Loss of Federal Funds Fuels School Budget Increase

Supt. of Schools Fran Rabinowitz unveiled her proposed 2012-13 school budget Thursday that includes a 3.43 percent increase over the current budget.

The reason for the increase, she told the , is the loss of federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding that has come through for the last three years. Those funds were disbursed throughout the country to help jolt the sagging economy, but the program has ended and the district is losing the several million dollars it received.

That loss equals $3.8 million going into next year's budget that has to be made up in local funding, Rabinowitz said.

Because of those funds, the district was able to keep its annual increase below 1 percent for the last three years, Rabinowitz said, and it still averages just above 1 percent over four years when figuring in her current proposal.

"The budget takes into consideration the challenging economic times, as well as the increasing needs of students," she said.

Costs, Need Continues to Rise

Over the past four years, the numbers of both students qualifying for free and reduced lunch, as well as students for whom English is a second language, have increased dramatically, Rabinowitz said -- two groups that traditionally need more services.

So too has the number of unfunded mandates increased, she said, meaning that the district has to find the money to implement them.

Crunching the Numbers

Rabinowitz's proposed $81.8 million 2012-13 budget is $2.7 million, or 3.43 percent, more than the current $79.1 million budget. Of the $2.7 million increase, $1.9 million is for non-discretionary spending such as hikes in transportation and tuition costs that the district has no choice but to pay.

The remaining funds are earmarked for a number of items, including: 

• Four new staff positions -- $190,000
• Clerical upgrades to Central Office staff -- $31,278
• Eight student support advisors -- $71,000
• Curriculum development -- $82,210
• Repair and maintenance equipment -- $16,474
• Student activities -- $24,050
• Instructional supplies -- $167,584
• Other supplies -- $11,750
• Textbooks -- $67,263
• Instructional software -- $114,963
• Instructional equipment -- $51,284

The request for the eight student support positions comes at the request of parents, Rabinowitz said. Each full-time position would be located in one of the eight elementary schools and would be responsible for a number of things, including supervision of the cafeterias and recess time, as well as academic tutoring.

Rabinowitz said she would like to see those positions filled by unemployed teachers who may be willing to take the position in order to stay in a school environment.

The additional funds for curriculum development would be used to keep teachers working in that area during the summer months. Currently it's done during the year when the teachers are pulled from classrooms and substitute teachers are brought in, Rabinowitz said, which can be detrimental to the learning process.

The additional textbook cost is for the implementation of the new fourth-grade math curriculum, Rabinowitz said. Initially it was planned for both the fourth and fifth grades but the fifth grade was eliminated to cut costs, she said.

The Board of Education's Finance Committee will now begin holding several workshops on the proposed budget, the first of which is Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Central Office.