NORTH NORWICH – The school boards of each of the 16 districts which comprise the Delaware-Chenango-Madison-Otsego BOCES will cast their vote for or against the cooperative education organization’s 2009-10 administrative budget on April 28.
Totaling $2.15 million, the proposed budget includes a $43,933, or 2 percent, reduction in spending from the current year’s budget, according to Assistant Superintendent of Management Services Doreen Rowe.
Rowe attributed the spending decrease in large part to a builder’s insurance policy they were able to drop after the completion of the $48 million renovation and expansion project which overhauled both the Chenango Campus in North Norwich and the Robert W. Harrold Campus in Sidney Center. The decision was also made to tap into accrued liability funds to offset increases retiree benefit expenses, and a concerted effort was made to trim supply and there was also a concerted effort to trim expenses where ever possible.
Despite the decrease in overall spending in the administrative budget, component districts will be asked to pick up a larger share of those expenses this year. Individual district share is calculated based on their Resident Weighted Average Daily Attendance (RWADA), which measures the size of a district based on attendance. Although some schools may actually see a decrease because of the RWADA ratio, on average component districts will see a 2.5 percent increase over last year, according to Rowe.
“This was a result of a sharp decrease in Interest Earned revenue (due to the economy) and a projected decrease in Indirect Revenue from grants,” the administrator explained.
These other revenue streams, as well as some cross-contract administrative charges from other BOCES, account for a small percentage of overall revenue with the majority of the budget funded by the 16 districts within the 1,825 square mile area covered by the DCMO BOCES district.
“We are an extension of them,” said DCMO BOCES Superintendent Bill Tammaro, explaining the relationship between the cooperative group and its component schools. “We provide what they want but can’t provide for themselves.”
In turn, schools are reimbursed in part by the state for their BOCES expenditures through BOCES refunds and categorical aid.
