To the Editor:

This is an open letter to the members of the Guilderland Board of Education.

My husband Gary and I are residents of Altamont. We are recent transplants to the area, moving here in 2005. We have no children, but we chose Altamont and the town of Guilderland both for the quality of life and for the district's reputation for excellent schools.

Although we have only been here for a few years, I can certainly say that the village has lived up to the promise we felt when we first moved here — wonderful, friendly people, great sense of community and an outstanding school system, one whose reputation only gets better and better each year.

As a resident of the village, a taxpayer, a property owner, and, most importantly, someone who has devoted over 30 years to a career in public education as a faculty member at the University at Albany, the prospect of budget shortfalls and the ongoing impact on our schools is very distressing to me.

Over the past several months, since Dr. [Paul] Seversky's report was released, you have heard many arguments, both rational and heartfelt, about what our schools mean to us. As a member of the Altamont community, of course I am interested in your decision-making process and its outcome, since that directly impacts the quality of life in our village. That is my reality.

But, at the same time, I feel it is my responsibility and our responsibility as a community to understand your reality. The budgetary challenges you face are very real and very grim. You are fighting to achieve a balance that will preserve programs and resources that are of interest to our citizens, our community and most of all, our children.

The ugly truth is that school district budgets cannot be balanced on emotion alone; real dollars must materialize from somewhere. The question is, where?

Last month, the board voted to set aside the conclusions in Dr. Seversky's report. I watched that process with interest because, as a private citizen, someone who's never been a public school administrator, I was curious about what would lead the district and the board to entertain the idea of closing a school.

So I did some preliminary research, and I was amazed at all the information available to administrators about how to go about closing a school. But finding a lot of information about how to close a school was very frustrating to me. I asked myself: What does this say about us as educators? Instead of tearing apart a school, we should be thinking about how we can build on our reputation of excellence rather than tear it down.

So back to the problem at hand. If not from a school closing, then where will those dollars come from? What information is out there about other options for districts facing shortfalls?

I set about researching what districts can do when facing budget cuts and I believe I can say that there are just as many ideas out there for supplementing income as there are for cutting expenses.

So I am grateful to have the opportunity to share with you some ideas and information about other strategies that I hope will be useful in re-framing the discussion about how to address our budget problems.

Some of you who have served on the board for many years may be familiar with the first piece of information I will share. For those newer board members not familiar with historical efforts regarding alternative sources of revenue, I have included a brief synopsis of the 29-page report entitled “ A Report to the Board of Education on Alternative Revenue Sources.” This report was issued by the Alternative Revenue Sources Committee, a 27-member ad-hoc committee formed by the Guilderland Board of Education in November of 2005.

The committee presented their report to the board in June 2006, and it contains several key pieces of information, including the alternative sources of revenue in place at the time, as well as research concerning possible other sources of revenue. I hope my synopsis will give you some sense of where the discussion was eight years ago.

After reading the report, I can only commend the board and the committee for their forward-thinking approach to funding. But I had to ask myself, what happened since then? What was the outcome of the research done back in 2006?

Now, as we face potentially drastic actions that would devastate our schools, I would like to call upon the board to re-visit the information in the 2006 report and to provide an update on what actions, if any, were taken in relation to that report.

I think this is especially important given the fact that according to my research, an increasing number of schools throughout the country are seeking alternative sources of revenue, both from community- or school-based foundations and from public-private partnerships. The idea of alternative sources of revenue is one that many districts not only accept but embrace as a way to preserve the quality of their schools.

In addition to the 2006 data, the second document I have prepared for you is a summary of more recent ideas that I have found for alternative sources of revenue. These are ideas that have been implemented in schools throughout the country.

You will see that there is some overlap with the 2006 report. Perhaps some ideas will not work for us. But I would ask that the Board consider all appropriate ideas, both old and new, for creative ways that districts can generate alternative sources of revenue. Because only by thinking outside the box can we come up with ideas that will transform our budgetary process and make a real and continuing investment in our schools.

I think we can all agree that over the past few months it has become increasingly apparent to you as board members and to everyone involved in this discussion that the idea of closing a school is an incredibly difficult, emotionally charged decision, and not one to be undertaken lightly.

By your willingness to even consider such a proposal, you have shown that you are ready to tackle tough issues and give them a fair hearing. So my goal in coming here tonight is twofold.

First, to call your attention to the many possible options for generating revenue for the district. I hope I have provided evidence that we have choices that don’t involve closing a school or compromising our educational mission.

By maximizing practices already in place and investigating new options for supplementing funds, we can make a strategic, ongoing investment that will preserve not just our schools but also the communities that support them. These options all involve dedication, commitment and hard work, but I believe all deserve closer examination and an equally fair hearing.

Second, I would ask that the board and the district make a concerted effort to investigate alternative sources of revenue in partnership with the community.

What form would this partnership take? The 2006 report was a good example of how the board and the district can join forces with the community to work together to accomplish their goals.

Going forward, I think it makes sense to create a citizens’ advisory board or action committee to study the option or combination of options that move our district forward in a constructive way.

Involving parents, residents, community leaders, and business professionals will provide a unique synergy that will help us formulate a plan that works best for us.

I hope my remarks and the research I have provided will serve as a part of a call to action for the board to partner with the community to find the answers we need.

Members of our community working together with the board can and should be the key to a successful outcome, one that meets the needs of our children, our residents and our future.

We owe it to our children and our families to explore every possible option before taking the drastic step of closing a school. I and others in the community stand ready to join the board in a combined effort to meet the needs of our children in the best and most resourceful fashion.

As a veteran of the SUNY system, I am all too familiar with budget cuts and the pain they cause. I have experienced decades of red tape, protocols and procedures that can set up roadblocks to affecting change. Roadblocks will exist here as well, but these difficulties notwithstanding, I call upon the board to work collaboratively and without delay to arrive at a solution that preserves the outstanding quality of all of our schools.

We all know that whatever the board decides, fixing this problem is not going to be easy. It will take creativity, cooperation and hard work to maintain the standard of excellence our children deserve.

In the short time we've lived here, I have observed that the Guilderland school system clearly prides itself on providing an education that will both enrich and challenge our children. In my opinion, this situation offers a unique opportunity for us as educators, parents, and role models.

We have the power to set an example of creative, constructive problem solving and help our children understand that while it's not always easy, good things are worth fighting for.

Jean Guyon
Altamont

Editor’s note: See related story.