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February 25, 2010 – Residents, parents and staff of the Goshen Central School District are invited to attend a Community Budget Forum series on the 2010 school year budget, which will take place on two separate evenings in March.

The first Community Budget Forum will be held at 7 p.m. March 11 in the Board of Education Room at the Main Street Building, 227 Main Street, Goshen.

The purpose of this forum is for residents to:

• Learn more about the fiscal issues that Goshen is facing;
• Share their values and priorities for education.

Why a community forum?
In light of the state’s fiscal crisis, district administrators and Board of Education members have begun planning for a decrease in state aid for the 2010-11 school year. The governor delivered his state budget proposal on Jan. 19 that contained proposed reductions to state aid for public schools – and a loss of $1.43 million for Goshen Schools.

“Knowing that we must make unpleasant decisions for next year, it is essential to get a sense of the community’s priorities and values as we develop our budget,” said Superintendent Daniel Connor. “It is our goal to find the best ways to reduce the preliminary budget and minimize the tax burden placed on our residents.”

Small group discussions allow residents to share ideas
District officials will open the forum with a presentation about Goshen’s budget, including budget basics such as district revenues and expenditures; and related topics such as state aid under the governor’s proposal, fund balances, and the impact of a contingency budget. Officials will also review the reductions that were made to the current year’s budget.

Participants will then break into small groups with assigned facilitators, who will lead conversations about specific questions pertaining to key issues for the 2010-11 budget. This will give residents the opportunity to brainstorm options for ensuring continued educational program integrity at Goshen, despite increasing costs and a significant loss in funding. Thoughts and ideas gathered from the small group discussion will then be shared.

“Our goal for the evening is to share information, answer frequent questions, and collect the ideas of the community,” said Connor.

Second forum an opportunity to look at hard numbers
The second Community Budget Forum will be held at 7 p.m. March 25 in the Board of Education Room at the Main Street Building, 227 Main Street, Goshen. During this forum, district officials will present the district’s recommendations for the 2010-11 budget.

“This forum will allow our residents to weigh in a second time on the proposed budget for next year,” said Connor. “It will give them a chance to look at actual numbers and share their thoughts.”

Although registration is not required, interested participants for the March 11 forum are asked to RSVP to Communications Specialist Christina Intranuovo at cintranuovo@gcsny.org or (845) 615-6765.

View the 2010-11 budget page