Board begins deliberations on education budget

PINE PLAINS — Department head preliminary budget presentations concluded at the March 2 Pine Plains Central School District Board of Education meeting, wrapping up most preliminary budget discussions and marking the point at which the board will begin to take a hard look at the district administration’s draft budget.At a previous board meeting in February, each of the district’s principals, as well as the department supervisors in athletics, buildings and grounds and transportation, presented rough non-personnel expenditure budget presentations. The remaining departments, including special education services, BOCES career and technical education programs and computer-assisted instruction, were covered.As with the first batch of presentations, all of the department heads have proposed initial budgets showing a flat year-to-year increase, acknowledging contractual salary obligations to be the most obvious exception.Board Vice President Brian Croghan, filling in for President Bruce Kimball, who was absent at the March 2 meeting, provided an opportunity for board members to ask questions or make suggestions about the budget process. Trustee Helene McQuade said she found “alternate scenario” data helpful, allowing the board to see the implications of possible budget discussions play out in the budget.Kaumeyer said the board would be presented with that information, including contingency budget scenarios.“I’m just waiting to see the actual numbers from the state,” Trustee Todd Bowen said.“The most frustrating part of this,” Superintendent Linda Kaumeyer agreed,” is that a lot of the details even in the governor’s budget proposal are undefined.”Kaumeyer said she had heard the budget probably won’t pass on time. The deadline is April 1. Last year the budget wasn’t passed until August, which she acknowledged was extreme, but added that at this point the only information the school district has to go on is the governor’s proposal, which usually includes more drastic reductions than are eventually adopted.“It’s not a bad idea to use the governor’s numbers anyway,” she said. “We’d rather use that and be pleasantly surprised.”The next Board of Education meeting will be held March 16 at 7 p.m. A formal presentation of the budget to the board is expected to be held on April 6, with the board adoption of the proposed budget for taxpayer approval on April 19, a budget public hearing on May 4 and finally the budget vote and election of Board of Education members on May 17.