001hearing session. Um, I'm calling this hearing to order now at 5:38 p.m. Um, please note the exits that are clearly marked in the event of emergency situation. Also, at this point in time, can you please silence your cell phone and join the board in the pledge of allegiance? To the flag of America, liberty and justice for all. >> At this point, I'm going to turn the meeting over to Dr. Talbertton. Good evening to our board of education colleagues and community. Thank you for joining us tonight for the board of education's budget hearing for the 2627 school year. Tonight we will not present any new information but basically provide an overview of the budget that we're asking the community to vote on May 19th. And so without further ado, this presentation is posted on the district's
002website under the tab board of education budget presentations and it's here on the screen for your viewing as well. So our goal with this budget, as you have been hearing throughout the course of the last few months, is to maintain what works. We want to strengthen what matters most to us, which is our instructional components for our student scholars. And more importantly, we want to plan responsibly for the future. So, this budget does reflect our commitment to doing what matters most, and that's investing in our student scholars while remaining responsible to our community. The budget that we're asking the community to vote on is a student centered investment where we have planned in targeted supports and we're prioritizing strong instructional supports for all of our students. We've looked at the whole child as our main
003focus where we could support our programs academically, socially, and emotionally. It is important that we provide safe, modern learning environments. We all understand that our facilities are aging. So, we are investing in upgrades and improvements to make sure that our buildings are safe. Our students could be warm when it's cold and cool when it's hot to be conducive to learning. Okay, now I think I went too far. Here we go. Thank you. Our budget priorities were shaped through conversations and collaborative meetings that we've had with school leaders, school leader departments, and most importantly, our student leaders. Our student schoolboard members were a vital part of shaping the voice behind requests that students wanted along with the superintendent student leadership council and they traveled from school to school and they sat in focus groups and they
004heard what was most important to their peers. And so their feedback is included in this budget. And most importantly, a fiscally responsible plan that maintains programs, respects taxpayers, and positions Amityville for long-term success. So we want to remind everyone around our shared vision for the future of Amityville. This budget contains a nominal increase of 2.64% over last year's budget. and what is contained in the budget. These investments will push us forward, not as accelerated as we would like, but it will steer us in the right direction to accomplish more stability, to accomplish what we're setting out to achieve through our purpose, as well as begin to create more opportunities for students. more opportunities that have been put into increase dollars with student clubs, field trips, um, as well as expanded opportunities for students to connect
005with their schools through a summerbridge program over the summer months. And at this time, Miss Stevens is going to share with you some of the instructional highlights in this year's budget. >> Thank you, Dr. Talbert. So many of you have heard me speak over um over the course of the year about the fact that the commencement ceremony that takes place at the high school is not just a product of the work that we do in the high school building, but it begins when students enter northeast for prek. So our instructional programs are really focused on that end result of commencement. And we have just a few highlights tonight about some of the items that sorry some of the items that are included in this budget to help with that process. Um we start with some
006of the instructional items. One being a special education teacher. This is a specific teacher for a 611 class. a class that has six students, one teacher and one TA. It results from the annual review meetings which indicated this was a class that a number of our students needed. So this is an additional teacher to our team. The second are the elementary instructional coaches. They will work with teachers specifically targeting the special education and multilingual learner students uh who make up our largest subgroups. So as part of our instructional plan, we've been working on tier 1, two, and three support. These instructional coaches will work directly with teachers in these two specific areas about the interventions they can do right in their classrooms to help keep our students in the classroom and get the support that
007they need. And then finally under instruction, the high school department chairpersons uh chair people were part of um the budgets. Previously we had changed those roles to uh building level leaders and so our chairpeople returning are going to help us as we prepare for the New York inspires initiative from the state education department. They will be able to support initiatives that are linked to the seals that are part of the one diploma program. Um and so we're looking forward to the the work they're going to do to move achievement forward. In the area of support, we are adding a speech teacher who will continue to serve our students with disabilities according to their IEPs and lead school counselor who is going to help connect with those department chairpeople as they hold conversations about the portrait
