The Springs School Board on Monday approved two resolutions to address a $2.3 million budget surplus leftover from the 2019-20 school year.
As recommended by Michael Henery, the business administrator, the board approved using $1.03 million to offset the new school year's tax levy. Another approximately $1 million was allocated to a reserve fund for building repairs. The board also divided the remaining money into savings accounts for workers' compensation and retirement payouts, as well as unemployment insurance, for which the district is self-funded.
The school board then approved a resolution allowing administrators to use up to $500,000 of the repair reserve money toward emergency Covid-19 costs, as permitted by a recent executive order by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo. Anything the district effectively borrows from itself would be paid back to the reserve account over five years, Mr. Henery explained.
Also Monday, the school board informally agreed to once again use LTV Studios to broadcast their meetings, as the public access organization had done before the pandemic. The decision follows several months of meetings fraught with technology glitches. The goal is to make meetings more accessible, according to Debra Winter, the district superintendent. "We don't have the equipment that LTV has. It's a no-brainer," she said.