03-16-2001 What to budget, what to bond.?

In light of a state-mandated survey that revealed the need for more than $36 million in school renovations, Bedford Central School Board members have questioned the $115,000 requested by school administrators for capital projects in next year's budget.

The issue was first raised by School Board Member Elin Sullivan at the board's budget workshop on Saturday, March 3, at Fox Lane Middle School.

The school administration recommended a $70.3 million budget for next year representing a proposed budget- to-budget increase of 6.88 percent. However, a list of possible reductions was also submitted, that Bruce Dennis, schools superintendent, said he could not recommend, but which would bring the budget increase down to 5.5 percent, which is what the school board requested. The final proposed budget will be submitted to the voters on May 15.

Estimated tax increases

A 5.5 percent budget increase would mean a tax rate increase of 4.97 percent for Bedford, 4.5 percent increase for Pound Ridge and a reduction of 5.23 percent for Mount Kisco.

A 6.88 percent budget increase would mean a tax rate increase of 6.54 percent for Bedford, a 6.07 percent increase for Pound Ridge and a decrease of 3.81 percent for Mount Kisco.

School Board President Dot Fallon and Finance Committee Chairman Mark Slivka both said that they were satisfied that the board's setting of a 5 ' 5 percent cap on the budget-to budget increase had forced more prioritization of budget items and given the board more control over rising expenditures.

However, several members of the board criticized the lack of inclusion of any major capital improvement projects in the budget.

"It seems to me that the budget figures for capital maintenance and renovations are extremely small," Ms. Sullivan said.

No capital projects included

Assistant Superintendent Mark Betz responded that no major capital projects were budgeted in light of the soon- to -be-proposed capital projects bond issue.

Mr. Betz acknowledged that, "At one time, our capital projects budget was at $1.2 million or $1 million annually. We need to regroup to get back on that track."

The administrator said that it was up to the board whether or not to include all of the expansion and renovation work in the bond issue in order to hold the operating budget down.

"In many ways, its like working with half a loaf of bread," said Mrs. Fallon. "We can't consider the budget without considering the bond issue. Some things revealed in the buildings survey clearly do not need to be bonded."

Mel Comberiati, a school board member, said that he thought it was unwise to plan the budget based on passage of the bond issue.

"The $115,000 figure (for capital improvements) is unacceptable," he said. "It has to be a real number."

Long-term commitment

"As board members, we've made a long-term commitment to keeping this area budgeted," Dr. Comberiati said, asking that the capital improvements budget be "beefed up."

"Don't we have to do a lot more work on determining the size of the bond issue before we can determine these figures for the budget?" asked School Board Member Nancy Stein.

"I think we have to do that," Mrs. Fallon responded.

The board is scheduled to start holding public hearings on the advisory committee's recommendations on April 18 with a decision on the final amount of the bond issue not expected untilJune 20.

The school board is scheduled to adopt its proposed budget for next year on April 4, with the budget voted slated for May 15.

Board Member Paula Kumar suggested that there might be more money available for capital projects in the following year's budget since next year is the last year for large expenditures in technology and for the creation of a ninth teaching team at the middle school.

"I'm not convinced that we'll ever get a break in any year to have more money for capital projects," Ms. Sullivan said.

Mr. Slivka said that it would take $20 million to take care of the first and second priority renovations that were identified in the state-mandated building survey, to which Dr. Comberiati responded that it would be a "bad approach" to expect the bond issue to solve the entire problem.

Board requests capital projects

At that point Mrs. Fallon asked Mr. Betz to come back to the board with a list of capital projects that he would have asked for if the bond issue was not going to be proposed later this year.

Dr. Comberiati proposed that some of these items could be covered in a second proposition to be put on the ballot on May 15, a suggestion that was concurred to by Ms. Sullivan and Mr. Slivka, with the finance committee chairman recommending that the highest priority items be addressed first.

Dr. Dennis said that meeting the board's financial goal of a budget-to-budget increase of only 5.5 percent was "extraordinarily difficult for a number of reasons" not the least of which is, that a 5.3 percent increase is required just to move our current program forward. 

"Contractually negotiated salary increases, rapidly rising health care costs, escalating fuel prices and adjustments in overtime and other costs to match actual current expenditures resulted in a $3.46 million increase over our 2000-01 budget before we even examined needs related to enrollment growth or program expansion we consider  warranted," Dr. Dennis said.

