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BUDGET 2020 - 2021

PORT JERVIS CITY SC H OO L DISTR I CT

l!a What's Inside

2 Three-part Budget

2 Board Candidates

3 District Using 11!1 Budget Vote & School Board Election - $1 ,672,800

Important Changes 4 Budget Notice

Budget preserves educational programs; expands technology; stays under tax cap Every individual, family, and business community • • • • • • • • • • has experienced unprecedented challenges over the • • • • • •••• Budget ,,;;ote 6lr past several months. The impact these challenges will • • • T• ~ • • • • have on the funding of school districts across New • s h 1 B d • • York State remains a variable. The Port Jervis City -. C 00 oar E 1 ectioo : School District Board of Education has continued to • • J g • • maintain financial stability as an essential component • • • • • • • set for u ne • • • • • • • of the development of the 2020-2021 Budget. The financial stability coupled with the preservation of • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • the educational programming that provides a safe, enriching, student-centered, and inclusive learning for all students has remained the central focus.

The proposed budget maintains most of our current programs, as well as continuing to expand the instructional technology necessary to provide a 21st Century Education for all of our students. The programs that will continue to be offered to our students includes targeted opportunities in the realms of Academics, Athletics, and the Arts. While maintaining current programs was at the forefront of the planning, fiscal responsibility and return on investment are essential in the development of a budget. The budget that was adopted by the Board of Education includes a reduction in staffing through attrition and the reduction of extra-curricular stipends. These reductions were made strategically to have minimal impact on the educational experiences our students deserve. The Board of Education approved the following budget for the community to consider: $75,430,132 expenditure plan with a proposed tax levy increase of 1.39%.

As a result of Governor Cuomo's Executive Order, voting for the School Board Elections and Budget

The 2020-2021 proposed District Coach, w ill create authentic will not take place in the traditional manner. Rather, Budget builds upon the success learning experiences to encourage all registered voters will receive a mailing that will of our current instructional flexibility, risk taking, and include a postage paid return envelope and ballot. technology program and affords problem solving. The ballot will include the budget proposition and our students a technology rich School Board of Education candidates. Additionally, environment that supports In addition, the Port Jervis City the District is partnering with the Port Jervis Public a rigorous curriculum. The School District is continuing to Library in this process and the ballot for the continuation and growth of our p rogress towards a chromebook library's budget will be included in this mailing. digital educational platforms, to student ratio of 1:1 to support All ballots must be received by the District Office coupled with the support of student collaboration and the by 5:00 pm on June 9, 2020. our Instructional Technology acquisition of 21st century skills.

11!1 INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNOLOGY

2 PORT JERVIS CITY SC H OO L DISTR I CT

-:. Three-part Budget Comparison -number changes:

ADMINISTRATIVE BUDGET 2019-2020 2020-2021

General Support 1,334,862 1,351,207

District/Building Administration 3,312,568 3,365,714

Emp loyee Benefits 1,659,056 1,658,839 TOTALADMINIBTRATIVE BUDGET 6,306,486 6,375,760

PROGRAM BUDGET

Regular Instruction 19,056,431 18,708,912

Special Education 15,778,116 16,275,561

Instruction Support/Programs/Services 5,925,329 6,200,587

Pupil Activities 1,063,492 1,166,376

Transportation 4,385,673 4,522,286

Employee Benefits 13,083,669 12,927,685

TOTAL PROGRAM BUDGET 59,292,710 59,801,407

CAPITAL BUDGET

Operations and Maintenance 4,270,591 4,234,473 Debt Service 3,934,531 3,631,537 Employee Benefits 1,356,598 1,386,955 TOTAL CAPITAL BUDGET 9,561,720 9,252,965

GRAND TOTAL 75,160,916 75,430,132

The proposed budget represents 0.36% increase over last year's budget and a 1.39% projected increase on the tax levy.

FLORENCE (FLO) SANTINI - INCUMBENT Florence (Flo) Santini is running for a third consecutive 3-year term. She is currently the Vice President of the Port Jervis School Board. She has been the Town Clerk for the Town of Deerpark since 2002 and was appointed Town Tax Collector in 2017. Santini presently sits on the Board of Education's Health & Wellness Committee and Safety Committee. Santini has served as Vice President on both committees.

