Potsdam plan cuts several positions, hikes levy 3%

POTSDAM — The Potsdam Central School District has unveiled a draft 2010-11 spending plan of $26,235,072 — a decrease of $543,107 over the current year's $26,778,179 budget.

However, the amount to be raised by taxes is expected to increase by $309,665, or 3 percent, over this year's levy of $10,331,154, according to school officials.

Potsdam School Superintendent Patrick H. Brady presented details of the district's latest draft budget at a meeting of the board of education's finance committee Tuesday afternoon.

The proposed budget calls for eliminating 9.85 full-time-equivalent teaching positions and 10.25 full-time-equivalent support staff jobs.

In addition to position cuts, the budget calls for cutting $44,390 from athletics and extracurricular activities. The bulk of those cuts will come from a 10 percent across-the-board reduction in the district's overall athletic budget, including the elimination of a proposed girls hockey assistant coach, a modified cross-country coach and a modified indoor track coach. The school also will eliminate the girls modified lacrosse program and trim travel and equipment expenses.

Extracurriculars to be cut include the middle school chess, computer, newspaper and photo clubs and the high school computer, photo and business leaders clubs.

Mr. Brady said this year's budget-building process has been one of the most difficult he's had, as the district grapples with a $1.2 million reduction in state aid on top of rising costs.

"What we've worked to do, both the administration and the board, is to develop a spending plan under these conditions that would balance the use of budget cuts, the use of reserves and a low tax levy increase," Mr. Brady said.

He said overall the proposed 2010-11 budget calls for $1.1 million in cuts and the use of $1 million in fund balance to help plug a gap of more than $2 million.

Some of the larger teaching and staff cuts proposed for next year's spending plan are the elimination of a library media specialist, a sixth-grade teacher, a reading teacher, an elementary school music teacher and a school psychologist.

The district also plans to eliminate four full-time-equivalent teacher aides, two custodial/bus driver jobs and the driver education program.

Other reductions include a half-time social studies teacher, a half-time art teacher, a half-time technology teacher, a 0.8 business teacher, and a 0.75 family and consumer science teacher.

All told, the plan calls for $330,356 in cuts to the high school in positions, supplies and programs; $119,737 in cuts at the A.A. Kingston Middle School; $7,497 in cuts at Lawrence Avenue; $164,513 in special education cuts; an $80,707 reduction in the buildings and grounds budget; and $393,602 in other district program and personnel cuts.

The Potsdam school board will meet again Tuesday. The next meeting of the board's finance committee will be at 6:30 p.m. March 30.

Mr. Brady said the full board of education now will have a chance to look at the proposed budget and decide whether to make more cuts or leave the spending plan as it is.

"They will get a chance now in the next couple of weeks to take a look at what we've put out on the table and decide if this is, in fact, acceptable," Mr. Brady said.

He said he does not expect state officials to reverse any of the cuts in state aid being proposed this year and he does not expect Albany lawmakers to craft a state spending plan by the April 1 deadline.