The proposed administrative budget of the Enlarged City School District of Middletown, New York, shows an increase of $5 million, or 30 percent, for the coming school year, according to a presentation on Feb. 2.
District Superintendent Amy Creeden and Assistant Superintendent for Administration Mike Tuttle delivered the budget presentation in front of nine school board members.
It was the first of three presentations scheduled this year, each addressing a specific component of the school budget before the final board adoption.
At $22 million, the administrative component is the smallest of the three, accounting for 9 percent of the total proposed budget.
This part primarily covers the costs of operating various administrative departments (such as legal, finance, and curriculum supervision), including salaries, supplies, equipment, and contractual obligations; it does not cover personnel benefits.
Almost all spending items in the administrative budget are up when compared with last year, which Tuttle attributed to the economic conditions in which the district operates.
For example, the cost of utilities has gone up by almost half over the past two years, he said.
Though the administrative budget is higher than usual, the other components of the budgets have major deductions, Tuttle said.
“Overall, it would be really balanced at the end when we come to the final budget, ” he said. “We are just shifting money into this administrative piece for this year.”
Items With Major Increases
Supervision of Regular Schools sees the biggest jump among the items in the administrative budget—$1.7 million, which is in part due to a reorganization of high school administration and the hiring of new elementary instructional leaders, according to Tuttle.BOCES capital expenses also increase by $1.4 million, a direct result of a $159 million capital project approved by voters last October.
Orange-Ulster Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) is a regional public education service organization that provides cost-effective programs to local school districts.
Middletown district sends about 425 students to its career and technical education programs each year.
Tuttle said about 70 percent of the BOCES expenses would eventually be credited back to the district.
A Middletown High School sign sits on the ramp leading up to the school campus on Sept. 20, 2022. Cara Ding/The Epoch Times
In addition, the cost of central data processing goes up by $1 million, which will mainly be used to buy new laptops for students.
The district was able to find laptop grants in the past years but not this time—at least not yet, according to Tuttle.
Meanwhile, the cost of records management almost doubled from last year to around $200,000, largely for the digitizing of district documents.
Only two spending items in the administrative budget see decreases. One is in the supervision of special schools, which drops by about $30,000 due to the loss of an employee.
School Budget Timeline
The next budget presentation on Feb. 16 will cover the instructional component, which takes up 58 percent of the school budget.The last presentation, on Mar. 9, will cover the capital and benefits parts.
All budget presentations are delivered during the regular school board meetings at the Middletown High School media center; they can also be viewed online via YouTube.
The school board is scheduled to adopt the budget on Apr. 20, followed by a public budget hearing on May 4.
May 16 is the voting day for both the budget and the school board candidates.
Several in-person community sessions are scheduled for Feb. 9, Apr. 27, and May 10 to give citizens the opportunity to voice their opinions on the budget; a virtual session will be hosted on Mar. 8.
