PT Council Budget Study Questions, 2024-25                                        Page

PT Council Budget Study Questions

Submitted: 2/16/2024

Last Updated: 3/11/2024

PTC EC and Budget Study Preliminary Comments on Budget Priorities (Nov 2023)

TRANSPORTATION:

  1. Will the two buses planned for purchase in the 2024-25 Preliminary Proposed Budget be electric vehicles? Or hybrid?  We have included the potential for three vehicles, two smaller buses, and one large bus in our request. These vehicles will likely be gas/diesel buses due to the price difference between electric and traditional buses and the infrastructure needed to implement electric buses.

  1. Will Highland Fleets be engaged in the process of moving to electric buses?  We are currently partnering with Highland Fleet to apply for grant opportunities only, at no cost to the District.  

  1. Where will the buses be charged? The location of charging stations has not been determined, but it is anticipated that some charging will have to happen at our school buildings as well as at the bus compound.  Do charging stations currently exist or will they need to be installed/purchased? The infrastructure required to charge buses does not currently exist and the cost of implementing the charging stations is not included in the proposed budget.  What is that expense? The expense is yet to be determined.  Is it included in the transportation budget? No

  1. Can we get more information on which vendors/companies are being considered for the

RFP for the Transportation Study? We have not preselected any vendors to participate in the RFP process. We will be publicizing our request for proposals broadly and also reaching out to firms identified by other districts, municipalities, or cooperative purchasing groups that we have access to.  It was mentioned that the RFP will be decided in the spring -- is that the start of the process or is it the final selection process?  The administration has recommended that the RFP for study be informed by the grant application work being done by Highland Fleet and the internal auditors work currently underway. The objective of the RFP would be to identify a path forward to electrification of our transportation fleet and assist the district with completing that process. This is a long way of saying that although this would not be the very beginning, this would be closer to the start of the process.  

  1. Would you please more fully explain the nature of the grants and incentives to purchase

an electric fleet? Both the Federal Government and NYSERDA have issued grant opportunities to assist school districts with the implementation of electric buses.  The applications we have submitted are geared towards offsetting the cost of both the buses to be purchased and the charging infrastructure needed.  Would these serve to offset the costs or cover costs?  It is most likely an offset and there would still be district-required expenses to complete the purchases.

  1. It was mentioned on February 5th that some of the newer vehicles are no longer on the

road for different reasons. Could you please explain what happened with those newer

Vehicles?  Newer is a relative term, but we have had several buses that were less than 10 years old involved in minor accidents, but due to the nature of the damage, the repair costs were so significant that the vehicles were totaled by our insurance carrier.  

SPECIAL EDUCATION STAFFING AND PROGRAMMING:

  1. Would you clarify and explain the plan for the Scarsdale Schools’ Special Education

program for the next five years? Do you foresee an annual increase in Special

Education staffing as the student population continues to move up through the schools? Yes, as we have students move through our expanded programs they will expand to the higher grades.  Some of these changes will be pedagogic but expanding SE numbers and the need for additional programs for certain students will require staffing.  

  1. How is the District evaluating the efficacy of the current Special Education program?

The efficacy of our programs is evaluated at the individual, program, and District level. We look at individual student progress through the grades and toward the successful completion of IEP goals; we look at the programs to make sure we are using effective curriculum and instruction and are providing relevant professional development; and we look at the overall success of the program through retaining students in-District and achieving graduation and readiness for the next level of learning.

  1. Would you elucidate the current climate of Special Education programs in NYS public

school education -- is there a broader trend to include the types of support and staffing

that Scarsdale is now including in its program and Budget? The continuum of services is well defined in New York State education law. Scarsdale has had portions of the continuum for as long as special education has been required but has recently experienced the need to include more of the continuum at each of our grade bands (K-5, 6-8, 9-12). This expansion has come later to Scarsdale than to many other districts in the region.

RATIO OF STUDENTS PER DEAN AT SHS:

  1. Would the Administration please clarify the current ratio of students per Dean at

SHS? What is the ideal ratio? Scarsdale’s Dean: Student ratio is currently at approximately 1:185. The range in the region is from 1:110 to 1:250. Of note at SHS is the number of mental health supports we have (Youth Outreach Program (2), Social Worker (1), Psychologists (4)), which is well above many districts in the region.

