Dear Senator Mayer,

Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Shannon Shine and I currently serve as
the Rotterdam-Mohonasen Central School District Superintendent of Schools. I am writing
to you today to inquire further about the NYS school funding roundtables you are
orchestrating. I read about your proposed scope of inquiry in a recent news article.
Mohonasen is currently an underfunded school district in terms of Foundation Aid,
meaning that for the current school year, with an overall budget of $54M, we get about
$4M less than what the formula shows we are due and there are similar shortfalls each
year. On the other hand, we take pride in having the lowest or second lowest per pupil
expenditure in the region each year. This used to be a sustainable model, even with the
revenue shortfall from the state. The tax cap changed things for Mohonasen. For districts
who had a large tax base at the time the tax cap went into effect, even for districts who run
short on Foundation Aid, things remain sustainable. For districts like Mohonasen, who has a
low tax base, the effects are dramatic. An overly simplistic way to drive this point home is to
use the example of two districts, one with a tax base of $10M and the other with a tax base
of $5M. If both districts go out with an actual 2% tax levy, the first district raises $200,000 in
new revenue and the second district raises $100,000 in new revenue using the same rate of
2%. If the districts' enrollments are similar and if their Foundation Aid is similar, the first
district can sustain programming and staffing levels while the second district may not have
enough revenue to do so. In previous years, before the tax cap, if the first district had a
shortfall they could more easily go to the taxpayer seeking additional revenue, without the
need for a supermajority and without doubly penalizing the taxpayers who would no longer
get a tax relief credit. For districts like Mohonasen, whose poverty rate has been steadily
increasing (free and reduced price lunch in 2001 = 13%; free and reduced priced lunch
today = 45%) the taxpayers are less able to make up the difference than ever, leaving the
district without essentially needed revenue.
A second penalty for being fiscally prudent over the years is in terms of staffing. If a
district is staffing heavy, then along comes the tax cap, and they have reserves in terms of
human resources; they are "fat" instead of "lean". For districts who are lean in terms of
staffing the tax cap, coupled with a shortfall in Foundation Aid, is a double whammy. Such
is the case with Mohonasen. During my first year as superintendent I was forced to reduce
over 20 positions while no district in the region, except Johnstown, faced a similar
situation. We've spent over $1M in reserves during the past two years, an unsustainable
trajectory. This was specifically due to not having staffing capacity, not having an inflated
tax base, the imposition of the tax cap, and the shortfall in Foundation Aid.
So that is our background and current situation. We have been, in essence, punished for
doing a great job fiscally over the years, providing a superlative education for students while
being highly responsive to the tax base wherein our taxpayers have become increasingly
impoverished. We have already taken the hard steps of reducing staff across all areas of the
district resulting in disconcertingly high class sizes. What we need now is an appropriate
allocation of Foundation Aid. The ten funding bands, "A" - "J", do not appear to adequately
address districts like Mohonasen. It's true that there don't appear to be many districts like
us in this regard, districts who have been exceptionally fiscally responsible, levying only
what we need and keeping staffing at appropriate levels. The tax cap in and of itself is not
responsible for our current challenges; it is the $4M shortfall in Foundation Aid.
This is why your current initiative is of such high interest to Mohonasen. Depending upon
what you are proposing, should you be successful, it will either leave Mohonasen better off
or worse off; our stake in the matter is clear. Can you share your recommendations in terms
of the funding bands with us, so we can see how they would potentially affect us? Also, as
your forums are by invitation only, may we please have an invitation to the table so we may
be represented as advocates for students and communities like Mohonasen?
Thank you for your consideration in this regard.

Yours in Service,

Shannon Shine