The Beekmantown Central School Board of Education would like to set the record straight on the recent Letter to the Editor on pension spiking by John Sims and the WPTZ Editorial by President/General Manager Paul Sands.
On pension spiking, the salary information on seethroughny.com not only includes the contract salary of employees, it includes retroactive pay, because the contract was not settled, and any additional monies the staff earned for coaching or other duties that are part of the contract.
The author of the letter referenced two employees. The first was supposed to have received a contractual salary of $85,101, a 19-percent increase. This is not true; the person's actual salary increase after 31 years of experience and 45 credit hours beyond his bachelor's degree was 2.21 percent.
The second person was supposed to have received a contractual salary of $92,365, an 18-percent increase. This also is not true; the person's actual salary increase after 33 years of experience and 27 credit hours beyond his BA was 2.14 percent.
We have analyzed the salary schedules. The BCS teachers are not engaging in "pension spiking." There are steps missing in the salary schedules, and teachers sit on those steps for one or two years with minimal raises. When they are able to finally advance to the next step on the schedule, they get the value of the steps that are missing or not included in the schedule.
On the WPTZ editorial, we assume Mr. Sands did not attend one of the five informational meetings on the proposed budget held by the superintendent and board before the budget vote or he would have been aware of where the $7,148,056 of fund balance is and what it will be used for. At three of these meetings, the district asked for suggestions from its residents. The school budget is financed in three ways:
▶ Revenue from all sources like state aid (which will be reduced by over $2.4 million with the elimination GAP), Medicaid, admissions, interest, etc.
▶ Tax levy.
▶ Fund balance.
Half of the fund balance ($3,574,028 of the $7,148,056) will be used to finance part of the 2011-12 budget. The remaining $3,574,028 — less 4 percent of the total budget — will be used to finance a part of the 2012-13 budget.
The district will retain 4 percent of the fund balance for operational and emergency purposes.
The board felt it prudent to at least try to bridge two years during these difficult economic times. Is that an "elementary" thinking process?
The fund balance is not gone yet, but it will be at the end of the 2012-13 budget.
As for Mr. Sands's saying: the "state audit showing the board's budgeting skills were way off; the district had millions more than anyone thought."
▶ The board and the district knew exactly how much fund balance the district had and how it was accumulating. This is why the board reduced the 2010-11 tax rate by 66 cents per $1,000. The board became more involved in guiding the district's budgeting long before the state audit.
▶ If the board and district did not have the fund balance, major cuts impacting programs would have had to be made and there would have been a drastic increase in taxes.
The board's Audit Committee meets the second Tuesday of each month, and the School Board meets the second and fourth Tuesday. These meetings are open to the public.
Under the Freedom of Information Law, everyone has access to most information in a district. The board has nothing to hide — please attend our meetings and FOIL any information you would like to see.
At Beekmantown Central, we are human, and as hard as we try, a mistake does happen once and a while. This is why the board petitioned the commissioner of education to rule on the petition. The board represents all of the voters and acts accordingly.
Addressing Mr. Sands's comment about "the school district going through superintendents and board members faster than Sherman went through Georgia" — Dr. Walter was with the district for many years, and the two superintendents before Mr. Amo resigned. As for board members, the individuals decide whether to run, and the voters, not the board, decide who will represent them. We are fortunate to have board members with experience, new members with fresh new ideas and a superintendent who works well with the board, is knowledgeable and has experience.
The Beekmantown Central School Board members are: President Steve Trombley, Vice President Leonard King, Karen Armstrong, Cathy Buckley, Stan Kourofsky, Richard LaVigne, Ed Marin, Carole Race and Pauline Stone.