  1. Would the Administration clarify how the role of the Dean may contribute to mental,

social, and emotional health support for the student community? Our Deans have extensive training in human behavior, personal counseling, interpersonal skills, and college and career counseling. A Dean is a counselor, an advisor, a teacher, a listener, and a primary support person who works with students and parents, both separately and together, on developmental issues, course planning, college planning, and problem- solving. Concerns requiring more targeted clinical support are referred to our school social workers or psychologists.

CLASS SIZE AT ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS:

  1. Would you please clarify the class size norms at the elementary schools, including for

ICT? We cap classes at 22 students (K-3) or 24 students (grades 4-5). The ICT model seeks to maintain a ratio of 60% general education students and 40% special education students, still within the class size caps.

  1. Is there a periodic review of classes with very low enrollment at SHS? If so, what does it

entail? Yes. This occurs annually and is driven by student interest and enrollment. If there are too few students registered for a particular course, it may not run. If a section is too small, individual scheduling of students will be attempted to a larger course section.

TAX CAP:

  1. Would the Board clarify and explain how it views the Tax Cap vis-a-vis administrative

requests for resources for our District? The tax cap determines whether a proposed budget and tax levy increase will require a 50% or 60% voter approval rate to pass. Throughout the budget presentations and discussions, Board members shared their views at the Board table regarding the balance of delivering the educational programs and services that our students deserve and that our community expects while being responsive to the fiscal realities.

  1. In its budget process, does the Board hope to budget within the Tax Cap? If so, please

explain the rationale. The current proposed budget reflects an increase of 3.96% over the current year budget and a tax levy increase of 4.39%. The tax cap is 3.63%

  1. Would the Administration please explain how Inflation has impacted budget planning for

2024-25?  Multiple successive years of Inflation above the 2% level have caused expenses in all things including supplies & materials, consultant contracts, software purchases, etc. to grow well beyond what our tax cap compliance budgets could sustain.  A small vignette of this can be seen in the software license area where renewal rates for many products are between 10% and 40% year over year.  

FUTURE BONDS:

  1. Is there anticipation of new bonds being issued in the coming year to two years out? If

so, what would this bond be used to expense? While no commitment can be made about

the details of any hypothetical projects that are not already approved, it would be

appropriate to note that the SHS Auditorium bond debt is anticipated to take shape over

the next two years. Additionally, based on current existing debt, we would anticipate

seeing debt declining in the 2027-2028 fiscal year as older debt matures and is fully paid

off.  

STRATEGIC PLAN:

  1. Will there be a rollout of the Strategic Plan before the end of the Budget process? How

will the identified priorities be incorporated into the Budget? No, the work required to complete a draft of the strategic plan will push that until after the budget process is complete. Ongoing priorities as outlined on our Budget Accomplishments slides will likely be incorporated into the strategic plan, so yes.

  1. Please explain how the Strategic Plan will help inform discussions and processes

surrounding the next Bond issuance. One of the strategic priorities will incorporate our long-term capital needs as a major area of focus over the next 5 years.

BELONGING:

  1. In what ways will the results/information gleaned from the Belonging survey be included

in aspects of the Budget? How will the survey results be disseminated to the community?

In addition to continuing our consultancy with Dr. Derrick Gay, we plan on directing

necessary resources in response to information gathered by the Belonging survey. In

many instances, the response will be in the form of a redirection or reprioritization of

existing budget lines (i.e. textbooks, Professional Learning, Program Improvement). 

Drew and Edgar will be sharing a summary of the findings/trends with stakeholders.

We’ve already begun with the administrative council.  

  1. At the legislative advocacy breakfast, the topic of hate crimes was raised as an ongoing

concern given the recent incident at the Golden Horseshoe, and our elected officials had

suggestions for ongoing training and awareness. This brings to light how important our

school’s DEI programs are to educate our students and teachers. Will the budget

support ongoing DEI learning activities? Yes, the budget continues to support our

ongoing efforts in this area (see above).

