At the Tuesday, Mar. 12, board of education meeting, Guilderland Central School District Superintendent of Schools Dr. Marie Wiles and Assistant Superintendent for Business Dr. Andrew Van Alstyne presented an update to the draft 2024-2025 school year budget. This meeting also gave board members and the Guilderland school community the opportunity to ask questions of district administrators about the draft of the general operating budget. The draft budget was presented to the board and community on Mar. 5. Being a draft budget, modifications may be made to the budget until it is adopted by the board of education on April 16. Once adopted, that budget will go before voters for approval on May 21.
Bus, equipment and zero-emission vehicle propositions
Dr. Van Alstyne gave a presentation about the vehicle proposition that will appear on the May 21 ballot. The district’s transportation fleet has 109 vehicles total, including large and small school buses and a variety of other vehicles. To maintain the fleet, the district adheres to an annual purchase plan to replace aging vehicles. New vehicles are more reliable, require less downtime for repairs and are equipped with updated technologies and are therefore able to spend more time on the road. The district implements this annual vehicle purchase plan to mitigate a large financial impact during any one school year. As voters have seen in previous years, a proposition will appear on the school budget ballot on May 21 for voters to approve the purchase of a number of new school buses, a truck and a skid steer.
The district is proposing an additional proposition that would begin to address the New York State mandate requiring all new school bus purchases to be zero emission by 2027 and all buses in operation to be electric by 2035. To satisfy this mandate there are many considerations for the district, including infrastructure and capacity. The purpose of purchasing two electric buses at this time is to gain valuable experience and information as well as to evaluate how the electric vehicles will perform under GCSD’s specific conditions; for example, how will they perform in cold weather or on hilly terrain? Adding these vehicles to the transportation department’s equipment at this time would provide GCSD mechanics and bus drivers with the opportunity to learn while testing the vehicles on the district’s many bus routes. Before incentives, the total cost to purchase one large 65-passenger electric bus, one small 30 passenger electric bus and one level-2 charger is $795,384.
In November 2022, New York State voters approved an Environmental Bond act which included $500 million in funding dedicated to zero-emission school buses. This funding is available as a voucher through NYSERDA’s New York School Bus Incentive Program (NYSBIP), whose purpose is to defray the cost difference between purchasing a conventional school bus and an electric bus. The voucher is awarded directly to the vehicle dealer, significantly reducing the cost:
| One 30-passenger EV bus $338,472 | One 30-passenger EV bus $167,472 |
| One 65-passenger EV bus $451,706 | One 65-passenger EV bus $231,206 |
| One Level-2 charging station $8,806 | One Level-2 charging station $8,806 |
| Total cost before incentives: $795,384 | Total cost using NYSBIP vouchers: $407,484 |
However, there’s another factor to consider; in the executive budget proposal, NYS Gov. Hochul proposed allowing school districts to receive aid on the previously mentioned NYSBIP voucher, up to the net cost. This means, according to the governor’s proposal, that GCSD would be allowed to count the voucher amount towards the calculation of aid. If purchasing both one large and one small EV bus, the district would get back the full amount paid in aid the following year.
| Conventional Bus | Electric Bus | Electric Bus Proposal | |
| Price | $220,500 | $220,500 | |
| NYSBIP voucher | $231,206 | $231,206 | |
| Adjusted price | $231,206 | $231,206 | |
| Transportation Aid | $103,032 | $147,047 | $231,206 |
| Net Cost | $58,968 | $84,159 | $0 |
The district has formed an internal electric school bus committee composed of the Transportation Director, Assistant Transportation Director, Head of Facilities, Assistant Head of Facilities, Technology Director and Chief Mechanic. This committee will determine what GCSD’s needs and how best to meet them. One of the committee’s first steps is to complete a district road map evaluation that can address internal routing, out-of-district routing, current and future capacity and technological trends.
Read the electric bus presentation.
Budget update
Revenue
Dr. Van Alstyne provided an update regarding changes to the district’s revenue that had previously been presented in the draft budget on March 5, 2024. The district is projecting an increase in local revenue of approximately $200,000 from interest earned through money market accounts. Two other areas of increased revenue are the state aid increase of approximately $3.5 million and the levy increase of 2.73%. Dr. Van Alstyne empathized that there is no fund balance appropriated for this budget, which is always one of the district’s goals.
Crossgates tax certiorari claim
The district is closing in on a resolution in the Crossgates tax certiorari claim case. Both sides have agreed to drop their appeals and have agreed to a settlement, which will require the district to refund to Crossgates $4.75 million, $4,357,292 plus $347,281 interest to date.
To avoid absorbing nearly $5 million of reductions in the current budget, the district anticipates paying the refund this school year. There is $1.6 million allocated in this school year’s budget for the case; the balance of the amount due will be bonded and paid back over several years. By doing so the district will be able to meet its financial obligation without compromising academic instruction this year or in years to come. This approach will minimize any impact on students and enable the district to continue to deliver on it’s mission.
Potential savings
Dr. Wiles presented to the board about a few areas where the district will realize savings:
- Contract transportation costs may be lowered significantly following a closer review of in-district runs that is expected to lead to potential efficiencies. Reducing even a few contract transportation runs will give the district additional revenue.
- Changes in how Capital Region BOCES programs are billed due to how they are implemented in the district.
Additional recommended changes
Dr. Wiles shared three areas where some additions have been made to the draft budget which was presented on March 5.
- Special Education: one FTE added at the cost of $87,900 to create a third section of the GHS comprehensive skills program, allowing for more targeted programming for students who range in age from 14-22. This addition will enable the district to meet individual needs by customizing the program for students as they advance and age through it.
- Athletics: girls’ flag football added at the cost of an estimated $12,500 for girls to participate in a new sport in Spring 2025 with most or all of other Suburban Council school districts.
- Transportation/Maintenance: increased costs in custodial materials, supplies and contractual expenses at a cost of $64,020; replace selected windows at GHS that were not addressed in the last capital project at a cost of $10,000.
Read the budget update presentation.
Budget Q&A
The board of education and the school community were welcome to ask questions, whether in person or submitted via email. The following topics were discussed.
Assistant coaches. Should there be additional funding, the district maintains a “wish” list of items to add to the budget. Assistant coaches for various sports teams are an item on this list.
Floating nurse. Funded through federal COVID-19 dollars, a floating nurse was added to supplement the work of the district’s nurses in all seven school buildings during the pandemic and post-pandemic. Because the federal funds utilized to pay for this extra resource will sunset in September 2024 the district is eliminating this position.
Special education teachers. An FTE for a special education teacher was added to the budget, which district administrators are still fine-tuning. They will determine the allocation of special education sections based on student placement and needs and will provide an update at an upcoming board meeting.
GHS gymnasium bleachers. As part of the 2024-2025 draft budget, the bleachers in the GHS gymnasium will be replaced. The district determined that the condition of the bleachers cannot wait for a future capital improvement project to complete this work.
Important upcoming dates
- March 26, 2024: Board of Education Budget Work Session
- April 16, 2024: Board Action to Adopt the Proposed Budget
- May 7, 2024: Budget Hearing
- May 21, 2024: Budget Vote and Election
Watch the March 12 board of education meeting and budget Q&A