To the Editor:

Even though we are only at the half-year mark of this school year, the leadership team at Guilderland Central School District has already spent quite a bit of time thinking about how our school district will best serve our students next year. We would like to invite the community to join us in our work in developing the 2017-18 spending plan that will support those efforts.

This week, we released an online survey that will ask community members to prioritize areas of the budget that are under consideration for 2017-18. The survey will be accompanied by a specific list of all the significant changes proposed within each area. This list will contain a brief description of those changes, the costs or savings associated with them, the impact those changes will have on staffing, and the impact those changes are likely to have on students.

There are certainly more proposals to consider than we are likely able to afford. That is why we need your input. Please visit our website at www.guilderlandschools.org to access the survey, which should take no more than 10 minutes to complete. The survey will remain open through Monday, Feb. 13.

If you are interested in participating in a face-to-face dialogue about the budget, we will be hosting a community conversation about the budget from 6 to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 15, in the Large Group Instruction (LGI) room at Guilderland High School. We will be releasing the results from the survey at this meeting. This session will be held immediately preceding our regular board of education meeting.

If you do not have access to the internet, we have paper copies of the survey available upon request and/or would be more than happy to help you complete the survey in-office. Please contact our district clerk at (518) 456-6200, ext. 3125 for assistance.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and thank you in advance for participating in our online survey.  I hope to see you at our community conversation!  Your voice does matter this budget season, and always.

Marie Wiles, superintendent

Guilderland Central

School District