Board Puts $82 Million School Budget in Public's Hands

With a slightly brighter financial forecast, enrollment numbers slated to continue decreasing and the threat of a 2 percent cap looming for next year, school officials took the first step in wrapping up this year’s budget process Tuesday.

Brewster Central School District’s Board of Education adopted an $82,068,776 budget, with two amendments, for the 2011-2012 school year. The decision translates to an approximate 3.6 percent tax levy increase and a negative budget change of 0.5 percent.

“If that 2-percent cap comes in, I want to make sure that it’s off of a number that I can work with next year as well,” Board Vice President Joseph Charbonneau said before the board made the unanimous vote.

Earlier in the meeting, Deputy Superintendent Timothy Conway explained that because officials slowed spending earlier this school year in preparation of a tough economic situation, the district is looking at an estimated fund balance that is approximately $400,000 more than initially anticipated. With the additional $430,000 the district is slated to receive in state aid, officials are working with an amount of money significantly higher than the figures they used to draft the original budget options. 

“We didn’t change [options] A, B and C from what we’ve been talking about for the last six weeks, in terms of the spending, but what we did was, we took a look at what is it going to mean for the tax payer,” Conway said.

The extra funds will go toward decreasing the tax levy. The tax levy increase for option A, which was originally around 4.6 percent, is now similar to the original middle option B. Superintendent Dr. Jane Sandbank recommended the former, based on the change in financials and community feedback: 54 percent of 614 survey respondents voted for it. 

She said that the staffing follows the students’ needs. Enrollment is slated to decline in the upcoming years, as it has since 2003, when the district housed more than 3,700. Today that number is around 3,400. 

“The cuts that we’ve been talking about are cuts we’re trying to link as carefully as possible to a decline in enrollment,” Board President Dr. Stephen Jambor said.

In a 6-1 vote, the body approved an amendment that restored a reading teacher. 

“It is my feeling that these are the basic building blocks, and if we can give those kids a little boost up, it’s going to cost us less in the long run,” Trustee Alberta Kozma said, prompting the audience to break into applause.

In a 7-0 vote, the board amended the option A budget to include the restoration of a school resource officer.

“I know what’s out there, you know what’s out there,” Trustee A. Gerald Schramek, a member of the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office, said. “I wholeheartedly support the re-institution of these positions."

Budget Breakdown

-Athletic programs are slated to lose $60,000 next year. Parents and officials have already joined forces and starting ways to offset the loss.

-The school safety officer at Garden Street will be cut, saving $80,000.  The majority of the board felt that the service would be a redundancy, given the presence of the .

-In total, the district would let go 15.9 instructional full-time equivalents (FTE) under the adopted budget, as well as 7 non-instructional FTE. Officials have stressed that those figures are not truly reflective of the number of people affected, as one FTE could consist of multiple part-time employees. 

-If the budget passes, class sizes would range from 22 to 27 students in kindergarten through grade eight, and 25 to 30 in high school.

The board will host a public hearing May 10, with the vote scheduled for May 17.