                                           Current program cost increases

Dr. Dennis listed currently required cost increases that were necessary to meet the district's existing program including:

$1,226,000 in certified salary increases;

- $662,700 in CSEA salary increase s, with a new contract currently under negotiation;

- a $950,000 increase in health benefit payments, mostly for prescription drugs;

-$160,000 in additional Social Security (FICA) payments;

- $245,000 in transportation and custodial overtime salaries to match current expenditures and program requirements;

- a $150,000 increase in heating fuel costs for oil and gas;

- $140,000 in additional contract transportation;

- $73,500 in additional bus fuel charges;

- $127,000 in financial and student software upgrades; and

- $19,000 for insurance.

                                      Program expansions recommended

Dr. Dennis then went on to list the following expenditures that he believed were justified "to meet fully the needs of our students in the 2001-02 school year" beyond the costs associated with continuing the current program. They included:

-creation of five additional elementary sections to meet anticipated enrollments and fulfill the board's class size policy.

-the addition of 5.77 teaching positions at fox Lane Middle School to meet a 6.5 percent increase in student enrollment and enable the creation of the ninth and final team. 

- incremental staff time increases at Fox Lane High School, amounting to a net gain of 2.4 positions, to meet a 6.2 percent enrollment increase, student course scheduling requests and state mandated academic intervention services;

- the addition of a database manager to handle the proliferation of state mandated and other academic testing data:

- the third year of a planned computer lease;

- the expansion of the summer academy to provide needed remediation and academic intervention services;

- a gifted and talented program;

 a part-time elementary health education teacher to comply with state requirements;

- the expansion of the middle/high school mathematics coordinator's time to include math K-12;

- the expansion of the Bedford Hills Elementary School's psychologist's position to full-time; and

- the addition of two full-time certified occupation therapist assistants to meet the needs of special education students.

                                               "Red-pencil reductions"

After meeting with the school district's principals and "considerably paring down their requests for next year," Dr. Dennis said that he and central office administrators "red-penciled a number of our other expenditures to move us closer to the board's 5.5 percent goal.

"Some of the reductions we made were rather radical for us, while others were prompted by program reconfigurations or other internal adjustments," he said.

The "red-pencil reductions" brought the school administration's budget down to a budget-to-budget increase of 6.88 percent, or $70,359,031, as compared to $65,830,008 budgeted for this year. The reductions included:

- elimination of all contingent staff positions for next year;

- reduction of the summer academy and gifted and talented programs;

- elimination of three assistant coaching positions from the athletic budget;

- paring down middle school intramurals;

- a reduction of bus purchases from the equipment budget;

- elimination of a special education instructional assistant and three one to-one aides through an elementary school program reorganization; 

- a reduction of full-time to halftime for special education teachers on all ninth grade humanities teams. 

The budget with these "red-pencil reductions" was the one that Dr. Dennis said he believed the district needed "to operate our schools next year in the manner the board and community have come to expect."  

Further reductions suggested 

"Nonetheless, we have taken the board's direction to come in at 5.5 percent seriously," he said. "To reach that level, however, will require reductions that I am unable to recommend, but have assembled for the board7s consideration. 

"Each would, in my view, have a deleterious effect on some aspect of the district's operation," but it would be possible to run the school district without them. They included: 

- a reduction of four tuitions in the BOCES Walkabout Program, saving $60,772;

- a reduction of the district's newsletters from six to three, saving $15,000; 

- a reduction of the summer academy to last summer's offering level, saving $26,000; 

- holding the Mount Kisco Elementary School's fourth grade to three sections instead of four, saving $65,000; 

- holding the Bedford Village Elementary School's second grade to three sections instead of four, saving $65,000; 

- reducing Team 11 at West Patent Elementary School from six sections to five, saving $65,000; 

- a reduction of the staff development/curricular writing/professional travel and conference budget, saving $50,000; 

- elimination of the proposed database manager and transition half‑time clerical support~ saving $ 100,000; 

- a reduction of one-third of district equipment requests, exclusive of buses, computers and purchases needed for additional class sections created to meet enrollment, saving $80,000; 

- elimination of the purchase of new buses, $218,000; and 

- the elimination of the third computer lease, $200,000. 

Class sizes at or near Limit 

Holding down the number of class sections at the West Patent, Bedford Village and Mount Kisco Elementary Schools would bring class sizes up to or in some cases one student over the school board's class size guidelines. Dr. Dennis stated that if the board decided to do this, it should be prepared to "tough it out." 

Dr. Dennis stated that these targeted reductions amounted to a total of $944,772 and would bring the proposed budget to budget increase down to 5.5 percent, or $69,450,658 as compared to $65,830,008 budgeted for this year.