Education

Voters in area suburban school districts went to the polls to vote on school budgets Tuesday and all in Monroe County were approved.

This was the first school budget vote since a property tax cap was enacted last year.

The only district in the region to see its budget rejected was in the Wyoming Central School District.

Its proposed budget exceeded the cap limit and thus required a 60 percent super majority of voters in order to pass.

Monroe County's Executive and the County of Monroe Industrial Development Agency have donated funds to keep a job training program for students up and running. The program trains high school students for a career in construction.

17 year old Jose and nine other high school students are building a house off of Planet street in Rochester.

They're part of the Robert Brown School of Construction and they've been building this house from the ground up for the past two years.

"When you start building, there's nothing. Absolutely nothing. But with your skills and the help of other students you can build something...a house or anything other than a house," says Jose.

WXXI News Director Julie Philipp interviews Jody Siegle of the Monroe County School Boards Association about school budget votes set for Tuesday, May 15.

Click on the video box below to watch the interview that originally aired on Need to Know Rochester on Friday, May 11, 2012.

A new survey indicates most school districts are proposing tax levies that meet or fall under the property tax cap limit enacted last May.

But to do so, an overwhelming number of districts are reducing programs and staffing in the next school year, according to Michael Borges, executive director of New York State Association of School Business Officials.

His group and the State School Boards Association surveyed districts statewide and found over 400 districts will eliminate over 4,200 positions.

Borges says nearly all districts are dipping into their unappropriated fund balances to meet their needs to provide a sound, basic education.

Borges says while property tax cap legislation was passed, it wasn't accompanied by mandate relief.

Local teen filmmakers are giving viewers an inside look at the issues that impact youth, and they’re doing it through mini-documentaries.

Teens involved in the Raising 100,000 Voices Project shared their films with the public Wednesday night at a special screening at The Little Theatre.

Matthew Cruz’s film “The Legend of The Myth” was part of the screening. He says through his work on the project he’s learned how to express his feelings through video, “And show how I want to come across. Like if I want to explain something I can show it better through video than I can really talk. And I learned that I can actually talk in front of, I used to have stage fright so I can now talk in front of more people."

Rochester’s City School Superintendent says the federal government has fallen short on meeting the needs of kids in special education.

Bolgen Vargas says he’s sharing his concerns with U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan as part of a nationwide conference call.

Vargas says he’s asking for flexibility with special education adding, the district is not receiving the support it needs from the federal government when it comes to resources, "We have some children that are have multiple challenges and therefore require year-round education, it requires more resources to be devoted to meeting their needs."

Vargas joined other superintendents from across the country on Tuesday's call with Duncan.