For the 10th year in a row, the Sag Harbor School District is proposing a spending plan that stays under the state-mandated cap on tax levy increases while maintaining all programs, services, and extracurricular activities and sports.
On the table is a $44.87 million budget for 2021-22. The projected tax levy is $40.32 million, a 1.48-percent increase from this year, but still slightly under the levy limit. Year over year, the budget would increase by 1.22 percent.
The board noted in its presentation that the budget also includes funding for a full-day pre-K program, as well as continued investment in updated technology.
With regard to state aid projections, released on April 6, the $1.85 million allocated to Sag Harbor is low, said Jennifer Buscemi, the district's business administrator, because the wealth measures in the district are significantly greater than in most of the state.
The district is expecting additional state money — about $25,776 more, up to $1.85 million — plus $200,159 in grant allocations from the Federal Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, which is administered by the state. The American Rescue Plan Act will provide another $567,476.
For the May 18 vote, there will be additional propositions on the ballot: the establishment of a new capital reserve fund, the purchase of a school bus for $58,766, and the ability of the district clerk to conduct voter registration. The board will meet again on April 20 to discuss the adoption of the budget.
Regarding Covid-19, Jeff Nichols, the district superintendent, offered a case summary. Last Friday, the school administered 236 tests to students and staff, out of which there was one positive test. Seven positive students are now out and isolating, while six — four from the middle-high school and two from the elementary school — are quarantining due to exposure to someone who tested positive.
"The number of positive tests among students has not declined. If anything, it's risen over the last two months or so if you look at it cumulatively. What has changed is guidance with regard to quarantining students," Mr. Nichols said. He explained that initially an entire class would quarantine, but now only those who were within six feet of someone who tests positive — "quantifiably, over 10 minutes over a 24-hour period" — need to quarantine.
"This is guidance — it is not ironclad," Mr. Nichols said, citing the fact that a few students had tested positive under these new measures, and that the option remains to be more stringent.