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There's an old African proverb that states " It takes a village to raise a child."  Once again, the Oxford community has come together for our schools.

2020-2021 School Budget Update:

Absentee ballots received in the mail will be accepted  until June 16, 2020 via Governor Cuomo Executive Order No. 202.39.  (The deadline for hand delivered ballots is 5:00 pm, Tuesday, June 9, 2020.)

Explanation of 2020-2021 School Budget

Oxford Academy and Central School District

May 11, 2020

During a school budget process, the need for transparency and clarity is of the utmost importance. It is especially true in times like these when there are a multitude of factors influencing the availability of funds that the district relies upon to remain stable and operate at peak efficiency.  

It is important to note that this is not intended to be anything but an explanation of how we got here and a request for support. There are many ways to solve budget issues. We believe some are better than others and we’ve tried to strike a balance between contract obligations, programs for students, insurance contracts, student learning, teaching conditions, security, equipment and supplies, etc. 

There is no good way to close a $1.7 million budget gap. Sometimes, what we want to do, and what we need to do, are in direct conflict with each other. It is never easy to decide on matters that will directly impact people and their future. We take such matters very seriously. The process is stressful and anxiety-ridden for everybody involved. It begins in the fall and lasts well into the spring and is characterized by many heart-wrenching decisions.

This is how it unfolded this year.

Early in October we began to look towards Albany for the indicators that continually shed light on what the state budget might look like. During that time, we saw storm clouds on the horizon and communicated as much to the three buildings. Because there was an almost $6 billion budget deficit in Albany, we asked teachers and staff to start to be more frugal in anticipation of a tough budget season.

We began to filter expenditures and costs associated with those expenditures very carefully. District teams put almost every program on the table and began to discuss needs vs. desires and programs required by law vs. those that are not. Negotiables vs. non-negotiables. 

BOCES budgets, extra-curricular activities, sports, summer programs, transportation, personnel, etc. were all discussed.

We worked on this for months and gathered data from multiple sources. 

At the same time, our health insurance situation was quickly becoming an area of concern. Rates were set to increase but we didn’t know exactly how much. We knew we wouldn’t have an answer for months and it was difficult to project accurately. 

Because of these unknown variables, we began to research other health insurance options. We discussed seeking refuge in a plan that was comparable to the current plan and had some form of rate stabilization built into it to protect us from catastrophic increases in the future.

Then the Governor’s budget was released on January 21^st. When we put pen to paper, we had a $466,000 budget shortfall. 

On February 3^rd, the BOE voted to accept two local retirement incentives to be offered to teachers ages 64 and younger, and 65 and older.  The goal being to cut costs if possible.  Meanwhile, our health insurance rates were calculated to increase to well over 40%.

We thought that moving to a new health insurance plan was imminent. A defensive move against an escalating set of costs that could eventually break the district.

We would soon learn that most teachers were not interested in the local retirement incentives and that our health insurance costs would put our budget deficit at somewhere near $1.2 million. A number that this district has never seen.

Teams went back to work assessing where to find additional savings.  We needed another half million dollars at least.

Then, COVID-19 hit.

The entire district began to put plans in place to be able to teach from home and support our community well in advance of the Governor’s closure order. We were as ready as we could be in case schools were closed.

However, New York wasn’t ready for the financial burden the pandemic would cause. The state budget deficit exploded to an unmanageable $12 billion or more. 

As the pandemic progressed, state officials decided to take funds from schools to address the health care sector. When the final budget was released in March, the state had taken even more money from schools and our local deficit increased to $1.7 million. 

Our current health insurance carrier contacted us with a new rate increase that would save the district $167,000 over making the move to the new plan. With this savings, we projected staying with our current health insurance plan would save multiple jobs.

However, we still had to balance a budget with a huge deficit. And we wanted to stay away from actions that would have a profound impact on student learning and student-oriented programs. But we could not allow ourselves to spend more than we brought in. 

We had no choice but to eliminate multiple positions. 

We had to eliminate an administrator, four teaching positions, fourteen aides, the SRO contract, one cafeteria worker, one and a half custodians, and consolidate many services along the way.

In fact, our budget next year is $1.6 million less than our budget this year. It’s hard to imagine in an era of rapidly rising costs.

To make matters even more challenging, we are further looking at having to contend with state aid reductions in all four quarters of the next fiscal year that may force additional changes as the new school year progresses.

We will most likely have to reinvent education along the way including blended learning of some sort as our new model. This could be a combination of school based, in class, person-to-person instruction incorporating periods of online learning along the way. Long term cuts in revenue may very well force significant changes to the standard operating procedures that have been in place for decades.

However, one thing that will remain constant though this era is the need for community support. Our school will need the support of the surrounding communities now more than ever. As our school continues to be an important foundational aspect of the Oxford Community, it will need the people as much as the people will need it.

Children will continue to attend and learning will continue to occur. The school will continue to shape the development of the next generation of community leaders no matter what form it takes and it will still need multiple levels of support as it does so.

This school has been in the service of this community since 1794 and it has persevered through many trying times. Now is one of those times. 

We will get through it, but we need everyone’s steadfast support. We will come out on the other end of this more streamlined and more ready than ever for the challenges that will face us as we continue to adapt to the new norms of the 21^st century.

That being said, it is important for the community and the school to remain undivided in these trying times. We are dependent on each other for success. We are in this together.

Your continued support is much appreciated as we negotiate this pandemic and this fiscal crisis together, united under a common cause.

Stay safe.

With kind regards.

John Hillis

Superintendent

Oxford Academy and Central Schools

Additional 2020-2021 Budget Informtion can be found HERE 

Oxford Academy and Central School District Annual Meeting
will be June 9, 2020 per Governor Cuomo’s Executive Order 202.26

The Annual Meeting is for the purpose of voting on the school budget, school vehicles proposition and school board member election. It will also include the Oxford Memorial Library proposition and library board member election. The vote may not be held in person. Absentee ballots will be used for voting. The reason for voting by absentee ballot is temporary illness. The potential for contraction of the COVID-19 virus shall be deemed temporary illness. 

If you are registered with your County Board of Elections, an absentee ballot should be mailed to you by the District with a postage paid return envelope. If you are a qualified voter of the District (a U.S. citizen, eighteen years of age or older, and a resident of the school district for at least 30 days before the vote) you may request an absentee ballot be mailed to you. To request an absentee ballot, please contact Michele Rice, District Clerk, at 607-843-2025, ext. 4040. This request must be made by Friday, May 29, for the absentee ballot to be mailed to you. 

If you choose to vote, absentee ballots should be returned in the self-addressed stamped envelope that will be provided to you. All absentee voters’ ballots must be received in the Oxford Academy and Central School Office of the District Clerk by 5:00 p.m. on the day of the vote, June 9, 2020.