OBSERVER Photos by Braden Carmen Fredonia Board of Education President Brian Aldrich listens during an initial presentation of the proposed 2024-25 School Budget.

Water rates are not the only big increase in the village of Fredonia this upcoming year.

A year ago, the Fredonia Central School District approved a budget with a tax levy of 3.25%, a figure that far surpassed the figure in each of the previous nine years. This year, that figure has ballooned even more.

At the initial budget presentation to the Board of Education, the District is proposing a tax levy of 4.68% for the 2024-25 School Budget. The figure is well over the tax levy limit of 1.71%, by more than $500,000, which is the first time since the pre-limit stage in 2011-12 that the District has exceeded the cap. Four times since 2011-12 the District has met the cap, with the remaining years falling below it, including last year despite the notable levy increase from 1% to 3.25%.

Last year’s sizable increase was the first of its kind in nearly a decade, as the District had four straight years at 1% or lower, including two years of a 0% increase. Prior to last year, the District had not increased the tax levy by 2% or more since the 2013-14 school year.

The initial proposed 2024-25 School Budget is $36,977,474. That figure is $2,326,231 higher (6.7%) than last year’s budget, which was more than $2.7 million more (8.5%) than the year prior to that. From 2022-23 to the initial figure in 2024-25, the budget has increased by more than $5 million in two years.

If the budget twice fails to pass a vote by District taxpayers, the District will still need to comply with the Administrative Cap, which cannot exceed the administrative percentage of the prior year’s budget or 11.55%. The District is currently $76,464 under the Administrative Cap with its initial proposal.

The 2024-25 School Budget includes a $100,000 Capital Outlay Project, centered around blacktop replacement at Wheelock School and flooring replacement within select classrooms. The District is still evaluating a much more substantial Capital Improvement Project in the coming years which will be included in a future year’s budget.

Among notable “big ticket” increases to the budget include an Occupational Education increase of $71,900 to account for three additional students; BOCES computer assisted instruction costs of $75,651 and BOCES computer services costs of $28,256. The most sizable increases, however, were a retirement system increase of $83,848; a health insurance increase of $185,379; and most of all, the busing increase of $385,305, with an additional $10,000 allocated to cover increased fuel costs.

The proposed budget will not be finalized until after several unknowns are cleared up. The District is awaiting finalized equalization rates and assessments within the District, as well as clarity from BOCES on finalized costs, and final staffing items within the District.

The state Senate and Assembly also still have yet to finalize the State Aid figures the District will receive from the Governor’s budget, which was submitted in January. The District anticipates its upcoming budget to be comprised of 48.38% State Aid, with 47.76% to come from the tax levy. The percentage of the budget coming from State Aid has increased in each of the four years preceding the upcoming year, including from 43.79% in 2022-23 to 46.7% in the current budget this year.

In 2024-25, salaries are anticipated to increase just shy of $1 million from the current year, accounting for more than $18.1 million of the proposed $36.7 million budget. Benefits account for an additional $7.4 million, while contractual expenses account for $4.5 million. Those three line items account for an increase of $1,952,781 over the 2023-24 budget.

Among the staffing cost increases are five retirements totaling $538,103; five staff replacements totaling $270,465; a staff retirement incentive of $53,079; and the inclusion of all positions currently funded by American Rescue Plan Act funding, which is set to expire this coming September. The cost to maintain those positions for next year is $487,735.

However, later in the meeting, there was more discussion centered around a staffing need that continues to not be met. High School Principal Darrin Paschke has continued to press the District to add a social worker so that the Middle School and High School could each have their own social worker, rather than splitting the position three days a week at the Middle School and two days a week at the High School.

Superintendent Dr. Brad Zilliox said, “As a building principal, I certainly understand him advocating for what he believes the building needs and what will be helpful to the students at the High School.”

Zilliox noted he and Paschke had a miscommunication about the needs of the District. Paschke requested an additional 0.6 to be added to the current 0.4 allocation of social work to the High School, not a 0.6 position — which is a part-time employee — to be added.

“We never requested a 0.6 (employee). We have always wanted a full-time person,” said Paschke. “… The full intent was always a full 1.0 for the Middle School replacement. There was never a request for a 0.6, ever.”

The District also splits social work between the Elementary School and the Wheelock School. Paschke and Wheelock Principal Amy Piper share the belief that a full-time social worker should be present at each building in the District.

“The behavioral needs of our children have grown exponentially,” said Piper.

With the needs of the District that are not being met, many of the duties that would fall on a social worker have fallen on other members of the staff, especially Piper at Wheelock.

“We need to have these people,” Paschke said. “… It’s critical.”

Still, additional social worker positions were not included in the upcoming year’s budget. Zilliox said, “I continue to be a little reticent and hesitant with where we are with our budget.”

Paschke said there was never a discussion where the District deemed the additional positions it is funding next year more appropriate uses of funds than adding more social workers.

“We have not prioritized those positions … in place of or above the social worker. That was never done,” Paschke said.

Board of Education member Tom Hawk asked, “How does that get on the critical request list? Because that’s what I’ve been hearing, that it is critical.”

The District will continue to evaluate its needs for the upcoming school year in the coming weeks before the budget is finalized. The annual Budget Hearing will be Tuesday, May 7 at 6 p.m. in the High School Library. The official 2024-25 School Budget vote will be held on Tuesday, May 21, from 2 p.m. until 9 p.m. in the High School Cafeteria.