Budget Q&A
Tuesday, June 16 • 6 a.m.-8 p.m.
Budget Revote
C
Q: A:
ommunity members have raised a number of questions about the June 16 budget revote in Broadalbin-Perth. This document is intended to address those questions.
local tax levy or decrease expenditures. Broadalbin-Perth has done both in the proposed revised budget. District officials began formulating a 2009-10 budget by starting with a “rollover” of the 2008-09 budget that maintained all existing programs and staff based on next year’s projected costs. They then included $1.3 milion in cuts in the budget proposal that residents rejected on May 19. District officials have since made additional cuts, so the revised budget that residents will consider on June 16 includes a total of $1.4 million in reductions. Even with these cuts, the revised budget is $513,239 more than the 2008-09 budget, and would increase the local tax levy by $1.16 million, for a projected tax rate increase of between 9.2 and 11.8 percent. Much of the district’s proposed spending increase will go toward fulfilling employee contractual obligations, and to cover the rising cost of health insurance, fuel and utilities. If taxes keep going up, won’t people move out of the district? Even with the proposed tax rate increase, Broadalbin-Perth residents still have one of the lowest tax rates in the area – and the state. Regionally, B-P school taxes are approximately $400 less than the average tax bill for surrounding school districts. Compared to the tax rates for all public school districts in New York State, Broadalbin-Perth’s 2008-09 tax rate ranked in the 11th percentile. In other words, almost nine of every 10 school districts in New York State have higher school tax rates than Broadalbin-Perth.
Q: Why didn’t the district make more
cuts in the budget?
A: Throughout the budget development
I’ve seen the projected tax levy and tax rate increases as percentages, but what do those numbers mean in terms of real dollars? Under the proposed revised school budget, the tax levy (total amount to be raised by taxes) would increase by 12.73 percent. Because there are nine municipalities (towns and villages) within the district, each with different equalization rates that account for differences in the ways properties are assessed, it might be simpler to think in terms of a property’s true value. Broadalbin-Perth’s true-value tax rate for 2009-10 would be $12.70 per $1,000 of market value, or an increase of $1.34 per $1,000. Thus the owner of a property with a market value of $100,000 could expect to pay $1,270 in school taxes in 2009-10, or an increase of $134 total for the year (or about $11 more a month).
process, the school district received many suggestions from community members regarding areas of the budget that could be reduced or eliminated. Many of those suggestions were adopted, but some were not legally possible, including cuts to special education and employment contracts. Among the community-suggested cuts that district officials could make were reductions in funding for student supplies and office supplies; funding for interscholastic athletics (cut 10 percent) and funding for clubs (50 percent of the district’s clubs were eliminated).
How does spending in BP compare to other districts?
Q:
A: Broadalbin-Perth has historically
Q: Why is the district proposing a
double-digit tax rate increase? Why does the district need so much more this year? Where does the money go?
Q: A:
sources of revenue: state aid and local property taxes. The state has frozen foundation aid – the primary source of state aid that school districts receive – for both the 2009-10 and 2010-11 school years. For Broadalbin-Perth, this freeze translates into a total state aid increase of only 0.41 percent, or $67,946, in 2009-10, even though mandatory expenses continue to rise more than that. The only way the district could make up for this revenue shortfall was to either increase the
A: Broadalbin-Perth has two primary
spent less per pupil than most schools in the area and state. In 2006-07 – the most recent year for which data is available – schools in New York State spent an average of $17,330 per student. That same year, other schools in the area spent an average of $14,000 per student, while Broadalbin-Perth spent $11,842 per student, the second-lowest per-pupil expenditure in the area.
Do we really need all the district administrators that we have?
