By Melanie Lekocevic
Capital Region Independent Media
GREENVILLE — Many rural school districts in New York state are expected to see a decline in foundation aid if Gov. Kathy Hochul’s plan to remove the “hold harmless” language from the executive budget proposal goes through.
Greenville is not one of them.
In fact, the Greenville Central School District could actually see a jump in school foundation aid.
“Hold harmless” is a decades-old provision that guarantees that school districts cannot see a reduction in state foundation aid from the previous year.
At the budget meeting Feb. 26, Assistant Superintendent for Business Todd Hilgendorff told the board of education that Greenville is one of the only districts in the area that would see an increase in foundation aid from the state for the 2024-25 school year.
“Foundation aid is based on a formula that relies on a bunch of different variables,” he said. “My understanding in looking at the aid is that one of the factors that the state looks at is the wealth of a district. The number that is used for that purpose for Greenville from last year to this year, that number shifted so that the need for the district has increased.”
As the district’s wealth declined its need rose, leading to an increase in expected foundation aid, Hilgendorff said.
“That means the state picks up a higher percentage than it did in the past, and that means that we get a little bit more aid,” he noted.
Another change was a slight increase in enrollment from last school year to this year, which accounts for a big part of the formula that determines state aid.
“A number of the districts around us saw decreases in aid because their enrollment has decreased, and the governor’s proposal is that the hold harmless rule that applied in the past doesn’t apply anymore,” Hilgendorff explained. “Now, she is proposing to adjust aid to what true enrollment is.”
“That’s why some districts’ aid decreased, but in Greenville, our [enrollment] numbers have increased — not a huge amount, but it is increasing.”
