|
PV School District Facilities Five-Year Plan Undergoes Preliminary Vetting
First quarter budget status portends surplus at Fiscal Year’s end
by Margaret Sternberg
At its November 3 meeting, the Putnam Valley Board of Education spent most of the evening grappling with the mandatory building condition survey and questioning Director of Operations Nick Bellantoni over a number of the assessments and conclusions that had been made by the architectural firm doing the survey. The survey evaluates the elementary, middle and high school buildings and makes recommendations for improvements. Actual implementation of those recommendations, which results in a five-year facilities plan, is at the discretion of the school board.
In the Elementary School, recommendations included a septic system study due to the age of the system as well as the school, replacement of the “Big Toy” jungle gym and replacement of the windows in the “Sixty Wing.”
Recommendations for the Middle School include work on the roof as it reaches its life expectancy in the next few years, fixing the walls in what had been the “open” classroom, replacement of doors and lockers in the school and upgrades to the HVAC system.
High School recommendations included roof and façade work, some site drainage and a recommendation for an exterior concession stand.
Bellantoni said he would use the plan as a means of helping to prepare his budget.
The board questioned Bellantoni closely about some of the recommendations, several of which had already been addressed by Bellantoni with the architect but had not yet been incorporated into an updated report. After questioning and discussing a number of the recommendations and being given an update regarding high school and middle school water issues, the board focused on receiving a final draft, including prices, a prioritizing of the recommendations and a summary.
Separately, Bellantoni also said probe holes had been drilled to ascertain the problem with the High School roof leakage and had found the flashing was about 1-inch shorter than necessary, causing the water to penetrate the brick. Based upon a report he will receive shortly, Bellantoni said he will talk with the attorney about whether it is worth suing the contractor to cover the cost of the repair, which will probably not take place until the spring.
In other business, Assistant Superintendent for Finance Paul Lee gave the budget overview for the first quarter of the school year, a period that includes only one month in which the students had returned to school. Lee emphasized the projections, while based on actual numbers for the quarter, were estimates and were subject to change.
Under “General Support,” which includes Board of Education, central administration, finance, legal and personnel and operations, projected expenses will exceed the amount budgeted by $15,709. Lee attributed part of the projected deficit to the price rise in fuel oil, which is expected to cost the district an additional $23,000. Also contributing to the deficit will be $22,000 in custodial overtime due to construction. Lee said that savings in other areas under General Support offset some of the additional costs.
Expenditures under “Instruction” were expected to come in under budget by $849,846, due mainly to fewer placements in special education. In addition, regular school instruction and pupil personnel services are currently under budget. Unsurprisingly, expenses are expected to exceed amount budgeted in the area of transportation by $36,555. Higher diesel and gasoline costs are expected to account for an additional $42,000 in costs, otherwise the district would be projected to be $6,000 lower than budgeted.
Expenses for benefits are projected to be $118,071 less than budgeted due to conservative budgeting and debt service will be $101,874 less than anticipated due primarily to the high school refinancing, which saved the district about $97,000. Lee added that most of the district’s revenue gains come from the district’s investment programs.
At the close of the fiscal year the general fund is expected to show a positive $986,262 budget variance, which represents 2.6% of the budget balance.
The board and Superintendent Gary Tutty, addressing incipient space needs, have asked Paul Lee, who had, as their employee, done a similar study for the Yorktown district that proved to be highly accurate, to do a study on future population and space needs for the Putnam Valley district. The study is expected to be presented at the board’s first December meeting
Chorus teacher Gerry Micera returned to the board the results of the survey on the proposed trip to San Antonio, taken among parents of the mixed choir members. Of 57 surveys, 41 were returned with 93% of parents reporting, putting aside financial or scheduling conflict concerns, they would like their child to participate in the trip. One hundred percent of the parents supported the idea of generating financial aid in the form of fundraisers to offset the expense of the tour, estimated to be $1,500 per student. Amid questions from the superintendent and board about the amount of singing the students would do, the payment schedule and refunds and the amount to be fundraised versus what the financial burden would be on the parents, President Tina Mackay said she would move forward pending addressing of those issues, with the board to be updated in December.
The next meeting will be Thursday, November 17, at 7 pm and will be a business meeting.
Providing local news, information and opinions from
Philipstown and Putnam Valley, NY
Encompassing the Villages of Cold Spring and Nelsonville,
and the hamlet of Garrison, Putnam County, NY.
This site is a publication of The Putnam County News and Recorder, the source for news and information of the Philipstown
and Putnam Valley area. The PCN&R is 139
years old, published in hard copy every Wednesday, and circulated throughout Putnam
County, NY.
The PCN&R prints LEGAL NOTICES
for: Putnam County, The Town of Philipstown, The Town of Putnam Valley, Village of Cold Spring, Village of
Nelsonville, the Haldane Union Free School District and the Garrison Union Free School
District.
Deadline for printed press releases, advertisements and classifieds is Monday at noon for
Wednesday publication. This site is updated on an as-needed basis with a minimum update
weekly on Thursdays. For further information or to request a subscription to the paper, please
contact us with your name and mailing address at:
(845) 265-2468 PO Box 185, Cold Spring, NY 10516, or e-mail us at editor@pcnr.com
If you see an advertiser on line, tell them! | Click ads below
for larger version
|
