Delaware County urges state to increase foundation aid to schools

Feb. 28—The Delaware County Board of Supervisors raised concerns over school funding in Gov. Kathy Hochul's proposed budget.

Hancock Town Supervisor Jerry Vernold introduced a resolution during the Feb. 28, meeting in opposition to Hochul's state budget cuts to foundation aid. "Although it doesn't affect some school districts as much as others, Hancock is losing 24%, and Downsville, Franklin and Roxbury are all losing over 30%," he said. "And Andes is losing 46%. This is not acceptable. It will force school districts to make cuts."

The proposed budget calls for a change in the foundation aid formula for the state's 673 school districts, which would negatively impact all but two school districts in Delaware County. Sidney and Walton are the only districts that would get an increase in state education aid under the proposed budget. Sidney would receive an additional $223,627, and Walton would receive an additional $142,974. However, the rest of the Delaware County districts would lose more than $6.3 million. Andes would lose $343,244; Charlotte Valley would lose $323,198; Delaware Academy at Delhi would lose $359,731; Deposit would lose $421,370; Downsville would lose $424,316; Franklin would lose $973,731; Hancock would lose $1,270,823; Margaretville would lose $415,201; Roxbury would lose $808,533; South Kortright would lose $501,288; and Stamford would lose $834,369 if the proposed budget is passed.

County Planner Shelly Johnson-Bennett said she read the formula and it is based on the income wealth index and pupil count within the districts. Because Delaware County has a number of wealthy people who own second homes in the county, their income is factored into the formula. She gave the example of Donald Trump Jr., who owns a home in Hancock. According to the resolution, 36% of the housing stock in the county is vacant seasonal housing, compared to 9.5% in the rest of the state.

However, "according to census data, the median household income for Delaware County is $58,338, which is 27% less than the state median household income of $79,557," the resolution said. In addition, 45.2% of the housing stock in the county has a value of less than $150,000, while in the state that figure is 17.5%. Taxes are based on property values.

The resolution also noted that 8.2% of the county's residents work in education-related jobs, which is higher than the state average of 7.7%. Since school districts rely on foundation aid to support education-related jobs, the loss of funding may mean the loss of employment for some teachers, and cuts to programs that help students get ready for college or the workforce.

"It seems what they're trying to do in my opinion is force the smaller schools out so students have to go to bigger schools," Hamden Town Supervisor Wayne Marshfield said.

Masonville Town Supervisor Betty Scott said West Virginia consolidated their schools into county-wide districts. Students would have to ride the bus for an hour or two hours to school and home. "It was devastating to after school activities and sports," she said.

The board approved a resolution to accept the bids, totaling $919,920, to build the new homeless shelter at 161 Main Street in Delhi. The bids came in $500,000 less than the previous bid, Marshfield said. Delhi Town Supervisor Maya Boukai opposed the resolution. "There's no question that the unhoused deserve a safe and comfortable place that meet their needs while they get back on their feet, but I believe that we can do that without spending a million dollars to build a 1,500 square foot duplex," she said. "Fundamentally, I am against the location of the project in Delhi's limited commercial district."

The board approved hiring an additional database clerk for the Deposit and Margaretville Department of Motor Vehicle offices to meet minimum staffing needs set by the state. It also created a temporary full-time assistant district attorney position for the District Attorney's office.

Vicky Klukkert, staff writer, can be reached at vklukkert@thedailystar.com or 607-441-7221.