HILLTOWNS — The Berne-Knox-Westerlo Board of Education received a comprehensive update from Superintendent Bonnie Kane this week on various state proposals and possibilities as work begins on the 2025-26 budget. 

The good news for the rural district is that, under Governor Kathy Hochul’s proposed state budget, it can expect full funding of its Foundation Aid along with a 2-percent increase (a little more than $11 million) due to Hochul’s decision to retain the hold-harmless clause.

Hold-harmless ensures that every district will receive at least as much aid as it had the year prior, despite enrollment declines, which have plagued BKW.Last year, Hochul had proposed eliminating hold-harmless, until she received substantial pushback from districts, legislators, and experts statewide who claimed the elimination would not be equitable for schools. 

A study by the Rockefeller Institute suggested that the elimination of hold-harmless be phased in over a period of up to five years, rather than kept in place or eliminated in one fell swoop.

While Hochul’s reversal is good news for BKW, Kane acknowledged that the district is coming up on the 2027 deadline to begin converting its fleet of diesel buses to electric ones, a deadline she says she is now working to push back. 

“It is also important to note that I have become part of the advocacy group to kindly ask that [the governor] move that date back a little bit due to every district’s struggles in trying to meet those requirements and infrastructure [needs],” she said.

On Jan. 28, local State Assemblyman Christopher Tague joined other Republicans in calling for the state to offer an opt-out program for the state’s electric-bus requirement.

BKW did not take advantage last year, as Guilderland and other local districts did, to purchase electric buses that ultimately would have meant no costs for the vehicles to local taxpayers. However, infrastructure upgrades are also needed to charge the buses.

This will be Kane’s first budget as superintendent. She was appointed to the role last year following the retirement of longtime superintendent, Timothy Mundell. 

As it works on the budget, the board of education will also need to give thought to two new state proposals, namely a ban on smart devices in schools and safe-temperature requirements. 

The proposal to ban students from using phones in schools comes as part of a national trend of state laws to the same effect, and follows a listening tour that Hochul embarked on to learn more about how that technology is distracting kids from learning properly. 

Kane said the legislation would give the district the ability to decide how exactly to implement the rule, whether by merely making students keep them in their lockers or by instead putting them in Yondr pouches that need to be unlocked by staff. 

“There is funding for this proposed legislation,” she said. “It’s $13.5 million — what each district is able to receive we are not sure yet, but there is funding available for assistance in purchasing storage devices or storage places.” 

Kane said that there are many other considerations to be had, such as allowances for kids with medical needs that require use of their phone, and that the district will hold community forums so that these ideas can be discussed. 

The state also is requiring districts to keep students out of classrooms once the room temperature reaches 88 degrees, which Kane said is something the district is already mindful of, and can accommodate by wisely using its spaces and the building’s infrastructure. 

Kane also updated the board on the district’s finances, saying that the office of the state comptroller has stripped the district of its designation as “susceptible” to fiscal stress, which it earned last year. 

Now, the district’s stress score is just 13.3, down from 51.7. The threshold score for the “susceptible” rating is 45 points.

Kane said she had not yet looked at the numbers, but where the district came down in points was its cash position and reserve amounts. 

BKW is currently operating on a contingency budget which has required cost-cutting, though the district has been able to find some workarounds. 

For instance, The Enterprise previously reported that a cut school-resource officer program has been funded by Albany County for this year. Kane also went through a number of grants from the state and county the district has won, totaling more than $70,000. 

The senior class has also raised enough money to hold its graduation ceremony at The Egg, another cut cost that would have upended years of tradition save for the two years where COVID made indoor ceremonies impossible. 

“Kudos to our amazing senior class for being able to put that together and for feeling as though they had a say in where they wanted to graduate and act on it,” Kane said.