Published: May 07, 2008 12:00 am      

Supers dismiss schools report

Area schools are increasing spending at a rate higher than the state average, according to a recent analysis of local school budgets by a state watchdog group.

But administrators said Monday the analysis gives a misleading picture of what is really going on.

The report by the Empire Center for New York State Policy calculates tax and spending changes for 2008-09 school budgets, based on student enrollment.

It shows that statewide, schools are increasing spending per pupil by 5.8 percent, to $18,768, and that property tax levies are increasing an average of 4.2 percent, to a statewide average of $10,796, based on preliminary data from the state Education Department.

The report said the per pupil spending change in Otsego County is 7.7 percent and the tax levy increase is 5.3 percent.

In Delaware County, the per pupil changes cited are 7 percent for spending and 5.7 percent for tax levy. Voters must approve school budgets; that vote is scheduled for May 20.

The annual consumer price index increased at a rate of about 4 percent, according to the report.

The Empire Center is a project of the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research that is dedicated to fostering economic growth, opportunity and individual responsibility through research papers and policy briefings, according to its website.

In the Oneonta City School District, voters will be deciding on a budget that calls for a 4.73 percent spending increase and 3.9 percent tax levy hike.

Much of the difference between that figure and what is in the report comes from recent higher-than-usual special education costs and building project expenses not yet reflected in revenues, said Superintendent Michael Shea.

Figuring spending the way the report does, he said, gives voters an inaccurate picture of how their money is being spent.

Even though enrollment has been declining, expenses can't always be cut at the same rate, he said.

Shea cited a couple of examples: If a class is only a couple of students short of the ideal size, the whole class can't be cut, he said. Also, utility costs can't be adjusted on a per pupil basis.

But wherever possible, he said, "we have made adjustments," such as reducing one section of second grade at Riverside Elementary this year.

"Our costs are not calculated per pupil," said South Kortright Central School Superintendent Benjamin Berliner, but have more to do with class size.

Even though the school budget is below the report's average in both areas, with spending increasing 3.8 percent and the tax levy hike going up 4.25 percent, the district received a smaller aid increase percentage than other districts in the area, he said. Rising property values and declining enrollments were contributing factors, he said.

Laurens Superintendent Romona Wenck said that with a school building project under way, the budget has to be looked at in two ways. With the first payment on the school's building project due next year, it would be misleading to only consider the spending increase of 21 percent, she said. State aid will be included in the 2008-09 budget to offset the expense, she said, so a truer picture would be the 5.8 percent increase in other spending. Either way, she added, the tax levy hike will be about 2 percent.

Afton Superintendent Elizabeth Briggs said that a continuing drop in enrollment _ about 30 students a year for the past several years _ has caused the per pupil costs to be higher than in the budget that voters will decide on. That proposal calls for spending to increase 4.66 percent and the tax levy to increase 3.84 percent.

The cost per pupil is affected by the school having about 100 high-needs students in a population of about 620, she said. But as the student populations have declined, she said, "We have been reducing staff accordingly."

Until the last couple of years, the Southern Tier was below the state average in this report, said Gilbertsville-Mount Upton Central School Superintendent Douglas Exley.

This year, he said, the report increase is higher than the actual total for G-MU because "we had to budget for debt service" that will be picked up by increased building aid.

"It doesn't show the effort that has been made to keep costs down," such as cutting a full-time business teacher and having other teachers pick up classes.

The report is online at www.empirecenter.org/AboutUs/news_releases/2008/05/SchoolBudgetSpotlight0809.cfm, with a PDF of the report available.

for download.