Superintendent Marie Wiles concluded of the 2023-24 budget, “On some levels, this was a fortunate year that we were able to maintain everything that we have been doing and lower the class sizes in the middle school, which was a huge priority, and begin to transition items that were funded by our federal dollars into he general fund. So I think we’re in a very good spot.”

If approved, next year’s Voorheesville Central School District budget would represent a 6.9-percent increase over this year and a 2.5-percent increase in the property-tax levy.

Guilderland Superintendent Marie Wiles noted that currently Guilderland is allotted $5,400 for each pre-kindergarten student, “which doesn’t begin to cover the cost for the community-based partners that we have.” She went on, “They feel and rightfully so — and were pleased to continue to work with us — that they can actually do better just by being independent and getting self pay from parents who can afford it.”

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in shaping a single American ideal from the many cultures that have created the United States of America — has happily been replaced by a tossed salad metaphor: People from diverse places with equally diverse cultures have come together as one.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.