TECHNOLOGY USAGE AND AWARENESS:

  1. In what ways will the Tech Survey results be included in aspects of the budget? The results of the technology survey are being explored by the K-12 Technology Committee as part of Scarsdale’s Technology Plan. Many of the initial recommendations stemming from the survey are focused on student/parent education, which will not have a budgetary impact (see below).

  1. Will the budget include education on mindful and appropriate use of technology? Our internal staff, including our computer teachers and technology administration, is developing a series of workshops on the appropriate use of technology (Parent University). Direct instruction to students on this topic is included in our rollout of the New York State Computer Science and Digital Fluency Standards in all grades. Since much of this work will be done by existing staff, it does not have an additional budgetary impact.

TAX INCREASE PER HOUSEHOLD:

  1. It was mentioned that the tax rates for Scarsdale and Mamaroneck are not yet ready --

when they are, would you please clarify the dollar amount of the increase per median

household in Scarsdale and Mamaroneck?  Yes, we will anticipate confirming the median assessments and sharing this information once available. Update: see below based on the 3/11/24 presentation:

Anticipated Tax Bill Increase (Decrease) from 2023-24

Location

Budget @ Cap

3/11/24 Budget

3/4/24 Budget

2/5/24 Budget

Scarsdale

$873

$1,045

[$171 more]

$1,170

[$297 more]

$1,316

[$442 more]

Mamaroneck

($2,558)

($2,372)

[$186]

($2,235)

[$322]

($2,078)

[$480]

COOLING PLAN:

  1. What is the status of the Cooling Plan? Please explain the history of the Plan and any

next steps. The cooling plan currently provides for cooled spaces during high-heat days for all students. In some cases, this requires moving students to a different location than their normally assigned location during parts of the school day. Over several years, we have grown the number of spaces cooled through the installation of window units, split units, and large-space air conditioning systems in various locations throughout the district. Any future steps would need to be discussed as part of the capital projects work in advance of a future bond issuance.

GENERAL:

  1. At the first Budget Study session, the Administration mentioned some budget items that

were not initially included in the 2023-24 Budget during the planning process; however,

those items had ultimately been brought in during this year as they were needed. Would

you please elaborate further on this issue?  There were several items that did not make their way into the budget proposed last year which are essential to our programming.  They include items such as core student data management software, safety and security equipment, building-level furniture needs, and staffing including teacher aides, coaches, and teaching assistants (teaching assistant expenses were unknown at budget time last year due to the ongoing contractual negotiations at that time). These items were not explicit budget reductions but items that were unintentionally missed.

  1. Would the Administration please clarify how the Governor’s Executive Budget cuts to

Foundation Aid will affect the 2024-25 budget-planning process.  This reduction contributes $560k to the revenue funding gap.

2024-25 MAJOR BUDGET EXPENSE DRIVERS:

  1. It is noted that there will be $933K expense for “all other changes” -- can we see the

itemized list for this expense category?  The significant increases are being highlighted within the functional areas of the administrators presenting their budget proposals for the coming year.  

OVERALL RESERVES:

  1. Given the reduced state funding, is this a good time to build up reserves and take a

more conservative approach? The reliance on Fund Balance remains a concern, however, due to the revenue constraints and expenditure needs, the budget proposal required the use of fund balance to remain static for the coming year.  Maybe wait until more becomes known about what funding will offset major expenses such as the electric fleet, etc., and then take on more of the major expenses?   

PT Council Budget Study Questions

Submitted: 3/5/2024

Last Updated: 3/11/2024

TAX LEVY

  1. How does the Board view budgeting to the tax cap in regards to our Scarsdale Schools Mission and Vision, the values of the District as it pertains to educating the "whole child", the student experience, having sufficient resources, and student support? The tax cap determines whether a proposed budget and tax levy increase will require a 50% or 60% voter approval rate to pass. Throughout the budget presentations and discussions, Board members shared their views at the Board table regarding the balance of delivering the educational programs and services that our students deserve and that our community expects while being responsive to the fiscal realities. The current proposed budget reflects an increase of 3.96% over the current year budget, and a tax levy increase of 4.39%. The tax cap is 3.63%

  1. Are any other local, comparable districts proposing a Budget that exceeds the Tax Cap? If so, which districts?  Right now, it appears that Rye City and Chappaqua are still contemplating a budget that exceeds their respective tax levy caps.

