News Blast May 2007 Special Budget Issue

NEWS BLAST is an electronically transmitted communication from the Chappaqua Central School District sent to subscribers of the district's K12 Alert system. Look for these Blasts throughout the school year to keep up-to-date with news and events around the district.

2007-08 School Budget Vote - Tuesday, May 15

Please remember to vote on Tuesday, May 15 from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. in the Horace Greeley High School gym. The ballot contains a school budget resolution, two school district capital project propositions, the election of two Board of Education members, a library budget resolution, and the election of one Library Trustee. Information on each ballot item is outlined below.

School Budget Resolution

This resolution authorizes an expenditure budget of $101,989,545 for the 2007-08 school year. This proposed budget represents a 5.1% budget-to-budget increase over 2006-07. The estimated tax rate increases are 4.1% for New Castle and 3.3% for Mt. Pleasant. Over 65% of the budget increase is due to contractual increases in salaries and employee benefits. Two new staff positions are being added at the high school, a guidance counselor and a psychologist.

EXCEL Aid Capital Improvement Proposition

The EXCEL proposition authorizes $2,128,000 for boiler work, window replacements, and roof repairs at Horace Greeley and Bell. The costs of these projects will be fully reimbursable by the State. $1,355,866 will come from a one-time funding offer from New York State EXCEL (Expanding our Children's Education and Learning) Aid. The remaining $772,134 will be reimbursed to the District through annual building aid. As this proposition takes advantage of state aid available to school districts, it will result in no additional cost to Chappaqua taxpayers.

Bleacher Replacement Proposition

This proposition authorizes the use of up to $700,000 in existing district surplus funds to replace the home and visitor bleachers at the Horace Greeley High School competition field. The bleachers fail to meet current code, are in need of continuous repair, and constitute a growing safety issue. The project cost includes the removal and disposal of the existing bleachers, preparation of the site, installation of concrete footings, and the purchase and installation of new bleachers. The new bleachers will maintain the current seating capacity and configuration as well as the existing press box. The District has $700,000 in existing surplus funds to utilize for this project so this proposition creates no additional cost to Chappaqua taxpayers.

Election of Two Board of Education Members

Three candidates appear on the ballot: Jeffrey Mester, Harvey Kerrich, and Jay Shapiro. Voters will vote for two.

Library Budget Resolution

This resolution authorizes the appropriation of $2,762,436 for the Chappaqua Library for the 2007-08 school year. This represents a budget-to-budget increase of 4.7% over 2006-07. The estimated tax rate increases are 4.6% for New Castle and 4.0% for Mt. Pleasant.

Election of One Library Trustee

Two candidates appear on the ballot: Gerry Golub and Evelyn Bloom. Voters will vote for one.

Correction to School District Budget Notice

The School District Budget Notice on page three of the News & Views Special Budget Issue newsletter contains an error. Under the Contingency Budget column, the figures for the Administrative component, Program component, and Capital Component for the Contingency Budget column were incorrectly stated. The correct figures are Administrative component - $11,050,000; Program component - $74,598,564; and Capital component $15,114,452. We apologize for this error. (Note: a revised newsletter with the correction is posted on the district web site.)

Vote - Tuesday, May 15 from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Horace Greeley High School Gym

Chappaqua Central School District
www.ccsd.ws

Superintendent David Fleishman

Board of Education:
Susan Habermann, President
Lisa Davis, Vice President
Janet Benton
Rob Gursha
Jay Shapiro