Updated: Wednesday, April 9 2014, 11:00 PM EDT


SCHENECTADY -- The Schenectady
School Board approved its 2014-2015 budget Wednesday evening. It asks taxpayers
to vote on a 2.75 percent increase, while maintaining athletics and arts.



The district said it cut more than $30 million in the last three years as it
struggles with unfunded mandates and overall state funding. Superintendent
Larry Spring estimated the district would have needed to raise taxes 20 percent
to maintain all programs and staff.



The board also approved cuts to school bus service and other out of classroom
cuts. It had previously considered cutting all athletics programs to eliminate
its gap.



“The
fact of the matter is boards of education have very few options when it comes
down to their programming,” said School Board President Catherine Lewis. “Music,
arts and sports are wonderfully contributory to education, but they're parts
that aren't mandated.”



Taxpayers will vote on the budget May 20. If it fails, the board could propose
a second budget or make additional cuts to avoid an increase in taxes.

http://www.cbs6albany.com/news.....cs-music-15297.shtml

This is an outrage! It is obvious that Larry Spring and Cathy Lewis is taking the easy road out by passing the cost down to the Taxpayers once again! They both need to resign from their jobs. The School District has failed disaterously under their lack of leadership. The Foreclosures are piling up to the ceiling and all Spring and McThug will do about it is keep raising taxes! Voters just approved a 70 million dollar plan. A 2.75% tax increase is what you got in return great job people! It must be the Schenectady water that people are drinking must be government piss in the water!  

here's an easy cut to busing cost ..
simply by having children wait for the bus like in the older days rather than the buses waiting for the parents who are too lazy to have their kids up on time and ready to go..

the savings in fuel cost would be substantial

Quoted from firefox

This is an outrage! It is obvious that Larry Spring and Cathy Lewis is taking the easy road out by passing the cost down to the Taxpayers once again! They both need to resign from their jobs. The School District has failed disaterously under their lack of leadership. The Foreclosures are piling up to the ceiling and all Spring and McThug will do about it is keep raising taxes! Voters just approved a 70 million dollar plan. A 2.75% tax increase is what you got in return great job people! It must be the Schenectady water that people are drinking must be government piss in the water!  

First - you need to work on your grammar

Second - you and your ilk defended the deadbeats and absentee owners who haven't paid their property taxes and thus forcing everyone else to pay more

Third - you and your ilk  will never actually be happy with anything that the Superintendent, School Board, Mayor and City Council does.  If they raise the taxes - they are bad.  If they cut a service out - they are bad.  You couldn't survive a day in their shoes having to make the tough decisions.  You and your ilk couldn't lead your way out of a paper bag - let alone lead a municipality or a school district.

The reality not fantasy! is there will be more absentee owners/ Homeowners not paying taxes as a result of more tax increases!  There will be more foreclosures because people will walk away from the $hit hole called Schenectady because they can't afford to pay the extrmely high taxes and fees!

Quoted from DemocraticVoiceOfReason

First - you need to work on your grammar

Second - you and your ilk defended the deadbeats and absentee owners who haven't paid their property taxes and thus forcing everyone else to pay more

Third - you and your ilk  will never actually be happy with anything that the Superintendent, School Board, Mayor and City Council does.  If they raise the taxes - they are bad.  If they cut a service out - they are bad.  You couldn't survive a day in their shoes having to make the tough decisions.  You and your ilk couldn't lead your way out of a paper bag - let alone lead a municipality or a school district.

And DV is not nor ever has been a taxpayer, nor does he suffer any financially burdens because he's been supported by two rich nannies for over 20 years.

Dv REFUSES to address the ACTUAL, UNAVOIDABLE, INCONTROVERTIBLE TRUTH that homeowners are NOT deadbeats as hewants to claim, rather they are lower and middle income people who are struggling financially and cannot pay the taxes of the rich political cronies of the dems in the city and county.

DV STILL has NOT provide one teeny weeny shred of EVIDENCE to show what the homeowners have gotten in return for their increasing taxes that is for the good.

DV REFUSES to post about the MASSIVE FALLING tax base PROVEN by the numbers in the actual tax rolls, he REFUSES to speak about falling property values, falling home sales, falling home sale prices etc.

DV REFUSES to post about the FACT that homeowners are having taxes increased while the services they were paying for are being eliminated.  He cannot grasp how people can pay for something that doesn't exist.

Like he writes that he is a client of a  construction company and praising them  well before approval for a project has even been granted and when he is not even the client anyway ROFL  



Keep posting fairy tales.  You have no idea whatsoever it's like to be raising children in a failing school system, you have no idea what it's have to have a child, and people who are supported by a pair of nannies for 20 years and don't need to become self supporting have no idea of reality.

I URGE ALL SCHENECTADY SCHOOL VOTERS TO VOTE NO ON THIS BUDGET! OUR CHILDREN CAN DO WITHOUT SPORTS & ARTS. THE OTHER SUBJECTS ARE WAY MORE IMPORTANT LIKE READING, MATH SCIENCE. VOTE NO ON MAY!