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$6.6 Million Gap for C-PP

Updated Wednesday, March 13, 2013

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$6.6 million dollars, that's the magic number Corning-Painted Post school district board members need to cut to break even.

March 13, 2013
Corning (WENY) - $6.6 million dollars, that's the magic number Corning-Painted Post school district board members need to cut to break even. Tonight the board presented all the potential cuts to the public, some think maybe too soon.
    Representatives from the Corning Teacher Association say that announcing possible layoffs now is cruel, putting unwanted stress on teachers. Superintendent Mike Ginalski says the numbers need to be made public.
     “This puts us in curricular and academic insolvency but financially we can do it,” says one C-PP Board member.
     While teachers are worried about their jobs, the board is just worried if they can keep C-PP's quality education intact with a $6.6 million budget gap. Right now, cuts to close that gap would include: elimination of all sports programs and co-curricular activities, cut music programs in 6th 7th and 8th grades, increase class sizes over 30, and slashing 114 teachers. Basically Everything is on the chopping block.
    “We don't need to do this by making cuts, we need to do this by figuring out what we want in a school system and figuring out how to fund it,” says Rick Gallant the President of the Corning Teachers Association. His message in front of the board tonight was to ask them to take into consideration how much "off the books" money teachers have given back. Including school supplies and extra time in classrooms, C-PP teachers are giving back $1.8 million a year.
     “The state has really put us in a position where districts are struggling to provide those things, and really the villain here isn't the tax cap it's the lack of state aid,” says Superintendent Ginalski.
     In three years C-PP has lost $26 million in state aid that the governor is asking local communities to come up with.
    “It's important for them to be involved if they value the programs we have for their kids they need to voice that. State government needs to hear that.”
     Because of the tax cap calculations the board can legally make the tax levy 3.6 percent. They discussed going over that to help keep people and programs. In addition to the levy tonight's calculations could change if the district gets state aid money or a donation from corning inc