008of a graduate which is part of the New York inspires initiative. In the area of preparation, as Dr. Talbert mentioned, we are offering a summerbridge program in each of our five buildings for the grade levels that are transitioning. So, the program will be offered for two weeks. Students or families will be able to choose one of the two weeks to send their students. We expect to have room to accommodate every student on the grade levels for which the program is offered which would be K 1 3 6 and 9. And the focus of the program is to begin the readiness skills for students entering new buildings. So the students will work on learning the protocols of the building. There will be some time to do some diagnostics and to engage students in what we know
009they need to know to enter those grade levels. Finally, uh in the area of social emotional learning and mental health, we have added a psychologist to the high school. The high school does currently have the largest case load. This psychologist would be able to help not only with the mandated counseling services and testing, but also with any of the mental health needs that our high school students encounter. And finally, again, as Dr. Talbert mentioned, conversations with our students have indicated that they could benefit from a meditation room. And so the meditation room within the budget would give us an opportunity to furnish it appropriately. And I'm going to pass it on now to Dr. Lando. >> Good evening. Um, from a human resources perspective, uh, it's important to note that the district-wide and building level
010staffing lists are accurate. Uh, that's work, combined work of the business office under Mr. Jagon. Before him, Mr. Snyder, and and also the human resources office. Um, one of the things that it's important to note is that this year's budget allocations are correct districtwide. We have not ex overexpended our budget in terms of the in terms of staffing. However, due to keeping Northeast open, there were some realignments of staffing that naturally occur so that on a building by building, you might see some shifts and that's normal during the course of a school year. The reason for that is that there are retirements. There are people who leave the district and get promoted uh that we can't anticipate and in some cases staff members are shifted and as a result of that, their budget lines change.
011So building by building may look a little different. However, districtwide the codes are accurate and you can expect them to be accurate as we leave this school year. However, when we get to the beginning of next school year, you may see some shifts again because we can't know everybody that will make a change. Uh at the time a budget is created, uh you see that the lines match allocations. Uh they include costs for the initiatives that you see. In order to keep my slide to one page, I did not list them all, but I do reiterate uh for the instructional piece uh from Miss Stevens instructional coaches and MLL and special education and department chairpersons. However, each of the bullets that were instructional that Miss Stevens spoke about could appropriately be included here. The other
012thing is that from my perspective as a newcomer to the district, the staffing levels are appropriate for the student population. Uh the size of the student population and the courses that we offer. They ensure opportunities to meet student learning needs through advanced and AP courses that uh provide culminating experiences across content areas for students who excel in particular content areas. We want to make sure that they can reach their highest potential. Likewise, they're appropriate for our students uh to meet their IEP requirements and have the appropriate numbers and types of sections that meet these student needs. Uh I've also looked at average class sizes and the average class sizes support the instructional program without excess. In other words, we don't want class sizes that are too small on the average because uh that's not fit
013being physically responsible. And we also have made sure that uh we've appropriately staffed to not overt tax classes to try to have enough staff such that class sizes are reasonable to support education. Uh they in they support the instructional program as it says here without excess and consider current and projected enrollment. Next year's projected enrollment is about the same as this year's overall although there are some shifts uh among the overall building. And we also make sure that we view we review staff to be sure that all are fully assigned according to the contract. We don't want to have staff members who do not have sections assigned even though we are paying them full salaries and that was the case before I arrived and will be the case next year. So the um to give
014you an overview of the fiscal aspects of this budget, we have increased local revenue by almost 7% and the way we did that was by transferring money from the school lunch fund to the general fund in order to perform some very needed renovations. ations to the middle school and high school cafeteria, including the installation of new serving lines, uh, refrigeration equipment, and a walk-in freezer at the high school. Um, state aid is increasing by 4%. It's a m little misleading to say 4% because the portion of aid that we are allowed to use in any way we wish is increased by only 2%. The remainder of the increase is the result of expenses that we incurred this year that will be aided next year. But we've already spent the money. So that additional 2% is
