Staff Writer

MILFORD — A plate of baked goods was used Friday to illustrate the impact the state's proposed budget cuts will have on Board of Cooperative Educational Services aid to area school districts.

During an open house at the Otsego Northern Catskills BOCES in Stamford, BOCES official Rodger Oesterle cut quarter sections out of a muffin, a bagel and a Danish, calling his creation "George Pataki's 25 percent cuts."

The governor's 2003-04 budget plan reduces BOCES aid to school districts by 25 percent, or more than $100 million. ONC BOCES' 19 school districts would lose a combined revenue of $1.5 million in BOCES aid under the spending proposal.

The shortfall is compounded by the projected $2.3 million lost to those districts as a result of operating aid cuts.

"It hits those who need the most help, and it represents a huge impact that taxpayers will need to pick up," ONC BOCES District Superintendent Marie Warchol said Friday afternoon at another open house at Milford's Otsego Area Occupational Center.

In light of the fiscal crisis, Warchol said, districts will have to pool resources and share costs to keep providing the services that help students meet the state's mandated higher standards.

BOCES across the state held open houses to showcase the role BOCES plays in providing services to school districts and how the proposed cuts will affect BOCES and those districts.

The projected state aid shortfall will have a "crushing impact" on many upstate communities, including those in Otsego County, Warchol said.

Laurens District Superintendent Romona Wenck, whose district's proposed budget includes a 15.5 percent tax levy increase, was frank in her assessment of the district's plight.

"I'm going to cut programs that affect a large number of students." Wenck said, noting that state aid to the district was cut 4.5 percent. "To me, when the state makes cuts in the BOCES budget, its saying these services aren't important."

Double-digit tax hikes are also anticipated in the Worcester and Cherry Valley-Springfield school districts for the 2003-04 fiscal year, officials said.

In the long run, local rural economies would be hurt by BOCES aid cuts, said Nick Savin, Cherry Valley-Springfield superintendent.

"It will end up diluting our employment base in the rural area if we don't have something to augment the educational experience," Savin said. "The students educated in BOCES are going to be the base of our rural communities."

Cherry Valley-Springfield's budget projects a $347,000 overall cut in state aid, and a 6.38 percent increase in the tax levy.

Wenck said it is ironic that the state, which champions stimulating job growth, is cutting the services that train children to get jobs.

Worcester District Superintendent Marilyn Lubell said her small district is one of those most dependent on BOCES services.

She said her district budget includes an approximate 12 percent tax levy increase.

Overall, the projected BOCES aid cut will likely have an impact on student enrollment, Milford BOCES building Principal Joseph D. Booan Jr. said.

"Districts are going to have to tighten their belts," Booan said, "and perhaps reduce the numbers of students they send here."

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Jill Fahy can be reached at jfahy@thedailystar.com or (607) 441-7221.