By PAUL WESTMOORE
As the Niagara-Wheatfield School Board listened to three department budget proposals Wednesday night for the 2010-11 school year, Business Administrator Kerin M. Dumphrey sat on the sidelines looking like a man with a migraine.
Special Programs Director Lenore Luciano, Athletic Director Mark V. DiFilippo and District Nurse Diane McCranor presented plans that cut some budget items, but nowhere near enough to help cover the $3 million reduction in state school aid that Gov. David A. Paterson has called for in his proposed 2010 state budget.
Luciano mentioned at least $18,000 in cuts from her budget as she addressed the board, but apparently could do nothing about the rising costs in personnel salaries, a contractual obligation, and the climbing tuition the district has to pay to outside agencies that care for children with extreme disabilities. Those increases apparently could jump by a combined $770,000 next year. Luciano had a previous commitment and was unable to stay and answer questions about her budget figures after the board meeting.
DiFilippo came across with a proposal for a modest $2,171 budget increase while McGranor asked for $9,100 in added funds next year.
Other departments also have come up with similar proposals, trying to hold the line as best they can, and thus leaving the board to deal with the difficult decision of compensating for a possible $3 million revenue deficit in the 2010-11 budget.
“We’ve asked everyone not to request anything new and to make cuts. It’s difficult to do in health, athletics and special education because they provide programs. It’s hard to cut in those areas without making some drastic changes,” Dumphrey said.
But the unavoidable fact is the governor has proposed cutting $3 million from Niagara-Wheatfield, he said. “That’s an 11 percent cut in state aid. That includes cutting the $2 million in federal stimulus money” the district got last year and was supposed to get again this year, Dumphrey said. He said the governor proposed the cuts to school districts all over the state.
The situation was triggered because the large Wall Street investment banks’ actions over the previous eight years crashed the economy.
“It’s going to be a nightmare for all school districts. And even if the state modifies its budget and comes through with more money for schools, there’s no way in my mind we’ll get any extra money over what we received this year. If they were to come back and give us what they gave us last year, I think it would be a miracle. But it’s still something to hope for,” Dumphrey said.
The fact remains that Niagara-Wheatfield is operating on a $69 million budget this year and only appears to have only $66 million in revenues next year to pay for its educational programs, he said.
“That’s going to be hard to do. We’ll have a hard time. I see no easy solutions, and everybody’s (all public school districts statewide) in the same boat,” he said. He said the board soon will begin digging into the budget to see what can be done with the hope of some extra help from the state. The board needs to adopt a budget either in late March or early April. It will present its final budget to district residents for a vote on May 18.
