Shen budget under tax cap with funds for more staff

CLIFTON PARK, N.Y. >> The Shenendehowa School District Board of Education Tuesday adopted a budget for next year that will add several instructional staff while still staying under the state’s tax cap.

On March 28 the board voted unanimously to adopt a budget for the 2017-2018 school year of $169.6 million. The figure is .58 percent or $680,691 less than the district’s tax cap limit. The proposal will go to voters on May 16.

Property taxes make up 70 percent of the revenue side of the budget. Next year’s tax levy, the total amount to be collected from property taxes in the six entities that make up the Shen School District, will total $118.9 million, an increase of $2.77 million from this year.

Based on the governor’s Executive Budget, Shen is expected to receive $46.75 million in state aid, an increase of $784,264.

Using figures from the governor’s executive state budget, Shen Superintendent L. Oliver Robinson explained the details of the district’s budget to the board and those community members watching the meeting’s live stream video.

The proposed district budget spends $3.65 million more next year. If approved by voters, the district estimates the tax bill for a home assessed at $250,000 will increase by $59.

Referring the final countdown to the state budget, Robinson said should the state’s approved budget provide more aid to public school districts, the additional funds will be used to lower the tax impact on tax payers.

“The budget is a process and it is about supporting district goals,” he said. “Our budget is our way of actualizing our mission. A significant part of our budget is preserving quality programs.”

Benefits and salaries for Shen’s 2,200 full-time and part-time employees make up 81 percent of the district’s annual budget, Robinson said. Taken together they will increase almost $900,000 next year.

In discussing the budget’s revenue side, Robinson noted the drop in the interest that the district receives on its reserves.

“When I started here we were getting $1 million a year,” he said. “Now we get $13,000. That’s a very dramatic change.”

In her budget presentation on March 21, Assistant Superintendent of Finance Kathy Wetmore-Chase said health insurance costs are expected to increase nine or 10 percent next year presenting the district with an estimated expenditure increase of $1.83 million. Social Security is expected to increase as well necessitating an increase in spending of $325,000.

The district’s technology unit will see an increase of $250,000 in spending, a big part of which is the district’s 1:1 student device initiative.

The district expects to see $1.5 million in savings from its teacher retirement and employee retirement system contributions due to expected rate reductions. It also expects to save nearly $300,000 in salaries due to retirements.

One of those set to retire in June is high school principal, Don Flynt.

In addition to Flynt’s retirement, the district expects to see at least eight other retirements including two elementary teachers, two art teachers, a school psychologist, a FACs teacher, and a high school physical education instructor.

The district expects to hire 12 new staff members to replace those who are retiring. The areas for the expected hires include four elementary school instructors, a middle school teacher to help with social studies, Academic Intervention Services in English Language Arts and math, support staff for the Wellness Center, two special education teachers, an academic administrator for Business, FACS, and Technology, two middle school teachers’ aides and a part-time teacher for English as a new language.

After the vote Board of Education President Robert Pressly described the proposed budget as a sound one, a budget that continues a lot of Shen’s good practices, he said.

“We find the need, identify it and we service it,” he said. “There’s a lot of rigor that goes into that throughout the year. As things come in we pay for them. We don’t overpay.

There are a lot of unknowns from the state and more unknowns from the federal level but I think we have the bases covered. With the new staff expected I’m sure the quality of education will continue.”

Due to New York State Education Department regulations the board will officially adopt the budget proposal in April. It will hold a public hearing on the proposal at the May 9 meeting.

The vote will take place in the Gowana Middle School gym on May 16.