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Ogdensburg school board formally approves results of annual school election, budget vote

Posted 5/24/19

BY THOMAS LUCKIE III North Country This Week OGDENSBURG – The Ogdensburg City School District Board of Education formally approved the results of Tuesday’s annual school election and budget vote …

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Ogdensburg school board formally approves results of annual school election, budget vote

Posted

BY THOMAS LUCKIE III
North Country This Week

OGDENSBURG – The Ogdensburg City School District Board of Education formally approved the results of Tuesday’s annual school election and budget vote on Wednesday evening.

Voters in the district approved the proposed $45 million 2019-20 school budget with a final vote tally of 398-167.

A request for a $75,000 increase in Ogdensburg Public Library funding through a school ballot referendum was ultimately rejected by voters, 340-226.

Current Board of Education members Michael Myers and Roland Johnson were both re-elected to five-year seats on the board. Myers received 394 votes, while Johnson, who is currently board president, received 322 votes.

Former board member James King received 296 votes in his attempt to return to a seat on the board.

The approved budget represents a .44% decrease of $200,000 compared to the 2018-19 school district budget.

While the district initially faced an initial budget shortfall of almost $5.4 million in October 2018, switching health insurance plans resulted in a roughly $2 million savings and the gap was further closed through the elimination of some employee positions.

“Personnel costs were trimmed through the elimination of positions by attrition, consolidation of administrative positions, and unfortunately, several lay-offs,” Superintendent Kevin Kendall said at a prior meeting.

The rising costs of required special education services also played a large factor in the initial budget problem and were a frequent topic of conversation while the board discussed the 2019-20 budget and beyond over the past several months.

After the results were officially approved, board member Michael Tooley and Kendall offered some comments.

“Just appreciation to the voting community for their strong support of the budget, it was certainly a challenging year developing the budget and our challenges haven’t ended,” Tooley said.

“Thank you to the citizens, to the public for the turnout and support,” Kendall added.

The superintendent also congratulated Myers and Johnson on their re-elections to the board.

The next Board of Education meeting will take place at 6 p.m. on Monday, June 3.