Foss: Move faster on restoring Schenectady school programs | The Daily Gazette
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It’s good to hear that the Schenectady City School District is starting to recall staff and discuss how to restore programming.
By now, the extreme measures the district took last fall to slash $28 million from its budget in anticipation of steep cuts in state aid are widely known.
Over 400 teachers, administrators and staff laid off. In-person learning for grades 7-12 eliminated. Pre-kindergarten classes suspended.
Five months later, the district’s actions look like a big overreaction to an uncertain, constantly shifting fiscal climate.
The much-feared cuts to state aid never materialized, and state budget officials have said that all aid payments for the current school year will be made in full.
Milestones for Black citizens in Schenectady history, post World War II | The Daily Gazette
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January 31, 2021
The Schenectady Silhouettes pose for a photo in 2001. Founding members include, from left, Eveyln Baird, Marsha Mortimore (background), Minnie Stamper (seated), Hilvan Finch, Corine Sadler and James Stamper. Gazette file photos
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1947: Classie Cox is the first Black teacher hired by the Schenectady City School District.
1949: The Schenectady chapter of the NAACP is established; Gerald A. White, pastor at Friendship Baptist Church, is the first president.
1951: James Stamper is the first Black supervisor at the General Electric Co.
1952: Arthur Chaires becomes the first Black officer for the Schenectady Police Department.
Schenectady coach Daffner remembered for ‘devotion and dedication to her students’ | The Daily Gazette
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ERICA MILLER/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Schenectady bowling head coach Karen Daffner, left, and assistant head coach Sharon Sager pose at a March 9 practice at Boulevard Lanes. Daffner died Friday from cancer at the age of 65.
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Longtime Schenectady City School District coach and physical education teacher Karen Daffner was ecstatic when her girls’ bowling team won the Section II Class A championship last season at Boulevard Bowl. It was the first Section II title for any girls’ program at that high school in 16 years.
But that milestone win and none of the victories or losses in any of the four sports she coached at various levels for 31 seasons didn’t define her legacy. Instead, what everyone who had their lives touched by Daffner will remember are her toughness contrasted with her many acts of kindness and generosity.
Cuomo budget proposal withdraws threat of 20 percent school aid cut | The Daily Gazette
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ALBANY Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday appeared to remove the looming threat of 20-percent reductions in school aid this year as he outlined a plan to rely on federal funding to maintain the state’s school funding levels.
Cuomo and his budget officials said funds withheld earlier this year could be converted into permanent cuts of around 5 percent, but that 20 percent reductions would not be necessary this year, effectively eliminating the worst-case-scenario that Schenectady City School District officials have said drove their decision to lay off over 400 teachers and school staff. District leaders indicated in the past weeks they still believed a 20-percent reduction in aid this year was possible.