015just a small reimbursement on the part of the state for transportation costs, for building costs, for special education services. Um that money is not available to use for other things. Our fund balance in reserves is um important to me as a business official. Uh I am proud that we're able to reduce our reliance on fund balance and reserves by approximately 2%. That's moving in the right direction. That means we're not mortgaging our future. Um by draining our savings account to fund current operations. Uh ideally I'd like to see that lower. Um, the last time I served as your business official, we actually reduced it to 1.4 million, which is approximately half of where we are now. And that to me would be an appropriate number to aim at. You don't do it all in one
016year, but And finally, property taxes. Um, property tax increase is approximately $1 million. that represents 1.56% of the levy we were allowed to um issue last year. Uh and it is at the levy limit as defined by the state. So in total the budget has increased by 2.64% and it's paid for by those different revenue sources. So, I'd like to take you through what happens if the budget is defeated. If the budget is defeated, the board of education must decide on the next step. It could put up the same exact budget on Tuesday, June 16th, the third Tuesday in June. That date is set by law. We don't have any choice but to have a revote if they choose to do so on Tuesday, June 16th. The board could also revise the budget, increase it,
017decrease it. They could make a budget um that they think might be more palatable to the community and present that budget for a vote again on Tuesday, June 16th. or they can adopt a contingency budget. A contingency budget is a budget that cannot have certain elements in it, which I'm going to describe to you now. If the budget is defeated again on June 16th, the board has no choice. They must adopt a contingency budget. Sometimes this is referred to as austerity. And under this contingency or austerity budget, the tax levy can be no higher than it was the previous year. Certain expenditures would have to be excluded. Those expenditures are things like capital projects, equipment purchases other than equipment that is required for the health, safety, and welfare of our students. The use of facilities
018by outside organizations would be prohibited. The board of ed then has to decide what is part of a basic education that must be offered. And in this area, the board is given great discretion by the commissioner of education. For example, athletic programs could be eliminated as not part of the essential basic education. So could club activities. So could performing music opportunities. So could field trips. That's up to the board of education to make a decision as to which of those items must be included because they are part of a sound basic education. class sizes could be increased. You'll notice I've underlined and emphasized the word could. This is not a decision that the central office makes. This is a decision that the board of education would need to make. The reason why class sizes being
019increased is a possibility is that would result in a reduction of staff and allow us to hit the target of a 0% tax levy increase. And the third option that the board has to meet a contingency budget is to utilize their reserves to balance the budget. So at this point, we would like to offer to the board and then to the community an opportunity to ask us any questions that they would like. >> Does the board have any questions? >> Yes. Mr. Dragoon, would you mind going back a slide or two to the overview of the 2026 2027 budget? Not a question. And I'm not going to bellay the point, but putting aside the record-breaking multi-million dollar surplus, putting aside the projected 2.3 surplus from this year, putting those amounts aside, looking at the total
020amount of state aid, that alone could cover the 1.56% % making a 0% tax levy increase and have $800,000 to spare. It's not particularly a question towards Mr. Draone because the board has made its decision to do that, but I just wanted to point that out. >> Thank you. Any other questions or comments from the board? >> Yes. Uh, one question. So if we were at the point for a contingency budget, um what would the reason be? Like capital projects is and equipment purchases I could see that's things easily being purchased. Why would use of facilities by outside organizations be prohibited? The commissioner has ruled that no money can be expended for purposes that are not directly related to the instruction of children. So the community use of our facilities, the expenses that would be
021incurred in allowing that would not be allowed under a contingency or austerity budget in accordance with decisions of the commissioner and rulings of the controller. And so now the existing budget, is there anything in the budget stating an amount set aside for use of facilities? >> No, but we do have um we do incur costs, we keep the lights on, we heat the place, we have custodians, we have security. All of those costs would be disallowed. >> Okay. Thank you. Any other comments or questions from board members? >> Um, yes. I just a brief question. Um, there's talk I know we have to go through this. It's required. Um, what was if you could just remind me what was last year's tax levy? Do you know >> increase? >> I'm sorry. I don't have that
022number. >> Okay. But it would be less than 1.56. I I don't know. I really don't, Megan. I don't I don't want to guess. >> Okay. >> The limit changes from year to year. The limit is related to the cost of living which the CPI >> which has been above 2% every year for a while now >> and the exclusions that we're allowed to add to the levy like capital projects that we pay for. Um if there was a sharp increase in retirement and pension contributions on the part of the district, we'd be allowed to exclude some of that from the levy. If there was a lawsuit that result, they call it a tort that results in 5% or more of our levy >> um being absorbed, we'd be allowed to exclude that additional amount.
