To the Editor:

It’s astonishing that school districts must continue to raise taxes every year, despite the tremendous burdens of the current economic climate. The economy’s still trying to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic; gas prices are at historic highs; the current cost of basic food provisions is not sustainable; and the feared imposition of drastic federal measures eliminating the Department of Education and the critical funds it provides schools is daunting.

What is proposed is a Guilderland school budget that pushes to the top of the allowable tax cap while the board tries to figure out the impact of these and other realities. Superintendent Marie Wiles rightfully calls it a “perfect storm.”

At the most recent school board March 4 and 11 meetings, some of the school board members echoed these sentiments, as reported by The Altamont Enterprise in its March 20, 2025 coverage [“‘Pretty perfect storm’: GCSD wrestles with an ‘ugly’ budget to fill $450K gap”].

I know many district taxpayers don’t have children in school, and they are thinking, “I don’t have more to give you.” However, addressing student needs is important and should be set as the number-one priority.  

Superintendent Wiles, despite the taxes at the highest they’ve been, has always stressed that we need to address the importance of “balance” while not overburdening taxpayers. 

I, however, do not feel that the important balance has been achieved.

I am writing once again to raise a basic issue regarding the village of Altamont — that our school leaders and board need to demonstrate equity and fairness in distributing these massive amounts of funds, and specifically to Altamont’s elementary school. I spoke out when I served as Altamont’s mayor several times but feel a need to speak out again as a private citizen and longtime supporter of public education.

Several Altamont parents expressed their concern at the recent board meetings. They argued, for example, over proposed cuts to first-grade teaching assistants, Altamont’s librarian hours, combining sections at Altamont making fourth-grade classes larger, and an administrative cut.

Aided by pleas from the director of the Altamont Free Library, Joe Burke, I learned that the disparity with the library situation has been addressed since then, and the part-time librarian has been retained.  Although the librarian position has been given back its library hours, the situation is still not equitable compared to the other district schools’ library positions.

The other proposed cuts for Altamont Elementary are being forwarded at the expense of trying to preserve personnel I understand. The district’s prime responsibility is to educate children, not retain jobs, especially administrative jobs. Budget cuts should prioritize maintaining the quality of education over preserving administrative personnel.

I believe a justification is needed with research of why retaining department supervisors is better for students than maintaining a smaller teacher-student ratio. In my opinion, the research is clear about class size.

Budget cuts should not come at the expense of the students. Student education and their welfare should be the primary focus in resource distribution.

Altamont seems to get the short end of the stick when budget time rolls around. Being the smallest school, serving Altamont and its surrounding area, has its advantages and disadvantages. One disadvantage is that it is the smallest voting bloc in the district, which makes the village residents’ opinion have less of an impact on school board votes for board elections and budgets.

In my opinion, the challenge in deciding the allotment to Altamont is to make certain that access, opportunity, and advancement are achieved by eliminating barriers that prevent the full participation of all Altamont students — not adding additional barriers.

This is especially true since this school has among the largest population of reduced-price and free-lunch students, a measure under Title I federal Law that mandates addressing children’s special needs to close gaps and increase opportunity for all students, especially in first grade, a pivotal year.

If students fall behind in first grade, it can be devastating. Reading and math programs rely on the teaching assistants.

It is impossible for the students (especially those who do not have support at home), to grow with only one adult in the room when our district programs are meant for small-group instruction. Altamont deserves more attention at budget time for these factors rather than looking solely at numbers. It seems to me that delaying consideration of this legitimate and present need is not an option.

The last time the district was considering closing Altamont Elementary, the decision was largely based on estimated future population birth rates. The reduced birth rate predictions did not pan out then, and likely will not be accurate going forward. Depending heavily on future long-range population estimates and census data is not advisable in making critical resource decisions in the short run.

I applaud the continued efforts of the board members who attempted to identify a way to address the overall issue. Board member Tara Molloy-Groki stressed, “I just feel very strongly that we need to find a way to keep the first-grade classroom TAs.  They are such an essential part to the classroom.”

Board member Nina Kaplan also expressed her support for teaching assistants, saying “TAs provide so much of a role for students and for teachers.”

Rather than dismiss efforts to solve the problem out of hand, I encourage the district leaders to seek other avenues to increase the resources for Altamont Elementary to address the TA and class-size issue. I cannot determine the exact source of revenue used for various purposes in the public budget documents, so I would encourage interested board members to seek clarity on the actual use of other eligible funds for addressing needs at Altamont Elementary School.

The staff and teachers at Altamont Elementary School are doing more than their fair share to meet student needs, especially in special education. Board members need to seriously consider the needs of the building.

This year, there is a part-time social worker and a part-time school psychologist at Altamont Elementary.  I believe those part-time resources do not adequately address the emotional and mental support needs of students who are often without proper services in family and home life.

Although the large class-size solution is an easy solution for reduction of financial costs, it is the worst cost to the kids. The first-grade TA cuts seem to be because of retirees; that is, not filling those spots to save jobs in the system ….

The district performs admirably and deserves credit for providing an excellent education to its students.  But we should not forget the outstanding work that the staff perform at Altamont Elementary. We should not make their job more difficult by denying them equal and appropriate resources.

Altamont may be the smallest of Guilderland’s elementary schools, but it does more than its fair share and should receive its fair share at budget time too.  

I encourage parents of Altamont Elementary School children to continue to raise their voices to the district officials at the March 25 workshop and the board adoption meeting on April 8. They should not be satisfied with the answers given to them at the last school board meetings regarding class size or the removal of TAs at the Altamont Elementary School.

There may be other issues that deserve attention from parents. I encourage parents to make all their views known publicly and loudly, or their children’s needs may continue to be overlooked and not be included when resources are allocated.

Jim Gaughan

Altamont

Editor’s note: Jim Gaughan was Altamont’s mayor from 2005 to 2017.