Florida, Greenwood Lake working on 2006-07 school budgets

Districts throughout the county are working on their school budgets, which will go to the voters on May 16. Most districts are holding work sessions, paring down the proposals before they are ready for public hearings. The Florida School District is working on a $15,129,525 budget, up 5.23 percent over last year’s spending. Some of the biggest jumps in the budget include transportation, which is up 9 percent over last year’s. Workers’ compensation is up 12.70 percent. Teachers’ retirement is scheduled to increase 14.55 percent. The total teaching line item, which includes salaries and equipment for regular, occupational and special schools is jumping 5.65 percent over last year’s budget. Co-curricular services, which include chaperones and class and club advisors, is going up 10.86 percent. Some areas are lower than last year. The instructional media budget is dropping 5.03 percent. The interscholastic athletics budget is down .44 percent. Unemployment insurance costs have dropped 20 percent and the district’s debt service is down a little less than half a percent. In addition to budgets, voters in Florida will elect two board members. In Greenwood Lake, Superintendent John Guarracino said the goal right now is to get the 2006-07 budget to come in at about $19.2 million, which would be an increase of between six and seven percent over last year’s budget. Right now, without the Tuxedo tuition students, the budget is up 5.5 percent, Guarracino said. With the high school students, that jumps to 8 percent. “We’re doing our best to hold it down,” said Guarracino. “We’re looking at all the revenues. We’re using our budget workshops to look at what can be cut and what’s absolutely necessary.” The final budget figures will be available by the end of April. Three Board of Education seats are up for grabs in Greenwood Lake.