New Frontier Central Schools Superintendent James Bodziak’s first school board meeting in the district included reviewing preliminary budget amounts for district buildings, numbers which point to a potential 2.5-percent increase in spending for facilities.
The Frontier Central School Board meeting, which took place Tuesday (March 1), featured Richard Binner, assistant superintendent of district business, presenting a School Building Budget Summary, a preliminary display that shows $35,926,476 in the proposed 2011-12 budget.
The amount represents an increase of $879,867, a 2.51 percent difference, from the current year’s budget total of $35,046,609. The district houses the Frontier High and Middle schools, along with the district’s elementary schools of Big Tree, Blasdell, Cloverbank and Pinehurst. The biggest proposed change among district buildings is slated at Blasdell Elementary, where an increase of 8.17 percent in spending, or $284,103, is projected from the 2010-11 budget of $3,478,531. Binner said much of this increase is attributed to re-shuffling of salaries following one full-time employee’s pay being shifted to being taken from general fund expenditures; rather than from federal grant funds, monies that were needed for other expenses.
Other changes among district building expenditures include increases of 2.24 percent at Frontier High, from the 2010-11 amount of $11,371,670 to the 2011-12 proposed total of $11,626,529, a hike of $254,859; 1.38 percent at Frontier Middle, from $8,207,241 to $8,320,173, an increase of $112,932; 3.93 percent at Cloverbank Elementary, from $3,885,227 to $4,037,844, a jump of $152,617; a 0.96 percent at Pinehurst Elementary, from $3,729,316 to $3,765,096, a hike of $35,780; and 0.90 percent at Big Tree Elementary, from $4,373,624 to $4,414,200, a rise of $39,576.
New York State aid remained a question mark for the district. Vice President Stanley Figiel said that he hoped the board would be able to get a better understanding of assistance to combat increases in health and pension costs for employees for the district in 2011-12.
“I won’t feel comfortable (viewing another proposed budget) until we find (state assistance) to make up that gap,” Figiel said.
Bodziak, who on Feb. 22 officially assumed district superintendent duties after Vincent Coppola had served as interim superintendent since September, was sworn in at the beginning of the meeting as part of the Oath of Office to the Superintendent of Schools. Although he admitted he is still learning “the Frontier way” of budget review, Bodziak said he’s aware of the financial crunch New York State has presented Western New York school districts.
“The prediction of the 2011-12 budget being more dire is coming to fruition,” said Bodziak, who recently served as superintendent of the East Aurora School District and formerly as an administrator in the Orchard Park School District.
During the building budget presentation, Binner stated that planning for student enrollment in district classes helps drives the budget process for staffing. He listed second graders in district elementary schools as being projected to total 364 in 2011-12, compared to the listed 383 this year, divided into 19 sections. At Pinehurst, 103 current second graders are divided into five sections of nearly 21 per class, compared to an overall total of 96 in 2011-12. Cloverbank’s second graders are currently divided into four sections, at 25 students per class; Big Tree, at just over 18 per class; and Blasdell, at just over 17 per class.
“We’ve tried to maintain class size across the district,” said Binner, who added that another section is suggested to be added next year to Cloverbank to lower its large per-class size.
At Frontier Middle, which includes sixth, seventh and eighth graders, the average class size is currently 21.8 students.
At Frontier High, the projected student class size total is projected in 2011-12 to be about 22 pupils. In sixth grade, 402 students are the projected total for 2011-12, compared to the current amount of 391. Freshmen at Frontier High totaled 424 in 2010-11, projected to slightly increase to 424 in 2011-12, or 22.6 students per class. Students per class in self-contained classes at Frontier High and Frontier Middle are projected to be 25 and 20 pupils, respectively, in 2010-11.
An object code summary shows expenditures including categories of sub-teachers, teacher salaries, support staff salaries, contract services, travel and teaching assistants, among others. At Cloverbank Elementary, 77.72 full-time employee spots are projected to be budgeted for 2011-12.
Also, electricity costs, currently $55,000, are projected to rise by about 15 percent for the 2011-12 year, a hike not quite as severe as the one expected in the similar category at Frontier High. Binner said Frontier High’s expected increase in electricity costs is attributed to summer school returning to Frontier High, causing a “full boar” of 12-month electricity running in the building.
Also at the meeting, the board reviewed a Real Estate Listing Agreement between the district and Realty USA. The measure, slated to be put into resolution by the board’s March 15 work session, addresses the likely sale of long-untouched district property on Lakeview Road. Binner said district Request for Proposal Committee members’ recent discussions with administrators yielded an agreement that is generally OK’d by parties involved. Figiel described the property as 16.5 acres, part of which is wetlands, that was purchased for $10,000 by the district in 1956 that could have potentially been used for construction of another elementary school. In 2005, Figiel noted, the district formed a school property committee with the purpose of holding discussions to sell properties, with an emphasis placed on submitting the Lakeview Road site on the tax roll.
Despite a slight concern of wetland areas presenting a snag at the site, Figiel said, the overriding thought was that the location was suitable to be sold.
“For six years, we’ve been sitting on our hands (with the Lakeview Road property), and we need to move this (sale process) forward for the availability of money to come (to the district) through a sale,” said Figiel.
The board also heard a presentation at the meeting from Fred Gould, who serves as an insurance agent in the district through Utica National Insurance Company and spoke of The Evans Agency, Inc. services provided to the district. According to Binner, Utica National is an independent company that insures more than 300 upstate school districts, compared to the mainly downstate-serving company of New York State Insurance Reciprocal.
Those two companies, Binner stated, are the only serving insurance markets in the state, with Utica National providing a broader range of coverage options.
Gould said as part of the insurance company’s relationship with the district, four individuals are assigned duties of account work. Also, a school task force – comprised of about eight independent agents – seek out district needs to be met by Utica National; while a steering committee, made up of nearly 20 business officials and administrators, meets twice per year to guide Utica National seminars and find the most pressing needs in districts. Such issues can include pitfalls expected with capital projects, such as liabilities associated with New York State Labor Law and ongoing discussions with construction managers and other project coordinators on a daily basis.
Handling insurance claims, renewing insurance certificates through the district’s business office, securing protection with “use of school facilities” parameters and providing risk management are other duties associated with Utica National, according to Gould.
“We have a particularly good relationship with the Frontier business office and Richard Binner,” said Gould, who added that research in the district included 182 activity reports being completed since last July.
The Frontier Central School Board will hold a special meeting at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 8 to discuss its planned capital project, with the meeting taking place at the Frontier Educational Center Board Room, located at 5120 Orchard Avenue in Hamburg.