Community Organizations Voice Support for the Proposed 2015-16 Scarsdale School Budget

The Board of Education met on the evening of April 13 to hear from community organizations on the proposed budget. The meeting turned out to be brief with three statements of support for the budget from The League of Women Voters (LWVS), The PT Council and the Scarsdale Forum. All three organizations supported the emphasis on literacy with increased instruction time in the early grades. This issue was the subject of debate early in the budget process as the increased instruction time requires the delay of the introduction of Spanish until second grade, but the Board of Education appears to have satisfied community concerns on the issue. There was much praise for the openness with which the Board conducted the budget process this year. The fact that all budget meetings were televised and detailed responses to all questions were available on the schools' website helped to foster a feeling of transparency in the budget development which was greatly appreciated by the commenting organizations.

The LWVS presented a detailed statement that can be read in its entirety here. Highlights include support for the Board's use of this year's opportunity to develop a structurally balanced budget due to an unexpectedly large drop in state-mandated pension contribution costs, along with significantly larger than anticipated savings from teacher retirements. LWVS also expressed strong support for the Board's stated policy of not budgeting to a state-calculated tax cap. They requested to be kept up to date on the results of the Board's study of a number of issues such as the addition of Mandarin to the Middle School curriculum, the role of our school librarians in the delivery of library services; the five-year Building Condition Survey; and the development of a long-term capital plan and the strategic plan that had been put on hold last year. Also, LWVS appreciates the Board's past and current advocacy efforts in connection with maintaining local control over school decision-making and would like to see even greater advocacy from the Board on this issue.

The statement of support from the PT Council and the complete report from Scarsdale Forum appear below. The Board will respond to these organizations at its next meeting on April 20 and also plans to adopt the budget at that time in advance of the May 19 community vote.

PT Council Comments on the Proposed Budget: Presented by Claudine Gecel and Pamela Fuehrer

This year has been a thoughtful and productive one for Scarsdale's PTAs, as we participate in the annual school budget process. With only a slight time lag, all the publicly asked questions were posted on the district website, and answers to the majority of questions were well researched and documented. For both parents and teachers, it was helpful to have answers to questions readily available on the website, as well as any relevant, time-sensitive documents, so that facts could be checked - and thought over. In most cases, both parents and teachers were able to take postings at face value. In other cases – seeing issues discussed in writing helped pinpoint ideas which still need further development by the district, either during the school year, or during subsequent budget meetings. Not only is it very important for PTA members to be able to focus on the discussion (without worrying about taking notes), but speaking directly for parents in the district, our evenings are understandably focused on the activities of our school-aged children. Having access to Wi Fi and Texting Services in the BOE Room also enables some parents to attend meetings, while maintaining contact with their older children. Lastly, maintaining the VOD meetings on the internet naturally allows parents with younger children to watch - whenever they can find the time!

During the actual budget process itself, there seemed to be three main categories of interest, as expressed by parents: 1.) Teachers' Professional Development, 2.) Academic and Social Development of All Students, and 3.) The Financial Condition of the District - as interpreted by Moody's.

In the area of Teachers' Professional Development, we all recognize the importance of teachers having ongoing opportunities to develop and grow. While it's wonderful for teachers in the district to learn from each other, it's also crucial for them to continually see what is going on in the larger world - and bring fresh ideas into their classrooms. STEAM-Oriented curriculums are presently developing all across the country, at all levels of education, and it will be exciting to see what our own teachers come up with over the next few years. It's positive that we have budgeted for future professional enhancements, as we've had some challenging years in the recent past where that wasn't done to the extent many would have liked.

In the area of the Academic and Social Development of All Students, parents were all in agreement about emphasizing literacy, and language development in the early years, uniformly, across all elementary schools. The reinstatement of the English Language Arts Helping Teacher and the additional 2.5 Reading Specialist positions should help to move the district in that direction. Middle School parents are thankful that a Special Education Teacher has been added to assist students with IEP's. High School parents are pleased that this year's budget has enhanced student athletics, student clubs and other extra-curricular activities. Parents feel that these important programs help extend the students' education beyond the classrooms.

In the area of the District's Financial Condition, parents seem to feel positively about the fact that this year's budget focuses on shoring up the District's various reserve accounts. While various state lawmakers may disagree as to what financial actions they perceive to be prudent, experienced financial executives will all agree that risk taking needs to be balanced out with reserves, especially in a non-profit, municipal environment. If Moody's removes the 'Negative Outlook' from the District's credit rating, then our upcoming bond offering can be executed at lower interest rates. Everyone in the district should agree, no matter how old their children are, or how many they have, that a lower borrowing cost is a good thing for us all!

Going forward, many parents might still want to look at the issue of reinstating the Middle School Librarian, some parents think we need to review busing rules for high school students, and all parents want to make sure the schools are staffed correctly based on their respective, changing, population sizes. In addition, other concerns may surface, before the budget is printed, that we haven't yet addressed. Despite these issues, the PTA's and the PTC feels that next year's budget continues to be carefully and thoughtfully crafted. As PTA members, we also want to continually encourage all parents of school aged children to voice their concerns, in any way that makes sense - no matter how large or small the issue seems to be.

I hope you won't mind if I end by quoting Herbert Spencer (1820-1903), a distinguished British Philosopher and Sociologist: "The great aim of education is not knowledge - but action". We're all parents, and we're all participating in this annual process, so that our children's future is bright!

Thanks for your time and attention. We know it's very valuable.

Scarsdale Forum Report on the Proposed Budget: Presented by Dan Hochvert

RESOLVED, that the Report of the Education Committee on the Proposed School Budget for 2015-16 be Approved.

