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C-D airs $26.1 million budget at quiet hearing

By David Gordon

CAIRO — About 30 people attended a public hearing on the Cairo-Durham School District’s budget Tuesday, but only one spoke. A regular meeting followed the public hearing.

Taxpayers will vote on the budget on May 20, from noon to 9 p.m. in the middle school cafeteria. They will also decide on two propositions - an $8 million Excel building project and at-large election of board members. Voters will also decide on the Cairo library budget of $18,500 and choose three school board members.

The budget for 2008-09 increases the amount to be raised by taxes by less than 1 percent.

The budget envisions expenditures of $26.1 million for the coming year, up 4.5 percent. The tax levy - the amount to be raised by local property taxes - is $10.8 million, up 0.93 percent over this year, said district business manager Lissa Jilek. The budget document lists tax rates for each of the towns that make up the school district, but Jilek warned that these rates are all subject to change. The school district won’t have actual tax rates until real estate values and state “equalization rates” are provided - probably in late June.

The estimated tax rates are as follows: Cairo, $19.00 per $1,000 of assessed valuation; Durham, $18.39 per $1,000; Athens, $17.62 per $1,000; Catskill, $18.40 per $1,000; Coxsackie, $17.82 per $1,000; Greenville, $16.54; Conesville, $17.16, and Rensselaerville, $21.09.

Only one member of the public spoke. He commended the board and administration for an excellent job in keeping taxes reasonable. Board president August Freemann said the board really doesn’t deserve the credit. Staff members estimate their needs and present them to the school principals, who consider the costs and present a draft to the district administration. The board may suggest changes - either cuts or programs that should be increased - and the administration works them into the budget, he explained. The board’s main role is to approve the final document.

The main source of funding for schools, besides local taxes, is state aid. Next year, Cairo-Durham expects to receive $14.340 million next year, an increase of 7.36 percent over this year's $10.724 million.

While spending has been kept reasonable, C-D Superintendent Sally Sharkey said, the district is continuing and increasing a number of programs. Some of these programs were the result of a “contract for excellence,” a state mandate to improve learning in some areas. The district has improved as required, and is no longer on the contract. However, Sharkey said, the programs are good for students and they will be continued. Among these programs are efforts to reduce dropouts, including Saturday classes. After school “eligibility classes” will allow students to participate in athletic programs with less than full academic eligibility, provided they attend the classes. An alternative learning program for high school freshmen will be extended into the lower grades.

Other new programs include distance learning, which will allow students to take courses via the Internet that would not make financial sense for Cairo-Durham to offer. Students will be offered Mandarin Chinese, personal finance management, music theory and SAT preparation. The school will offer a World Wars history course and a meteorology course to other schools.

Additional staff includes a social worker, a specialist in English language and one in math. The specialists will be employed by Questar III BOCES and assigned to Cairo-Durham, allowing the district to receive state BOCES aid for their salaries.

Instructional costs, which make up 72 percent of the budget, include teachers, supplies and materials, textbooks and equipment. The cost of regular school instruction is pegged at $7.552 million, a decrease of 4.6 percent from the $7.921 million budgeted for this year.

Special education is nearly flat, with a 2007-08 expenditure of $2.556 million, and a projected expenditure of $2.566 million in 2008-2009.

Occupational education includes both the BOCES occupational education program and an expansion of the “Project Lead the Way” program at Cairo-Durham to include principles of engineering. The cost will increase 15.85 percent from $508,786 to $589,445.

A kindergarten through 12th grade summer academy is budgeted at $93,779 for next year. This year’s figure is zero.

For the first time, Cairo-Durham will offer a pre-school program. The half-day program will provide two classes of 14 youngsters each. The children will be selected by lot, Sharkey said.

In addition to the budget, taxpayers will vote on two propositions and elect three school board members.

Voters will be asked to approve a $8.020 million Excel project, which will use money New York State has allocated as extra building aid to renovate and refurbish a number of areas in the district’s schools. The project will also draw the school district’s regular building aid and consolidation aid the district receives because it is the result of the merger of the Cairo and Durham districts.

Voters will decide whether Cairo-Durham will elect board members at large, meaning the three candidates who get the most votes will be seated. Under the current system, board members run for a specified seat; it is possible to have more than two people running for one seat while another is uncontested.

The school district collects taxes on behalf of the Cairo Library, which has a budget of $18,500 - up $1,000 from the current year’s $17,500.

Six candidates are running for three seats. William Alfeld will be running for another term against newcomer Joe Kames. Debra Armstrong is running unopposed for the seat now held by Susan Hilgendorff. Susan Kusminsky, whose term is expiring, is running unopposed for another term. Carl Kohrs and David Infantino are running for the remaining year of Mary Anne Sawyer’s term.

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