ELLENVILLE – As with every other school district in New York State, the past few months have been filled with a slow mounting tension as the school budgets for 2009-2010 have taken form and shape.

The first, somewhat terrifying numbers from Albany concerning the state's budget arrived in December and threatened Ellenville School District with a cut of $875,000 in state aid, plus the loss of an increase in expected aid of around $500,000, putting the district into a $1.375 million hole.

The implications for the already stressed taxpayers of the district were dire, with a 13.58 percent increase in the tax levy as well as cuts of approximately 26 positions at the schools.

That sent Superintendant Lisa Wiles and her staff back to look for ways to cut deeper; meanwhile everyone waited for federal stimulus money to save the situation — waited with their fingers crossed, it might be said.

Eventually that money did arrive, via the American Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). It included $877,223 to offset money lost from state cuts in education aid, as well as $248, 952 for special needs students and $144,417 to assist the economically disadvantaged in the student body.

Superintendant Wiles said that "The stimulus money is a short term fix. This is just a two year commitment and it will disappear in the 2011 budget."

The total proposed budget for the upcoming year is $44,468,853, which includes $17,698,183 in state aid. With the federal stimulus money to plug the worst gaps, the district was able to keep the increase in school taxes to 2.92 percent this year.

"Over the past ten years, we've averaged 3.5 percent tax increases," said Wiles. "This year we knew we absolutely had to keep any increase under 3 percent. The local economic conditions have steadily declined due to the loss of two major employers over the last five years, resulting in the loss of hundreds of jobs. The taxpayers of the school district are experiencing great financial distress, which would be further exacerbated by a tax levy increase in excess of what the ten year average has been."

At the final budget workshop meeting of the school board on April 13, Superintendant Wiles made the point that the federal stimulus funds came with certain kinds of strings attached. "We are allowed to use this money to supplement, but not to supplant other spending. To be sure we're doing things correctly, I have written to NYSERDA [New York State Energy Research and Development Authority] with some important questions."

Without the ARRA funds, there would have been a reduction of 26.3 positions and program cuts totaling $2,082,808. The ARRA funding has allowed for the reinstatement of 17.6 positions and $1,270, 592 worth of programs.

Thus there will be cuts of two elementary classroom positions due to a decline in enrollment, saving $126,849, while two other positions — a middle school science teacher and a high school foreign language teacher — will go thanks to retirements, saving $170,600. A $75,000 technology position will be eliminated and an existing physical education teacher, with appropriate certification, will teach family consumer science, which will cut .6 of a position in physical education and .4 of a full-time family and consumer science position, saving $37,000. Altogether, $812,216 in reductions have been achieved in this budget.

Unless NYSERDA responds negatively to Superintendant Wiles's letter, this is the budget that will be finalized on April 22 and presented to the district's voters on May 19.

"The 2.92 percent tax levy increase works out to a $46.77 increase on a $100,000 home in the district," said Wiles.

Wiles also reiterated that the ARRA funding is for "just the next two years. We have to remember that and be prepared when it goes away."

COMMENTS about this article (33)