Warwick school board approves proposed $80M budget for 2012-13
By Abby Wolf WARWICK In a unanimous decision, the Warwick Valley School Board approved its proposed $80+ million budget for the coming school year at the regular monthly meeting on Monday night.
The boards vote was anticlimactic, coming as it did after the teachers union voted late last month to make salary and benefit concessions in their contract.
The accord – teachers will forego raises and contribute more for their health care - will save the district nearly $1 million ($992,528, to be exact), according to the districts Web site, and will go a long way toward closing the $3.2 million budget shortfall.
According to a statement from Schools Superintendent Dr. Raymond Bryant (and also posted on the districts Web site), the agreement allows the school district to continue to offer full-day Kindergarten, keep 4th and 5th grade band and strings and saves an additional 6 to 8 teaching positions.
The school board formally approved a memorandum of agreement between it and the Warwick Valley Teachers Association, effective from April 17, 2012, through June 30, 2015, that ratifies the teachers concessions.
Bryant and the board acknowledged the teachers, thanking them for their concessions, noting that the budget would not have been approved (things) wouldve been a lot worse.
Budget break-down Although the proposed budget is up 1.75 per cent from this year, and has an increase in the tax levy of 2.7 per cent, the budget is compliant with New York States new tax levy limit requirements, according to Bryant.
More than 78 per cent of the budget is allocated to program, which includes teacher salaries and benefits; textbooks, materials and equipment; extracurricular activities; athletics; BOCES programs; and transportation costs (excluding bus purchases).
Capital makes up the next-largest portion of the budget, at around 12 per cent, which covers salaries and benefits of maintenance and custodial staff; bus purchases; utilities; debt service on buildings; tax certs and other court-ordered costs.
Finally, nearly 9.5 per cent is dedicated to administrative costs: salaries and benefits of administrators and administrative clerical staff; staff development; tax collection; legal and auditing costs; communications; central data processing; and school board costs.
In addition to the teachers concessions, the following reductions were made:
Reduction in instructional staff, due to declining enrollment - $1,129,540
Reduction in non-instructional staff - $36,465
Reduced district contributions to employee benefits - $430,310
Reduced transportation costs via expanded boundaries - $116,916
Athletic budget reductions - $50,693
Reduced chaperone budget - $17,400
Cuts to materials/supplies - $500,000
Two propositions In addition to the budget, voters will be asked to approve two propositions: the first concerns the purchase of buses for the fleet and related equipment, at a maximum cost of $530,000.
The district anticipates receiving more than half that amount in state aid, however; the board estimates the final cost to be about $253,000, with three older, high-mileage buses to be used as trade-ins to bring the cost down further.
The second proposition concerns extending transportation boundaries and consolidating bus stops where safe and feasible: transportation for students in grades K-5 who live beyond 3/10 of a mile, and grades 6-12 who live beyond 5/10 of a mile, in order to realize a cost savings of more than $117,000.
Public comment One parent took issue with the bus stop proposition: Mike Pellino said he didnt think there were enough kids to justify the change in bus stops, and raised safety concerns that he felt outweighed any cost savings.
Bryant said that the minimum distances define which students are eligible for transportation, and noted that the savings come from, for example, several kids living in a neighborhood on a cul-de-sac where a bus wouldnt have to stop as often under the proposed change.
That $100,000 savings means a teacher doesnt lose (his or her) job, Bryant said, then asked everyone in the community to do their part to make the budget work.
The proposed transportation boundaries, he added, are not meant to create unsafe walking distances.
Other business The board received letters from the board of D.I.R.T. – the proposed charter school – regarding renting the old Pine Island Elementary School building, as well as from residents concerned about the elimination of the business program at the high school.
The Warwick Valley Community Coalition will host its second annual prescription pill drop-off in coordination with the DEA on April 28, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Caboose.
The district will hold a budget hearing on Monday, May 7, at 7 p.m., Dorothy C. Wilson Education Center.
School budget vote and BOE elections are scheduled for Tuesday, May 15, from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., at Pine Island Elementary School building; Dorothy C. Wilson Education Center; and Kings Elementary School.