The message from a pair of local school districts pushing for the approval of capital projects was simple - it was now or never.
It's a refrain that turned out to be at best badly misinformed, and at worst an outright lie.
Both the Jordan-Elbridge Central School District and the Auburn Enlarged City School District for months had their focus on major renovation project votes in June. But then both districts saw their regular budget proposals defeated in May, forcing them to take a second look at the capital project proposals. Auburn and Jordan-Elbridge have now decided to postpone their capital projects.
When the Auburn board made its decision last week, though, some interesting information trickled out. A deadline that had been cited multiple times for an extremely high state aid rate on capital projects actually doesn't exist. And truthfully, it never did exist.
The initial rush to get projects like these approved before the end of June was tied to a cost-cutting proposal in Albany that never moved forward. When the state budget was approved in early April, the cost-cutting measure was officially killed.
That didn't stop local school officials from citing it as a major reason to do the project. At last month's Auburn school board candidates forum, board president David Lansford put considerable emphasis on the deadline. Just last week at a Jordan-Elbridge meeting, board member Noel Hotchkiss said: “If you don't take the 90 percent in funding for capital improvements for needed repairs, you will never have an opportunity in your lifetime to see that opportunity come again.”
Actually, we have heard similar statements prior to plenty of other school project votes in past years, as well. Let's be real, though. With the clout that construction industry and education lobbyists have in Albany, there will always be plenty of state aid made available for school projects.
It's time for boards to stop with scare tactics such as these. If projects are worth doing at the time they are proposed, they should pass on their own merits.
Both the Jordan-Elbridge Central School District and the Auburn Enlarged City School District for months had their focus on major renovation project votes in June. But then both districts saw their regular budget proposals defeated in May, forcing them to take a second look at the capital project proposals. Auburn and Jordan-Elbridge have now decided to postpone their capital projects.
When the Auburn board made its decision last week, though, some interesting information trickled out. A deadline that had been cited multiple times for an extremely high state aid rate on capital projects actually doesn't exist. And truthfully, it never did exist.
The initial rush to get projects like these approved before the end of June was tied to a cost-cutting proposal in Albany that never moved forward. When the state budget was approved in early April, the cost-cutting measure was officially killed.
That didn't stop local school officials from citing it as a major reason to do the project. At last month's Auburn school board candidates forum, board president David Lansford put considerable emphasis on the deadline. Just last week at a Jordan-Elbridge meeting, board member Noel Hotchkiss said: “If you don't take the 90 percent in funding for capital improvements for needed repairs, you will never have an opportunity in your lifetime to see that opportunity come again.”
Actually, we have heard similar statements prior to plenty of other school project votes in past years, as well. Let's be real, though. With the clout that construction industry and education lobbyists have in Albany, there will always be plenty of state aid made available for school projects.
It's time for boards to stop with scare tactics such as these. If projects are worth doing at the time they are proposed, they should pass on their own merits.
