Budget Presentation, May 11 at 12:15 p.m.

The Superintendent of School, Robert Libby, will present the proposed 2009-10 school budget to the Cohoes Rotary Club on Wednesday, May 11 at 12:15 p.m. at the Century House in Latham. The meeting is open to the public. A detailed 2009-10 school budget newsletter will be mailed to residents the second week in May. Follow this link to download a PDF of the newsletter.

Board adopts proposed 2009-10 school budget

At the Wednesday, April 22, regular Board of Education meeting, board members unanimously adopted the proposed 2009-10 school budget, which will go before voters on Tuesday, May 19.

The proposed $36 million budget carries an anticipated 2.97 percent tax rate increase, or an additional 93 cents per $1,000 of assessed home value.

At a budget forum held in March, residents and staff learned that Governor Paterson's proposed state budget would result in a freeze on foundation aid costing the district a nearly $2.2 million loss next school year and a Deficit Reduction Assessment reducing next year's aid by $785,000 less than the current year.

Thankfully, the state aid the district thought would be cut was somewhat restored by the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act--commonly known as the federal stimulus package.

Superintendent Robert Libby explains that while Cohoes' state aid for next school year was essentially restored, it is flat--no increase from the current year--and it will remain flat for the next two years.

"This has been a very difficult budget season," explains Superintendent Robert Libby. "We have been extremely challenged this year because of frozen state aid figures and nationwide economic uncertainties. Yet, our priorities when putting the budget together year after year are to continue to provide Cohoes students with a quality education and to maintain our talented teachers and support staff  who serve our students. The proposed 2009-10 school budget does just that," Libby adds. "With some expenditure decreases in various areas of the budget, we were able to keep all staff on board and maintain our academic program."

Next year's proposed budget has no new spending with the exception of negotiated contractual costs, mandatory contributions to employee retirements systems, and inflationary costs. In fact, excluding new debt service the spending increase in next year's budget is less than 1 percent.

The state-mandated school budget hearing will be held on Tuesday, May 6 at 6:30 p.m. at the Middle School Library.

The school budget vote is Tuesday, May 19.  Polls are open from noon to 9 p.m. at the following locations:

• Abram Lansing Elementary School, 26 James Street

• Harmony Hill School, Madelon K. Hickey Way

• Van Schaick Grade School, 150 Continental Avenue

To be eligible to vote, one must be a United States citizen, 18 years of age or older, and registered to vote in the general elections or with school district.

To vote by absentee ballot, voters can pick up a ballot in the District Clerk's Office, 7 Bevan Street, in the Cohoes Middle School, until May 18. All absentee ballots must be received in the District Clerk's Office by 5 p.m. on the day of the vote, Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Cohoes Schools hold budget forum to hear residents' priorities

Parents, teachers and administrators agreed on a several priorities for administrators to keep in mind while developing the 2009-10 school year budget for the Cohoes City Schools at the district's first budget forum, held on March 5.

The forum, which was attended by about 50 people, included a presentation by Superintendent of Schools Robert K. Libby, District Treasurer Adam Hotaling and Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services Peggy O'Shea. To view the Power Point presentation, click here. MORE

If you would like to submit a cost-saving idea to the district, visit the feedback page and send us an e-mail! Feedback page

Governor's proposed budget would reduce money coming to Cohoes City Schools

Governor David Paterson's proposed 2009-10 executive budget, released on Tuesday, Dec. 16, would eliminate about $785,000 of state funding for the Cohoes City School District.

The proposed budget would eliminate about 4.6 percent of the state aid the district expected to receive in the 2009-10 school year, meaning the district must make cuts in order to balance the 2009-10 school year budget. MORE