pGOUVERNEUR — The amount of money collected from property owners in the Gouverneur Central School District would increase by 3.4 percent under a proposed 2016-17 school budget that also calls for adding five new jobs, including a mental health counselor./ppThe proposed $34.5 million spending plan was prepared by Superintendent Lauren F. French and other administrators. The school board is scheduled to review it for the first time at its 7 p.m. Monday meeting./ppMrs. French said that tax levy increase is the maximum the district could propose under the state-mandated property tax cap and generates roughly $192,107 more in tax revenue./pp“We are looking at adding new positions and programs under the budget prepared by the administrative team,” Mrs. French said. ”Now it’s up to the school board to review.”/ppThe cost of the new positions and programs totals $606,297. They include a special education teacher, a pre-first-grade teacher, a mental health counselor for grades K-12 and two teaching assistants in the elementary school./ppThe budget also would add $180,000 for programs at the vocational and technical centers operated by the St. Lawrence-Lewis Board of Cooperative Educational Services./ppThe budget calls for replacing two elementary teachers, one high school chemistry teacher and two classroom aides./ppThe combination of the new positions and other projected cost hikes, such as utilities, result in a budget that’s about $1 million more than the current budget./ppMrs. French said the increase would be covered by three sources: the tax levy increase, using nearly $700,000 from the reserve fund and applying nearly $200,000 from the fund balance. The district also expects to see a $400,000 increase in state aid next school year./ppShe said the mental health counselor is needed to help the growing number of students in the district dealing with a variety of mental health issues. The cost would be roughly $85,000 a year, including salary and benefits./ppThe district does not have a mental health counselor on staff now. The person hired would also help link families to other related services./pp“We are trying to support more and more families that have very serious issues,” Ms. French said. “We make multiple mental health referrals a week. It has increased over the years and I’m seeing it in younger and younger children.”/ppMrs. French said the district’s 3.4 percent tax levy cap was determined using a state formula that allows for exclusions that are multiplied by an allowable growth factor for Gouverneur of 1.00012./ppThe calculation involves subtracting payments in lieu of tax for the coming year and adding in the capital tax levy exclusion. /ppThat results in a maximum allowable levy of $5,850,389 which is a 3.4 percent increase over the current budget, the superintendent said./pp“The state has provided a formula which all schools must follow. It includes both inclusions and exclusions. The formula allows Gouverneur to ask for an additional $192,107 from the local communities,” Mrs. French said in an email. “The board of education will have to review this and determine how to move forward and what amount they wish to support.”/p
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