A community forum on the preliminary school budget will be held from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 13 in the Highland High School Auditorium. The forum will be an effort to bring the community together for input and ideas in the face of potential and severe budget cuts in state and federal funding for district schools.

“We want to work with the community to craft a budget that reflects their priorities, while balancing the educational needs of our students and the fiscal realities of the current economic crisis,” explained Superintendent Deborah Haab.

The forum will include a PowerPoint presentation of costs associated with the budget, including mandated items such as salaries and contract obligations, and non-mandated items including kindergarten, after-school activities, and advanced placement (AP) courses. Those who attend will be asked to share their budget priorities. This will be followed by a guided group discussion with the Board of Education and administration. Information gathered will be used by the board in crafting the upcoming budget.

“The district currently spends significantly less than any other school district in Ulster County,” said Superintendent Haab. “However, with state aid uncertain and limited federal assistance available, hard choices must be made about our programs and our direction. We want the community to be aware of the challenges the district is facing, and to be involved in a meaningful way in the budgeting process.”
The upcoming budget also was a significant part of the Highland Board of Education meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 5. The board began the budget process by receiving a rollover budget report to review. The next step will be to see the costs of new initiatives and personnel from the schools in the district.

The board also heard a report from the district’s external auditor, Alex Sorbin. Potential fiscal stress is his main concern since the district’s fund balance of $623,000 is low. The balance represents 1.8 percent of last year’s budget. By law, the district can maintain 4 percent of the budget. A low balance leaves the district vulnerable, especially with cuts in state and federal aid becoming a real possibility. If the cuts happen, the fund balance would disappear and expenditures would exceed revenues. Sorbin commented that stresses were created over the past two years’ budgets because “the board gave so much money back to the taxpayers.”
To offset these fiscal stresses, Sorbin said that the district may be able to get rid of the funds the state has allowed many school districts to accrue against costs for the past six years. If the state says these funds can no longer be accrued, they can be used to boost the fund balance by $800,000. The issue of accrual will be part of the Community Budget Forum.

In addition to the budget discussion, the board heard from legal counsel David Shaw regarding a policy on student cell phone use in schools. In particular, Shaw gave advice on a policy regarding “sexting,” or the act of sending sexually explicit photos and messages through cell phones, iPods, and computer notebooks. Shaw reported that 20 percent of teenagers participate in some form of sexting. He said that these young people don’t understand the seriousness of this issue, which threatens reputations, victimizes others, and opens the senders to being arrested as sex offenders.

Shaw told the board that the district already had a tool of enforcement with the district’s current student Code of Conduct. If a student’s conduct is deemed against the mission statement of the school, then the student would not have the right of free speech or the right to distribute offensive material. He added that the Code of Conduct also would apply if the material caused a disruption in school. In the case of explicit photos of someone underage, Shaw recommended that the “second pair of eyes,” besides the principal, should be a police officer in order to protect the school administration.

Board President Al Barone asked how restrictive the policy should be, or if it could be broad and related to the Code of Conduct. Shaw recommended that “sexting” be added to the Code.

The question also arose on how restrictive the schools can be with student use of cell phones for any purpose, since the use of cell phones in classrooms has become disruptive even with the Code of Conduct in place. Shaw explained that the schools can require that phones be turned off or even turned in to the teacher during class. Assistant Superintendent Roseanne Bayne asked who holds the liability for removed phones if they are stolen or damaged. Shaw said the district would be liable.

In conclusion, the board asked that teachers and administrators be given the opportunity to have input on cell phone use. The board also requested that Superintendent Haab prepare a draft cell phone policy for the next meeting on Jan. 19.

In other business, board President Barone read two letters of interest from Sue Gilmore and Joseph Palladino to fill the board vacancy. Barone said the board would discuss the candidates in executive session. In public comments following the meeting, Maria Peterson challenged the board on why discussion of the candidates would be in executive session if the letters of interest and interviews of the candidates are public. Barone said that the district’s legal counsel advised that board discussion of the vacancy is allowable in executive session. Peterson said she would write to the Committee on Open Government to ask about this issue as she feels the process for filling the vacancy needs to be transparent.

The board also approved a job description for the position of a director of technology for the district. Superintendent Haab said that the district has four candidates so far. The deadline for candidates is Jan. 18. In another issue, she also recommended that substitute and part-time employee pay rates be increased to align with Step 1 salary schedules as the district is having trouble hiring people. This item will be placed on the agenda for the next meeting.

Student representative Keri Robinson reported on middle school student concern of not enough time to get to classes and a request for teachers to instruct students on how to handle questionable Web sites accessed accidentally rather than have so many Web sites blocked in school. Middle school students also requested that Playback Theater be scheduled again since so many students were unable to attend the first time because of  scheduling conflicts. The Theater presentations focused on the issue of school bullying.

By TERI JONES