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The Enterprise — Melissa Hale-Spencer

“What priorities guide you?” James Gaughan asks Farnsworth Middle School leaders during a Feb. 4 budget discussion while Guilderland School Board member Jennifer Charron looks on. Gaughan, Altamont’s mayor, had been outspoken last year defending the need to keep the village’s school after a consultant proposed cost-saving scenarios that involved closing Altamont Elementary.  “The easy stuff to reduce is gone,” Roy Dumar, supervisor of language arts, social studies, reading, and the library, responded to Gaughan’s question. Beverly Bisnett-Jenks, supervisor of math, technology, and science, agreed, saying, “It’s getting harder and harder and harder to maintain programs.” She said that keeping “a rich academic program” is a top priority.