State Miscalculates Hendrick Hudson School Aid Package
When the administrators in the Hendrick Hudson School District looked over the state aid projections that Gov. Andrew Cuomo released with his 2012-13 budget they saw something they knew would be too good to be true. Hendrick Hudson was listed as getting an additional $2.2 million, a 46.2 percent increase in funding, when all the other schools in the state that getting much less.
“State aid increases of this size are unheard of,” Hendrick Hudson Superintendent Dr. Daniel McCann said. “After reviewing other aid projections for Westchester County schools, it was clear something was amiss. With schools in Westchester receiving anywhere from -2.52 percent decrease (Greenburgh) to just over a 10 percent increase (Katonah-Lewisboro) clearly a 46 percent increase was beyond expectations and cause for further review.”
Hendrick Hudson schools serve many of the communities in the Town of Cortlandt and the Village of Buchanan.
Enrique Catalan, the district’s assistant superintendent for business, contacted multiple entities in the state education department and at BOCES.
Upon reviewing its calculations, the State Education Department realized mistakes in multiple categories including BOCES aid, building and transportation.
“We will receive a letter from the Head of the Department of Finance, Andrea Hyary, indicating the error will be corrected in the final aid runs,” McCann said. “BOCES aid has been corrected. In total, NYS ‘over’ calculated our aid by close to $2 million.”
The district expects the new calculations to being increased aid in the range of $100,000 to $300,000.
“Our projections are in fact much lower than those released by the Governor and our financial position going forward remains largely unchanged,” McCann said.
Adam has worked in the local news industry for the past two decades in Westchester County and the broader Hudson Valley. Read more from Adam’s author bio here.