Few Concerns about Proposed School Budget - Mamaroneck Avenue School Project Bids Come in Too High

by Joan R. Simon

(March 17, 2005) The Mamaroneck School Board met all morning on Saturday, March 12 and again on Tuesday evening, March 15 to review the superintendent’s proposed $95,952,000 budget for next year. (See: Kemper Funds Out/New Teachers In: School Tax to Rise 7.53%) The hearings brought out only a modest number of taxpayers and few requests or concerns. The only new budget wrinkle came from the Mamaroneck Avenue School renovation project, where bids have come in much higher than expected.

Community Counseling Center Asks for Increase

Mark Levy, director of The Larchmont-Mamaroneck Community Counseling Center, appeared on Saturday to ask for an increase of $10,000, which would raise the line in the 2005-06 budget to $52,000. Last year the center asked for and received an additional $12,000. Support for the counseling center, which provides programs and services to the schools, comes from the three local municipalities and the school district. Grants from New York state and local charitable institutions provide additional financial assistance.

Superintendent Sherry King voiced her support for this “deserving” program but reminded the assembly of the need to restrain the budget. The board will be reviewing the additional request.

Varsity Skiing?

Another Saturday request came from the high school ski club, which petitioned to become a varsity ski racing team. Math teacher James Zervas, who is the ski club advisor, requested $6,465, which would include the cost of coach buses for transportation of students and equipment to and from practices and meets.

The school board briefly discussed issues concerning start-up requirements, inclusion of more students and additional costs of a new varsity team. Superintendent King promised to discuss the matter with Athletic Director Bari Suman and come back to the board with a recommendation.

What Ever Happened to the Kemper Memorial Project?

Other questions concerned the Kemper project, which is on hold because of NY State Supreme Court Justice Bellatoni’s decision on January 6 prohibiting the school district from implementing their proposed move and reconfiguration of the Kemper Memorial Park. Once the judge has signed and filed the order, the school district will have 30 days in which to file a notice of appeal, keeping the door open for another six months in which an appeal would be possible. When questioned about the district’s plans on this matter, School Board President Celia Felsher commented: “The board has not made a decision. There are a variety of issues” that need to be considered.

Regarding the $500,000 that was allocated in the 2004-05 budget for changes to the park, including a new soccer field, Assistant Superintendent Sarah Tate said that the money would stay in the fund balance pending the board’s decision.

A query was made regarding rising legal expenditures, including money spent on the Kemper issue. Dr. King explained that the retirement two years ago of the district’s counsel had resulted in a vastly higher hourly rate for legal services. In addition, the district has been involved in an increasing number of legal cases, almost all of which have been in the special education area, she said. The Gazette learned in January through a Freedom of Information Act request that $184,000 has been spent on legal fees for the Kemper Park issue. (See: Kemper Decision Leaves the Field Problem Unresolved.)

Mamaroneck Avenue School: Back to the Drawing Boards

In another budget related matter, Ms. Tate announced that the bids for the addition to Mamaroneck Avenue School came in at $8.3 million, substantially higher than the $5.3 million that has been allocated for the project. The 2005-06 budget contains $1.8 million for the project, which was to begin as early as this spring. The district is consulting its architects and has called a meeting of the building committee for March 31.

“We’ve already begun to look for ways to achieve our goals by modifying the project’s phasing or design,” said Dr. King. “We anticipate the $1.8 million will be part of that solution.”

A similar problem occurred last year with the Hommocks pool renovation, which was scheduled to begin in September of 2004. When the bids came in over budget, revisions were made to the plans and resubmitted for approval by the state and the county health department. Ms. Tate said she expected the process for the pool to be completed by the end of April, and bids to be sent out at that time. Work is scheduled to begin in September 2005.

“Responsible Budget”

Dr. King said her guidelines in preparing the budget were to maintain programming, with special attention to class size in kindergarten and at the high school, while finding ways to lower the tax increase. In order to add teaching staff, she explained, staff development was being reduced by $100,000. Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum Annie Zimmer added, “I don’t think we’d ever be willing to eliminate staff development,” but by pooling resources and coordinating their efforts with the Teacher Institute, the offerings “will look similar to what teachers had last summer.” In addition, an anonymous grant given through the Mamaroneck School Foundation will provide extra staff development support.

The technology budget has been cut by $72,000, mostly for equipment, and there will be additional cost savings in life insurance premiums. “I don’t think you will see a more responsible budget figure,” Dr. King said, referring to the many districts in the county who are offering double-digit budget increases.

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