The estimated tax levy increase, at 2.76 percent, stays under the state-set limit, requiring only a simple majority to pass the budget on May 16.

The new anti-hate policy, said Nathan Sabourin, would “touch on virtually every aspect of the district.” He went on, “It is not going to be simply aspirational. It is going to have, for lack of a better term, teeth, and guidance. And it’ll be not just a policy, it will be a regulation within the district.”

The governor’s plan allocates $1.5 million for Guilderland’s pre-kindergarten program next year but the district will likely be unable to use all of those funds since it has no space for pre-K classes in its own schools and local providers lack capacity — both space and staff — as well.

Guilderland school district residents vote at the elementary school that serves their area. For the May 2022 budget vote, those in the Altamont area had the highest turnout at just 26 percent of eligible voters, followed by Pine Bush at 20 percent, Lynnwood at 19 percent, Guilderland at 17 percent, and Westmere at 14 percent.

GUILDERLAND — By a vote of 8 to 1, the school board here decided on Tuesday to call the federal holiday that falls on Oct. 9 this year solely by the name Indigenous Peoples’ Day.

The old idea of the American melting pot — in which public schools played a central role in shaping a single American ideal from the many cultures that have created the United States of America — has happily been replaced by a tossed salad metaphor: People from diverse places with equally diverse cultures have come together as one.

There are pitfalls in using a fund balance or reserve accounts to balance a budget, Andrew Van Alstyne cautioned. “The metaphor we use is a fiscal cliff,” he said. Continued use of these funds to balance a budget creates a gap that ultimately leads to budget cuts.

On the ballot for Voorheesville School District voters on Dec. 6 are two proposals: a $25.2 million “core” capital school project and a $2 million energy performance contract. The district plans to hold an informational meeting on the proposal on Thursday, Nov. 3, at 6:30 p.m.

Due process complaints are a state-sanctioned mechanism that allows parents, guardians, and public agencies to seek changes to the placement of a child with regard to special education classes, as well as identification and evaluation of a disability.

GUILDERLAND — After this year’s attempt to let high school students get the sleep that science shows they require, the Guilderland schools will return in the fall to the same start times the district used before the pandemic.