Warwick School Board seeks to establish education foundation
By Abby Wolf WARWICK As it grapples with the budget for the upcoming school year, the Warwick Valley School board revealed at its regular monthly meeting, that it is working on establishing an educational foundation that will raise funds to maintain school programs that may otherwise be cut.
Louise Hutchison, communications specialist for the school district, told of challenging times in the budget process, not only for Warwick, but for school districts across New York state and around the country.
Its not a question of if to cut, but what and how much.
The challenges, she noted, include cuts in state aid, increased fixed costs and unfunded state mandates.
Having a strong school system means a strong community base, she said, adding that people have often moved to Warwick because of its schools.
An educational foundation, she noted, would raise funds to mitigate against expected budget cuts.
Theres a lot of energy (in Warwick), a lot of enthusiasm, a lot of willingness (of community members) to give back, Hutchison said. She cited the Empty Bowls program, FarmAid, and the PTAs as examples.
Getting this foundation off the ground and successful will take the support of the community by publicizing and supporting fund-raising events.
Hutchison added that having a foundation is not such an unusual idea, in that most colleges and many private schools have had similar foundations for a while. She noted that both Port Jervis and Valley Central school districts have formed their own educational foundations.
While such a foundation would have the goals of the board of education in mind, it would be a separate entity, legally and financially, as it would be a 501c (3) (a legal non-profit), and entirely community-driven, under the Community 2000 umbrella.
The proposed foundation would look for sponsors among the business community; eventually, speakers from local businesses might make presentations in the schools, and even offer internships to high school students.
Contract talks According to Superintendent of Schools Dr. Raymond Bryant, the district is in conversation with the teachers union, as both sides discuss the possibility of re-opening previously agreed to contracts, in an effort to help close a more than $3 million budget gap.
The (existing) union contracts are valid, despite a tough economy, Bryant said. Weve been working a long time with the teachers union and have been looking to at salary, benefits, steps . We will have a status report after (the boards) executive session.
Were extremely grateful to the union for their willingness to re-open the contracts, Bryant added.
Tuition sources Bryant said the district will be in discussions with those of its teachers with school-age children who live outside the district, to encourage them to pay tuition to send their kids to Warwick schools. He noted the benefits of doing so would be stability in the number of kids registered at a time of declining enrollment, peace of mind for those teachers (their kids would be close by), and would bring in some much-needed revenue to the district.
There are 12 teachers who would be part of this arrangement.
Budget vote A budget hearing is scheduled for May 7, 2012; voter registration May 8; vote on the budget, propositions and school board members is slated for May 15.
In addition to its budget, the School Board is looking for voter approval to purchase at least five new school buses and related equipment at a maximum cost of $530,000.
The board set the rate of $13.55 an hour for chief election inspectors for the school district vote, and a rate of $11.86 an hour for board of registration workers through June 30, 2012.
Other business The next superintendents community budget forum is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 25, from 9 a.m. to noon at the Dorothy C. Wilson Education Center.
The following students have been named as National Merit Scholarship finalists for 2012: Sarah Angle; Thomas Keane; and Daniel Kim.
The next regular monthly meeting of the School Board will be March 12 at 7 p.m. in the Dorothy C. Wilson Education Center.