During his superintendent’s report, Jason Smith updated Batavia City Schools board members Monday about project decreases in revenue for this year’s budget, including several federal grants that will be winding down in September and state-issued Foundation aid recently laid out in Governor Kathy Hochul’s budget.
“With the Governor's current budget proposal, BCSD is slated to receive $24,177,919, which is a $13,936 reduction from last year's Foundation Aid. However, had the Governor not adjusted the current law, BCSD would be receiving, and I would argue is entitled to receive, an additional $277,141 in Foundation Aid,” Smith told The Batavian Wednesday. “It is especially frustrating that this was changed with very little notice to school districts, further hampering our ability to plan our budget and programs for students accordingly.”
Smith plans to review options for how to deal with a decrease in aid, and those expiring three-year grants that were given to the district during COVID to provide additional support to students.
The COVID funds are that of the American Rescue Plan Act, which divvied up additional monies for municipalities, and for school districts to apply toward student-needed measures in the current post-pandemic era.
The district dedicated a large portion to the hiring of a second school resource officer and several new teaching positions and placed a focus on students’ mental health and social-emotional learning.
In October 2022, Thomas Ramming of Thomas Ramming Consulting, Inc., presented his study on the district that found “a lack of comprehensive and strategic staffing plan, increased teacher positions paid for with additional federal and state aid despite declining enrollment, and a large number of school counselors per federal recommendations,” based on at least some of those increased hirings.
When school board members raised the point that his study was conducted after the pandemic, Ramming admitted that the whole COVID scenario was not calculated in the overall findings.
He did suggest, however, that the district continuously assess whether the extra personnel will be warranted in the future. And if that’s the case, the district needs a plan for how to pay for those salaries and benefits, Ramming had said.
It would seem that time is coming, for dealing with both reduced aid and grant funding.
"Recommendations will be provided to the board over the upcoming budget preparation season, slated to begin in February," Smith said.
In other district financial news, the board approved a four-year contract with the Batavia Administrator’s union that provides them with:
- A four percent raise each year;
- Increased starting salaries for assistant principals “to recruit exceptional talent,” Smith said;
- The removal of an incentive that was related to the graduation rate; and
- Increased health insurance rate premiums by 2 percent, 2 percent, 3 percent and 3 percent for current contribution rates of between 14 to 25 percent, depending on the selected plan.
“The Batavia Administrators Association last rolled over its agreement in 2021, so this is truly a new contract for them since 2018 when the last contract was negotiated,” Smith said.
The board also approved:
- Payment of $42,400 to Mollenberg-Betz, Inc. for the emergency repair of sump pumps at John Kennedy Intermediate School.
In early October 2023, the Buildings and Grounds staff discovered that the sump pumps located in the JK basement had failed, and the Board of Education approved an emergency project during its Dec. 19, 2023 meeting.
The state Education Department approved the emergency project designation, normal bidding procedures were suspended in order to proceed, and the necessary electrical and plumbing work was completed.
- A compensation adjustment of $8,000 for Clark Patterson Lee as an amendment for the company’s professional services agreement of April 27, 2022.
