Hamburg School Board pushes budget vote back

Hamburg, N.Y. (WBEN) - A vote to adopt a school budget in Hamburg on Tuesday that would see 20 staff members being cut from the district at the end of the school year has been pushed back.

According to Hamburg Central School District superintendent Michael Cornell on Tuesday, with there being no budget numbers from New York State at this time, it only made sense for the School Board to hold off on a vote.

"Once we have the budget numbers from the state, we will go about business of doing what we need to do at this table to adopt a budget," said Cornell during Tuesday's School Board meeting at Hamburg Middle School. "We have until April 23 to do that, so we're going to wait and see what the numbers look like.

"As they say in Albany, 'Nothing is done until everything's done.' So it makes a lot of sense to wait, and that's why we're not taking action on the budget tonight."

While there's a chance the numbers from the state will not be made available by next Tuesday's deadline to adopt a budget, Cornell says the hope is to have the needed information from Albany by this Friday.

As highlighted by the Hamburg School District last week, the 2024-25 school budget totals $84,057,707, which is a .85% increase over the previous year and stays within the New York State Tax Levy Limit with an increase of 2.96%. It also requires a simple majority vote to pass, and will maintain all pre-K-12 programs including classes, clubs, intramurals and sports.

This 2024-25 budget will also support programs that have made the district among the highest performing school districts in the region. Hamburg remains in the top-10 of all districts, in terms of graduation rate in Western New York.

The Hamburg Central School District will also maintain its commitment to supporting youth mental health and emotional well-being.

Hamburg is one of only a few school districts in the entire state of New York to require all staff to be certified in Youth Mental Health First Aid, and also the only school district with dedicated mental health programming for students dealing with grief, anxiety and depression for student athletes, and for students who participate in the performing arts.

In addition, Hamburg will continue to be unwavering in support of inclusive learning environments for all.

Despite Tuesday's budget vote being pushed back, a number of concerned parents and citizens of the district still showed up to Hamburg Middle School to speak out on the budget and the proposed layoffs.

Hamburg Central PTSA (Parent Teacher Student Association) President Jessica Reyna was not too surprised to see the budget vote being pushed back. Where she still has a problem, though, with the budget is the inaction being taken by the School Board to find any alternative solutions.

"It's been a month-plus having meetings, it's been a month of feedback from the public, from our teachers, and there's been nothing that has changed," said Reyna in an interview with WBEN. "Whether the state has given us their final numbers or not, we feel like our people, who are here making decisions with what we know we have, aren't honoring our values with the budget that has been set forward."

Reyna and a few other speakers on Tuesday called out the School Board for their lack of action with trying to find alternatives to saving these 20 staff positions in the budget. Reyna feels the School Board needs to prioritize what is going to be most important, and right now it's the people of the district.

"[It's] the people in the classrooms, and those kids who sit in those desks," Reyna said. "When we look at our budget, we have to make sure we are prioritizing the people. And while this budget does keep some teachers in the classroom, any cuts to student-facing positions will have an impact, and that is not an impact the community wants to take."

Does Reyna feel like there's anything more that can be done, at this point, to save the jobs of 20 staff members within the district? She believes it was a choice by the School Board and Cornell to sit on their hands and stand idle.

"While I respect that the Board members have a job to do and Mr. Cornell has a job to do, I do not respect the fact that for over a month now, we have posed questions and we brought solutions to the table. The only thing we have heard in response is there will be no changes," Reyna said. "It seems like they are just telling us, 'This is what's happening, it doesn't matter what you feel like.' But unfortunately, our opinions and our feelings and our thoughts on this should matter, because we are the ones you are serving."

The news of school layoffs started with Hamburg more than a month ago, but now the West Seneca Central School District is the latest school to propose cuts to several positions as part of their 2024-25 school budget.

Does it concern Reyna that there's a potential for more schools to follow Hamburg and West Seneca with layoffs to staff members? She hates that Hamburg was the first district to propose layoffs as part of the school budget, because she feels they are now the first piece to fall in a domino effect across the region.

"It just concerns me overall, because Western New York, Erie County, the districts here, we have great people. We have great educators in those classrooms every day, and they serve these kids, and they serve these kids so well. Our children are our future, they deserve the absolute best," Reyna said. "If we need to cut another position that is not with these kids, that should always be done. I'm hopeful that even though Hamburg has not made any changes, if other districts are facing cuts, they're going to see their community, they're going to listen to their community, and they will make changes that are possible."