Budget Work Session #1 - March 4

The Garden City School District began its first of four budget work sessions March 4. The following reviews that meeting and the March 11 meeting, budget work session #2.

The first item on the March 4 session's agenda was Superintendent Dr. Stephen Leitman's budget overview. He introduced his budget presentation by reiterating the district's mission statement and goals, which include reading/writing and critical thinking across the curriculum, differentiating instruction for the needs of diverse learners and utilizing technology to enhance both the teaching and learning processes.

"It is commitment to these goals that shapes the budget development process," Dr. Leitman said. "As a district, we need to set out priorities and choose our paths."

The budget's development includes recommendations and input from all aspects of the community. The ultimate goal is to develop a budget that will continually upgrade and improve the existing outstanding educational program of the village's public schools. The budget maintains class size policy, accommodates growth and supports and extends instructional programs.

The budget also makes provision for additional staff, six teachers and one guidance counselor, needed for an anticipated increase of approximately 175 students. In addition, the budget continues the implementation of capital improvement projects and introduces several new program initiatives. These initiatives include a Garden City Public Schools/Adelphi University Professional Development Program, a district-wide Curriculum Writing Initiative, the implementation of Instructional Support Teams in all schools, the restructuring of the middle school and the recruitment of outstanding staff.

Dr. Leitman notes that several programs implemented in the past two years have proven to be very effective and will continue, and, in some cases, be expanded. Examples include the district's summer school program, academic intervention services and the summer institute for staff development.

He acknowledged that it is an ongoing challenge to control escalating costs and be responsible stewards while continuing to provide quality educational services. "Fiscal responsibility demands that some initiatives must be deferred, he explained. "These deferred items include the commencement of foreign language study in grade three, the formation of a writing center in the middle school and full-day kindergarten."

John Powell, assistant superintendent of business, reviewed specific expenditures. The proposed overall school budget is $66,497,128. The total increase is $5,209,452 or 8.5 percent. The sources of revenue include state aid, local revenue, fund balance allocation and property taxes. State aid represents just 5.63 percent of the budget.

Significantly decreased state aid and dramatically lowered interest income in the past year have resulted in a zero fund balance, according to Powell. "This is in stark contrast to previous budget years in which typically there was a fund balance in excess of $2 million, he said. "This zero fund balance will impact the proposed budget and shift more of the financial burden to the taxpayers. However, the school tax rate for the district cannot be determined until the property assessment rolls are finalized next month."

Several residents voiced concern about various expenditures, including transportation, cost of school buses, insurance, BOCES obligations, auditing fees and more. They sought information on the restructuring of the middle school and the impact this proposed budget would have on current programs.

"Current research of exemplary programs and effective teaching support the 'teaming' model as developmentally appropriate for sixth, seventh and eighth-grade students," Dr. Leitman said.

Dr. Leitman, along with Powell and members of the board of education emphasized that the budget is a work in progress, subject to much revision.

"The board of education is open to suggestions and encourages comments and input from the community," Kenneth Monaghan, school board president, said. "All budget items will be examined carefully and many revisions may be expected."

Budget Work Session #2 - March 11

The district's second budget work session reviewed the budget's instructional component. Dr. Leitman began the session by outlining the new program initiatives, including a district-wide curriculum writing initiative; staff development and in-service, including the middle school's restructuring, full-day kindergarten and instruction support teams; a continuation of summer school and AIS; the extension of curriculum and professional development offerings; the extension of the summer institute for staff development; the superintendent's conference day; and participation in the BOCES model schools staff development.

Since he believes that it is vital to communicate with parents and the community at large about district needs, Dr. Leitman explained various program initiatives in greater detail. One proposed program includes the restructuring of the middle school. The planning for this initiative would take place in the 2002-03 school year, followed by the implementations of the programs in the 2003-04 school years.

"With regard to the restructuring of the middle school, theoretical and methodical data and research support the implementation of this program, Dr. Leitman said. He then highlighted a seven-point statement of philosophy of middle school education that emphasized attention and support of the cognitive and affective domains of the adolescent student. Dr. Leitman assured community members that there would be informational meetings and work sessions this spring to answer any questions and further explain the benefits of the restructuring process.

Monaghan assured the audience that additional meetings would be held in the future to allow community members to become more familiar with the concepts involved in the middle school's restructuring.

Another proposed program includes full-day kindergarten. Dr. Leitman discussed factors that must be considered in implementing such a program, including space accommodations, staffing, curriculum enhancement, differentiated instruction and staff development. It is anticipated that a full-day kindergarten program would result in an increase of about 35-40 students.

In summarizing his part of the budget presentation, Dr. Leitman translated the projected increase in enrollment of 175 students to seven additional staff members. The new staff would include one primary teacher, one elementary teacher, 1.5 middle school teachers and one middle school guidance counselor and 2.5 high school teachers. This additional staff would enable the district to maintain its class size policy.

Powell took over the latter portion of the work session, using a series of tables to illustrate the cost of the instructional programs. A pie chart revealed that 60.96 percent of the 2002-03 proposed budget expenditures is allotted to instruction costs. He then explained specific categories in the instructional portion of the budget using tables that revealed the dollar change between the 2001-02 budget categories and the proposed 2002-03 budget.

Several residents and board of education members sought clarification about substitute teachers, BOCES payments, equipment rental and other line items currently included in the budget. Residents also commended Dr. Leitman for maintaining the district's class size policy and for his commitment to a comprehensive philosophy of middle school education.

Look for continued updates on the proposed 2002-03 school budget in an upcoming issue of The Garden City Life.