Components to vote on budget April 27

Component board members will vote April 27 on Capital Region BOCES’ proposed $7.7 million administrative budget for 2011-2012 and will elect four BOCES Board of Education members.

Details about the proposed overall $108.7 million budget were sent to components this week, and are now posted on the BOCES website.

Some highlights of the proposed budget:

The $7.7 million administrative portion of the budget carries no cost increase for components, due to the recent voluntary salary freeze by top-level administrators, continuing cost-saving efforts and use of reserve funds.

The cost per pupil for Capital Region BOCES' administrative and capital budgets (which combined make up districts' annual assessment) are well below state averages for BOCES. Measured by RWADA (resident weighted average daily attendance, a measure of enrollment), BOCES' administrative RWADA is $59, below the state average of $78; the capital budget RWADA is $28, lower than the state average of $44.

Most service fee increases are 2.9 percent or less in the proposed budget, with some fees decreasing for 2011-2012.

Recent cost-saving measures include:

Reducing the number of administrators has saved more than $700,000 in the last two years.

Last summer's retirement incentives will save about $2.7 million.

Facilities changes, including moving some special education classrooms and offices (see related story), will save about $200,000 in rent, operations and maintenance costs.

Decreasing energy use in the last 20 months has resulted in about $419,000 in energy savings.

 Component board members will vote on the administrative budget and the board election, which this year includes four incumbents who are seeking to serve three-year terms: Sandra Beloncik, John Bergeron, Gary DiLallo and John Phelan. (Read their bios.)