GUILDERLAND — All five of the items on Guilderland’s ballots sailed through on Tuesday, most with a 2-to-1 approval ratio. The school and library budgets, the school and library capital projects, and the bus proposition all passed.
Guilderland High School recently put up a sign marking its first-ever all-gender bathroom. There will be a total of four in the high school and one in the middle school.
School and library budgets along with a bus proposition all passed by wide margins on Tuesday.
"We don’t want to add things back for next year, and then have to make cuts,” cautioned Guilderland Superintendent Marie Wiles.
Two years after a consultant recommended school closure to deal with declining enrollment and excess space, the district is on the verge of filling empty classrooms with a pre-kindergarten program.
Marie Wiles proposed a spending plan for next year for Guilderland schools that stays under the near-zero levy limit set by the state and does not cut any programs or staff.
A quick-thinking student helped when his school bus driver fell ill and the bus meandered off the road.
“I’m happy to have other people face the difficult decisions we face,” said school board member Christopher McManus of the unpleasant choices that must be faced to close budget gaps.
The Guilderland school district has not before tried adopting a budget that would raise the tax levy over the state-set limit.
Inclusion won’t be costly next year as the school district takes "baby steps," says Superintendent Marie Wiles.
Copyright © 2013 The Altamont Enterprise. Albany County, New York