District unveils $75.4 million budget for 2007-08

Warwick— Dr. Frank Greenhall presented his first budget as superintendent of Warwick schools Monday night, a spending plan of $75,416,641. This is an increase of 5.09 percent over the budget adopted by the school board last year. The increase is predominately in the base budget, with over $2 million in contract salaries and benefits. Add to that BOCES costs, increases in utilities, supplies and expenses, and the base budget is expected to rise 5.05 percent or $3.6 million. The staffing part of the budget is virtually stagnant. The addition of a nurse for St. Stephen’s School two days a week is 60 percent, or $15,103, of the $27,869 increase in this part of the budget. The remainder, totaling $12,766, is the result of adjustments in the number of hours for part-time security aides at the high school, a Pine Island aide, and an aide in the high school time-out room. Personnel requests made to the superintendent totaled over $1.8 million and included 21 additional teachers, greeters, office personnel, a lacrosse coach, and others. Only the nurse at St. Stephen’s was included in the proposed budget. “Because of the demographics, we are not growing,” said Greenhall, pointing to decreasing enrollment projections over the next five years. Greenhall noted that savings have been made over last year’s budget since it was adopted by the board. For example, instead of hiring a custodian, as was the plan last year, the district contracted out garbage hauling and moved the employee who handled that to the open custodial position. Contracting out the trash hauling saved the district over $70,000. After reviewing staffing at both the middle school and the high school, some shifting and more efficient scheduling allowed the district to reduce two teaching positions. Parts from the no-longer needed garbage truck were used to repair a snow removal vehicle, saving the district from purchasing a new one, which is not allowed under a contingency budget, anyway. Even smaller steps, such as reviewing the mailings of codes of conduct and calendars, have resulted in savings to the district. A new administrative contract was negotiated, requiring all new administrators to pay a percentage of their health benefits. Fulfilling a promise made in May, the district held a legislative summit in October, pushing for changes in how education is funded in Albany and Washington. As part of his presentation, Greenhall showed a year-to-year budget history. In the past 16 years, only four budgets have passed on the first vote, and they were four of the six highest increases during that time. Warwick is currently under an austerity budget. And while Greenhall does not want to think that this budget, which he calls “status quo,” will not be adopted by the district voters, he talked about that possibility. The state education department sets the cap on budgets, basing that cap on the consumer price index. If that cap is 3 percent over last year’s budget, $1.6 million will have to be cut from this proposal, Greenhall said. “That is the equivalent of 16 teachers,” he said. “That would be devastating.” He said the teaching staff would not necessarily be where the cuts would come from. Four percent, or $998,729, would be easier to live with, but would still cut into what is in place already since no new staffing or programs were added. The state will give that number within the next few weeks, according to Greenhall. This is the very beginning of the public budget process. Two more work sessions are scheduled on Feb. 26 and March 19, both at the Dorothy C. Wilson Education Center at 7:30 p.m. On April 16, the school board will adopt the proposed budget to present to the voters. A public hearing takes place on May 7 at 7 p.m., and the budget vote is slated for May 15. This will be the only budget vote initiated by the school board.