WV School Board approves proposed budget

The Warwick Valley School District’s Board of Education approved the administration’s $95 million proposed budget for the 2019-2020 school year at its regular monthly meeting held April 25.
The budget of $95,089,284 reflects a spending increase of 2.45 percent – $2,269,535 – and an increase of 2.69 percent increase to the tax levy – $1,648,633 (below the allowable tax cap of 2.85 percent).
Later this month, district voters will be weighing two propositions in addition to the budget: the election of trustees for three open school board seats, and a proposition to buy six buses to replace aging vehicles its fleet.
School board candidatesThere are three candidates running for the three open BOE seats: Eilleen Gagliano, Denise Ginley, and Keith Parsons – all incumbents.
School board members are volunteers who serve three-year terms.
Voters who are interested in learning more about the candidates should go to the district’s website: www.warwickvalleyschools.com .
BusesThe new buses will cost $608,000, using a combination of the district’s reserve and New York State transportation aid, and will include:
• Three 65-passenger propane powered buses;
• One 21-passenger bus with wheelchair lift;
• One 29-passenger bus; and
• One 65-passenger trip bus with air conditioning and storage for athletic equipment/musical instruments.
Polling districtsThere are three polling locations in the WVCSD: District 1, at the Pine Island Firehouse; District 2, at the Dorothy C. Wilson Education Center; District 3, at Kings Elementary School.
Three-part budgetThe school budget comprises three constituent parts:
• Program. The majority of the budget, or more than 77 percent, which includes teaching staff salaries and benefits, teacher aides, monitors and nurses, in-service training, library costs, transportation, co-curricular programs and interscholastic athletics;
• Administrative. At more than 10 percent, this includes salaries and benefits of all full-time professional staff members of the administration, finance and supervision (it also includes clerical staff, public information, curriculum development and supervision, research, planning and evaluation, legal services and school board related costs);
• Capital, slightly greater than 12 percent, and includes operations and maintenance, security, budgeted capital projects, tax refunds, principal and interest on debt and installment purchases and leases.
Program for the 2019-2020 budget is $73,426,441; administrative is budgeted at $9,922,053; capital is budgeted at $11,740,790.
RevenueAbout 66 percent of the school district’s revenue comes from property taxes; Albany provides the district nearly 28 percent of its funding in the form of New York State aid; a combination of non-tax sources, such as tuition-paying students and real estate rental income from district properties provide much of the rest of the district’s revenue, 3.78 percent; the remainder – coming mainly from the library bond tax and WV’s appropriated fund balance – makes up 2.31 percent.
Finding ways to reduce costsThe district will achieve savings from the following areas:
• Eight teachers have retired, and two will not be replaced;
• Reducing the cost of BOCES contract transportation;
• Bringing CTEC students back in-house from BOCES;
• Reducing the cost of the Teachers’ Retirement System, from 10.63 percent to 9.5 percent
According to Superintendent Dr. David Leach, the district will realize a total savings of $1,448,593.
Next Public hearing on proposed budget: May 13, 7 p.m., at the high school.
Vote: May 21, 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.