By JIMMY LAWTON

Local school superintendents say the increase in state aid might save jobs this year, but real change is needed if small rural districts are expected to survive.

Potsdam Central School Superintendent Patrick Brady said a $424,080 increase in state aid approved for his district last week may allow the school to keep some of the 9.5 jobs slated for cuts. However, the increase will not address the long-term problems caused by excess mandates, inequitable school aid formulas and the Gap Elimination Adjustment, he said.

Brady said the GEA introduced by Gov. David A. Paterson in 2009 as the “Deficit Reduction Assessment” has cost Potsdam Central School $9 million in state aid.

The story is similar at Norwood-Norfolk Central School where Superintendent Elizabeth Kirney says the school is slated to receive a $505,000 increase in state aid over last year.

She said about $170,000 of the new funding was not included in the executive budget. She said the money had been absent from previous district budget discussions and could likely be used to reduce cuts to staff, but would not keep the school solvent in the long run.

“It’s good news for students. However to make the budget balance we will continue to use or reserves and fund balance to an uncomfortable degree,” she said. “Yes, we appreciate the extra revenue, but it’s a short term remedy when we need long term results,” she said.

The GEA was established as part of the 2010 budget to help close New York’s then-$10 billion budget deficit. Under the legislation, a portion of the state’s funding shortfall is split among all school districts throughout the state and subtracted from school district aid.

The GEA is deducted from the aid originally projected for the district based on the state’s aid formula.

Brady said the latest proposal was a big improvement over the Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s budget and said he was pleased with the additional aid.

“With the increase in Foundation aid and reduction of the Gap Elimination adjustment the state legislature has provided approximately $397,000 in additional revenues to Potsdam Central School over the governor’s earlier proposal,” he said.

The additional revenues bring Potsdam’s overall aid increase to $424,080 above the 2012-13 school year.

“This additional aid will be helpful in restoring some of the staff and programs we had targeted for cuts in 2013-14 and I appreciate the work of our legislators in helping to obtain this needed support,” he said.

Brady said the fact that most of the aid increases were produced by lowering the Gap Elimination Adjustment, rather than increasing the inequitable Foundation Aid formula “indicates an awareness of the issues which are causing are schools to struggle” and “signals that the work of our parent groups and other school advocates are beginning to be heard.”

Kirney said real solutions would include establishing an equitable aid formula, eliminating the GEA and reducing state mandates.

“I think that we were hoping that there would have been more in the way of reducing the Gap of Elimination Adjustment,” she said.

Potsdam’s superintendent agreed.

“We have lost millions of dollars over these past four years and until the state is willing to abolish the entire GEA, schools like Potsdam will continue to face being on the brink of insolvency.”

Brady said the state needs to make changes with long-term impacts to ensure schools can survive.

“We need mandate relief and other long term solutions which will help us to save staffing and programs so we can provide the same high quality opportunities for our students as can be found in any other region of the state,” he said.