Education

Supe praises School Board’s fiscal restraint

JULIE LANE PHOTO Superintendent Leonard Skuggevik praised the Board of Education for tight fiscal management, but warned that reserve funds to offset spending won’t last forever.
JULIE LANE PHOTO
Superintendent Leonard Skuggevik praised the Board of Education for tight fiscal management, but warned that reserve funds to offset spending won’t last forever.

The public got its first look Monday night at the administrative budget being proposed by the Shelter Island School District Board of Education for 2015-16.

Superintendent Leonard Skuggevik praised the BOE’s work. “This board has been incredibly fiscally responsible,” Mr. Skuggevik said.

The total administrative budget — covering administration salaries, contractual agreements, travel and conferences, materials and supplies and BOCES services is projected at $1.13 million up from $1.04 million in the current school year. The administrative budget also covers expenses of operating the offices of the superintendent and other administrators, the business office and retiree health benefits covering both administrators and teachers.

Salaries for school administrators, including the superintendent, are proposed at $709,501, up from $656,872 this year. But included in that hike is the possibility of adding a business office employee.

Business manager Kathleen Minder resigned that position last summer. The district has been paying Jennifer Ditta of the auditing firm of Cullen & Danowski to assist business personnel since Ms. Minder’s departure.

Such a hire would also increase employee medical insurance costs, Mr. Skuggevik said. He also noted that while former Superintendent Michael Hynes was paid a waiver in place of taking health insurance through the district, this year Mr. Skuggevik’s benefits are added to the employee medical insurance line. That line, including Mr. Skuggevik’s coverage and that of an anticipated business hire plus an increase in rates, is projected to jump from $83,285 to $144,377.

An increase in travel and conferences is expected to rise from $15,356 to $16,812 to cover the cost that would be incurred should a new member be elected to the Board of Education in May.

Both materials and supplies and BOCES services remain the same at $14,899 for the former and $154,951 for BOCES.

There are slight decreases in costs to support the Employee Retirement System and Teachers’ Retirement System. But retiree health insurance that would cover 41 people, administrators and teachers, is projected to jump from $707,452 to $754,915.

The total cost for administrative benefits would go from $1.028 million this year to $1.11 million next year.

The superintendent noted that since the imposition of the 2 percent tax cap, the last few budgets have not only depended on tight reins on spending, but money that comes from the district’s reserve funds.

“At some point in the future” those reserves will be depleted unless they are replenished, Mr. Skuggevik said.

He also noted that typically there have been public indications of how the governor’s budget is shaping up. But this year, that information hasn’t been flowing from Albany, which leaves school districts operating somewhat blindly, guessing how much state aid they might see for next year.

Still, Mr. Skuggevik said the Board of Education is determined its budget won’t pierce the state-mandated tax cap that for Shelter Island is 1.62 for next year. The year-to-year cap fluctuates from a 2 percent standard based on spending in previous years.

The next budget meeting on Monday, March 16, at 7 p.m. takes on the education portion of the budget.

Then on Monday, March 23, Mr. Skuggevik will outline the capital spending portion of the budget.

On March 30, he will offer an overview of all three parts of the budget and the Board of Education is expected to adopt the proposal on April 22, sending it to a voter referendum on May 19.