School Budget Season Should Spark Talk Of Consolidation-Not Rejection

‘Tis the season, and no not for Santa and Elves or Hanukah candles.  Not for Matzo and Easter bunnies either.  It’s the annual spring right of passage across New York State where schools ask their communities for money to operate for the next school year. 

As is usually the case, it is contentious since school taxes can be up to 25 percent or more of a tax bill depending upon where you live.  Often and understandably there is outrage over this, and in some cases budgets are defeated.  In some years a lot are defeated, in other years a few are.

There are constants to this dance-school administrators saying they have done all they can to manage expenses; the threat of an austerity budget which may actually have higher tax hikes than the proposed budget; and in general confusion.

I took a look at the budgets of Miller Place (disclosure- where I live), Mount Sinai and Rocky Point.  Originally I was going to write an impassioned plea for consolidation as a way to scale expenses and cut costs.  But after reviewing the budgets, it's very tough to even figure out where apples line up to apples and oranges line up to oranges-so perhaps the better plea is for transparency in the process.  All districts should count Admin as Admin, benefits as benefits and facilities as facilities.

That said, lets take a look at the numbers (as compiled from the websites for the three school districts) and aligned with honesty and integrity:

Rocky Point:

Proposed 2011-2012

Percent Change

Admin

$1.6 million

+ .29%

Curriculum

$2.3 million

+ 6%

Teacher Salaries

$21.8 million

+ 3.3%

Benefits

$13.4 million

+ 13.77%

Miller Place

Proposed 2011-2012

Percent Change

Admin + General Support

$7.4 million

- 1.8%

Curriculum

$4.2 million

+ .68%

Teacher Salaries

$35 million

- 1.7%

Benefits

$1.9 million

+ 16.75%

Mount Sinai

Proposed 2011-2012

Percent Change

Admin

$3.4 million

- 2%

Curriculum

$2.3 million

+ 8.86%

Teacher Salaries

$28 million

+ 1.6%

Benefits

$9.4 million

+ 13.7%

Not surprisingly the biggest percentage hike no matter how you figure it comes form benefits-just look at what happens to your benefits and healthcare costs.

But broader, in a time of consolidation and finding ways to cut costs, can our communities really afford the multiple school districts, drawn largely along postal boundaries? 

Now is certainly the time to talk about ways to save money.  But saving money should not come out of the classroom or the programs (sports, arts and support) that make our communities special.  They should come from the double or triple costs of purchasing, administration and support (clerical, custodial).

The reality is there is no magic bullet to save any of our schools coming from Albany or Washington this year (or next for that matter). So we need to look within to find a way to keep our kids competitive in a highly competitive world-and its not by cutting out the enrichment programs and computers that are vital to their learning.  It’s by creating scale where we can.  Buy in bulk, share expenses and become a model for budgetary restraint and curriculum growth.

I'd love to continue the conversation here on Patch, or follow me on Twitter and don't forget to check out my blog Dad The Single Guy.