Hamburg School Board budget talk includes cuts

With work on the 2012-13 budget in full swing, the Hamburg Central School Board is looking to cut further into a budget gap that currently stands at about $1.5 million.

Superintendent Steven Achramovitch presented an update on the process during the board’s meeting last Tuesday (Feb. 14).

There are proposed cuts to staffing at all levels that make up the bulk of the almost $1.5 million that has been trimmed so far.

On the elementary level, the proposal includes a reduction in staff from 80.5 to 76. There would be 1.5 positions added on the kindergarten level and one additional in grade 3, but all other grades would see a slight reduction, with grade 2 seeing the largest proposed loss of three staff members. Those numbers reflect class sizes of 20 for kindergarten and 24 for students grades 1 to 5.

If the class size average was increased to 22 students in kindergarten and 25 in grades 1 to 5, the reduction in staff could drop to 71 on the elementary level.

At the middle school, there is an expected increase of 40 students from 883 to 923 in 2012-13, so the board is looking at splitting the core teams. Currently, there are three core teams in grades 7 and 8, and the proposal would be for grade 7 and 8 split teams, with grade 7 having 2.5 core teams and grade 8 having 2.5 as well to save money.

The high school is projected to see a slight decrease from 1,196 students to 1,169 next year. As a result, the board is looking at the possibility of reducing its general education staff by five members from 85.8 to 80.8, bringing the total number of staff at the high school to 94.4 employees. Currently there is 99.4 and the board is not proposing any reduction from the special education staff.

On the administrative side, District Clerk Gregg Davis is retiring at the end of the current school year and the proposed budget does not include replacing him.

The board is expected to explore seeing if Davis’ duties can be split among other administrators, said Achramovitch.

With a total of 19.5 positions proposed to be cut on the teacher and adminstrative side, and 10 support staff positions on the chopping block, that would mean a savings of $1,509,150.

As it stands right now, the proposed budget is approximately $59.2 million, which represents a 4.37 percent increase over the current year’s spending plan.

The information given by Achramovitch included “possible areas of reduction.”

Among the areas in recent years which has seen a reduction has been state aid. Under Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposed budget, Hamburg would see a slight increase in 2012-13 of $476, 317, which would give the district nearly $19.2 million in aid.

Achramovitch noted the amount does not solely reflect aid.

“It’s due to reimbursement aid,” Achramovitch said. Another area that is important throughout the process is awaiting official word from the state on the tax cap levy for the district.

According to Barbara Sporyz, director of administrative services, following the formula she was given, she projects that number to be at nearly $30.9 million. The district started its budget process with a tax levy of almost $33.9 million, meaning that the board began the budget process with a nearly $3 million gap.

The state deadline to file the paperwork in regards to tax cap levy is March 1.

“This year it will be 2 percent,” said Sporyz. “We’re still waiting for some guidance from the state.”

On the revenue side, the superintendent said the district is facing several challenges.

“There’s a lot of things going on that’s impacting the revenue picture,” he said.

Among the areas the district is watching closely is discussion on the possibility of state aid of about $250 million that would be sought through a grant.

Looking long-term, the education jobs fund of $1.16 million will be expiring after this year.

As the budget process continues, the board will be looking at other areas to reduce spending, the superintendent said. This includes looking at a health care consortium, a liability insurance consortium, the energy education program, and refinancing capital improvement bonds. Achramovitch said the board froze its 2011-12 budget in November as well.

Other avenues the board will look into includes the cooperative utility purchasing, the workers compensation consortium and an application for a school district improvement grant of $1.8 million over three years.

The board will hold a budget work session beginning at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 28 at the adminstrative building.