Ten year trend: Fewer students and teachers

    TRI-COUNTY AREA—The number of students and teachers has decreased at area districts over the last 10 years, despite the budget costs going up.
    Student enrollment is down double digits at Penn Yan, Dundee,  Hammondsport, Watkins Glen, and Odessa-Montour schools when comparing the 2012-13 school year to 2002-03. The number of instructional staff is also down by varying degrees during the same time period.
    At Penn Yan, the number of students has dropped 20 percent. There are currently 1,653 students within the district. Teachers are down 17 percent, comparing 2012 and 2002. Meanwhile, the budget has increased $9,804,763 or 44 percent.
    In a letter to the editor, Penn Yan Superintendent David Hamilton warns about cuts in federal funding due to the Budget Control Act of 2011. He added that the cuts would mean larger class sizes, fewer course offerings, less programs, and more teacher/staff layoffs.
    At Dundee, the student population has dropped 12 percent. The current 2012 total is 800. However, the number of teachers is only down three percent, comparing 2012 (85 teachers) and 2002 (88 teachers). Dundee’s budget has gone up $4,133,719, or 40 percent, during the same time period.
    Hammondsport’s students dropped 22 percent. The number of teachers has decreased 17 percent to 55 instructional staff in 2012. The current budget is up 25 percent or $2,435,004.
Superintendent Kyle Bower said, “it has been difficult to deal with the decrease in enrollment because it has been spread across 13 grade levels. We have gone from class sizes of 14 to 16 to class sizes from 24 to 26. With the ever changing expectations from State Ed and the never ending string of mandates, we feel very good about where we are as a district both fiscally and academically.” Bower explained some of the increases in costs over 10 years include teacher retirement system (up $260,361.15 or 134 percent), employee retirement system (up $140,905 or 279 percent), and health insurance (up $628,033 or 44 percent).
    Watkins is currently at 1,176 students, which is a 15 percent drop from 2002. The number of teachers decreased 26 percent. Rising costs have caused the Watkins budget to increase though, $4,766,078 or 25 percent over that 10 year period.
    Gayle Sedlack, Watkins Glen business manager, explained this is partially because of benefits, which includes retirement, healthcare, and federal tax obligations. She added despite the decrease in teachers, healthcare costs have gone up by 62 percent or $1,011,591 comparing 2012 to 2002.
    Schools are also facing cuts due to the federal Budget Control Act of 2011. Odessa-Montour Superintendent Jim Frame said, “I think so many costs are beyond our control” when asked about the legislation. Frame said healthcare is just one of the always increasing costs, which also includes pensions for teachers and staff. He added that special education is another area that is “really driving costs.”
    “I think communities all over New York state need to decide what they want out of student education and be strong advocates to lawmakers,” said Frame.
Odessa’s own student numbers for 2012 are down 10 percent compared to 2002. The number of teachers is down 19 percent. In that same time period, the school budget has increased by 35 percent or $4,002,127.