RSS 2.0 FeedMarch 10, 2011, Freeport-Baldwin Leader
Freeport’s school board dissects 11-12 budget
Budget details discussed.
The details of Freeport's $149,787,547 budget was the chief focus of the March 2 Freeport school board meeting. The total is a 2.39% increase over last year, and includes reductions of 26 positions – three administrators, 14 teachers, 8 teachers aides and one office staff member.
After thanking everyone involved for their efforts, Superintendent Dr. Kishore Kuncham turned presentation of the budget’s component parts – administrative, program and capital – over to assistant superintendent Dr. Kenneth Rodgers.
The administrative component will see a rise of $498.785, or 2.98% for a total of $17,223,766. The largest portion of this is employee benefits (pensions and healthcare) of $410,591 and “Supervision – regular school” of $130,000, a large portion of which will go to extra security personnel and contractually mandated increases in security costs.
Some portion of this will be offset by a central services reduction of one position ($41,975) and $7,000 for the removal of the district clerk’s stipend.
The largest part of the budget is the Program component, weighing in at $116,928,375, an increase of $2,382,549 or 2.8%. The largest portions of that were employee benefits, going up $1,546.978, or 6.54%, and children with disabilities and special ed, rising $1.3 million or 6.84%.
Reductions will be seen in the budget lines for professional development ($30,000 less) and a reduction of $646,214 in pupil transportation expenses – a reduction that Dr. Rodgers attributed to improved routing, efficiencies and a decline in transportation for private and parochial schools.
Teaching and Textbooks, the largest portion of this component at $50,707,563, would see an increase of only 0.22%, attributable in part to reductions in textbook expenditures and a $600,000 reduction connected with the restructuring of pre-kindergarten.
The capital component (maintenance of the schools) will see an increase of $620,186, or 4.13%, to $15,635,406. The chief culprits are once again employee benefits, $334,477 and an appropriation of $131,000 to pay the Nassau County sewer tax – the audience was reminded that the district is joining a group of other schools in seeking relief from this tax in the courts.
Special project allotment is increasing $14,000 to $86,850, to be allotted to the following projects: the gymnasium floor at Columbus, carpet, security lighting and floor work at Archer, parking lots and security lighting at Giblyn, storm drains and a fence at Atkinson, a kitchen ceiling at Dodd and flooring and parking lots at the high school.
The audience was also reminded of the capital reserve fund expenditures (which will not effect the tax levy) that will also be on the May 17 ballot. A new item has been added to the list – locker replacement at Dodd. Other projects on that list are windows at Dodd, HVAC at the high school auditorium, boiler work at Atkinson, and parking fields, sidewalks and lavatories at Bayview.
In public comment, Al Renken summarized the increase in expenditures over recent years and warned the board it would have to either freeze salaries or reduce staff “or there will be more unemployed.” Board President Debra McQuillan responded that the teachers in Freeport had co-operated with the district in terms of salaries.
Nadine Burnett spoke as a parent with children entering pre-kindergarten age soon, and wants to known how pre-K restructuring “would effect me and my property values.” Dr. Kuncham reassured her, “We would never dismantle pre-K,” and that the plan was to restructure pre-K by asking for bids for services through a nonprofit agency or university.
Odette Wallace wanted to know more about BOCES’ role in the schools, specifically why the district did not run its own summer school last year (summer school could be done through BOCES for less money).
Dr. Kuncham explained that the Board of Co-operative Educational Services is financed by the school districts and has a board selected by the districts (including Ron Ellerbe from Freeport’s board) and enables schools to join together to provide supplies and services on a more cost-effective basis than individual schools could achieve by themselves. Boces can also offer enriched, additional instruction (an aviation class, for example) that school districts could not afford alone.
The board met again Wednesday, March 9, the next of many importtant upcoming meetings: Wednesday, March 23 – a budget presentation; Wednesday, April 6 – a budget workshop/planning/action meeting; Wednesday, April 13 – action meeting and budget adoption; Wednesday, April 27 – action meeting and BOCES administrative operations and trustee election, Wednesday, May 4, budget public hearing and planning meeting, all leading up to the May 17 vote.