EARL WALKER Earl Walker is running for his first 3-year term, having been elected or appointed three times to fill 1 year vacancies. Walker was Assistant Director of Regulatory Affairs, Leder le Laboratories, for twenty years, and laboratory supervisor, Cornell University, for more than twelve years.

• BoARD OF EDUCATION CANDIDATES

JUDITH AMATO - INCUMBENT Judith Amato is currently serving her sixth year as a Board Member. During her tenure, she has served as School Board President. She has worked at Dr. Horn's office for 20 years and at Dr. Coppola's office for 27 years. Judith and her husband Joseph have one son who is a senior this year and 5 daughters who are Port Jervis School District graduates.

HEATHER BEEBE Heather Beebe is n mning for her first term. She graduated from the Port Jervis School District in 2002. She is currently employed as a Payroll and Administrative Aide at Donahue & Donahue, Inc. in Port Jervis. She served on the Empowering Port Jervis Board from 2012 thru 2016. Beebe has served as Treasurer (2017-2019) and President (2019-2020) of the ASK PTA. Heather and her husband Trevor have three children currently attending ASK and one child attending the Pre-K program at Project Discovery.

TRAVIS CONKLIN Travis Conklin is nmning for his first term. He will be graduating this month from the Port Jervis High School. He is currently employed at Bob's Junk Removal & Lawn Care has also operated his own lawn care business while attending school. Conklin has served as Student School Board Representative for the last two years and has also been a Student Council Representative for two years. He has several younger relatives that attend the Port Jervis School District.

JOAN MCBRIDE - INCUMBENT Joan McBride is running for her second term. She is retired from the Port Jervis City School District where she worked for 29 years. She held several titles in her career at the PJCSD including working in a grant funded program called Youth at Risk. McBride spent 4 years in the Middle School as a member of the principal's clerical staff, 12 years in the Business Office, and the last 12 years were spent in the Building and Grounds Department, retiring as Administrative Aide. McBride also served two 3-year terms as Clerk to the Board of Education.

WILLIAM C. ONOFRY William C. Onofry has served 9 years (2001-2013) as a Board Member in the past, with two years as School Board President. He is the retired owner and operator of Onofry General Contracting, having spent 38 years in business. Onofry is a graduate of the Port Jervis School District. William and his wife Susan have two children who are graduates of the Port Jervis School District.

r.. What is fund balance? How is it being used to reduce my taxes?

414 ii f4 Ii ·h lt·frl i

Fund Balance can be generated by two sources, either a surplus of revenue or expenses coming in below budget.

REVENUE - additional revenue can be earned from interest, penalties, an unan ticipated source, or a line coming in higher than budgeted.

EXPENSES - by spending less than planned on goods/ services throughout the year. This is the result of competitive bids and management of resources.

The district is applying $1,672,800 in fund balance toward the 2020-21 budget to reduce the increase in taxes and have a balanced budget. While this is an increase of fund balance this year we believe that this is still an appropriate amount that allows us to maintain programing while applying fund balance against some one-time expensed based aid shortfalls that we anticipate in next year's funding.

The district fund balance spending plan was developed to apply reserve funds annually to reduce the tax burden on our community while maintaining long-term financial s tability of the district. This will continue to be the focus of the Port Jervis City School District as future budgets are developed to ensure stability of the district and that we are providing a well-rounded education for our students especially in these uncertain times.

r.. What happens if the budget is not approved? Under a Con tingency Budget, the d istrict would have to reduce the budget by $398,726. If a proposed budget is defeated by voters under the current executive order a date for a revote is not available so a Board of Education would have to adopt a con tingency budget. Under tax levy limit law, Port Jervis Schools would eliminate equipment purchases and reduce administrative initiatives. Fees would be required to be imposed on all community organizations who use school fields and buildings.

In accordance with Executive Order No. 202.26, the

Budget Vote and School Election will be held remotely, by ABSENTEE BALLOT only. Qualified voters of the Port Jervis City School District, who have registered to vote, will receive ballots by mail.

