A great deal of our time and effort at this time of the year is focused on developing the school budget for 2008-09. While some may view this as a purely administrative exercise, I see it as an integral part of the education of the community's children. The budget is a roadmap for all of the programs and services we provide for children, and all of the supporting functions that make those programs and services possible. The budget is not just a document containing a spending plan for the district, but an expression of the community's commitment to public education and everything we hope for regarding our children's educational future.

At the beginning of the budget development process, we reviewed every continuing program, every contractual obligation and every new initiative currently being contemplated. Based on this review, our "starting point" for 2008-09 would represent a budget-to-budget increase of about 7.85 percent. I am well aware that this is neither a realistic nor an acceptable increase to present to the voters. It is important to remember that this number is no more than a benchmark for the start of budget deliberations. The effort is well under way to go back over hundreds of budget items in order to achieve greater efficiencies throughout our operations, eliminate wasteful spending, maximize revenues and find better ways of delivering a high quality program. The end result will, I hope, be a budget that reflects both the educational progress and fiscal responsibility that the community expects.

In the development of the school budget, I have consistently focused my attention and that of the principals and other administrators on what works best for children. The bottom line for every expenditure is: How does it improve teacher instruction and student learning? For essential functions such as facilities, human resources and business, the question is, are we gaining the maximum level of efficiency in support of educational programs? After a number of years in which the focus of the district, understandably, was on getting our fiscal house in order, I believe it is now imperative to turn our close attention to our core mission and the very reason we exist as a school district: to provide the very best education we can for the community's children.

With that emphasis in mind, there are several new and exciting initiatives we are planning to introduce in the new budget. These include the Reading and Writing Project of Columbia University's Teachers College, a highly respected and proven professional development program designed to improve literacy skills and test scores in the elementary grades; a "school-within-a-school" for Roslyn High School that will address the needs of academically capable students who are not meeting their potential in the traditional high school environment; and a revised Summer Academic Program for students in kindergarten through grade 8, which will primarily target instruction in English language arts and mathematics for students who need additional assistance in those areas.

On the board of education page of our website (www.roslynschools.org), you will find a Budget Development Calendar with the dates of the public meetings at which the administration is presenting budget information to the board for its review. Presentations by principals, directors and central administrators began in February and will continue into March. In addition, on the business and finance page, you will find a number of Budget Review Documents as well as links to the presentations by administrators. Please note that the budget is a "work in progress" and is continually being revised throughout the budget process. These documents only provide a snapshot of where we are at a given moment. Updates will be posted periodically.

The board must adopt the budget in April for presentation to the voters on the statewide budget vote day, Tuesday, May 20. I urge residents to stay informed as we go forward and to participate in this very important process.