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Budget
June 22
2010
Board adopts
contingent budget
On Tuesday
night, the Schenectady
City School District Board of Education adopted a contingent
budget of $160,708,288 which carries a tax levy increase of
2.96%.
Since the
second proposed spending plan was rejected by voters on June 15,
the board had to cut an additional $571,880 to at least reach
the contingency budget cap.
Over the course
of two meetings, the board agreed on the following additional
cuts in order to get to the contingency budget:
Equipment
Savings $315,000
Reorganization
of the tutoring program
Savings $80,000
Eliminate the
Chief of Security position
Savings $ 59,000
Reduce District
Supply Budget
Savings $30,000
Reduce Audit
Budget
Savings $40,00
Reduce Salary
Line (Retirement Incentive)
Savings $47,000
Total Savings:
$571,880
The contingency
budget reflects a 0.052% spending increase over the current
year.
Additional
savings might be realized with a targeted retirement incentive.
While administrators could not estimate total savings before
knowing who would be offered and accept the incentive, they
agreed that the incentive would cut at least $47,000 from the
salary line.
While members
discussed the incentive at great length and talked about digging
a little deeper for additional cuts that would take the budget
below contingency, they decided to adopt the budget which had to
be set and in place by July 1.
Board members agreed
to continue to explore ways to cut costs in the upcoming year as
well as look ahead for measures in the 2011-2012 year.
Throughout the
entire budget process, the board of education made a total of
$6,044,922 in cuts.
..............................................
June 17 2010
Board
discusses contingency budget, next steps
Next meeting June 22
The Schenectady
City School District Board of Education discussed at the
Wednesday night meeting, ways to cut more than $500,000 from the
budget to reach the contingency budget cap. Since the
second proposed spending plan was rejected by voters on June 15,
the district must adopt a new spending plan that does not exceed
$160,708,288. The budget for the 2010-2011 school year
must be in place by July 1, 2010. Superintendent Eric Ely
proposed a list of options that when combined could reach the
spending cap. Board members did review the options but did
not yet agree on cuts. They instead decided to resume
discussions at the next meeting set for Tuesday, June 22 at 7
p.m. at Schenectady High School.
Under
contingency, the district is not allowed to purchase any
equipment unless it has to do with health and safety .
Therefore, Ely immediately suggested cutting the $315,000 that
is designated for equipment. Board members agreed that was
the place to start.
Ely outlined
other cost-cutting measures that could possibly eliminate
$256,880 in expenses, the balance of cuts needed to reach the
cap. He stressed that none of the recommendations are easy
to make. Possible cuts include:
-
Cut social
worker and consultant from district tutoring program.
Replace with an administrative position that could be
absorbed by grant funding. Savings: $80,000
-
Eliminate the
JROTC Program at Schenectady High School
Savings: $102,000
-
Eliminate the
Chief of Security Position
Savings: $50,000
-
Cut $30,000
Supply Budget
Board members
discussed all of the options. Ron Lindsay did not support
cutting the JROTC program because he was concerned that the
students who signed up for the program or are already involved
will be displaced. Ely explained that the students
enrolled in that program have to choose another elective if the
program is eliminated.
If the chief of
security position is eliminated, Ely said the assistant
superintendent and building principals would be responsible for
dividing the responsibilities. In an unofficial hand
poll, four of the seven members indicated that they are in favor
of eliminating the position.
Diane Herrmann
requested that the superintendent provide more detailed
information on the school safety officers in the district
including the number of officers in the buildings and an outline
of the district's needs. "Do we need all of them at this
point in time," asked Herrmann.
Jeff
Janiszewski said he is not in favor of cutting the chief of
security position or any security officer position. "We
don't have enough security officers in the buildings," said
Janiszewski.
Herrmann also
asked about retirement incentives. Ely said he cannot make
recommendations until the district receives information from the
Teachers Retirement System (TRS). He explained that it is
less expensive to pay new teachers at $40,00 than seasoned
teachers who earn $90,000. He did note that some of the
teachers just don't want to retire.
Andrew Chestnut
raised questions about auditing costs and asked for a breakdown
of expenses. He said he was particularly interested
in the internal auditing expenses and wonders if the district
can experience cost savings if the audit responsibilities are
done in-house.
The Board of
Education will wait for answers to their questions before making
definitive cuts. Members are expected to make the
decisions at the next meeting. Herrmann said she wants the
board to cut to a level that will take the budget below the
contingency cap. If the board adopts a budget that is
equal to the contingency budget, the impact on the tax levy will
be 2.96%. That is assuming all else stays the same,
including the decision to use the fund balance as outlined in
the last proposal.
Ely suggested
that the board discuss fund balance further at the next meeting.
The budget
discussions will continue on Tuesday, June 22 at 7 p.m. in the
Schenectady High School Black Box Theatre.
.....................................................................................
Budget Vote Results
June 15
The
Schenectady City School District
Budget proposal was defeated a
second time.
Yes votes: 856
No votes: 954
The Board of Education is now required
to adopt a contingency budget. The
Board meets on Wed., June 16 at
Sch'dy High School.
8 pm: Canvass of returns.
The Board is expected to discuss
contingency and next steps.
.....................................................................................
School Board Makes Cuts,
Adopts Budget
Taxpayers will head to polls
for revote on June 15
The
Schenectady City School District Board of Education agreed to
make additional cuts and voted to put forth a revised spending
plan for taxpayers to consider on June 15.
Board members
worked until nearly 11 p.m. Wednesday evening reviewing possible
reductions and ways to decrease the impact on the tax levy.
