Fact Checker Page
Rumor "On just initial read, Gananda doesn't receive as much state aid ? The cost per student is over $23,000. National average is around $12,000 and NY average around $21,000."
"I want to know how it can cost 23,000+ per student with no discernible change in results over a school that operates with much less. Gananda is at the high end of the highest state in the country"
Source: Facebook Community Page - December 12, 2019
Fact Check:
Fiscal Accountability Summary Total Expenditures Per Pupil | ||
Fiscal Accountability Report | 2016-17 | 2017-18 |
School Year | 2015-16 | 2016-17 |
Gananda | $20,972 | $22,142 |
Wayne County Average | $21,781 | $23,718 |
NYS Average | $23,361 | $24,712 |
- In 2017-18 63% of the schools in New York State spent more per student than Gananda.
- Currently Gananda receives $5,967 in foundation aid per student, 60% of districts in NYS receive more aid per student than Gananda. Source: SSFC
FACT CHECK - DECEMBER 11, 2019
Facebook: I don’t get why the taxpayers have to keep sinking money and raising our taxes when not enough kids to even fill the schools?
Fact: The cause of the high taxes is that Gananda receives lower state aid than similar districts. The Gananda Board of Education has been meeting with senators and assemblymen for the last 3 years to lobby for state aid similar to other districts.
Facebook: No young families are moving in because of the taxes.
Fact: Homes in Gananda sell quickly, the enrollment decline started when Home Properties sold all their land to Geoca Homes LLC, and Ryan homes stopped building here.
Facebook: I don’t need the sign to tell me the date, time, temperature!
Fact: The sign is in response to concerns expressed in surveys and exit polls about lack of communication, the sign will provide current events.
Facebook: Where can I see what the improvements are? Our taxes are pretty high already, not looking to be taxed more for another pool or football field.
Fact: The pool is paid for, no more payments on the pool. 90% of the varsity turf and track were paid for by the state, 10% was paid for from a fund left over from the 90’s and district reserves.
Facebook: Thanks for posting, us senior citizens wouldn’t know about the vote otherwise.
Fact: A mailer about the Public Information Session, on Monday, December 16, at 7pm and the December 17 vote was mailed to every residence in the district.
Facebook: In addition, the location (of the sign) was poorly planned to be visible to more people.
Fact: The placement of the sign is the result of discussions with law enforcement about safety and distractibility, the need to avoid underground utilities that run along Waterford Road, to avoid the cost of running electricity under the parking lot, and maximize visibility.
Facebook: I was told by the Superintendent at a safety meeting that part of a capital project two years ago was to reconfigure the front entrance of the elementary school so that you walked directly into the main office. That still hasn’t happened.
Fact: The entrances of all three schools were reconfigured in the summer of 2019. All visitors, during the regular school day, must be buzzed into the building, new door sets force visitors into the main office where they must present their license for scanning before being allowed in any of the 3 schools.
Facebook: The school has no A/C and many rooms in the high school no heat. The high school parking lot needs updating along with its drop off point.
Fact: Only the high school has air conditioning through-out the building, the elementary school has it in the PreK-1 wing. The high school has heat, with two high efficiency boilers installed in the last 4 years.
Facebook: Where does the money come from to fund capital projects, and why is there always money in the reserves to cover the remaining balance of these projects?
Fact: Gananda receives 90% aid on construction projects. The remainder comes from 3 sources:
- At the beginning of a project we are required to borrow the full amount of the project, we invest that money, it generates more money.
- We receive donations.
- We budget for cold snowy winters, when that happens we expend our utilities budget, in a warm winter any unexpended funds go into a reserve to pay for future projects.