You are a qualified voter if you are:

~ USCitizen

~ 18 years of age

~ Resident of the district for at least 30 days

ABSENTEE BALLOT INFORMATION: Anyone who meets the definition of a "qualified voter" but has not registered to vote must do so to receive an absentee ballot. To be a qualified voter, you must be a US Citizen, at least 18 years old by June 9, 2020, a school district resident for 30 days immediately preceding the vote, and registered to vote in School District elections and having voted in any School District election/vote during the past four calendar years. Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, there will be no personal registration held at school district offices prior to the June 9, 2020 vote. If you are not registered, you can register with the County Board of Elections by mail or remotely through the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles website at: https:// www.ny.gov/more-info/electronic-voter-registration-application

-:. BOARD OF EDUCATION

Deborah Lasch, President Florence Santini, Vice President Judith Amato Brian Dewey Kayla Finan Joan McBride Tanya Parker-Hughes Reyes Torres Linda VanHorn

-:. SUPERINTENDENT

Michael Rydell

NON-PROFIT Port Jervis US POSTAGE

CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT PAID PORT JERVIS, NY 9 Thompson Street PERMIT NO. 20 Port Jervis, NY 12771 12771

ECRWSS MAN RESIDENT

PORT JERVIS CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT

www.pjschools.org I

Overall Budget Proposal Contingency Budget Adopted Budget Proposed

Budget for the for the 2019-20 for the 2020-21 2020-21 School Year School Year

School Year *

The School District Budget Notice (on left) is mandated by state law. School districts must present their costs in three prescribed components.

The budget document, which contains a summary report of tax exemptions, is available at www.pjschools.org.

If you have any questions or need more information, please call the Business Office at 858-3100, Ext. 15531 or visit the district website.

Under the Budget Proposed

for the 2020-21 School Year

Total Budgeted Amount, Not Including Separate Propositions $75,160,916 $75,430, 132 $75,031,406

Increase/Decrease for the 2019-20 School Year $269,216 - $129,510

Percentage Increase/Decrease in Proposed Budget 0.36% - 0.17.%

Change in the Consumer Price Index 1.81%

A. Proposed Levy to Support the Total Budgeted Amount $28,685,320 $29,084,046

B. Levy to Support Library Debt, if Applicable $0 $0

C. Levy for Non-Excludable Propositions, if Applicable ** $0 $0

D. Total Tax Cap Reserve Amount Used to Reduce Current Year Levy

$0 $0

E. Total Proposed School Year Tax Levy (A+ B + C - D) $28,685,320 $29,084,046

F. Total Permissible Exclusions $0 $0

G. School Tax Levy Limit, Excluding Levy for Permissible Exclusions

$29,406,714 $30,263,785

H. Total Proposed School Year Tax Levy, Excluding Levy to Support Library Debt and/or Permissible Exclusions (E - B - F + D)

$28,685,320 $29,084,046

I. Difference: G - H (Negative Value Requires 60.0% Voter Approval -

See Note Below Regarding Separate Propositions)**

$721,394 $1,179,739

Administrative Component $6,306,486 $6,375,760 $6,359,626

Program Component $59,292,710 $59,801,407 $59,539,301

Capital Component $9,561,720 $9,252,965 $9,132,479

The 2020-2021 contingency budget will require elimination of equipment purchases as well as reductions in administrative initiatives. A cont ingent budget would require $398,726 in budget reductions.

Estimated Basic STAR Exemption Savings1 Basic School Tax Relief (STAR) is authorized by Section 425 of the Real Property Tax Law. Port Jervis City School $ 891 District is comprised of four towns and one city. STAR Exemption amounts are different for each one. Actual savings is dependent on assessments and equalizations on rates which are not available before July 1 *.

The annual budget vote for the fiscal year 2020-21 by the qualified voters of the Port Jervis City School District, Orange County, New York, will be held remotely, by ABSENTEE BALLOT only. Qualified voters of the Port Jervis City School District, who have registered to vote, will receive ballots by mail.

1. The basic school tax relief (STAR) exemption is authorized by Section 425 of the Rea l Property Tax Law.