Schoharie school board members agreed Wednesday to go with a contingency plan rather than risk another vote on the 2010-11 budget.
The contingency budget was approved unanimously and will shave $35,268 in spending from the budget that was defeated by voters by a count of 588 against and 510 in favor on May 18.
The new budget, that totals $19,888,008, will raise the tax levy by 7.4 percent. This increase could be lower if there is more state aid in the still-to-be-approved state budget.
Superintendent Brian Sherman noted that the budget that was defeated by voters, which would have raised the tax levy by 7.85 percent, was already $434,716 below what was allowed for a contingency budget.
Because of state regulations, four items, he said, still had to be removed for a contingency budget.
Those items were: the remaining non-aided equipment, $7,500; use of high school library by public on weekdays, $2,400; the subsidy of the school food program, $21,795; and administrative costs, $3,573.
Board members and speakers among the 35 people who attended the special meeting debated whether to adopt a contingency budget or put another plan up for a vote.
In the end, board members agreed it was better to adopt the contingency plan and not risk a revised budget not passing and then having to make more cuts.
Teacher Martin Messner said he was against adopting a contingency budget at this time.
He said there were a lot of items in flux at the state and federal level that could impact the SCS budget.
There is a retirement incentive in the state legislature, there may be some restoration of school aid and the passing of a federal job bill, he said.
The changes could help swing a few votes and get a budget passed, he said.
“If we could swing 40 votes the other way, we could pass it,” he said.
School officials said a decision had to be made last week since a re-vote would have to take place on June 15 and a new budget would have to be approved by the board by June 1.
Resident and incoming board member Terry Burton was also against adopting a contingency budget.
He said it would be better to go into next year with a budget that was approved by the voters.
Resident Jim Bleau said more outreach has to be done with the public.
“We need to reach out to the people,” he said.
Board President Chris Spies noted that the budget has been the subject of several open board meetings over the past few months.
Board member Mark Quandt said the board heard few negative comments on the budget other than “people begging” the board not to cut certain items.
Mr. Sherman said the district has been investigating different ways of communicating with the public and there is a survey on the district website. School board meetings could be televised in the future.
Teacher Randy Gunther noted that among those attending the meeting, only about 10 were non-school district residents.
“We’re at a real crisis point,” he said.
He said the board could get more input if they send home surveys.
Mr. Quandt said he was in favor of passing a contingency budget to avoid making additional cuts.
The board briefly discussed a list of other non-mandated items that could be cut including a custodial position, a food service cashier, an art teacher, an elementary AIS teacher, JV athletics, a music teacher, a guidance counselor and the elementary librarian.
“It’s important for people to see the pain” of additional cuts, Mr. Quandt said.
If further cuts are needed, he said, it will begin to take away essential programs.
The board “needs to do what’s in the best interest of the kids,” he said.
Mr. Sherman said that if the board put up the budget again with the contingency cuts and it was defeated, further cuts would have to be made, though it was not certain how much the final budget would have to be below a contingency plan.
Mr. Spies said he would not vote for a budget that only called for a $1 decrease.
Mr. Spies said he assumed people voted against the budget in May because they wanted a lower spending total.
He called a cut of $35,268 “a very minimal decrease” in the budget.
Board member Barbara Monsees said they she felt “people still won’t like the (tax increase) number.”
It was a risk, though to put a new budget up and have it “shot down” which would force more cuts, she said.
Board member Linda Isles noted that the board would have to cut over $79,000 in spending just to decrease the tax levy hike by one percent.
“We have to look at maintaining what we have for our kids,” board member Edythe Schultz said.
Things could be worse next year, she added, noting the district could lose $600,000 in federal stimulus funds.
“We have to do what we can for the kids with an eye on the tax piece,” she said. “It’s the best balancing act at this point.”
Mr. Sherman said, “We tried to provide a balance between what was best for our students and still meet the needs of our community, keeping the tax levy as low as we could.”
Mr. Quandt made the motion to adopt a contingency plan.
He said he was not inclined to cut more and “if people think that’s disrespectful, I can live with that.”
Ms. Spies said the board could make more cuts to the budget but there is no guarantee that a new budget would pass, though he admitted the decrease to get down to a contingency budget was “not much of a cut.”
It was noted that the district made several cuts since budget deliberations began. A roll-over budget maintaining all of this year’s programs would have increased the tax levy by 17.52 percent, mostly because of the cut in state aid.
Among the items that were cut were: a teacher assistant, driver education, three elementary teachers, four high school core teachers, two special education teachers, two bus routes, a teacher aide, three club advisors, a reduction in the district newsletter, among other items.
The budget that voters turned down in May totaled $19,923,276.