Saratoga Springs residents unseated a school board member and passed a record budget during Tuesday’s budget vote.
Late Tuesday night, Deb Amory’s and Matt Kopans’ campaign teams watched the votes come in at a downtown Saratoga Springs bar.
By the time the night was over, Amory had the most votes of the five candidates running for three contested Board of Education seats.
Amanda Ellithorpe, an incumbent, lost her bid for a second three-year term.
Amory has been a professor and chair of the Department of Social Science and Public Affairs at SUNY Empire for more than two decades.
“The role of the board is not to micromanage. I mean, I think that’s a basic, important, foundational value that we believe. And it’s New York state law, it’s the way that boards of non-profits are run—just to attend to policy, to the budget, and to supervise the very top person, not to hire or fire anyone else other than the superintendent,” said Amory.
Amory wants to see a united district at a time when boards across the country pursue book bans and anti-LGBTQ policies.
“One of the most obvious things we share is a deep commitment to creating welcoming and affirming spaces in the schools so that all students are respected and feel that they belong, and that’s one of the most important ways to ensure both student educational outcomes and health and wellbeing. So, we’re both committed to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. We also just believe that education is the foundation of our democracy and a strong public education is vital for our society to continue to survive,” said Amory.
Absenteeism and declining enrollment have been the focus of school administrators for the past several years. At a recent board meeting, officials said chronic high school absenteeism fell from 553 students to 505— roughly 25% of students between grades nine and 12.
Kopans, who secured the second-most votes, said he’s ready to hit the ground running.
“After COVID, attendance numbers have plummeted across the state. Saratoga’s done alright, but we need to make sure our buses run, we need to make sure our students feel welcomed and want to come to school, and we need to make sure they have the supports that they need to get to school and to stay in school. If students don’t feel accepted at the school, they’re not going to be able to learn, they’re not going to be able to grow. We can’t teach students who feel excluded. Students can’t become the community of tomorrow that they need to become if they don’t feel included in the school,” said Kopans.
Incumbent Connie Woytowich retained her board seat and spoke with WAMC Wednesday.
“Yeah, the biggest challenge, undoubtedly, will be the budget. You know, with rising inflation, and all of the other issues that schools are facing with unpredictable foundation aid, that’s going to be our biggest challenge by far,” said Woytowich.
The “hold harmless” policy that ensures school districts receive at least the same amount of state funding from the previous year was at risk of being eliminated in state budget talks this spring. The practice was ultimately restored, but districts across the state are preparing.
The district’s proposed $148 million school budget was easily approved. It’s a 4.2% increase in spending with a 3.49% tax levy increase.
Voters also approved a bus bond, allowing the district to spend roughly $1.7 million on 11 new buses of varying sizes and accessibility.
Shenendehowa Central School District’s $213 million budget was approved by taxpayers OKing a nearly 3.5% increase in spending. Ballston Spa taxpayers approved the Central School District’s $107 million budget.
Elsewhere, voters in the Northville Central School District fell just shy of overriding the tax cap to approve a nearly $15 million budget that would have carried a 6.52% tax levy increase. Needing 60% approval to pass, the budget received 59.7%.
South Glens Falls Central School District voters approved a $72.6 million budget.