023So from year to year, you'll see that um there are districts that have a wide range of levy limits, some as low as negative.04%. >> And some as high as 10%. >> Okay. Um is this the same presentation that's being given um in the community budget meetings? >> Basically, it's the same. Yes. We wanted to make it as streamlined as possible to give people in the community a chance to ask their questions. >> Okay. What What do you mean by basically? Is there something different? >> Well, that remember that whole thing I did about fund balance that's not here, >> but it's in the community meetings. >> Sure. I mean, we've said it to you a number of times. >> What's that? We've shared the information about fund balance >> several times during the board
024meeting. So, we didn't repeat that tonight. >> Okay. No, I was just wondering why it would be any different than what we heard tonight that went to the community meetings. You you've pointed out, Megan, a very important point, which is no matter what the board or the public says to us tonight, the budget is finalized and must be the budget that the community votes on on May 19th. >> So, we just wanted to give the community and you an opportunity to ask any clarifying questions that you have. and we didn't want to make a 45minute presentation. We'd rather spend the time listening to you. >> I'm sure um is there was reference to like not closing Northeast and I just you know we never really evaluated closing Northeast. So I know you I think you
025just brought it up because you were mentioning that we were moving staff over to Northwest like when you were talking m Dr. Orlando about >> oh there there was a change in staff because the school's grade levels changed and when the school's grade levels changed the people some people that were assigned at one school ended up being assigned to the other based on the grade that they taught and those shifts resulted in some shifts in the building level codes but not in the overall expense for the elementary teacher staffing. So >> okay I understand that. I think I just I just got stuck on mentioning like not closing Northeast because we never really evaluated closing Northeast. We we decided to move kindergarten back to Northeast. So I just got stuck. >> If if I misspoke,
026I apologize. It was before my time here. >> Yeah. No, understood. >> Thank you. Any other question or comments before I open up to the committee to have their their comments questions or comments about the hearing? Okay. So, seeing and hear none, this is an opportunity for the community just to ask a question for any clarification or make a comment, anything regards to the budget hearing. >> Good evening, Chris. >> Hold on one second, please. Hold on one second. Hold on one second, please. >> You need No, >> I'm sitting close enough to every stand close enough to everybody that you should be able to hear me anyway. >> No, it's not that. We just have to set We have to set the time. >> All the time. Okay. >> All right. Go go go
027ahead with me. >> Okay. Megan had brought up um Okay. The um to me it's kind of like the elephant in the room. Okay. If we go to a contingency, the public does not get to vote on that and you have to like scale it back however you scale it back. Now the key words here and what correct me if I'm wrong tax levy no higher than previous year >> what is to prevent the this board before many of them go away what is to let's say put a 2.5 or whatever it was tax levy in there you know if it goes through contingency that tax levy should be zero >> and it will If it if the budget is defeated twice, >> okay, >> the tax levy increase will be by law >> 0%.
028>> But that's not what you said. You said the tax no higher than previous year, >> right? That's that's 0%. >> 0%. >> That's no increase. That's a 0% increase. >> Okay. I mean, if it comes to that, I I hope that's exactly what you do. Thank you. I'm back. >> Thank you. Any other questions or comments in regard the budget hearing? >> Seeing and hear none. Can I have a motion to >> Wait a second. Can I just ask a another question not on the budget hearing is um is that okay? >> No, the focus is the budget hearing tonight. >> I can't ask a question as since the board is here. >> No, the focus is the budget hearing. That's it. >> Can I have a motion to adjourn the meeting at 608,
029please? Have a motion to adjurnn at 608. Please move. >> Second. >> Lizzie Kretz is first. Chris Ner is second. All those in favor? >> I. Anyone opposed? >> Opposed. I wanted to ask a question since the board was >> motion is in a meeting. >> Motion carries 42. >> Did you or you? Yes or no? >> No. >> Motion carries. I think I think the meeting is respectfully as a board member be given the courtesy of >> the meeting is adjourned. Thank you. work. That's it.