Highland BOE Budget Presentation, May 10, 2011

1. Beginning With the End In Mind… Highland Central School District May 10, 2011 Budget Hearing Presentation 1

2. Highland CSD – Not the Governor’s District Governor Cuomo asserts that school districts can absorb his proposed $1.5 Billion in cuts. Even with the restoration of $237,010 in state aid, which was part of the NYS Adopted Budget, we still have reduced staffing and spending in many areas of the budget. Some districts have little or nothing left to cut which is not mandated. Highland CSD is one of those districts. 2

3. Highland CSD Profile Lowest Budget in Ulster County Return on Investment Operate our own bus fleet, our own food service and do much of our own maintenance in house, including grounds-keeping. 3

4. Highland CSD Profile Students consistently do well on Regents Exams With few exceptions our students rank in the top third of the county 4

5. Our Challenges Reserve Funds – Minimal Reserve for Unemployment - $ 37,928 Reserve for Tax Certiorari - $227,136 Loss of State Aid – In Governor’s Budget Proposal Highland will have lost $2,275,700 in state aid since the 2008-2009 school year. No Meaningful Mandate Relief – The NYS legislature is pushing the tough choices down to the local level. Districts like ours are being forced to respond to the State’s economic crisis. 5

6. Our Guiding Principles The principles that guided us in this endeavor were retention of programs which: Focused on K-12 Literacy Met the targeted needs of students (SINI status) Build on foundational skills K-12 Integrated 21st Century Learning Skills Educated the whole child 6

7. Our Guiding Principals 7

8. Dollar Differences Between Current 2010-11 Budget & Adopted Budget for 2011-12 8

9. $36,065,168 Spending Plan = 4% Levy Increase Resulting in$1,350,098 in Budget Reductions Budget-to-Budget Increase = 0.66% 9

10. The Total Plan—How We Reach an Adopted Budget 10

11. Highlights--What We Maintain This spending plan maintains Our focus on K-12 literacy Our early education programming Current Speech Services Middle school teaming Library Media Specialist in each building Elementary chorus and band Extracurricular activities Maintain foreign language Advanced Placement classes Retain Family & Consumer Science in M.S. All Athletics Attendance Clerk at Elementary School 11

12. Total Spending and Estimated Tax Levy & Tax Rate Increases 12 Gold = Contingent Based on Adopted Budget

13. Five Years at or Below Contingent 13

14. Estimated $ Increase in Taxes on a Home Assessed at: *Based on Adopted Budget Source: Town of Lloyd Assessor 14

15. The Highland Central School District 15 a student-centered learning community focused on the development of independent, lifelong learners while providing a quality education and promoting positive and healthy student growth.