I have been asked to give some additional information about contingency budgets. After voters in the Potsdam Central School District voted down two proposed budgets, the board, by law, was required to adopt a contingency budget and did so.

In most areas, the defeated second budget was below the contingency cap. The contingent budget cap for the total 2008-09 budget was $26,455,553. The second defeated budget was $26,201,262. This made the second budget presented to the public $254,291 below the contingency budget cap.

So, for the community members who have requested it, here are some facts about the contingency budget:

A contingency budget is calculated at the lesser of 4 percent over the prior year's budget or 120 percent of the CPI (consumer price index)

Noncontingency expenses had to be removed from the budget. They include student supplies (like pens, erasers, writing pads), new equipment purchases, consultant services to review district operations, and community use of buildings and grounds (except when there is no cost to the district). Note: The district can charge a fee to meet or exceed actual costs.

Raises for certain employees (who are not members of a collective bargaining unit and who are in noninstructional positions) are prohibited. The positions impacted by this rule are school business manager, confidential secretary to the superintendent, athletic director, transportation supervisor, superintendent of buildings and grounds, and payroll clerk.

Education Law requires the district to continue the mileage limitations (last approved by the district voters) for the transportation of students. Transportation to and from interscholastic athletic events, field trips and other extracurricular activities is permissible under a contingency budget.

If a contingency budget were to occur several years in a row, the impact would be significant. Needed new equipment could not be purchased and that would impede the district's ability to function properly. Additionally, the management of the district could be destabilized by the inability to give raises to a handful of individuals who are not covered by collective bargaining agreements. Though Superintendent Patrick Brady is not included in this category, he returned his raise to the district.

PCS has a thin administrative staff. Though we could use an executive assistant to the superintendent of schools, an assistant high school principal or a full-time dean of students, we cannot afford to fund these positions and have not had them.

Those with further questions should feel free to contact any member of the board of education or Superintendent Brady. Public input is welcomed.

Ann Carvill

Potsdam

The writer is the president of Potsdam Central School Board of Education.