BUFFALO, N.Y. — Governor Hochul's plan to reset the state education foundation formula will rely heavily on school enrollment data.
According to the NYS Education Department, all 8 counties of WNY averaged a 6.6% decline in school enrollment in 2023/2024, compared to the 2018-2019 school year.
"We spend more per student by far than anywhere else in our nation," Governor Hochul said on Tuesday. "What we're also dealing with is declining population."
According to NYSED data, and an analysis by the Empire Center for Public Policy, the decline in student enrollment per county was:
- Allegany - 9.8%
- Cattaraugus - 7.8%
- Chautauqua - 6.9%
- Erie - 4.9%
- Genesee - 7.4%
- Niagara - 5.6%
- Orleans - 4.6%
- Wyoming - 7.4%
A further breakdown of the NYSED data revealed that, of the 99 schools in the officially recognized WNY region, 62 districts had a school enrollment decline of 5% or greater.
Buffalo Public Schools saw a 10% decline in 2023-2024 compared to 2018-2019, 3,495 students.
"If your school aid is going down in this budget, it's because your enrollment is going down," said Ken Girardin, research director at the Empire Center for Public Policy. "The state shouldn't be paying for kids that don't exist."
Only 11 districts in WNY saw a net gain in student enrollment, according to data from the state.
Hochul's changes to the foundation aid formula will also target districts that have too much cash on hand.
"A lot of our schools are sitting on surpluses, okay, that's great for them," Hochul said on Monday. "If you have surplus money, either spend more on the schools, give more to teachers for their resources, or give it back to the taxpayers."
State education guidelines mandate that a district can only have 4% of their unrestricted budget funds set aside.
According to the Empire Center analysis of state data, 224 school districts in the state have surplus funds beyond 4%.
In WNY, Salamanca City Schools has the highest percentage of its budget set aside, 28.8% ($14,756,023).
"All told, school districts are holding more than half a billion dollars in cash inappropriately, that is not in reserves, not the way that they've been allowed to elsewhere in state law," Girardin said. "So the governor is right to say that school districts are in many cases, holding on to too much cash."
You can read more analysis about school enrollment by the Empire Center at this link.