Budget
Q: Why do we hold a board of education election when only one person is running?
Budget
Q: Why wasn’t the bus purchase listed separately on the ballot as it was in the past?
A: This year, like last year, the Board of Education chose to use some of the district’s savings to purchase the buses. If the board had chosen to borrow to pay for the buses, it would have required a separate proposition.
Budget Q & A
Budget Questions and Answers
Q: Were cuts made to the International Baccalaureate (IB) program?
A: The IB program remains fully staffed. Under the teacher contract, all staff reductions must be made by certification area and seniority. Four teachers (business, biology, French, and social studies) who currently teach some IB courses will see their positions eliminated or reduced. We will replace those positions with other certified teachers currently teaching within our school.
Q: Have there been cuts to the IB program in the past?
A: No. In fact, the IB budget increased budget by 30 percent over the last two years.
Q: Are we cutting modern language (foreign language)?
A: We have eliminated 7th Grade foreign language. Students can still take foreign language beginning in 8th Grade.
Q: How much fund balance do we have?
A: In 2012-13, we had $23.5 million. We allocated $4.1 million leaving us with $19.4 million for the 2013-14 school year. Of that money, $13.5 million is in restricted reserves (money designated for specific purposes and unavailable for general fund expenditures) and $5.9 million in unappropriated reserves (available for general fund expenditures). The proposed 2013-14 budget would use $3.1 million of those unappropriated reserves leaving $2.8 million for future use.
Q: How many positions were cut?
A: The proposed budget would eliminate or reduce to part-time the jobs of 42 people. These cuts affect all levels from administration to instruction to support. The plan cuts the equivalent of 29.25 full-time jobs.
Q: How many students in the Alternative Education program?
A: Approximately 60 students in grades 7-12 attended the Delta School of Choice. The average class size is 10 students. 7th grade 10, 8th grade 7, 9th grade 11, 10th grade 13, 11th grade 6, 12th grade
Q: Was the high school social studies department reduced?
A: No. In closing the Delta School of Choice, we lose a certified social studies teacher and the Alternative Education Liaison. The Alt Ed liasion is a certified social studies teacher who will “bump” a high school social studies teacher with less seniority. The high school program will still have the same number of social studies teachers.
Budget
Q: Would this budget cut substitute teachers or aides?
A: Substitutes are not scheduled employees and are only called to work when an employee is out sick or otherwise away from the job. With fewer teachers and aides, we will likely use fewer substitutes, but no one would be cut from the substitute list.
Budget
Q: When will the school budget exit poll be posted?
- MCSDirect.wordpress.com – Go to the top of the page on MCSDirect and you will see several different tabs at the top. One of them is titledBudget. If you click on that, and scroll down a bit, you will find underBudget Documents, the last link titled Survey Results. Click on that to view the PDF of the results, or
- mcs.k12.ny.us – On the District webpage, near the top of the page you will find Quick Links. Under Quick Links there is a link titled News Archive. Click on the News Archive and it will take you to a page with the news thus far for the school year 2012-13. If you scroll down a little, you will find another link for the 2011-12 News Archive. Once you click on that, it will take you to a page with news from last years school year. Four links down, you will find Exit Survey Results (July 9, 2012). This will also take you to a PDF viewing of the exit survey results.
Human Resources
Q: How do you apply for a support staff position?
- Go to the District tab at the top of the page.
- Click on Human Resources
- On the right hand side of the page, there is a link titled Applications, click on that. There is also a link titled Openings – here you will find what positions we have open.
- Click on Support Staff application.
Exit Poll
Q: When will the results of the school budget exit poll survey be shared with the community?
A: We had a great turn out for the May 15th budget vote. And we had a great number of the voters fill out an exit poll. We are currently working to tally all of the information. We expect to present the results to the Board of Education for its review no later than June 21st after which we will post them online.
BOE
Q: When are the BOE Minutes posted on line?
Finances
Q. Why did the assistant superintendent for business investigation cost so much?
A. Although $40,000 is a great deal of money, it is not atypical when dealing with school personnel issues. To protect all parties, any staff inquiry must be thorough and unbiased, both in the investigation and in its findings. To ensure the integrity of the investigation, the board of education sought an experienced school attorney with no ties to the district. The BOE hired attorney Micheala Perrotto, a labor relations specialist with the Office of Personnel Relations at Cayuga-Onondaga BOCES. She charged $175 per hour plus expenses*a standard rate for municipal and school work. This work was not a BOCES service and was, therefore, not eligible for BOCES reimbursement. The final bill included expenses related to travel to Massena, interviews, telephone charges, research and writing the final report.
Finances
Q: Of the $40,000 spent on the legal fees investigating the assistant superintendent for business’ allegations against the district, how much was spent on the superintendent’s personal attorney.
A: None. The law prohibits using public funds for personal legal fees.
MCSDirect 