Corning Incorporated announced a nearly $2 million grant award for the Corning-Painted Post (C-PP) school district on May 30 during a special school board meeting.
The funding will help bridge a $2.2 million deficit in the new and reduced $144 million school budget. Voters rejected the first $147 million budget proposal last month.
Superintendent Michelle Caulfield said that last year Corning Inc. awarded a significantly smaller $300,000 grant to cover the district’s International Baccalaureate Middle Years program for grades six to10.
“I actually don't think we've asked for an amount of this size for maybe 15 years,” Caulfield said. “But we do use them for lots of smaller things that maybe a teacher wants a grant for, or students need a grant for something. They're just wonderful partners.“
Caulfield said that smaller grants for teachers and students are typically left up to the applicants and the Corning Community Impact and Investment Group. This is a recently formed arm of the philanthropic efforts by Corning Inc. that was created when the company consolidated the Corning Incorporated Foundation, Corning Enterprises, and the Office of Racial Equality & Social Unity (ORESU).
Millicent Ruffin, Vice President of Corning Community Impact and Investment Group said Corning Inc. is committed to education. And while the initial budget vote failed, the organization looks at the bigger picture of schools being safe places for children.
“We want to ensure that the families in our community have a safe place for our kids to go to before school and after school, so that when [they] go to work that stress is relieved,” Ruffin said. “And what better place to do that than in our schools, where our teachers are there, they're trained, they're vetted.”
Ruffin stated that a “healthy community is one that has healthy schools.”
Ruffin is married to C-PP school board member, Boh Ruffin.
The C-PP school district’s new budget also has a 3 percent tax levy, which is under the state tax cap. The new proposed tax levy means that houses assessed at $100,000 will have a tax rate of $1,993 annually—a decrease of $39 from last year. Houses assessed at $200,000 will have an annual tax rate of $3,986, which is a decrease of $78 from last year.
The newly proposed tax levy requires a simple majority for it to pass.
The new district budget proposal comes with reductions in some programs and staff, including the elimination of the Assistant Superintendent for School Operations position. This position will end next April and will not be filled. The current salary for the position is $178,075.
Superintendent Caulfield said the district is working to distribute job responsibilities for this position across the district over the next six months.
“Is there a portion of that job that one person can pick up, and then another portion that someone else [could pick up], so it's not adding a whole position to another person,” Caulfield said. “Trying to divvy up the responsibilities of that position across all of our members and central office.“
Caulfield said Bill Pierce, who is currently in the position, will be a “huge loss” to the district.
Earlier this year, the school district eliminated the Supervisor of School Operations position. The salary for this position is $208,550.51. This position ends June 30, 2025 and will not be filled.
Additional reductions in programs and staffing include the high school alternative education program, summer school for the middle school, some teaching assistant positions, and Chromebook replacements for elementary use. The district’s home teaching program for disciplinary and medical situations will also pivot to an online model.
Voters will also decide whether to approve the Southeast Steuben County Library’s new budget. The public library and its board revised its annual budget after voters rejected it along with the school district’s budget last month.
The new library budget is $1.5 million and it remains within the tax cap. The library board proposed a $5,000 decrease in the tax levy from the initial proposal.
The tax rate increase on the new library budget is just under one dollar for homes assessed at $100,000 dollars.
A public hearing on the new C-PP school district budget is scheduled for June 10.
Voters go back to the polls on June 17.