Local schools may see midyear cuts

Jefferson County schools could face reductions in state aid of up to $800,000 if Gov. David A. Paterson's proposed education cuts are adopted.

The cuts may not be as bad as they seem for some districts, officials said, because they have been able to save the federal stimulus money they received and could use it to cushion deep cuts.

But school officials from Watertown city schools, Indian River and Carthage central school districts are still concerned about how the cuts could affect them. These districts would be the three hardest hit in Jefferson County.

"It wouldn't be as hurtful as it seems. I think we would be able to handle things without very drastic measures," said James Kettrick, Indian River superintendent.

If the governor's proposal is adopted, Indian River Central School District would lose about 2 percent of its state aid, or a decrease of $727,846, Mr. Kettrick said.

Some school districts put the federal stimulus money they received earlier this year into their surplus accounts. So in some cases, the cuts would mean a reduction in reserve funds and wouldn't mean reductions to current budgets.

Even if they can be cushioned, officials said midyear cuts are difficult for school districts to handle because they already have begun the year with a budget, and are forced to quickly make changes.

"The problem with midyear cuts is that districts are not afforded the ability to plan for them, so they have to react," Mr. Kettrick said. "The message we're getting is that cost cutting is necessary. There's been a false sense of security because of the stimulus money."

The Watertown City School District would see a decrease of $791,884 in state aid, Superintendent Terry N. Fralick said.

"If what the governor is proposing is adopted, it will be a very big challenge for us," Mr. Fralick said. "It's going to be difficult to modify our budget to that magnitude."

Carthage Central School District doesn't have the stimulus money reserves that some other districts have because they came off a contingency budget last year, and were worse off than many other districts, Superintendent Joseph M. Catanzaro said.

According to the state Division of the Budget, Carthage would see a cut of $692,600.

While the district does not have any stimulus money to fall back on, they do anticipate an increase in the federal impact aid they receive for having students who come from military families because of their increased enrollment this year, Mr. Catanzaro said.

"We're not happy," Mr. Catanzaro said. "And we're going to have to tighten our belts."

Some superintendents in Jefferson County could not be reached for comment. Calls to the district offices of South Jefferson, Belleville-Henderson and General Brown central schools went unanswered Friday afternoon.

SCHOOL AID CUTS

Proposed school aid cuts:

Jefferson County:

■ Watertown: $791,884

/ South Jefferson: $562,834

/ Alexandria: $199,349

/ Indian River: $727,846

/ General Brown: $405,645

/ Thousand Islands: $352,892

/ Belleville-Henderson: $123,116

/ Sackets Harbor: $139,843

/ Lyme: $89,432

/ LaFargeville: $123,610

/ Carthage: $692,600

Lewis County:

■ Copenhagen: $127,273

/ Harrisville: $141,124

/ Lowville: $292,102

/ South Lewis: $322,525

/ Beaver River: $261,349