Bethlehem Central School District is facing a preliminary budget gap of $4.8 million for the 2014-15 school year, but officials are hoping some of that money will be restored in the state budget.
Next year’s budget outlook was presented at the Board of Education meeting held on Wednesday, Feb. 26. Superintendent Tom Douglas said it would look a lot brighter if the state restored nearly $3.5 million being withheld through the gap elimination adjustment.
“In the past, we have been able to do more with less,” said Douglas. “We are now balancing on the point where we might have to do less with less, so we have to be cautious.”
Last year, Bethlehem residents passed the district’s $90.4 million spending plan for the 2013-14 school year by a wide margin. The district did not put forth a budget that would have challenged the state’s tax cap, but voters did pass a 3.6 percent tax levy increase.
At the end of April, members of the Bethlehem school board made last-minute adjustments to the budget. About $221,000 worth of expenses were shifted into the previous year’s budget instead, since District Business Officer Judi Kehoe said BC was expected to finish the 2012-13 year with a surplus.
The board opted to transfer funds from equipment and supply purchases to retain a $100,000 capital improvement project, keep freshman sports and keep one full-time-equivalent hall monitor position and a 0.2 FTE health instructor position in the budget.
At Wednesday’s meeting, Kehoe said the district is able to put forth a 3.12 percent tax levy increase for the 2014-15 school year without exceeding the cap. Next year’s budget is projected to be nearly $95 million.
“We are hoping that with some restoration, and usage of fund balance and tax levy, we will be able to cover the vast majority (of expenses) without further cuts,” said Kehoe. The district has about $1.75 million in fund balance reserves it can use to offset costs for the coming year.
Douglas said the budget increase is mostly due to the fixed rate of retirement costs, which is mandated by the state. He said the district is obligated by law to pay for increases in retirement rates, and said the higher rates should not be blamed on any of the district’s teachers and staff.
According to the superintendent, the strain of the recession and loss of state funds has led to a 16.4 percent loss of staff in recent years. This has led to larger class sizes, trouble balancing class sections, and more travel for staff as they are asked to spend their time between schools.
Douglas said he is hoping the state will finally restore the funds withheld through the Gap Elimination Adjustment, and he called on the community to continue to advocate for New York’s schools.
“We’ve had to rely on our local tax base to make up for what the state had promised us,” he said.
Transportation budget updates
At the meeting, the district also held its first department budget presentations.
Director of Transportation Al Karam said his department had been able to cut costs for parts and supplies, along with operational and garage-building costs. Kehoe said the renewal of the district’s insurance policy also saved $25,000, with $15,000 earned from the sale of several buses.
However, the department’s budget is set to increase by nearly $200,000 because of staff salary increases.
Karam said the department needs little, but called this year “ the season of snow.” He said time and money are being lost having to dig the buses out and asked for $26,000 to purchase a snow removal machine.
“It’s laborious work, and a lot of us are no longer young,” Karam said.
Buses would drive through the machine while it removes ice and snow from the top and sides of the bus, instead of staff having to use long brooms and rakes.
He also asked to consider replacing eight buses. To cut costs, the district went from replacing buses every 10 years to 12 years. Now, the oldest cycle of buses is pushing 17 years and they are sometimes costing the district more than they are worth. The main issue is not the mileage, but rust.
“A lot of the buses may look fine, but what’s going on underneath is different,” Karam said. The newer buses are holding up better because of the bus wash the district purchased in 2007.
School Board Member Caitrin Navarro commended Karam and the transportation department’s work over recent years to revamp their procedures and find ways to cut costs.
“I think your department is the one that’s gotten it right,” she said. “People may have been ticked off because of the decisions made, but it helped the district a lot, and we kept programs because of that.”
Navarro was referring to the decision to implement the use of centralized bus stops and to lengthen the distance some students were asked to walk to school. Some parents were unhappy with the decision because of safety reasons, and some still are.
At the end of the meeting, Mario Cometti, the parent of an elementary school student, asked for the positions of the community stops be reevaluated after a “reckless driver” passed a school bus and nearly hit his daughter. Cometti said the district dealt with his concerns with “great responsiveness,” but was wondering if the board was asking too much of Karam and cutting costs in the wrong places.
“Less books won’t end in a loss of life,” said Cometti.