ALBANY – State Comptroller Thomas
DiNapoli’s fiscal stress monitoring system includes 10 school districts
in the Hudson Valley region.
The monitoring system, in its second year, is designed to assess the financial
stability of school districts.
The East Ramapo Central School District had the highest fiscal stress
score of any district in the region with an 86.7 percent. The Peekskill
City School District had a score of 65 percent. Both districts are listed
in the “significant stress” category of the comptroller’s
report.
The Poughkeepsie City School District and the New Paltz Central School
District, each with a fiscal score of 50 percent, are categorized as having
moderate stress.
Six districts are susceptible to fiscal stress. They include New Rochelle
City School District, Clarkstown Central School District, Eldred Central
School District, Hendrick Hudson Central School District, Pine Bush Central
School District and Kiryas Joel Village Union Free School District.
The KJ district was singled out for improving, decreasing its fiscal stress
by 50 percent.
The Hudson City School District saw a decrease of 25 percentage points
from last year.
“School districts are the heart of many of our communities, but
they face fiscal pressures that are unlikely to change any time soon,”
said DiNapoli. “Although the increases in fiscal stress are relatively
minor, the same problems persist, including increased deficits, and dwindling
fund balances.” The comptroller urged school districts with deteriorating
fiscal health to use the scores “as an impetus for more deliberate
and careful long-range budget planning.”
