Chappaqua Budget: Slight Hikes in Curriculum, Sports

Spending for Chappaqua's curriculum and instruction will increase slighly under the proposed 2012-13 budget.

The curriculum portion, the first in a series of detailed presentations the district is conducting, shows a spending rise under "regular school," which includes things like English as a Second Language (ESL) and staff development, from $1,089,009 to $1,119,432. This is an increase of $30,423, or 2.79 percent.

Notable changes under the regular school item include a rise in staff development (from $245,684 to $254,458) and ESL (from $368,001 to $389,650).

Another big category is called Curriculum Development, which will decrease from $375,188 to $365,765. Most of the spending for this portion is for compensating the assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction. That line item is proposed to drop, from $207,596 to $195,505. Note that the "actual" amount being spent on the position for the current school year is only $188,000. This activity coincides with the hiring of Eric Byrne, who took over the position last summer when Lyn McKay was promoted to superintendent.

One significant part of curriculum spending that is slated to be flat is the curriculum studies line, which could remain at $260,124. The line includes funding for items such as implementing the new teachers' evaluation system (known as APPR), spreading use of "blended" learning that onlines a mix of physical and online components, and an assessment development project.

Major priorities planned on the curriculum side, according to the budget presentation, include implementing the new middle schools schedule and the new teachers' evaluation program, along with work on the response to intervention (RTI) program for special education students. Other initiatives include aligning common core standards for subjects such as English and Math, and working on critical thinking as an academic component.

Small Budget Increase for Athletics

Meanwhile, the athletic budget is proposed for an increase of $21,183, from $1,259,275 for this year to $1,280,458 proposed for next year. The biggest line item changes include a raise in the athletic director's compensation (from $159,872 to $171,211) and compensation for coaches (from $544,380 to $580,000).

Unlike last year, in which middle school programs for lacrosse and bowling were proposed to be axed, no teams are being considered for elimination.

Copies of the curriculum and athletics presentations are attached here as PDF files.