School Budget Myths Debunked

We were very surprised by the firestorm of comments about the Scarsdale school budget in response to a recent article on Scarsdale10583. Readers are passionate about their views … with some defending the school budget and the existing program and others calling for administrators and the Board of Education to make cuts to comply with the 2% state tax cap.

With so many accusations flying, and opinions presented as truths, we decided to speak to administrators at the Scarsdale school district to separate fact from fiction.

Below is what we learned. If you have more to say on this issue, feel free to comment. However, many readers were offended by the tone of the comments on the previous article. So we will only publish those written with respect. If you feel comfortable, please do include your name.

Free tuition for children of staffers: There was much discussion about teacher’s children who live outside the district attending Scarsdale Schools. Some claimed that Scarsdale has more non-tuition paying students from outside the district than any other school district in the county. However, there is not data available to back up this statement. In fact, at least 11 local districts have free tuition for staff in their contracts, and more may have it as board policy Though this privilege is not included in the Scarsdale teacher’s contract, it is a past practice that has existed for decades and legally, past practices carry nearly the same weight as a contract provision.

As for the cost of educating these students, district officials say there is a marginal incremental cost of adding a student to a classroom – books, supplies, desk and chair – offset by state aid allocations per student enrolled. District policy precludes assigning these students in such a way as to cause a class break and thus hiring an additional teacher. These students are not provided with transportation from outside the district and must use routes already in effect.

Others called for Scarsdale teachers to pay a higher percentage of their healthcare costs. According to the district, the staff absorbs a significant portion of healthcare costs through high co-pays, which have been rising consistently. A recent study reveals that Scarsdale employees pay a higher percentage of their routine medical care than comparable health care contracts charging monthly premiums.

There were many questions about the teacher’s contract and here is what we found out: Teachers contributed over $2 million in previously negotiated salary in 2009 and 2010. As is common practice, the contract negotiations are universally conducted out of public view, but they are ratified by a public Board of Education vote.

School budget increases: To those who charge that the Board of Education has shown little fiscal restraint, it is important to note that for the past three years, budget increases have been just over 2 percent. The district population has remained about the same over the past several years. In 2007-08 the population was 4710. This year there are about 4735 students.

Some also asked why the district could not use more of their undesignated fund balance to pay for current expenses. The Scarsdale School District retains a reserve at the maximum allowed by state law, as do most other districts in the area. The Scarsdale schools maintain a much lower reserve percentage than Scarsdale Village, whose reserve is 10 per cent.

In response to questions about the staff to student ratio in the district, we were told that Scarsdale ranks 37 out of 46 Westchester/Putnam school districts in per-pupil administrative costs; the ratio of students to administrators is 181.2 to 1. The county average is 154.5 to 1. The ratio of High School counselors to students is 180:1, comparable to or slightly higher than is usual and customary in comparable districts, according to a recent survey.