Two local school districts in fiscal stress

More school districts on Long Island show signs of financial stress than those in other regions of the state, and the number of systems in Nassau and Suffolk counties under pressure has been growing, State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli reported Thursday.

The districts had their score jump more than 40 percentage points over the past year.

It’s the third year DiNapoli’s Office has assessed and scored the financial stability of school districts.

North country schools appear to be doing fairly well.

Eight districts, including Corinth, are said to be in “significant” fiscal stress.

St. Lawrence Central in Brasher Fall and Parishville-Hopkinton are among the 50 schools listed as “susceptible to fiscal stress”.

The complete report can be found online at the comptrollers website.

In an emailed statement, Superintendent Mary Kay Frys said the 2014 fiscal stress ranking was inflated – the district received a rating of 6 the year before – by unanticipated expenditures that decreased its available fund balance.

The scores are released as districts statewide, regardless of financial situation, begin to grapple with the question of how they will increase revenues in the coming year with a state property tax cap set just above zero percent.

Two other area schools – Alexander in Genesee County and Wayne Central in Wayne County – were deemed to have “susceptible to fiscal stress”.

The study found district fiscal stress share a number of common characteristics.

The scores are based on the evaluation of 672 school districts with fiscal years ending on June 30, 2015.

“Since the recent recession, downstate districts have had shrinking tax bases in many cases, while the majority of upstate districts have continued to see growth – albeit slower growth – in their property tax bases”, DiNapoli’s office reported.