Voorheesville district leaders welcomed a much smaller budget gap than in recent years, with next year’s shortage falling to around $71,000. The preliminary budget should total around $23 million.
The Voorheesville Board of Education was presented with the superintendent’s 2015-16 budget at its meeting Monday, March 2, with several community members attending. Interim Assistant Superintendent for Business Sarita Winchell outlined the spending plan, which includes a nearly 1.9 percent property tax levy increase, or about $308,000.
Winchell said the unpredictability of state aid, even more so than in prior years, led district leaders to estimate aid will stay flat. Voorheesville’s projected aid at $5.15 million still falls below levels received in 2007-08
Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s reform agenda, if implemented, would add $1.1 billion of education funding statewide, but several proposals are controversial at each end of the political spectrum in the legislature.
“State aid — this is like playing chicken; who is going to run off the road first,” Winchell said. “But I’m hoping it’s Andrew Cuomo.”
Appropriated fund balance would be remaining flat with $600,000 allocated to help balance the budget.
Several propositions were also proposed to be on the ballot alongside the budget.
Voorheesville is seeking to maintain its bus replacement schedule through purchasing two 66-passenger buses for $230,000. State aid covers approximately 52 percent of these costs.
Closing the school lunch fund deficit, totaling more than $100,000 would be tackled in another proposition. The district is required to receive voter approval to transfer unappropriated fund balance from the general fund to the lunch fund. This would not add to the tax burden since the funds already exist.
District leaders struggled after new federal school lunch guidelines were implement and quickly dropped out of the program, which also withdrew its aid. Federal regulations eventually loosened and the district rejoined the program in September 2014.
An employee paid through the school lunch fund recently signed up for a family health plan, which also drove up costs, according to Winchell.
The final proposition addresses needed repairs at the elementary school footbridge, but school board members are still weighing what option to pursue. Replacing the footbridge with a wooden bridge would cost around $142,000, but a more sturdy galvanized steel bridge would cost $162,000.
“I see this as a safety issue,” said Winchell. “If there is any high water you can’t use that bridge and then you do not have, what I consider, a safe entrance for students coming from that parking lot of the school, because they would be walking along the road.”
To receive state aid on the bridge replacement project, the district is looking to replace several windows at the school, too. A certain portion of the project must tackle work indoors to receive aid, according to the district.
Adding staff
Staffing cuts and program reductions have been emblematic of Guilderland school district’s budget in recent years, but Superintendent of Schools Marie Wiles is proposing a net addition of 12.65 full-time equivalent positions next school year.
Wiles presented her proposed 2015-16 budget at the school board’s meeting Thursday, March 5, which totals $93.3 million and increases spending nearly 1.3 percent. The spending plan hold a 3 percent property tax levy increase, which falls $7,325 below its tax cap limit.
Appropriated fund balance was $500,000 less next school year and totaled $1 million, along with appropriated reserves totaling $210,000.
Despite the net staffing addition, there are some areas of the budget with reductions. A significant savings is projected in its pensions, which is dropping $1.5 million.
District officials are proposing a proposition to address needs in the high school auditorium, football field and track totaling $1.16 million. State aid would cover approximately 65 percent, according to the district.
Voters might notice the proposition looks familiar to what was proposed last year.
“The items in this proposition are the same items presented to the community for public vote back in November 2013,” said Wiles. “While the original proposition failed by 28 votes, the areas of concern in our auditorium and on our athletic field still exist and will need to be addressed.”
The condition of the auditorium is not suitable as a teaching space, according to Wiles. “We have heard from teachers that students have had to use their cell phones for lighting and that is just not acceptable,” she said.
There are safety concerns about the four nearly 30-year-old lighting poles at the football field. The poles are in direct contact with the ground and are not mounted into concrete. District leaders are concerned the poles could fall over, possibility hurting people and damaging property.
