Today the polls are open for the school budget vote…. It is coming to the point where the District will have to consider the increasing costs of running our own school district. This year BROOKFIELD ranked as the #6 MOST EXPENSIVE SCHOOL (out of 45) in Central NY. Below is a breakdown of the 2010-11 budgets being proposed by other Madison Co. School Districts. BROOKFIELD's budget increase of 6.7% far exceeded the budget increases (and decreases) of neighboring districts by FAR! Many of the districts with the highest costs per students in the region are the smaller districts, according to state Education Department. Simply put, they have fewer students to spread the costs over. Regardless of size, all districts have to provide certain services mandated by the state. They also face the similar fixed costs, such as the salaries of a superintendent and business manager, as a larger district. While it would make sense in some cases to merge smaller districts that’s a challenge because local school boards, like BCS's, are very protective of their small school districts. See the article and check Deb Grooms article at http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2010/05/smaller_school_districts_spend.html
BROOKFIELD
Budget Increase 6.70%
Cost Per Student $ 22,665
TOTAL BUDGET $ 5,689,033
# Students 251
