Dr. Feirsen Presents Proposed Budget Summary To Residents, Board

Following past presentations outlining the instructional expenditures (Part I and II), the administrative expenditures and the complete overview of the proposed 2012-2013 budget for the Garden City school district, superintendent Dr. Robert Feirsen provided a full summary at the March 20 board of education meeting - one of the final steps before the board must adopt a budget.

His summary touched upon key aspects of the proposed budget for the 2012-13 year, including information regarding the newly imposed 2 percent tax cap levy, which, he explained, is “not an end to voting on school budgets.”

“This is really a time for me to wrap things up for the board,” Feirsen said. The April 17 regular meeting is the time in which the board must adopt a budget. The budget summary outlined expenditures, issues and cost saving measures that are being incorporated into the budget proposal for this year.

According to the proposal, the program budget still stands at $78,030,587, which, along with the administrative budget ($11,370,846) and the capital budget ($15,575,318), totals the proposed budget of $104,976,751 for the 2012-13 year. 

The summary presentation outlined a few of the new and costly mandates that the budget faces this year, including printing, scoring and scanning of every student response sheet for testing (grades 3-8; approximately $4.15 per student); scoring of Regents exams ($1.75 per student, per exam); scientific calculators for middle school testing, among other costs. 

According to Feirsen, the district also has limited sources of revenue. “Garden City relies extensively (90 percent) on property taxes for the funds that allow it to operate its programs,” he said, adding that the district is eligible for only a small amount of state aid and receives no Race to the Top funding. He also stated that it “does not appear that Garden City will receive substantial state aid for the 2012-13 budget year.”

As stated in the previous work sessions, the overall goal of the budget is to “work to ensure that current and future students enjoy the same opportunities that former students enjoyed and maintain our community's status as a ‘destination location,’’’ Feirsen said. 

“There is no magic to this,” he added. “This is not just us; every school district is faced with the same fiscal challenges.”

As earlier sessions presented, no drastic cuts will be made to accommodate the budget, aside from the $95,000 from athletics, which eliminated 19 assistant coaches, four head strength and conditioning coaches and six middle school intramural supervisors (29 total). This will be offset, however, with the addition of 16 intramural supervisors reducing the impact of program adjustments.

The presentation also noted that proposed staff reductions are also at a minimum (one seventh grade core teacher, one bus driver, 1.2 FTE administrative), all correlating to decline in enrollment or cost reduction. To offset this, however, the budget does allow for two reserve full-time teachers (one general education, one special education) in case of enrollment increase. More information, and copies of all the budget work session presentations, are available on the district’s website.