Scotia-Glenville School District spending would increase by 3.5 percent under a very preliminary budget outlined by the superintendent.

Superintendent Susan Swartz offered up a $46.1 million budget for the 2008-09 school year, which is an increase of slightly more than $1.5 million from this year’s budget.

Swartz told the Board of Education Monday that continuing the existing programs would cost about $1 million more than this year’s budget. If the voters defeated the budget, the board would have to find $74,000 worth of cuts from her budget because state law allows districts to increase spending by a maximum of 3.36 percent.

She said in a press release it is too early to estimate a tax increase. She said reductions in BOCES aid and rising insurance costs are issues in the budget.

Spokesman Bob Hanlon said the amount of state aid the district will receive is also unresolved.

“The governor has proposed a budget that a lot in the Legislature says they’re unhappy with,” he said.

The board will review the budget during work sessions every
for the next six weeks All meetings will take place at 7 p.m. at Scotia-Glenville Middle School. People can comment at the beginning of the meeting. The public hearing on the budget will be held on May 7 at the middle school.

Voting will be held from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. on May 20 at Scotia-Glenville Senior High School.

Potential building project

In other business, the Board of Education has still not made a decision about putting a building project before the voters this year.

The district has an $834,00 grant from the state’s Expanding our Children’s Education and Learning (EXCEL) program. It is seeking to use that money with other financing to do a building project. The board is considering three options, according to a handout.

Option one is a $7.1 million project including $4.9 million of general maintenance projects, $1.2 million for artificial turf, $900,000 for artificial turf and $125,000 for 500-seat bleachers.

The second option — at $12.7 million — would include all the projects in the first option plus rehabilitating science and technology rooms and enclosing the library at the middle school and renovating technology rooms at the high school.

The third $15.9 million option would include the projects of option two. The difference is it would create a new library at the middle school attached to the existing building and rehabilitate the existing space.

All the cost estimates are very rough. Hanlon said the board is still waiting for its bond attorney to evaluate all projects and determine how much state aid it would receive.

Reach Gazette reporter Michael Goot at 395-3105 or mgoot@dailygazette.net