By Amy Wallace
Faculty and administrators may have found a way to make up most of the projected $1.5 million budget deficit in the Lewiston-Porter School District.
Superintendent Chris Roser and Barbara Godshall, director of Special Education, presented a plan to the Board of Education Tuesday that would create significant savings to the district by returning many special education students to the district program from the BOCES program.
“We were looking for ways to make up the loss of $1.5 million from state aid,” Roser said.
The projected deficit is a result of a loss in state aid after Gov. David Paterson presented the state budget recently.
According to Godshall, many of the special education students are currently enrolled in BOCES programs on site at the Lewiston-Porter District campus.
“We have eight students graduating from Niagara Academy this year,” Godshall said. “That will be a savings of $331,770.”
The plan would also include returning four students to the district program from the BOCES program at a savings of $190,650, one middle school student at a savings of $41,400, five intermediate school students at a savings of $228,735, five primary school students at a savings of $238,590 and eliminating one speech therapy position at a savings of $73,030.
“That would be a total savings to the district of $1,104,175,” Godshall said. “There are quite a few students we’re keeping in the BOCES program that need it. We were high on the number of students that the district sent out to BOCES.”
According to Roser, the district will be adding to new classes to accommodate the changes and redistributing staff without the need to hire any additional staff.
“The figure is pretty impressive,” Roser said. “But we would be foolish to say we’re not concerned.”
He added the main priority is the education of the special education students and he and Godshall had worked with many of the parents on this proposal for the 2009-10 school year.
“It’s time that we had our own options in our district,” Godshall said.
The board has yet to present a proposed budget for next year but was working to find ways to fill the projected shortfall from the state.
“Our new superintendent and special education director have done a tremendous job working to save the district over a million dollars,” board member Ed Waller said.
In other business, the board unanimously approved a no school bus idling policy in accordance with New York state law.
The policy states that the board recognizes the need to promote the health and safety of district students and staff from harmful diesel fuel emissions by eliminating the unnecessary idling of all school buses on school property. Also, a five consecutive minute limitation on idling applies to buses with few exceptions.
