YORKTOWN — After reviewing a crucial portion of the proposed 2010-11 school budget, Lakeland Central School District Superintendent of Schools Kenneth Connolly told the Board of Education he is looking to do better than last year’s 2.9 percent tax hike in spite of the reduction of state aid.

The board examined the administration’s proposed instructional, special education and BOCES budgets for the 2010-11 school year, which constitutes $80 million of the $150 million budget, said Assistant Superintendent for Business Raymond Morningstar.

At this time, the board is facing a proposed 5.9 percent budget increase, and Connolly reminded the board they were in this same position last year before knocking the tax rate down to 2.9 percent.

“The administration’s goal is really simple, and that’s first and foremost to maintain the current programs as best we can for kids, bring the budget in lower than last year and drop the tax increase lower than last year,” Connolly said March 4.

Connolly said he does not think Lakeland will suffer a $1.6 million loss in state aid like Gov. David Paterson has proposed, but he thinks the district will face a $500,000 to $750,000 deficit in state aid, an increase in retirement costs and a loss of federal funds.

As the administration has done in the past, Connolly said preparations are already being made for 2011-12 budget and the district will be in decent shape for that year.

Trustee Steve Korn suggested flat-lining every line item in the budget the district is not contractually committed to and examining each line with a zero percent increase. The idea met with approval from a majority of the board with some further comments.

Vice-president Carol Ann Dobson said the reason why Lakeland is in a fairly comfortable position with its budget is because the board has been prudent in the past and must remain so.

“I don’t want to be in a position two years from now where we’re laying off masses of teachers, closing buildings and getting rid of sports programs, and one way not to get in that position is to really look at everything and see how we can do it for less and more efficiently,” Dobson said.

Connolly reminded the board that the administration already flat lines many items in the budget while specifically pointing out the areas where an increase is anticipated. Board President Elizabeth Kogler said perusing a budget with a zero percent increase on each item may be good for comparison’s sake.

Athletics was one of the topics covered at the March 4 budget meeting, which makes up approximately $1.2 million of the $80 million covered in this portion of the 2010-11 school budget. The administration is calling for a 12.5 percent increase in the athletics’ budget, due largely in part to the need to replace basketball backboards and a scoreboard at the softball fields.

Connolly said while the backboards must meet state regulations, the scoreboard is something the coaches and athletic director is seeking.

The budget showed increases in a number of teacher salaries, but Morningstar said this was not a salary increase for each individual but a district-wide increase at approximately 6 percent.
The instructional budget includes all the people and equipment related to the face-to-face education of the students, Morningstar said, which is why it’s such an important part of the overall budget. It is facing a 5.82 percent increase from last year’s budget and constitutes almost $43 million of the entire budget.

The proposed instructional, special education and BOCES budgets are facing a 5.65 percent increase from the 2009-10 budgets. That is about $4 million over last year’s budgets, but things like retirements have yet to factor into the overall number, Morningstar said.

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