Schools: Anticipated state aid boost seen as a boon

What does Governor Andrew Cuomo’s State of the State address calling for increased aid to education mean to Shelter Island’s school budget? Don’t expect an easy answer to that question anytime soon.

In 2011, the district received $32,435 in state aid, according to the clerk’s office out of a budget of nearly $10 million.

The governor’s call for a 4-percent increase in school aid isn’t an across-the-board distribution. It’s linked to a number of provisions, including how severely individual districts were affected by aid cuts in the current school year and their willingness to employ specific teacher evaluation methods.

Shelter Island will only release sections of Superintendent Michael Haynes’ proposed budget as it takes shape, not the entire draft at the outset of public meetings, which begin this month.

“I will be releasing budget updates throughout the next few months in sections because we have much to discuss,” Dr. Haynes said about his approach to the process. The district begins public budget meetings on February 13 and continues them on February 29 and March 12, all at 6:30 p.m.

“The board and I are still discussing how we are looking to proceed with this increase,” Dr. Hynes said about the anticipated state aid hike.

“Depending on how much we accomplish during our discussions will drive our ability to release a full proposal in regard to state aid,” the superintendent said, noting that the Board of Education is looking at the prospect of increased aid. He promised “more comprehensive answers” in February about how the district’s budget would be affected by the promise of more state aid.

The district’s practice of releasing only sections of its budget at a time is similar to that employed by a number of other East End districts. But in Southold, a full budget draft is made public at the initial meeting and updated drafts are distributed as revisions occur throughout the process.

All districts must make their budget proposals public at least seven days in advance of an official public hearing to be scheduled during the first week in May.

“I’m encouraged that there is an increase this year for Shelter Island,” the superintendent said about state aid. But while he called the plan for more aid “a good start,” he said he hopes the governor will now focus on “much needed mandate relief for school districts.”

His reference is to unfunded or under-funded programs districts are required to have, but have to fully or partially fund through local tax revenues.

The governor created a committee last year to study mandate relief, but it has yet to make public suggestions for rolling back any of the mandates. Educators have been vocal about how meeting the various mandates adversely affects their ability to expand local programs.

Prior to Mr. Cuomo’s speech last week, Dr. Hynes had sounded the alarm about the ability to meet a state-imposed 2 percent tax cap. He had estimated then that the district would be looking at the need to slice at least $200,000 out of its current budget to stay within the cap. That was because money is needed to cover contractual expenses and hikes in such  items as fuel oil and gasoline.