Worcester residents looked at the short-and long-term prospects for their school, and the outlook wasn't bright.
But it's not hopeless, either.
About 60 parents turned out last Wednesday to hear Superintendent Bill Diamond review "The State of Our School" amid looming fiscal and educational crises.
Despite gloomy news, however, Mr. Diamond held out hope for the next school year and beyond--including a possible merger with nearby Schenevus.
"These are very interesting and challenging times," Mr. Diamond understated in welcoming the audience.
Like other school districts, Worcester has been a victim of the Gap Elimination Adjustment, which is school aid Albany started withholding in 2010-11 to balance the state budget.
In order to balance annual budgets in the four years since the GEA started, Worcester has cut or reduced at least 10 staffers and teachers in addition to eliminating two bus runs and several other services.
Mr. Diamond's concern is that the cuts have whittled away at Worcester's educational programs. The school no longer offers advanced placement courses, which seniors need to get into colleges.
"They've taken everything we've got, but the AP courses just aren't there for them," Mr. Diamond said of WCS graduates.
One piece of good news is that Mr. Diamond and Schenevus Superintendent Tom Jennings are developing an "AP Academy" for next year.
Each district would offer two advanced placement courses; students in Worcester and Schenevus could take the course at one school or both.
In another positive, it appears there will be no further cuts in instruction in the proposed 2013-14 budget the Worcester school board is expected to adopt tonight.
"Absolutely. If there are any cuts, it won't be instructional," Mr. Diamond said.
He also said Worcester will use money from the district's fund balance--a school district's savings account--and reserves to avoid a large increase in the tax levy.
"We have a place to go, but we're hitting it very hard," Mr. Diamond said.
As a school district uses up its fund balance, it's difficult--if not impossible--to replace those savings. Mr. Diamond said Worcester has $1.6 million in reserves, enough to help the budget along for two or three years.
After that. . .
"The only place to go is fund balance and reserves," Mr. Diamond said. "It's not like I want to be the guy killing the party, but that's where we are."
He's worried that further cuts in state aid will jeopardize Worcester's academic record. Worcester students last year had the highest average in Regents' exams among the 19 schools in the BOCES region.
And that top-of-the-heap finish wasn't a fluke, Mr. Diamond said. Over the past 10 years, Worcester students have averaged among the top three schools in Regents' exams.
"I want people to be talking about Worcester's good things," he said. "I want Worcester to be that shiny penny."
But, with economic conditions and state aid being what they are, "This is survival mode," he added. "We're pretty much living hand to mouth."
To keep providing a good education and to ease economics, Worcester and Schenevus are looking at merging. Together, they've applied for a $50,000 state grant to study merger.
The two districts have looked at merger before without success.
Worcester resident Jack Nagle was in Wednesday's audience. He was a consultant for Cobleskill and Richmondville's merger in 1993 and said he's worked on four Worcester-Schenevus studies.
"People in the community have to be well-informed," Mr. Nagle advised. "You can't just study it. You have to want it."
The state would provide incentive aid if the districts merged into one. The new district would receive $1.2 million in new aid per year for the first four years, and the amount would decline four percent annually over the next 11 years, Mr. Diamond said.
As the name implies, that aid--and the educational programs it would save--is a powerful incentive, Mr. Diamond said.
But he cautioned that the merger process is a lengthy one.
"In terms of child development, we're in the crawling stage of merger," Mr. Diamond said.