SUMMARY STATEMENT

The Education Committee (the "Committee") has reviewed the proposed 2015-16 budget. The Committee supports the adoption of the proposed budget. It supports the Board's and Administration's efforts to maintain the highest quality education for our children and recognizes the effort made to achieve a balance between enhancing our fine school system while being sensitive to the burden on taxpayers. The Committee offers a few thoughts regarding New York State's recommended maintenance target percent and its cap on undesignated reserves.
The proposed budget, $148,139,127, is slightly lower, for the first time in memory, than the previous budget. The correlated increase in the tax levy is also $395,000 lower than the allowable increase under the tax cap. The most significant driver of the proposed budget is a reduction in the mandated contribution to the teacher and employee retirement plan of $2,919,685. The Administration stressed during the budget work sessions that the practice of building surpluses into a budget would no longer be done. Instead conservative estimates of expenses in situations of uncertainty would be taken. According to Linda Purvis "This budget provides us with a very unusual opportunity to realign the financing of the District's educational program." The proposed budget does this in three ways:

1) Uses a significant amount of the 2014-15 budget surplus to reestablish the reserve accounts
2) Eliminates planned surplus that had been included in the Retirement System line for many years. In the current year budget it was $1.85M; and
3) Drastically reduces the amount of prior year surplus that had been allocated to offset tax levy growth. These funds were down from $3.762M in 2014-15 to $500K in the proposed budget.

This rectifies a long-standing structural issue with the District's budget. The repeated use of prior year surplus to fund current program is a risky financial plan, as the District can never be certain that a planned surplus will materialize. If it doesn't, the District would be required to either seek additional property tax revenue (which is controversial in the "tax cap" environment) or reduce spending. By eliminating both the planned surplus in the proposed budget and the use of prior year surplus as revenue in the proposed budget, the budget is better based on a rational assessment of anticipated expenses for the coming year.

The proposed budget is based on the demographer's forecast of 4,775 pupils, a decrease of 47. The proposed budget takes advantage of the declining enrollment to add 1 helping teacher and 2.5 reading teachers. These increases are offset by a reduction of 2 classroom teachers resulting from the decrease in enrollment and the elimination of 1 elementary school Spanish teacher as a result of changing the starting grade of the Foreign Language at the Elementary Schools (FLES) program from first to second grade. The net proposed addition to teaching staff is .55 positions in the proposed budget. The Committee supports the extra help in the language/reading area. Strengthening language skills at the elementary level will be a benefit throughout the school years for pupils who need the help.

The Committee also supports the funding for Staff development. Several important categories are: Program Improvement, Arts and Aesthetic Education, Interdependence Institute, Scarsdale Teachers Institute, Center for Innovation, Sustainability Initiative and Curriculum Research/Assessment. Helping teachers to stay current with our ever-changing world means our children get the kind of education we believe is needed.

MAINTENANCE AND UNDESIGNATED RESERVES

The National School Boards Association has recommended that 2% of a district's expense budget be used for maintenance of its buildings. Scarsdale has not reached this level for several years. The recommended target may not be appropriate for all districts in all years. For example, as the Superintendent noted during a work session, considerable work, which otherwise might need to be included in the annual expense budget, will be funded from the recently approved bond issue. Further, in light of the pending decision regarding the Greenacres School, there is likely to be another bond issue proposed in the next year or so. As has been explained in the past, it may not be prudent to issue bonds for relatively small projects since there is a cost related to the issuance, but when a bond issue is required, including appropriate work with a long expected life, is prudent. In some years it is possible that more than 2% will need to be budgeted to cover the cost of several smaller maintenance projects. As the Board recognizes, the 2% is just a guiding target number and the needs of a district and other factors should be considered.
The State has specified a cap of 4% cap on undesignated reserves. Some residents appear to have misinterpreted the cap as a target. Rather, it should be recognized that "one size doesn't fit all". In smaller districts the cap might permit the reserve to be less than one million dollars of unanticipated expenses, whereas in Scarsdale it is almost six million dollars. With the many years of Administration experience, several designated reserves, stop loss in healthcare expenses and the conservative approach taken in developing the 2015-16 budget plus a long history of never requiring a 4% undesignated reserve, it is appropriate to remember that the 4% is a cap, not a target.

The hallmark of the proposed budget is the restructuring of the reserves. In part, the restructuring is in response to Moody's Rating Service stern warning to Scarsdale that its reserves might not be adequate. Sufficient reserves are prudent, especially in light of the elimination of built-in surplus.

APPROVAL RECOMMENDATION

The Committee recognizes the effort made in the proposed budget to achieve a balance between educational enhancement and the burden on taxpayers. It applauds the move to more sound financial practice by eliminating the District's reliance on previous year's surplus to reduce a proposed budget's tax levy. It also recognizes the need for adequate reserves to ensure that the District maintains the quality of education in face of future issues such as pension cost and tax cap ramifications. However, the Committee asks the Board of Education to consider shifting some of the 2014-15 surplus proposed for use in the 2015-16 budget for reserves to reduce the increase in the tax rate to achieve a better balance between the educational goals and the tax burden.

Note: THIS REPORT HAS BEEN PREPARED UNDER EXPEDITIOUS TREATMENT PROCEDURE OF THE SCARSDALE FORUM INC. BY THE COMMITTEE WHOSE MEMBERS NAMES APPEAR BELOW. IT HAS BEEN APPROVED BY THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE FORUM AND AUTHORIZED FOR RELEASE TO THE PUBLIC, BUT IT HAS NOT YET BEEN SUBMITTED TO THE FORUM MEMBERS FOR THEIR APPROVAL.