At its April 21 meeting, the Board of Education approved a budget of $144,919,392 million for the 2015-2016 school year. According to Assistant Superintendent for Business Mary Callahan, because of state “gap elimination aid,” the budget increase was kept to .59%, the lowest since 1992.
Several community members spoke at the “Community Comments” portion of the Board of Education meeting. Two Schreiber seniors spoke, one urging that the high school research program be expanded and improved, and the other objecting to cuts to school clubs and other programs. A third member of the community questioned the Board about the petitions that have been filed against the school bond vote, asking what the legal cost will be and who filed the petitions. Karen Sloan, president of the Board of Education, stated that she would confer with counsel before responding to those questions.
As for enrollments, the Board reported that total school enrollment is 5,350 as of April 21, off by just 2 students from last year at this time, which appears to be a stabilization in enrollment. Over the past ten years, the average increase per year has been approximately 60 students. Kindergarten enrollment is projected at 400, and is 340 as of April 21.
The Budget and Facilities Committee reported that meetings have been held with the architects to draw as many plans as possible on the school bond projects for anticipated construction to begin on June 26, 2016. Among the projects that are being planned are science labs at Schreiber and Weber, one or two auditoriums, the side field next to Schreiber, the Weber locker rooms, bathrooms at Weber and Guggenheim, security enhancements and windows. Projects will be submitted to the State Education Department on an ongoing basis as completed. The Board anticipates that, depending on state approval, projects will go out for bid by April 2016, with $10 million worth of projects to begin when school ends in June 2016 and to continue through July 2017.
The Curriculum Committee reported that discussions have been held about AP courses at Schreiber to ensure that the courses offered meet the needs of students.
The budget vote will be held on May 19. On that date, two school board members will also be elected by the community, to serve individual terms commencing on July 1, 2015 and expiring on June 30, 2018. The five candidates for the school board seats are David Sattinger, Elizabeth Weisburd, Lawrence Greenstein, James Ansel and Nora Johnson.