  1. What is the history of Scarsdale going over the Tax Cap? The District proposed a budget over the cap in 2013 and that budget failed. A subsequent lower budget proposal was approved by the voters. Can you please explain what it means to go over the Tax Cap and what would a revote entail if it was not passed the first time? The Property Tax Levy Cap is a calculation that determines whether a proposed school budget would require a simple majority (50% +1 vote) or supermajority (60%) in order to pass.  

  1. Can you share what revenue streams go into the ‘Other Revenues’ line item? The Other Revenue Line includes Facilities Use Fees, Insurance Recoveries, and Refunds from prior years’ expenses.  What is primarily causing the drop of revenue streams and how can it be increased?  In the 2023-24 budget, this line included miscellaneous fees for the Scarsdale Teachers’ Institute.  For 2024-2025 this revenue and the corresponding expenses will be removed and tracked separately.  

  1. What is the impact of the loss of Foundation Aid (for this year as well as future impact)? The Governor’s proposed budget reflects a decrease in Foundation Aid of $558,720.  

SPECIAL EDUCATION

  1. Is the move to include more special education support part of a larger public school movement? Also, would the Admin please clarify and elucidate how special education teachers and various supports may also positively affect the school experience of general education students? Each District must focus on the needs of its particular population and its needs. With that being said, the current classification rate in Westchester County is 17% and the State is 19% so the expansion of services is a larger need in the county, state, and nation. When we increase the capacity of the schools to accommodate all learners we allow students to understand and work in collaboration with a wide array of students and we teach respect and empathy for all.  

  1. How is the District evaluating the efficacy of the current Special Education program? What does the program look like over the next five years? Has there been a comparison to other comparable special education programs and can we benchmark success? The efficacy of our programs is evaluated at the individual, program, and District level. We look at individual student progress through the grades and toward the successful completion of IEP goals; we look at the programs to make sure we are using effective curriculum and instruction and are providing relevant professional development; and we look at the overall success of the program through retaining students in-District and achieving graduation and readiness for the next level of learning. Additionally, the state tracks all school district special education outcomes across the state and our student outcomes are amongst the top in the State.

  1. We saw some staffing needs as we look to the future - could the Administration elaborate further on the Special Ed program rollout for the next 5 years? Please see the presentation to the BOE in Dec. Please also see the slide on special education staffing in the March 4, 2024 budget presentation.

TECHNOLOGY USAGE AND AWARENESS

  1. In what ways will the Tech Survey results be included in aspects of the budget? The results of the technology survey are being explored by the K-12 Technology Committee as part of Scarsdale’s Technology Plan. Many of the initial recommendations stemming from the survey are focused on student/parent education, which will not have a budgetary impact (see below).

  1. Will the budget include education on mindful and appropriate use of technology? Our internal staff, including our computer teachers and technology administration, is developing a series of workshops on the appropriate use of technology (Parent University). Direct instruction to students on this topic is included in our rollout of the New York State Computer Science and Digital Fluency Standards in all grades. Since much of this work will be done by existing staff, it does not have an additional budgetary impact.

SHS STAFFING

  1. What is the ratio of students per dean at SHS? What role do deans have on student experience? What impact does not adding another dean have on the student experience? Please see questions 10 and 11 above.

PT Council Budget Study Questions

Submitted: 3/12/2024

Last Updated: 3/19/2024

  1. Would the administration please discuss their view of best practices regarding the budget process as it relates to the tax cap? Meaning, does budgeting to the NYS tax cap over many years affect the fiscal health of a school district? What are the current implications and effects that we experience in our budget process as related to the above (e.g., Will the decrease in reserve levels affect future bond issuance or borrowing in the near future?)

