BY MARK BOSHNACK
STAFF REPORTER
ONEONTA _ Fourteen
staffing cuts were proposed
in Wednesday’s
preliminary budget presentation
for the Oneonta
City School District.
During the regular
meeting, held at Riverside
Elementary School,
budget manager Lisa
Weeks outlined the cuts
that were needed to deal with
what could be a $1.6 million
reduction in state aid for next
school year. The decrease in
staffing includes seven retirements,
cuts to three elementary
teachers, and one each
in music, guidance and
special education, she
said.
There is also one
planned leave of absence
in the proposal. A
librarian will be added
to fill a vacancy that occurred
in the current
school year, she said.
Declining enrollment at the
school allows the district to
condense with a minimal impact,
Superintendent Michael
Shea said. It was too early in
the process to say what actual
positions will be affected, he
said. There will be an increase
in some class sizes as a result of
the changes, he said.
The current proposal would
result in a $375,404 decrease in
spending, when compared to the
2009-10 budget, to $34,147,649,
Weeks said. The resulting tax
levy would increase 6.46-percent
to $1,135,420, but that will
be reduced before a budget is
presented to voters on May 18,
she said.
It will represent a balance
between the needs of the taxpayers,
students and educators,
she said.
With the cuts proposed,
salaries will decrease by
$447,861, she said. Other
decreases include Board
of Cooperative Educational
Services costs of
about $52,000, utilities
costs of about $26,190
and health insurance
rates and benefits will
decline by $282,000, she said.
Expenses that will increase
include contractual salary
costs of more than $700,000 and
retirement costs of $382,000,
she said.
The proposal reviewed
at the last board meeting
in February called
for spending of $34.6
million and a 9.13-percent
tax levy increase.
Weeks said the board
and administrators were
still looking for approximately
$600,000 in additional
spending cuts or
revenues that will be needed to
reach a target tax levy increase
of about 3 percent.
