Happy Friday WG!!
As always, I hope this message finds you happy and healthy!
We have a few quick updates for you as we prepare for Spring!
April 8th, 2024 – Eclipse Day!
As you may or may not know, our region is securely in the path of totality for the Solar Eclipse scheduled for April 8th, 2024! This is exciting! But with excitement, comes visitors to our area. With all hotels and short-term rentals booked for this day, we are anticipating an influx of visitors to the Southern Tier and specifically Schuyler County. We have been advised that there will be large amounts of traffic that could impact our school transportation runs. Given the information that we have and the unknowns, and out of an abundance of caution, the District has adjusted its calendar to reflect an early release day on April 8th, 2024. It is also possible that we will utilize an emergency closure day on April 8th to close school completely for the day. We will be in regular contact regarding April 8th throughout March and early April. More details on how the early release day will impact your child’s schedule will come from each building.
2024-2025 Calendar:
On Wednesday evening, the Board of Education adopted the 24-25 school calendar. Here is a link. You can also stop by any school office, and we can print one out for you. The full school calendar should be out sometime in August.
The 24-25 School Budget:
(Clipped from our most recent newsletter) With the Spring season around the corner, school budgets take center stage. The budget development process for the 24-25 school year is well underway. If you have seen any of our advocacy, you know this will be a challenging year. The Executive Budget proposed by Governor Hochul includes a $1.9 million cut in New York State Aid for WGCSD. The administrative team is working hard to evaluate resources and needs related to staffing, program development, and academic department and grade level needs. We are currently reviewing our projected revenues and expenditures through the lens of doing more with less! Throughout March and early April, the Board of Education will receive presentations from our leadership team and consider all requests. We will then finalize the budget, which will go before the public for a vote on May 21, 2024.
That is all for now WG!
Have a great weekend and SOAR Lake Hawks!
Respectfully,
Kai D’Alleva
Watkins Glen Central School District
Superintendent of Schools