More Transparency in School Budget

– By Bertrand deFrondeville –

Let us first praise two changes: showing Actual-Audited numbers for 2004-05 and 2005-06 in the Revenues table, and allocating Pupil Support Services to Administration in Personnel’s latest staffing tables, following NYSED rules. This improves perspective and transparency for evaluation by the Board and voters. Yet, despite courageous efforts by some trustees and the Business Office, much more needs be done:

- Show two or three years of Actual-Audited numbers before the current year’s Actual-Estimated for Cost Centers and the New York Format as for Revenues. The highly misleading “Standstill Budget” is bloated with escalated “standard conservative accounting (SCA) margins”, and by staff hired beyond budget. Audited data series allow trend analysis for real cost management, a common business practice. Why do actual Non-Property Tax Revenues an average $900,000 excess since 2001-03, for an SCA margin 10 times the statutory maximum 2%? Other SCA margins are still 4% (Salaries: $900,000) to 9% (Benefits: $680,000).

- Use the “Essential School Budget” (ESB, formerly Contingency Budget) as a far better baseline. By mandate, ESB adapts to enrollment and inflation, fosters transparency and fiscal restraint, restrains transfers from EDU Program to ADM or Osborn litigation, and protects the quality and integrity of education (athletics included), property, health and safety. Truly needed additions would help consume excessive SCA margins.

- Discuss openly key potential liabilities: Osborn lawsuit, GASB 45 benefits accrual, New Milton Gym.

- Provide actual/projected enrollment by school (graphs lack precision), and a specific budget staff matrix. Midway through the 2005-2006 school year, the 461.1 budget positions were exceeded by 9%. In March of this year, Actual Staff was 476.7 for another 6.9 “staff creep” above budget. SCA margins fund this yearly $700,000-1,000,000 additional liability and much more ($15+ million for Osborn litigation and reserve since 2001). Unbudgeted hires also yield lower class sizes than policy.

- Trim past Program Developments aggressively. Spurious electives and AP proliferation are poor substitutes for an International Baccalaureate approach to core basics. Technology “initiatives” in the classroom are vastly underused and plagued with planned obsolescence, also proven deleterious to math and language literacy worldwide.

- Separate Debt Service from Capital and Transfers. The 5-Year Plan’s annual budgets increase 7.3-9%, with no retirees’ health benefits accrual yet, which will add millions to our fiscal burden starting in 2009.

- Require employees to share more in health premiums, soon due to accrue for current and future retirees. Align all ERS retirement payments (up to 15% in Tier 1) on TRS’ 7-8%. Why are such payments rising several times faster for administrators than for instructional personnel? Why let Payroll (83% of the Operating Budget) continue to rise at well over twice inflation?

- Demand that auditors report Actual-audited tables fully compatible with the budget structure, and refer to the “Original Budget” we all voted for, instead of a “Final Budget,” which reflects multiple transfers worth millions between accounts barely visible 18 months after voting.

My letter last year detailed how the 2006-07 budget increase could come under the 4% ESB target. There is probably as much potential this year, if we all are given the proper tools.