STARPOINT: Board of Education starts budget work early

By Joe Olenick<br><a href="mailto:olenickj@gnnewspaper.com">E-mail Joe</a>

Facing an uncertain future with a troubling economy and a state in financial crisis, Starpoint is getting to work early on the 2010-11 school year budget.

District Director of Administrative Services Jonathan Andrews presented a preliminary version of the budget Monday. He focused on the portion dealing with staffing in the district, which is the largest piece of a school district’s budget. Superintendent C. Douglas Whelan said the reason for starting the budget work so early was to get a head start on planning, since school districts could be facing cuts to state aid. Normally, the Board of Education first sees a preliminary budget in January.

“We are almost 2 1/2 months early,” Andrews said to the Board of Education. “With the uncertainty, if the district needs to make decisions down the line, I don’t want you to have to wait for the information you need to make important, tough decisions.”

Andrews said no new staff would be added, except for a teacher position related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Two teaching positions were paid for by funds provided under the act, known better as federal stimulus money. But the act expires in two years, meaning the positions will have to be absorbed by the district. So to prepare for the future impact that two additional positions will have, Starpoint will take one post from federal funding and add it to the budget. Both are for teaching students with disabilities.

Currently, the Starpoint staffing budget for 2010-11 would call for an increase of $744,120, or 3.77 percent, over the current staffing budget. If every other item on the entire budget stayed the same amount for 2010-11, then the staffing increase would cause an overall budget increase of 1.68 percent. Stipends would also increase by 3.5 percent. Salary increases are due to already-agreed-to contracts with unions in the Starpoint district, Andrews said.

The board also approved retirement incentives for teachers Monday. Whelan said the district is offering to keep teachers on the Starpoint health plan for five years and is looking for 10 teachers to retire. They have until January to decide, as per the teachers’ contract, Whelan said.

Replacing one retired teacher would save the district about $45,200, Andrews said.

Whelan said Starpoint wouldn’t have to cut staff to accommodate the proposed mid-year cuts to state aid. The district should be able to weather the storm through a number of savings, if those cuts are approved by state lawmakers, he said.

Contact reporter Joe Olenick at 439-9222, ext. 6241.