Schools

Bedford School Budget Proposes 1.58 Percent Tax Increase, Cuts Almost 28 Jobs

Preliminary budget the result of school board goal of having a low tax levy increase.

The Bedford Central School District's preliminary budget for the 2010-11 school year will have minor tax and budget increases, with a second straight year of position reductions.

The budget, unveiled by Superintendent Jere Hochman at Wednesday's Board of Education meeting, calls for a 1.58 percent tax increase and a 0.82 percent spending increase. It also calls for the reduction of 27.85 positions throughout the district.

The trend of streamlining taxes and shrinking the workforce is a continuation of the previous budget, which had a negative tax levy of –1.61 percent and a negative budget increase of –0.67 percent. Positions eliminated were in the range of 40 to 45, based on interview accounts from Hochman and Assistant Superintendent for Business Mark Betz.

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It is through the context of the previous school budget that the debate over the new one started at the beginning of the meeting.

Jennifer Tully, an officer with the Bedford Teachers Association and a teacher at Mount Kisco Elementary School, spoke on behalf of the union to state its position, warning that having layoffs on top of last year's would harm the district's educational quality.

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"We the teachers are very concerned that even more layoffs will be unsustainable because we are currently experiencing new demands from last year's layoffs," she said. "Cutting positions is contrary to the quality and level of programs and education that Bedford has offered over the last 40 years."

But board member Erika Long, a Pound Ridge resident who is a mother of two kids in the district, said that while she would not like to see a staff reduction, she noted the need to have a budget that can be passed at the polls, citing taxes as a reason.

"However, when I look at the numbers, and I look at the fact that simply maintaining the status quo in programs that we have in the district as it is, would require a significant tax increase in some of our jurisdictions, that I don't think we would actually be able to get passed at the polls."

In the district's presentation, position and service reductions were organized based on three different levels. In an interview, Betz said that the levels of reductions were being done based on the impact on the students, with Level 1 being the one with the least effect.

"We always start with that which is furthest away from kids," he said, also noting that Level 1 is tied more towards shifting enrollment.

In Hochman's presentation, he outlined what the district's fiscal situation would look like if each reduction level were implemented, with more reductions leading to lower tax increase rates. If only Level 1 is used, 12.75 positions would be cut, with a 2.47 percent tax increase. Adding on Level 2 would lead to 10.90 additional cuts and a 1.91 percent tax increase. Finally, adding Level 3 would result in 4.20 more reductions and a 1.58 percent tax increase. Betz explained in an interview that the board requested a 1.5 percent tax levy increase as the goal, and said that the levels were done in order to get to it.

Betz said that he is not sure yet how many of the position reductions will be through layoffs or through attrition.

There are other points in the proposed budget that could also lead to debate. The district calls for eliminating one bus route, an issue that Betz in an interview admitted can be contentious. Betz also said that the budget also calls for potentially phasing out band from its current offering in fourth grade, to a new start time in sixth grade at the middle school level, over a two-year period. During the first year of the phase out, band would be offered beginning in fifth grade. However, he said that the same savings could be done if they can find a way to increase the instrumental lessons classes with students.

Other measures taken to get the budget down to its proposed level are done through using $2.5 million in reserves, using a pension reserve to reduce the costs of employee retirement pensions and using federal stimulus funds. The district also hopes to establish an unemployment reserve to deal with the costs of unemployment benefit contributions, Hochman told Patch.

Hochman said in an interview that members of the public will have chances to comment on the budget. One opportunity will through the In Focus forums, which will be held on Saturday at 9 a.m. at Fox Lane High School, Monday at 9:30 a.m. at the historical hall in Bedford and Monday night at the high school again. The start time for the third meeting will be 7 p.m. There will also be online and phone surveys, Hochman said. 


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