AUBURN - District officials in the Auburn Enlarged City School District clarified, but did not elaborate on, what may be cut from its defeated school budget to abide by a state-mandated contingency budget.
Jill Connor / The Citizen
From left, Auburn board of education vice president Charles Cator, president David Lansford and district superintendent J.D. Pabis vote to go into executive session during Wednesday evening's meeting at the district offices, following the second voter rejection of the budget.
From left, Auburn board of education vice president Charles Cator, president David Lansford and district superintendent J.D. Pabis vote to go into executive session during Wednesday evening's meeting at the district offices, following the second voter rejection of the budget.
During a special board of education meeting Wednesday, Superintendent J.D. Pabis listed items for which funding will be either reduced or cut to trim down district spending about $593,000 to meet state regulations in the wake of voters defeating the proposed 2008-09 school budget a second time Tuesday, 2,185-1,972.
Voters defeated the $66,490,371 budget, which carried a tax levy increase of 3.28 percent, May 20 by just three votes.
After the funding cuts, the contingency budget will be $65,896,428 with a tax levy increase of 2.28 percent.
A custodian position included in the proposed budget and equipment purchases that do not qualify for state aid will be eliminated under the contingency budget. Employees that are unaffiliated with the district and are not part of a collective bargaining unit will not receive salary increases this year.
There will also be a reduction in funding for field trips, transportation, curricular work, summer school, athletics and co-curricular activities, which includes intramurals and band.
Pabis reiterated that all of this information on what would be cut if the district had to operate under a contingency budget was available in mailers sent to voters' homes and in the public budget presentations.
“This is what the public was made aware of, the board was made aware of,” he said, “and now we are reviewing the numbers to bring us into the $593,000 to align with the discussions we have had in the past.”
An hour-long executive session was convened during the meeting to discuss personnel issues. Pabis said there could be personnel cuts related to these program reductions.
Board member Fred Cornelius asked Pabis, when looking at ways to reduce spending, to try to keep any cuts away from academics.
“The board asks that you look at other areas that may be able to have some decreases or some cuts to maybe soften the blow in the curriculum area,” he said.
Board member Michael Stearns said that trimming will also include the board's internal budget.
He added that it is imperative of the board to move forward.
“We've gone down this path of voting twice,” he said. “The community spoke. And I want to be very clear - and you've all said it - it's time to move on.
“I personally thank the community that did come out and vote, whatever way they voted, and now we have to move on.”
The board did not make any decisions on what will be cut for the contingency budget. A plan will likely come before the board during the regular board meeting at Auburn High School (7 p.m. June 24) as a decision must be reached by July 1, the beginning of the school's fiscal year.
Staff writer Alyssa Sunkin can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 239 or alyssa.sunkin@lee.net
Voters defeated the $66,490,371 budget, which carried a tax levy increase of 3.28 percent, May 20 by just three votes.
After the funding cuts, the contingency budget will be $65,896,428 with a tax levy increase of 2.28 percent.
A custodian position included in the proposed budget and equipment purchases that do not qualify for state aid will be eliminated under the contingency budget. Employees that are unaffiliated with the district and are not part of a collective bargaining unit will not receive salary increases this year.
There will also be a reduction in funding for field trips, transportation, curricular work, summer school, athletics and co-curricular activities, which includes intramurals and band.
Pabis reiterated that all of this information on what would be cut if the district had to operate under a contingency budget was available in mailers sent to voters' homes and in the public budget presentations.
“This is what the public was made aware of, the board was made aware of,” he said, “and now we are reviewing the numbers to bring us into the $593,000 to align with the discussions we have had in the past.”
An hour-long executive session was convened during the meeting to discuss personnel issues. Pabis said there could be personnel cuts related to these program reductions.
Board member Fred Cornelius asked Pabis, when looking at ways to reduce spending, to try to keep any cuts away from academics.
“The board asks that you look at other areas that may be able to have some decreases or some cuts to maybe soften the blow in the curriculum area,” he said.
Board member Michael Stearns said that trimming will also include the board's internal budget.
He added that it is imperative of the board to move forward.
“We've gone down this path of voting twice,” he said. “The community spoke. And I want to be very clear - and you've all said it - it's time to move on.
“I personally thank the community that did come out and vote, whatever way they voted, and now we have to move on.”
The board did not make any decisions on what will be cut for the contingency budget. A plan will likely come before the board during the regular board meeting at Auburn High School (7 p.m. June 24) as a decision must be reached by July 1, the beginning of the school's fiscal year.
Staff writer Alyssa Sunkin can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 239 or alyssa.sunkin@lee.net
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vic wrote on Jun 20, 2008 7:48 AM:
2- Auburn has way too many many "teachers who don't deal with kids". What exactly does a full time Math Coordinater do for 8 hours a day. The position has some merritt, as possibly having a teacher have one or two less classes a day and do the math coordination the rest of the time, but having numerous department coordinators is a huge waste of money. "
realist wrote on Jun 20, 2008 7:33 AM:
GoodbyeCNY wrote on Jun 19, 2008 5:33 PM:
Husker9 wrote on Jun 19, 2008 5:07 PM:
GoodbyeCNY wrote on Jun 19, 2008 5:04 PM:
yetanotherpinhead wrote on Jun 19, 2008 3:37 PM:
The Syracuse paper had an interesting stat.. out of the seven Cayuga County school budgets, Auburn's tax levy was among the lowest at 3.28%, second only to Union Springs' 2.65%. This was what the Board meant by standing behind what they believed was a responsible budget. The numbers certainly bear that out. "
nature lover wrote on Jun 19, 2008 2:16 PM:
mom418 wrote on Jun 19, 2008 1:43 PM:
carolc wrote on Jun 19, 2008 1:32 PM: