05/18/09: Erie County School Board Elections Preview

Original YNN Buffalo Air Date: 05/18/09
School board election signs are posted around Erie county reminding voters to head to the polls Tuesday. Many school board seats are up for grabs and potential tax increases are looming as ballots are readied across Erie County.
“I hope that many people come out last year we had about 51-hundred people come out,” said Orchard Park Board of Education President Donald Sniezak.
Orchard Park is one of several districts trimming their budget and that means potentially fewer teachers, field trips and in even sports.
“We did at one time cut back some of the extra curricular activity, but in the middle school and high school those were put back in. the elementary school lost about 50% of it,” Sniezak added.
Hamburg schools are also trying to stretch tax payer dollars with a bus mileage proposition to extend service further into Buffalo.
“Right now it’s a 15 mile limit they’re looking to extend it to 17. This really came up through an effort by parents that live in the Hamburg district but have their children going to Nichols,” said analysis and Hamburg Sun Editor Dan Meyer.
New York State School Boards Association Director Tim Kreamer says people are worried about the bottom line. He adds property tax payers will already see a 1.9% increase state wide.
“Which is significantly lower than previous years. A lot of that has to do with the federal stimulus aid being pumped into area schools,” said Kreamer. He questions if area school districts will be prepared three years down the line when federal stimulus dollars are no longer available.
Voters will decide on several hot topics with the highest proposed budget jumps being seen in Lackawanna, East Aurora, Cheektowaga, North Collins, Hamburg and Orchard Park.
Erie County School Budget Jumps
Lackawanna $42.2 m, up 6.72%
East Aurora $28.11m, up 5.1%
Orchard Park $77.49 m, up 4.96%
Cheektowaga $38.6 m, up 4.95%
North Collins $14.8 m, up 4.7%
Hamburg $55 m, up 4.6%
Polls open Tuesday at varying times depending on your school district. But generally, all polls will be open until to nine p.m.