Tuition Deal Preserves Programs and Jobs in Springs

The said it won't have to cut staff or programming thanks to $1.8 million in savings in the upcoming year from the that was reached with East Hampton School District on Friday.

Facing a decision between a budget with a to keep the school running or major budget cuts and layoffs, a reduction in the cost of sending high school students to East Hampton came through on Friday and will save the Springs some major breathing room for 2011-12.

At a budget workshop on Monday night, the school board said it unanimously supports a $24.8 million budget, a $1.48 million increase over 2010-11. It would mean a 5.8 percent tax rate increase.

John B. Grant, a board member, told the crowd on Monday, "Obviously, the deal with East Hampton takes off a lot of pressure."

District Treasurer Ken Hamilton said, "With our new tuition agreement, there is now a 6.33 percent budget change. Before the tuition agreement, it was over a 9 percent budget change."

The tuition savings shaved off $1.2 million off the proposal the board considered just three weeks ago that would have saddled taxpayers with a 12 percent tax hike. The savings include $512,000 in overcharges for 2009 to 2009, $333,000 for the five-percent reduction in the Seneca Falls tuition formula, and $355,000 in a lower tuition rate for 2011-12 school year.

Additionally, Springs will no longer need to set aside $600,000 for 2011-2012. In the past, the tuition payment was based on the year before and then Springs would make up the difference with accruals for tuition adjustment. Since they no longer have to pay the difference with the new tuition agreement, they want to move those accrual funds to the fund balance and apply it to fixing the roof and buying a bus.

Without applying the fund balance, the board said it would have to increase taxes by 7.4 percent, a $367 increase per property owner, to cover the roof and the bus. If it sticks to a 5.8 percent tax increase, the cost to the taxpayer on average would be $269.

Board President Christopher Kelley said, “The board is of one mind on the budget currently," he said. "This is not a decision; this is our input.”

The tuition savings will continue in the coming years. In the 2012-13 school year, Springs will save $364,000 in overcharges for 2009-10 and 2010-11 and approximately $360,000 in reduced tuition costs, according to Hartner.

Another $360,000 will be saved for the following two school years. The agreement lasts until 2015.

Despite the savings, the board had to add some costs back into the budget for some unforseen expenses. Hamilton said $400,000 was added in after they learned students needing to be placed in the charter school and that one more student that needs residential placement.

Despite the financial benefits of the tuition agreement, there were two things Springs School had to give up: They will abandon efforts to build a charter school as an alternative to East Hampton High School and students will have to go to East Hampton High School, not Bridgehampton or Sag Harbor, unless East Hampton gives approval.

“The two points of contention they were very firm on were the charter school and exclusivity," Kelley said.

The two schools will also move forward with researching reorganization and consolidation, in which Springs and East Hampton will look into combining the two school districts. Kelley said he welcomes any other feeder schools that would like to join the research.

Tracey Frazier, Springs teacher, parent and resident, said, “I applaud the conversation around consolidation. What about consolidated transportation? We could share services between the feeder districts and East Hampton.”

The board said it wants to be sure to prepare for Governor Andrew Cuomo proposed 2 percent tax cap in the 2012-13 budget.

Hamilton said, “If you slash a budget to the bare bones, you are going to have that barebones budget with the tax cap. By having the bus and the roof repairing in the budget you are increasing the budget but the bus and the roof are no longer in the budget [the next year] so you can use that money and can maintain a good part of the educational program.”

But, Eileen Goldman, a teaching assistant and parent, said, “It seems like this 5.8 percent is not enough." She said, "With the 2 percent tax cap, what would the increase be if it went from 5.8 to 6.8? Because if there is a 2 percent cap next year we will not be able to function.”