  1. Please share the rationale for favoring the March 11th  budget vs the March 4th budget with the former having a $100 variance tax increase per median assessed household. Each board member shared their perspectives at the Board table throughout the budget process, including during the March 11th meeting when the board came to a consensus to present the “March 11th” version of the budget to the community for their feedback at the Budget Forum.

  1.  Please share the considerations in comparison to reach a conclusion to favor the comparable March 11th budget over the March 4th budget. Please see the response to the question above. The March 11th budget, as generally chosen by the majority of the Board, has reduced security hours, meaning that this will affect and limit door access at the athletic entrance at the high school in the afternoons, correct?**Please note, it is a very busy and active entrance during the weekday afternoons.**The Athletic entrance will remain open at the current hours.  The main Brewster Road entrance will be closed at 5 pm rather than 7:30.  This will eliminate the need for an additional Safety Monitor as we will shift a rover position to a later start time allowing them to cover Brewster Rd. entrance until 5 pm.

  1. Further, to clarify, reduced security hours in the March 11th budget will potentially limit door access for early morning orchestra and band at the elementary schools as children will have to be dropped off in a short window of time while the teacher is available to open the door. So if a child misses that window, they would potentially be locked out? It is possible that there would be a short window between the teacher allowing students in and the 7:45 start of the safety monitor.

  1. Please clarify again how much will be taken from reserves this year to fill any gaps.

The proposed budget includes $1.1 million in assigned fund balance; $1 million in the use of health reserve; and $281,333 in retirement reserve.

        

  1. Is there a plan— perhaps part of the Strategic Plan— related to curricular enhancements in order for Scarsdale Schools to be on the cutting edge of public school education? The proposed budget continues to support innovation in a number of areas, though some of them at a decreased level than in the current year (i.e., program improvement). For example, the STA contract outlines the required budgetary support for the STI which supports learning that leads to innovative practice. The budget directly supports continued funding for Responsive Classroom and summer program improvement that will support, among other things, work on performance-based assessments of student learning.

  1. What considerations are going into planning for additional resources in Scarsdale High School to accommodate the continuum of special education for rising students year over year? While other streams of revenue are limited, we are continuing to try and reduce out-of-district placements to save tuition and will investigate out-of-district students coming to our programs for tuition.

  1. Has the district received Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) aid from the State and how is that allocated across the district? The District receives a little over $900,000 from IDEA.  About $150,000 is flow through money that goes to private and CPSE placements.  We direct the majority of the remaining monies to offset salaries.  This is a strategic decision as it allows us to utilize all of the monies without having to roll over funds, most other areas of spending are less predictable and more difficult to use grant funds effectively.

  1. Can you share what revenue streams go into the ‘Other Revenues’ line item? Other Revenues include Facilities Use Fees, Refunds from prior year expenses including BOCES, and miscellaneous other unclassified revenue items that are smaller in nature and do not have a named category.  What is primarily causing the drop of revenue streams and how can it be increased?  The largest drop in this category was pertaining to the Scarsdale Teachers’ Institute (STI).  In 2024-2025, and as part of our financial software transition project, we are separating all revenue and expenditures for the STI into a separate fund.  The only remaining expense in the General Fund (see new “Transfer to STI” budget line) will be the District’s contractual obligations as outlined in the STA contract.  This resulted in a decrease in both the Other Revenue and Expense budgets of $133,147. There is no impact on the budget or tax levy for this accounting adjustment.  In years prior to 2023-2024, the teacher payments and related expenses were net against each other in the expense codes. In 2023-2024, revenue and expenses were both increased proportionally.

  1. What methodology is followed to allocate the furniture budget across the different schools? Early in the budget process, each principal is provided with a per-pupil allocation that is multiplied by the projected student counts for their building.  This allocation is used by the building principals to budget for things like supplies, materials, and replacement furniture needs.  In addition, some buildings may submit a budget proposal for larger furniture needs which are evaluated by central administration much like any other “new” program request.  Can we see a breakout by school? After the budget reductions were made to arrive at the latest budget proposal, the administration is currently reviewing the resulting per-pupil spending to ensure equitable distribution of resources. A final accounting of expenses by building will be provided prior to the final budget adoption.