Dan Brenner introduced his final budget as the Roslyn School District’s superintendent of schools on Thursday, announcing a $103,072,734 figure for 2015-16 that is representative of a .33 percent spending increase from the district’s $102.7 million budget in 2014-15.
Though officials did not yet have a tax cap figure available, Brenner said the district would seek to set expenditures as close to actual posts as possible and provide more thorough budgetary projections in the coming weeks.
“Our history of being fiscally responsible is second to none,” Brenner said.
Among the largest spending increases in the coming year, Brenner said, would be a $400,000 spike in the district’s technological infrastructure, through which Roslyn would increase its bandwidth, complete its disaster recovery project, continue its rollout of the high school and elementary school-level iPad program, develop its cloud-based storage system and continue to install security cameras and wireless access points throughout the district.
Brenner also said transportation expenses would increase as well as those related to employee health insurance, though officials have projected a decrease to its teacher’s retirement system responsibilities.
Expenses related to educational programming accounts for only 15 percent of the proposed budget, Brenner said, with the other 85 percent related to teacher and employee salaries, health insurance and benefits, pension costs and utilities.
But in designing the preliminary budget, Brenner said district administrators did not eliminate any programs or costs suggested by subject coordinators and even added four positions – an assistant director of facilities to handle the implementation of Roslyn’s $41.3 million capital bond, a high school guidance counselor whose primary responsibility would be to match students with scholarship opportunities, a data coordinator for more in-depth reportage to the state Department of Education and an elementary school guidance counselor.
“We are a personnel-heavy business,” Brenner said. “We function based on our bodies and people. It’s 80 percent of what we do.”
Brenner said the proposed high school guidance counselor position would be “groundbreaking” for a Nassau County district and would benefit students whose families would struggle to send them to expensive colleges despite having a high income.
“The great thing about this job is that it’s entirely quantifiable,” Brenner said. “If that person is getting it done, you know it, you can see it. And if they’re not – well, you’d know that, too.”
Approximately 3,300 students are enrolled within the Roslyn School District. The district’s cost-per-pupil during the 2014-15 school year was $31,121.21.
The budget also includes a $1.75 million transfer to the district’s capital fund that Brenner said would cover projects not included as part of the bond plan, including athletic field renovations at East Hills Elementary School, locker room and storage improvements and various district-wide paving and curbing needs.
Thursday’s introduction was the first of four budgetary presentations to the Roslyn community set to take place during board of education meetings. The next bond presentation is scheduled for Feb. 12 at 7:30 p.m., with additional meetings on Feb. 26, March 12 and March 26.
The board of education has an April 21 deadline to approve its school budget in advance of the May 19 community vote.
If the budget does not pass, Brenner said the board could set an entirely different budget for a second vote, though if the community denies it a second time the district would operate under a 0 percent tax increase, which he said could lead to budgetary cuts.
“We’re in a good place,” he said. “I don’t think that’s going to affect us.”
