School district’s $36.6 million budget on the ballot

Voters will be faced with the decision to approve or reject Lansing Central School District’s (LCSD) $36.6 million budget for the 2023-24 school year on May 16. 

The spending plan adds additional instructional staff across all levels at LCSD, as well as funding for electronic devices and social-emotional development specialists. The LCSD budget levies $22.9 million in property taxes, with a decrease of 5.12% in the estimated tax impact. The estimated tax rate is $19.43 per thousand in assessed property value, compared to the $20.48 rate from last year’s budget. For a home valued at $200,000, the property tax is estimated to be $3,886.30. 

“The budget that we’re proposing is really heavy on student support,” said LCSD Superintendent Chris Pettograsso. “Some of it is to help mitigate the impact of COVID-19 pandemic that brought on a loss of some instructional time.”

The effects of the pandemic on student learning were particularly acute in New York state, education officials have said. According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), the percentage of fourth-grade students in New York performing at or above basic proficiency levels dropped 10% in math (from 76% to 66%) and 8% in reading (from 66% to 58%), a steeper drop than the national average.

One of the biggest additions to the budget is a slew of teacher hirings at the elementary, middle and high school levels. Below is a list of new hires and program offerings in the proposed 2023-24 budget:

R.C. Buckley Elementary School:

• Additional classroom teachers (reduce class size to allow for greater

academic and social-emotional support)

• Summer STEM programming grades 1-4

• Before, after and summer school tutoring

• Social-emotional learning team core class

• Electronic devices for all

Lansing Middle School

• Additional special education teacher

• Increase of full-time social worker

• Summer STEM programming grades 5 & 6

• Before, after and summer school tutoring

• Electronic devices for all
Lansing High School

• Additional school psychologist

• Additional English language arts teacher

• Additional special education teacher

• Additional social studies teacher

• Additional world language teacher

• Before, after and summer school tutoring

• Electronic devices for all

“We have  an increasing population at the high school level, with a lot more students moving up from the elementary and middle school levels with higher class sizes,” said Kathryn Heath, LCSD’s business administrator. “We anticipate that we would have a need for additional instruction at the high school level to meet those students’ needs.”

The added faculty would help keep class sizes steady and ensure that students can connect to their instructors and a higher level of engagement, Heath said.

Pettograsso also noted that the budget is meant to help support students’ health and wellness.

“Our focus and our mission has been making sure we are looking at our students’ wellbeing holistically, and making sure all students feel included and equally valued as members of the district and Lansing community,” Pettograso said.

The $36.6 million proposed budget signifies an increase in both expenditures and revenue from last year – about $34 million. Part of that is due to a steady increase in state funding that has been approved by Albany lawmakers in the last few years. Although the current absence of a new state budget for next year has cast doubt on what state aid figures will be this year, an estimate released earlier this year suggests the district will get $12.4 million in state aid. That is $1.7 million more than last year’s spending plan.

“This is the largest increase in state aid that we are anticipating,” Heath said. “We have seen a 16% increase in state aid in the last few years. That is frankly unheard of.”

The increase in aid is due to a lawsuit settlement in 2021 between New Yorkers for Students’ Educational Rights and New York state. The state settled the case by committing to fully fund the state’s foundation aid formula to New York’s districts over the next three years, ending the state’s prior opposition to providing the funds.

“All of New York’s students deserve access to a high-quality education, from prekindergarten through their college graduation,” Governor Kathy. Hochul said in a recent statement regarding her proposed aid run to local districts. “By making historic investments in public schools, expanding universal prekindergarten and tutoring programs, and expanding the opportunity to earn college credits in high school, we are carving out a path for students to build a brighter future for themselves and for New York.”

Hochul said that she sees the additional aid is a chance to make up ground in learning opportunities lost during the pandemic. 

Also on the ballot is a proposition to spend up to $350,000 on student transportation, including the purchase and financing of vehicles and their necessary furnishings, fixtures and equipment. Voters will also vote to fill three open seats at the LCSD Board of Education. The district plans a “meet the candidates” event and a budget public hearing on May 8. 

The vote will take place May 16 next to the superintendent’s office from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. 

Lansing at Large appears every week in Tompkins Weekly. Send story ideas to editorial@vizellamedia.com. Contact Eddie Velazquez at edvel37@gmail.com or on Twitter @ezvelazquez.