Oneonta School District Facing $400k Budget Shortfall

A rare oversight and clerical error by the Oneonta City School District (OCSD) may end up costing them thousands of dollars in state aid. According to Senator Peter Oberacker's office, after the school district missed a filing deadline to apply for transportation aid for the 2019-2020 school year, the district sought help from Senator Oberacker and John Salka to help them rectify a situation that stands to be a major financial blow to the school district.

Senate bill 396 would correct the OCSD error and assist the school district by preserving $400,000 in state transportation aid that is due to the district. If passed, this legislation corrects an oversight in the application process for the district's transportation aid for the 2019-2020 school year, when the district failed to apply for transportation aid to the state education department in time.

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The bad news for the OCSD is that Governor Kathy Hochul vetoed the bill which had garnered unanimous approval by the senate and assembly. There is no information available at this time as to why the Governor vetoed the bill.

In reaction to the veto, Oberacker states, “The Oneonta City School District has a strong track record when it comes to contractual submissions and required paperwork. This inadvertent oversight involving one item should not lead to an overwhelming penalty that would significantly harm student programming and services."

Senator Oberacker and Assemblyman Salka say that they plan on meeting with OCSD officials to come up with another way to make up for that $400,000 budget shortfall.

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Source: Oneonta School District Facing $400k Budget Shortfall: Governor Hochul Blamed