Q:
A: The 2009-10 revised budget
proposal calls for the elimination of one administrative position at BroadalbinPerth, leaving the district with eight administrators to coordinate services for approximately 2,000 students and to supervise nearly 300 employees. B-P’s four building principals provide instructional leadership to teachers,
coordinate the day-to-day operation of the school, oversee the administration of required state exams and are usually the final authority on student discipline. The eliminated administrative position will result in one person holding the combined post of district athletic director and high school assistant principal. The athletic director oversees the district’s physical education, intramural and interscholastic athletics programs. The assistant principal’s duties include student scheduling, ordering textbooks and supplies, coordinating support staff and handling student discipline and attendance issues. The director of special programs oversees the coordination of services for students with special needs. This includes testing and identifying students with disabilities and providing academic intervention services for struggling students. The director of special programs also coordinates curriculum for all students district-wide At Broadalbin-Perth, the assistant superintendent is also the district’s business manager, responsible for the district’s finances. He also oversees a majority of the district’s non-teaching staff, including the operations and maintenance, food service, technology and transportation staff. The superintendent is responsible for the overall operation of the school district and for making sure the district remains compliant with all state and federal regulations. The superintendent is ultimately accountable for everything that happens in the district. If the school district is in such bad financial shape, why did the Board of Education approve raises for the superintendent and assistant superintendent?
district more than $33,000. In contrast, their individual raises for the 2009-10 school year are less than $3,500. “These days, quality leadership in public schools is hard to come by,” said Board President Sam Jackling. “This district is fortunate to have two talented and dedicated individuals at the top of its leadership structure. If our district doesn’t at least try to keep pace with average salaries for school district leaders, we run the risk of losing them to districts that can offer them more money. A 3 percent raise is a small price to pay to keep Broadalbin-Perth’s leadership intact.” Instead of eliminating teachers, why didn’t the district cut teachers’ salaries and benefits?
Q:
A: All teachers are compensated based
on the contract negotiated through the Broadalbin-Perth Teachers’ Association. Under law, the current contract cannot be altered until it expires in 2012, or unless BPTA representatives choose to open parts of the contract for renegotiation with the district. School districts can eliminate positions, but they cannot change the terms and conditions of an existing contract.
sports programs, and if additional cuts to athletics are made in the future, they may be asked to contribute more to keep programs operational. However, “pay to play” systems are illegal under New York State education law. When assessing funding for extracurricular clubs, the district evaluated clubs based on membership numbers and frequency of meetings and activities. Based on these considerations, the district eliminated 50 percent of extracurricular clubs in the proposed budget. Historically, Broadalbin-Perth has offered a number of courses through which high school students can earn college credit. For many courses – such as the ones affiliated with F-MCC – students must pay the entire tuition. Although the district is responsible for only a small part of the costs associated with these opportunities, the district eliminated four college-level course offerings in the proposed budget in an effort to reduce costs. How much will the new Learning Community and responsive classroom approach cost? Will these take time away from teaching the basics?
Q:
A: The Learning Community has
Why are we paying for sports, clubs and college-level classes?
Q:
A: The district reduced spending in
Q:
A: Neither the superintendent nor
assistant superintendent received a raise for the 2008-09 school year. In April, the Broadalbin-Perth Board of Education unanimously voted to grant both individuals a 3 percent raise for 200910 – which is the lowest salary increase received by any of B-P’s four employee unions under their contracts. In 2008, both the superintendent and assistant superintendent voluntarily switched their health care coverage to a lower-cost plan. Since then, they have saved the
all three of these areas in the original budget proposal, and the reductions were carried over into the revised budget, as well. However, it would be educationally unsound to completely eliminate these opportunities. Research has shown that students who are involved in sports and extra-curricular activities are at a lower risk of dropping out of high school. In addition, many colleges and universities look for participation in sports, extracurriculars and college-level classes when evaluating applicants. In an effort to reduce costs, the district cut funding for interscholastic athletic teams 10 percent across all programs. This cut was made as an alternative to eliminating specific teams or programs in an effort to maintain opportunities for student participation at current levels. Booster clubs raise money to offset the costs of running school
been designed to incur no additional cost to taxpayers. In fact, the district reorganization – of which The Learning Community is part – will likely save money by streamlining operations, such as administering state exams for students in grades 3-8, who will now all be in the same building. In addition, teachers will learn new techniques during their regular, state-mandated professional development sessions, thus incurring no additional costs. At The Learning Community, students will still learn the three R’s and other basics, but the teaching methods used will gradually be changed to be more in line with the responsive classroom approach, which focuses on educating the “whole child.” Research has shown that the responsive classroom approach produces higher test scores. In addition, children taught in responsive classrooms develop more advanced problem-solving and creative-thinking skills and are more adept at working with others toward a common goal – all of which are qualities that 21st-century employers look for in potential employees.