In the end, they cut $325,300 from the original
$161,605,468 spending plan that was
voted down on May 18 and lowered the tax levy increase from
nearly 6% to 4%.
The new spending plan of $161,280,168
reflects a .4% spending increase over the current year, and
carries a tax levy increase of 4.05%.
Reductions
The Board of Education made
the following cuts (in addition to the
original cuts totaling more than $5 million) from the
budget:
|
Eliminate Assistant Superintendent for Business
Position |
$150,000 |
|
Eliminate Meeting and Staff Development
Refreshments |
$
2,500 |
|
Eliminate Head Groundskeeper Position (Currently
Vacant) |
$
65,000 |
|
Eliminate Math/Science Instructional Coaches |
$
65,000 |
|
Eliminate Grade Level Leader Stipends |
$
34,800 |
|
Eliminate the Pupil Personnel Services (PPS) Liaison |
$
65,000 |
|
Reduce Board of Education Budget |
$
5,000 |
|
Reduce Consultant Budget |
$
50,000 |
|
Eliminate Instructional Technology (IT) Stipend |
$
18,000 |
|
Total Savings |
$455,300 |
The Board of
Education agreed to restore the following positions:
(1) Full-Time
Foreign Language Position at Central Park
$65,000
(1) Family and Consumer Science Position at SHS
$65,000
Board members
also reversed the decision they made Monday to cut a .2 piano
position. They agreed to
continue to fund the
position.
|
Savings |
$
455,300 |
|
Positions Restored |
$
130,000 |
|
Total
New Reductions |
$
325,300 |
The
Board of Education also agreed with Superintendent Eric Ely's
recommendation on Monday night to pay off debt early which would
increase revenue by $660,000. This directly helps decrease
the impact on the levy.
Snapshot
| |
Budget adopted for the 2009-10 school year |
Budget proposed for the 2010-11 school year |
Contingency budget for the 2010-11 school year |
|
Total Budget Amount |
$160,624,500 |
$161,280,168 |
$160,708,288 |
|
Increase/Decrease for the 2010-11 School Year |
|
$ 655,668 |
$ 83,788 |
|
Percentage Increase/Decrease in Each Proposed Budget |
|
0.41% |
0.05% |
|
Change in Consumer Price Index |
|
-0.4% |
|
|
Resulting Estimated Property Tax levy for the
2010-11 School Year |
$ 52,153,027 |
$ 54,266,860 |
$ 53,694,980 |
If the budget
is defeated on June 15, the school district will be required to
cut an additional $571,880 and operate under a contingency
budget effective July 1, 2010. In addition to making
additional cuts, the district will be restricted on some
spending and will be required to charge outside and community
groups for use of school building, sports fields and all
district facilities.
The budget
hearing will be held June 8. Taxpayers will head to
the polls to vote on the new spending plan on June 15.
.......................................................................
Other
reductions in the 2010-2011 spending plan that were included
in the original plan that was voted
down on May 18. These items remain cut from the budget:
|
Savings |
Action |
|
$
905,000 |
Blodgett Elementary School will close.
The school will be converted to an academy for
middle school students (grades 7 & 8) with a
technology-driven instructional approach. The
program will provide intervention and
supplementation. Funding for the new program
will come from the Contract for Excellence and
grants. |
|
$900,000 |
Instructional Coach Positions will be eliminated.
These positions are filled by 14 master teachers who
will return to the classroom next year. The
temporary teachers currently filling those classroom
teaching positions will not be invited back.
|
|
$450,000 |
30
Paraprofessional Positions will be eliminated.
This cut should not result in job loss but will be
accomplished through attrition. Vacant
positions will not be filled. |
|
$208,000 |
Middle
School will be reduced by 3.2 teachers. These
positions have not yet been identified. |
|
$130,000 |
2
Foreign Language teaching positions will be
eliminated. This will result in the loss of 2
jobs. |
|
$130,000 |
The
high school Family and Consumer Science program will
be eliminated. This includes two positions but
will not result in job loss. One position will
be absorbed through attrition. The other will
be reassigned to a middle level vacancy. |
|
$65,000 |
1
Behavior Specialist Position will be eliminated.
This will not result in job loss. The position
is currently vacant and will not be filled. |
|
$15,000 |
The
Freshmen Basketball Program will be eliminated. |
|
$30,000 |
1
Secretarial Position is being eliminated. This
will not result in job loss. A current vacancy
will not be filled. |
|
$65,000 |
The
Advanced Placement Program at Schenectady High
School will be reduced by 1 teacher. |
|
$260,000 |
4
secondary teachers will be funded in other ways for
high school restructuring. This will not
result in job loss. |
|
$65,000 |
1
clerical position in the business office is being
eliminated. This will not result in job loss.
A current vacancy will not be filled. |
|
$150,000 |
The
Young Scholars Program, currently purchased through
BOCES will be discontinued. The district will
allocate $50,000 to create a new program within the
schools. |
|
$468,742 |
The
district is changing the health insurance HMO's from
"community rated" to "experience rated" plans.
|
|
$732,000 |
With
the closing of the Albany charter school in June,
the district anticipates two-thirds of the students
will return to the district and result in savings. |
|
$50,000 |
The
district is reducing the duplicating, mailing and
newsletter budgets. |
|
$500,000 |
The
Operations and Maintenance Department will reduce
spending on personnel, supplies, materials and
overtime. |
|
$24,000 |
Strategic Planning allocation to buildings will be
reduced by $24,000 |
|
$5,147,742 |
|
Back
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Back
. . . . .
Budget Updates
Original Budget Proposal
(May 18)
Exit Poll
Results
(May 18)
Budget Glossary of Terms
Election
& Budget Dates
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