students in grades 7-12 not even having an option to attend school in-person.  Meanwhile, our suburban neighbors are able to continue in-person school for all grades.

High-needs school districts like Albany need to be treated equitably, and to know now how much aid they will have this year so they can plan accordingly and bring back as many staff members as possible as soon as possible. Our students need and deserve that support, and that respect.

I’m also asking you to make sure that payments to charter schools are reduced proportionately to any reduction for public school.  How can a school district be asked to pay 100% of its charter payments if it receives only 80% of its aid? In Albany, that could be $7 million -- a significant difference for our students, one way or the other.  

We know these are very difficult times worldwide and budget reductions in New York are likely as a result. Please do all that you can to make sure any reductions are enacted equitably so that high-needs school districts like Albany can continue to provide the quality education and services our students need and deserve.

[Please consider adding your own story about how important full staffing is for your children, and how these reductions are impacting you]

I am reaching out to request that you do whatever is in your power to ensure that federal aid is available to support our nation’s public schools throughout the COVID-19 crisis.

As of mid-December, the federal government has gone eight months without providing any relief to the nation's public schools. That's not fair, and it's not right. Our children cannot wait that long for the funding they need and deserve, and that support should not be threatened by partisan politics.

My school district, in Albany, N.Y., depends heavily on state aid to fund our schools. Right now the state has said that if the federal government doesn't provide funding, the state will have to withhold 20% of school aid. If that happens, especially if the state applies a 20% across-the-board reduction for school districts without consideration for their individual needs, that would hit the most vulnerable communities like Albany the hardest.  

Once again, that’s not fair, and it’s not right. Our communities have already been hit hardest by COVID-19; they should not also be hit hardest by school aid reductions that further jeopardize our children’s futures.

Albany has been forced to lay off more than 200 employees already this school year as a result of this economic uncertainty and the federal government’s inaction. This has resulted in students in grades 7-12 not even having an option to attend school in-person, while our suburban neighbors are able to continue in-person school for all grades.

Please, let’s do what’s right for our children by making federal funds available to help school districts.

[Please consider adding your own story about how important full staffing is for your children, and how these reductions are impacting you]

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo
Governor of New York State
NYS State Capitol Building
Albany, NY  12224
governor@ny.gov

Daniel Fuller
Deputy Secretary for Education
Office of the Governor of New York State
NYS State Capitol Building
Albany, NY  12224
daniel.fuller@exec.ny.gov
(518) 486-9699

Sen. Neil Breslin
NYS Senate
172 State Street, Room 414, Capitol
Albany, NY  12247
breslin@nysenate.gov
(518) 455-2225

Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins
188 State Street, LOB 907
Albany, NY  12247
scousins@nysenate.gov
(518) 455-2585

Sen. Shelley Mayer
Chair, Education Committee
LOB 509
Albany, NY  12247
smayer@nysenate.gov 
(518) 455-2031

Assemblymember Pat Fahy
NYS Assembly
LOB 452
Albany, NY  12248
fahyp@nyassembly.gov
(518) 455-4178 

Assemblymember John McDonald
NYS Assembly
LOB 417
Albany, NY  12248
mcdonaldj@nyassembly.gov
(518) 455-4474

Assembly Speaker Carl E. Heastie
LOB 932
Albany, NY 12248
speaker@nyassembly.gov
(518) 455-3791

Assembly Majority Leader Crystal D. Peoples-Stokes
LOB 926
Albany, NY 12248
peoplec@nyassembly.gov
(518) 455-5005

Assemblyman Michael Benedetto
Chair, Education Committee
LOB 836
Albany, NY 12248
benedettom@nyassembly.gov
(518) 455-5296

U.S. Sen. Charles E. Schumer
Leader of the Democratic Caucus
322 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC  20510
(518) 431-4070
Contact online

U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand
478 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC  20510
(202) 224-4451
Contact online

U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander
Chair, Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions
455 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC  20510
(202) 224-4944

U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko
Office of Congressman Paul D. Tonko
19 Dove Street, Suite 302
Albany, NY 12210
Contact online
(518) 465-0700

U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott
Chair, Education and Labor Committee
1201 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC  20515
(202) 225-8351

To learn even more about this topic, please consider watching the recorded board meetings from September, which are available via these links. Some of the key points also are summarized below.

• Nov. 5 board meeting
• Oct. 1 board meeting
• Sept. 17 board meeting
• Sept. 8 board meeting
• Sept. 3 board meeting

The state has estimated that its revenue loss over the next four years due to COVID-19 could reach $62 billion. As a result, the state indicated in an August report that it will withhold a minimum 20% of its funding for schools in the absence of additional support from the federal government.

In Albany, state aid accounts for about 45% of the district’s total budget of $261.6 million.

Our school district saw reductions totaling $1.94 million from our final state aid payments for the 2019-20 school year. Approximately $1.4 million related to services for students with special needs, and approximately $520,000 was for prekindergarten. 

We were relieved to receive all of our first state aid payments for the 2020-21 fiscal year in September and October, totaling approximately $20.7 million. That represented about 17.5% of the district’s total anticipated state aid for 2020-21. In November, the state withheld $700,000 of our federal CARES Act funding from our anticipated payment of $8.1 million (an 8.6% reduction). However, the state did provide guidance on how those funds may be accessed later in 2021. In December, the state notified us that it would withhold 20% of our Charter School Transition Aid for the 2020-21 school year, a loss of $302,000 in anticipated state aid.

On the normal payment schedule for school aid, we would receive about 66% of our total state aid (nearly $75 million) from March through September.

A 20% reduction in state aid would be between $16.5 million and $23.2 million for Albany, depending on whether only Foundation Aid is impacted, or whether all categories are impacted, including areas such as special education, transportation, charter school and BOCES aid. 

The state has not provided clear guidance on this to date.

The state had said it would reassess its fiscal outlook at the end of December and may further adjust its school funding payments at that time, much of which will depend on what, if any, additional support the federal government has provided. However, the state had not yet provided any additional guidance regarding school aid as of early January. 

In light of the federal government’s continued inaction on school aid, and the state’s indication that without federal help it will be forced to implement funding reductions of at least 20%, the district has enacted deep program and staffing reductions at the start of the 2020-21 school year.

Those difficult decisions, which the board approved at its Sept. 17 meeting, included the reduction of more than 200 positions, and moving all general education students in grades 7-12 from hybrid instructional models to fully virtual.

The programmatic reductions also included dramatically restructuring stand-alone programs that serve our most at-risk students – students in grades 7-12 who benefit from additional social-emotional supports in the smaller alternative setting of our Tony Clement Center for Education, and refugee and immigrant students who benefit from the additional language support and wraparound services at our Albany International Center.  

“We made these reductions at this time to avoid the possibility of having to cut significantly deeper still in December or later if the financial prognosis remains as dire as it seems currently,” said Superintendent Kaweeda G. Adams.

The reductions the district has implemented so far amount to approximately $15.5 million. Millions more might have to be eliminated depending on future decisions at the state and federal level.

In addition to equity in the state’s overall school funding decisions, the district also is advocating for an equitable distribution in state aid reductions between public schools and charter schools, which also are publicly funded.

The district pays about $35 million to charter schools annually. An equitable 20% reduction for charter schools would allow the district to avoid up to $7 million in program and staff reductions.

A proportionate aid reduction for charter schools also would have no impact on the state’s finances. It would have a meaningful positive impact on the students in our school district, 80% of whom are students of color and 60% of whom are economically disadvantaged.