Dear Dobbs Ferry Community Member,

 

I'd like to thank everyone who participated in the District's Roundtable Forum on January 14th and the two previous school-based Focus Group meetings.  Approximately 160 participants consisting of parents, teachers, students and administrators attended the Roundtable which specifically addressed different levels of spending and cuts in building the 2010-2011 school budget. Every attendee had the opportunity to review and discuss the various programs, services and supports that they valued most, and identified areas that they would be willing to sacrifice in order to reduce expenditures. The participants filled out individual questionnaires in addition to compiling questions for the Superintendent and School Board members to address further.

 

The District's overriding goal is to build a budget that is responsible, sustainable and accountable.  Last week, Governor Paterson proposed a 2010-2011 Executive Budget that recommends a $1.1 billion, or 5% year-to-year reduction in school aid.  For the Dobbs Ferry School District this amounts to approximately $511,906 less in state aid.  Even with a 0% budget increase for next year, this reduction in state aid as well as reduced assessments would result in a 3% tax rate increase. To achieve a 0% budget increase, I will need to reduce present expenditures by $1.7 million dollars.  To substantially lower the tax rate increase, budget reductions would be much more severe, possibly affecting areas such as class size, arts and music education, modified sports, etc.

 

Four scenarios demonstrating what these possible budget reductions might look like were presented at the Roundtable Forum and respondents were given the opportunity to provide feedback on which cost savings they were most and least comfortable with, as well as offer comments and ideas. The Roundtable PowerPoint outlining these different options is available on the District's website. (Click this link to view).  I am currently collating and analyzing all of the questionnaire data and the results will be presented at the Board of Educations February 4th meeting.

 

I will be submitting my Proposed 2010-2011 Budget at the February 25th Board of Education (BOE) meeting.  During the month of March, there will be additional budget presentations for each of our schools, Personnel, Technology, Staff Development, Pupil Personnel Services, Building and Grounds, Central Administration, Transportation and Athletics.  The Board of Education is expected to adopt the budget at the April 15th meeting. These meetings provide another opportunity for you to share your thoughts with the School Board. Important budget presentation dates are listed below.

 

If you cannot attend in person, please check DFTV Channel 75 listings for BOE broadcasts. Thank you again for your input on these critical issues and your continued support of our School District.

 

Sincerely,

 

Debra Kaplan
Superintendent of Schools