May 13 Budget Update
PRESENTATION
On May 13, Aaron Bochniak, acting superintendent, and Kimberly Lewis, district director of business and finance, presented an update on 2020-2021 Budget development. Since the district relies heavily on Foundation Aid and does not know how much it will be reduced, budget planning and proposals provide for a range of cuts from $2.4 million through $7.5 million. We won’t know exactly how much aid will be reduced until Governor Cuomo releases new state aid runs. In the interim, a budget must be developed and adopted by the board of education on May 20. The budget vote will be held June 9.
Dr. Bochniak highlighted key points in the proposal to the board. While looking for less costly ways of operating and contemplating the reduction of items, positions and services, he stressed that it was important to keep to our vision, values and goals outlined in the Strategic Plan, at the forefront of all decisions. He said that the challenge is to find a way to continue our work, but to operate effectively and more efficiently while keeping our focus on students and teaching and learning. The basic tenets of the proposal keep our focus on the values of equity, collaboration and learning.
The proposal (at the first level of $2.4 million) call for leaving some vacant positions unfilled and re-organizing the Office of Curriculum and Instruction (OCI). With this plan, we would reduce staffing by seven positions (five administrative), but without any staff layoffs.
This would mean that some staff in OCI would be serving the district in other capacities, such as vacancies created by retirements or resignations. The redesign of OCI would include:
- One district director
- Two assistance directors
- Coaches
- Support Staff
They would be responsible for:
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Curriculum and Leadership Support
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Culturally Responsive Education
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Progress Monitoring
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Professional Development
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Instructional Programs
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Instructional Coaching
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Assessments
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After School and Summer Programs
This would require the support or teachers and related service providers across the district. It will also require us to find alternative ways of accomplishing some things.
The proposal also includes:
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Hiring Freeze
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Not Backfilling 12.6 vacant positions ($600K)\
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Reduction in Summer Program Spending ($275K)
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Reduction in Professional Development ($275K)
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Decrease in Software & Database Subscriptions ($100K)
Again, with this proposal, there would be no staff layoffs.
Efforts have been around exploring a wide variety of options, and thinking creatively, to ensure our work can be done in different ways in order to avoid any lay-offs.
If our state aid reduction escalates to the $5 million to $7.5 million range, it is likely that we will need to eliminate multiple positions. Those positions have not yet been identified. The continuum with potential reductions is included on the chart in the presentation.
If state aid runs become available prior to the May 20 board meeting, the proposal will be modified as needed.
Dr. Bochniak will present a proposal, based on all the information that we have on May 20, to the board of education. The board will need to adopt a budget plan on May 20 in order for the district to meet notification requirements prior to the June 9 vote. The budget hearing is scheduled for May 27.
May 06 Budget Update
Budget vote will be held on June 9 by absentee ballot only. Ballots will be sent to registered voters on last year's poll list. Anyone who is a qualified voter who does not receive a ballot can request one by contacting Martha Morris, clerk of the board at [email protected]
Timeline
May 5: Hiring freeze
May 13: Proposed Budget
May 20: Board Approves Budget
May 27: Public Hearing on Budget
June 09: Budget Vote and Board Election
May 6 PRESENTATION
The projected budget gap for 2020-21 is $2.6 million.
This assumes no increase in the tax levy and no use of appropriated fund balance.
At this time, there are still unknowns regarding how much state aid will be reduced. We expected to have more information on May 8. May 13 was added to the board of education meeting calendar for a budget proposal presentation.
Since we do not know how much our aid with be further cut, we don't know exactly what the gap will be. Therefore, we are planning for three different scenarios of cuts beginning with a cut of $2.5 million.
The first level is to cut $2.5 million. With this, we would make between 20 and 30 reductions in personnel. The goal with this level is to avoid personnel cuts and layoffs. The reductions would be in positions, not laying people off. This would be done by not filling a vacancy that comes up. We would be creative in our approach with how positions are filled and how work can be done if we don't fill a vacant position. There would need to be reductions in other areas such as professional development, software, contractual services and printing and printing supplies.
The second scenario is if we need to cut $5 million. The more we need to cut, the more likely that there will need to be some and layoffs. We would need to reduce our personnel between 60 and 70. This first be done by using the above strategy of not filling vacant positions. When we get to cuts and layoffs, our goal would be to cut farthest away from the students. In addition to personnel, we would cut or reduce professional development, software, contractual service and printing/supplies.
The third scenario is if we need to cut $7.5 million. At this level of cuts, we would definitely be looking at cutting and laying off personnel. We would need to reduce personnel by 80 and 100. This would first be done using the strategies in the first two level of cuts.
See chart on page 5 of the presentation.
Fiscal Strategies and Next Steps
Appropriate fund balance - we have done a good analysis and project that there will be a surplus. This is because there are costs that we planned for but are not incurring this year. With a surplus, we can replenish reserves. The district director of business and finance will make a recommendation about monies to put in different reserve accounts.
The budget will include using appropriating fund balance. One strategy is to use fund balance to offset additional state aid reductions. It is a strategy that is appropriate for us to do and will allow us to have a sound financial position going forward. We expect to have at least $2 million that we can use to offset the state aid cut.
If we don't have the information that we need from the state by May 20, we will have to make our best guess about the additional reduction going forward. We can't push adopting the budget beyond May 20.