A flyer will soon appear (if it hasn't already) in the mailbox of every voter in the Hudson City School District regarding the proposed 2022-2023 school budget, which the flyer declares is "Educationally Sound & Fiscally Responsible." What may be most interesting about the flyer is that it reveals the amount of the contingency budget--the budget we may end up with if the proposed $54,124,024 budget is voted down.
Here's what the flyer says will happen if the proposed budget is defeated:
If the proposal is voted down, the District may resubmit the original budget or submit a revised budget to voters on June 21. If the revised proposal is not approved, the Board must adopt a contingency budget. Under a contingency budget, the District may not increase the tax levy over the prior year. Each program and department would be reviewed to eliminate non-mandated expenses for next year (e.g., extracurricular activities, field trips, sports, staff positions, and non-mandated academic programs or electives).
The flyer also outlines what will be eliminated if the contingency budget is adopted.
Under a contingency budget, no equipment or student supplies can be purchased, including athletic equipment/uniforms, buildings & grounds purchases, and classroom equipment. Public use of facilities by outside groups, regardless of affiliation, must be charged a fee to cover ALL expenses related to usage. This includes the pool and fitness center, playing fields, and building space. Field trips not part of the instructional program cannot be provided unless self-funded. Non-instructional employees, not in a collective bargaining unit, cannot receive a salary increase. Public relations firms and publications used to assist the district in promoting its image cannot be funded.
The good news about the contingency budget for the overburdened taxpayers of the Hudson City School District is that, under the contingency budget, the district may not increase the tax levy over the prior year.
The budget and the school board vote takes place on Tuesday, May 17. The polling place for us Hudsonians is the Central Fire Station, 77 North Seventh Street. Polls are open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
COPYRIGHT 2022 CAROLE OSTERINK
It's really quite explicit in the threatened cuts: staff and faculty will not be hurt in any way by enacting the contingency budget. Only the kids. What is the rationale for this school district's existence? At this price, we can bus each and every Hudson student to Hawthorne Valley, pay full tuition for each, and save the taxpayers a load of money while simultaneously getting our kids into a school engineered around children, not employees.
ReplyDeleteAt these prices we could Uber each child individually to and from Hawthorne, and pay their tuition 3x.
DeleteWe really need someone with half a brain to review the budget line by line. Do we really need to pay a PR firm to promote the image of the school system? What does this have to do with education? People have really lost their minds.
ReplyDeleteit is called "padding the bills".
Deletelook at the special education approvals
over and above class time.
last time i looked the teachers were being paid $ 283.00 per teaching hour.
1 hour of teaching, 7 hours to "prepare" for teaching. the budget i looked at had approved 2000 hours of teaching for a 3 month period.
Hudsonites you are being skinned alive.