The Barker Central Schools in Niagara County is among 23 school districts statewide designated in some level of fiscal stress by the state.
That total is down from 31 school districts in fiscal stress the prior year, according to state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s Fiscal Stress Monitoring System for the school year that ended on June 30, 2021.
In a release, DiNapoli noted the operational issues caused by the pandemic for all school districts were extreme.
The Fiscal Stress Monitoring System was designed to identify issues that school districts, counties, cities (excluding New York City), towns or villages are having with budgetary solvency, or the ability to generate enough revenues to meet expenses.
Across the state, two school districts, both downstate, were designated as being in “significant fiscal stress,” which is the highest category. No school districts were in the second level, or moderate fiscal stress, and Barker was the only district in Western New York.
