Sharon Springs Central School District residents will vote on a $10.76 million proposed budget with a 0% tax levy for the 2023 – 2024 school year.
The fiscal plan has an overall increase of 5.2% from the current year, which will be offset through the strategic use of unallocated fund balance. Under the fiscal plan, which will be voted on by district residents on Tuesday, May 16, 2023 between 12:00 noon – 9:00 p.m. in the Auditorium Atrium area, there is no loss of program.
Consistent with our overall vision, we look to ensure each penny of our budget maximizes learning opportunities for each of our students. With that said, we continue to prioritize developing a budget that maintains our tradition of strong core academic programs, meaningful electives and engaging extracurricular opportunities for students, while remaining fiscally responsible. The district, to every extent possible, continues to have a firm commitment to providing a broad range of formative experiences for our students by continuing to support field trips and extracurricular activities, including athletics and student leadership organizations such as FBLA and FFA. We also support students in pursuing vocational training, with students attending BOCES programs. Additionally, the district is able to offer nine in-house College in the High School classes through collaborations with SUNY Cobleskill, SUNY Morrisville and Siena College. We firmly support each SSCS student in gaining the opportunities to discover, develop and pursue an education that equips them for success.
SSCS will continue to explore opportunities for collaborating and sharing costs with other districts, including transportation and special education programming, whenever possible. The district collaborates with other districts for professional development for teaching staff, regional summer school, spring sports, boy’s varsity soccer, collective purchasing, and health insurance.
As we expressed last year during budget time, SSCS is excited that our grant application was approved to use federal funds through the American Rescue Plan (ARP). Over the course of the next couple years (but getting started this summer), we will be building an outdoor learning space (a pavilion), expanding our agricultural-education with the addition of a greenhouse, and improving air quality in our elementary wing. We will also be continuing our literacy program, providing additional mathematics support and extending our mental health services. In conjunction with the ARP-funded projects, we are replacing outdated roofs, expanding the weight room to include space for OT/PT services, additional improvement of air quality (2nd floor), asbestos tile removal, improvements to the existing girls’ soccer field, and other minor renovations throughout the building (e.g., toilet room on the 2nd floor and modernization of the special services area). As I noted last year, we feel these projects will not only add value to our students’ educational experiences but will maintain the long-term health of our school, and the funding of all these projects will be cost neutral (thus not impacting our local tax base).
Please vote on the annual school budget and board seat on Tuesday, May 16, 2023 between 12:00 noon – 9:00 p.m. in the Auditorium Atrium area. Please reach out to our District Secretary, Katerina Bartlett with any questions.
Again, we thank our entire community for your continued support.
