Board of Education discusses staffing and cuts

PINE PLAINS — The Pine Plains Board of Education (BOE) met on Wednesday, Feb. 22, to further discuss gap-closing strategies for the budget as presented by Superintendent Linda Kaumeyer.The meeting began with a preface by Kaumeyer that all information was absolutely preliminary.“We are still in February and these numbers are in no way set in stone. These are our ideas for how to close the gap and to give the board an idea where we can cut back on the budget. Nothing tonight is decided. This is a workshop to begin looking into these numbers,” she said.The figures presented were calculated using the new New York State formula, but were still done under a smaller tax levy increase than the formula allows for.“The figures you will see were calculated under a 2 percent tax levy increase. The new New York State formula puts us at 2.6 percent, but we wanted to see what the numbers looked like at an even 2 percent,” she said.The numbers were also figured in a 1 percent state aid decrease based upon Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s budget proposal.With each factor assessed, Kaumeyer, along with Assistant Superintendent for Business and Finance Michael Goldbeck, stated that a total of $688,879 in further reductions are currently necessary.Kaumeyer then presented how each facility would contribute to the reductions.Administrative servicesAlong with preliminary numbers, Kaumeyer also presented how each reduction would impact the district.The superintendent said she plans on reducing both the part-time clerk hours and the Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) budget to save a total of $30,000.The impact in these areas are minimal but include a reduction in recruitment, public information and printing services.Equipment, materials and contractual services could be reduced by $6,500.Kaumeyer plans to reduce the travel and conferences budget for herself by $1,200.“This includes educational conferences that are attended each year,” she said.Overall, it is proposed that administrative service will be reduced by a total of $37,700.Elementary programKaumeyer proposed that the elementary program could be reduced by one teaching position, which would result in larger class sizes.It was also proposed that a .6 special subject reduction and a .5 aide position reduction could be made along with two part-time aides.These reductions are estimated to bring a savings of $161,473.“I have been assured that other faculty would be able to step in and compensate. These reductions should really have no impact,” she said.Kaumeyer also presented the elimination of the Ashokan trip as a gap-closing strategy.“This would present a cost savings of $20,000. Unfortunately the students do lose that activity,” she said.The elementary program could also see a reduction of $5,000 in equipment, bringing the total reductions to $186,473.High school programThe proposed reductions for the high school come mostly from classes.Kaumeyer proposed that .8 electives be cut, which will reduce the number of choices students have and will save $55,184.The high school may also see one of the two language options phased out.“By phasing out, we mean that students already enrolled in a language program would be able to follow that through, but no new students will be beginning that language,” she said.Kaumeyer was not willing to speculate which language would be cut as these proposals are still in the preliminary stages.The high school will also see a cut in the equipment budget resulting in a $8,000 savings.The total proposed cost savings from the high school is $142,968.Middle school programThe final portion of the academic programs to be presented was the middle school.The board previously approved the retirement of a full-time teacher at another meeting, and Kaumeyer presented a savings of $76,629 from that retirement.It was proposed that the middle school eliminate 1.4 academic sessions to save $96,572.This would result in larger class sizes as well as a reduction in non-mandated courses.“Every district has state-mandated courses that must be taught. We’re not talking about eliminating social studies. But each district also has courses unique to them, and these are the ones that would be reduced,” she said.As in the other facilities, the equipment budget would also be cut, saving $4,000.The total reductions from the middle school portion of the budget total $177,201.Special educationThe special education department is seeing proposed reductions in staffing.Kaumeyer proposed that one part-time aide and one full-time aide could be cut.The cuts would impact teachers who would be losing helpers in their classrooms.The cost savings for these positions and the department as a whole total $44,484.Transportation budgetsAt the previous budget workshop on Wednesday, Feb. 15, Kaumeyer stated they were already anticipating cutting down the transportation budget.The high price of fuel was causing a significant increase in the budget.Kaumeyer proposed an overall reduction in the capital and transportation budgets totaling $25,000 from various categories, as well as a $50,000 transfer to capital which is a reduction by one half.The overall cost savings from the transportation budget would total $75,000.Interscholastic athleticsAthletics was the final area to be discussed during the budget workshop.A total of $25,000 is proposed to be cut.This money would come from the district funds used for non-league games and tournaments.“This includes special games and tournaments and the transportation and staffing required to attend them,” Kaumeyer said.In closingThe total cost savings proposed is $688,826, which is just shy of the needed $688,879. Again, Kaumeyer stressed that these numbers are preliminary.“I will be giving the board a rough draft of the budget that we are not at this time making public. These numbers and gap-closing strategies have not been agreed upon and are in no way final, which is why we are not making them public,” she said.The board will meet on Wednesday, March 7, at 7 p.m. in the Stissing Mountain High School Library to further discuss the budget.Kaumeyer also reminded those in attendance that both staff as well as the public are more than welcome to come and participate in budget discussions.“We encourage anyone with ideas or opinions to attend the meetings, see the work that is being done and to contribute. There are several meetings happening before our deadline and all are welcome to attend,” she said.