Hawley decries cuts in state funding for many rural school districts

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 23 January 2024 at 5:19 pm

Photo from Assemblyman Hawley’s Office: Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R,C-Batavia) attends a press conference Monday in Albany on education spending in the state budget.

State Assemblyman Steve Hawley is speaking out against reductions in state aid for rural school districts.

In Orleans County, two of the five public schools would see overall cuts in state funding, based on the governor’s executive budget released last week.

Lyndonville and Kendall both are proposed for cuts in total state aid – Lyndonville by about $30,000 and Kendall by over $300,000.

Albion is proposed for a slight increase at $160,000, while Medina and Holley would each get about $1 million more.

Hawley and some of his Assembly colleagues held a news conference on Monday in the state capitol. Hawley said Gov. Hochul has not kept her promise to local school districts that they would not see a decrease in their foundation aid funding from the previous year.

“It’s ridiculous our schools should have to take a back seat while the governor continues to hinder them with less funding and more regulations,” Hawley said. “The governor should remember her promise to ensure foundation aid for local school districts would not decrease and give them the resources they need. I cannot and will not vote for any state budget that does not put the education of our children first.”

Here are the state aid runs in the governor’s budget for the five districts in Orleans County:

Albion

  • Foundation Aid: $26,052,376 to $26,442,339 (up by $389,963)
  • Total state aid: $34,275,359 to $34,435,633 (up by $160,274 or +0.47%)

Holley

  • Foundation Aid: $13,436,179 to $13,618,345 (up by $182,166)
  • Total state aid: $20,434,085 to $21,326,736 (up by $892,651, or +4.37%)

Kendall

  • Foundation Aid: $9,283,012 to $9,252,230 (down by $30,782)
  • Total state aid: $15,252,682 to $14,939,660 (down by $313,022, or -2.05%)

Lyndonville

  • Foundation Aid: $8,943,397 to $9,067,681 (up by $124,284)
  • Total state aid: $13,343,586 to $13,311,758 (down by $31,288, -0.24%)

Medina

  • Foundation Aid: $19,829,059 to $21,113,084 (up by $1,284,025)
  • Total state aid: $29,339,568 to $30,326,800 (up by $987,232, +3.36%)