The budget will increase $597,090, to $10,995,699. The tax levy will rise by an estimated 2.85 percent, down from the previous year’s increase of 3.1 percent.

Superintendent Nicholas Savin outlined the district’s spending plan and talked about program initiatives during a budget presentation March 15.

According to Regents data in the high school and ELA and math scores at the elementary and middle school levels, student performance is improving compared to previous years and in relation to statewide averages, Savin said.

"I think the data speaks well of our students and staff," he said.

He said the district’s emphasis on improving students’ reading abilities was especially reflected in the improved scores.

According to data provided at the meeting, the average ELA assessment score in the 2001-02 school year was 130, while in 2004-05 it jumped to 157. The state-wide average increased from 154 to 164 in that same timeframe.

Savin said the district was working to improve overall efficiency in the school and was evolving several staff positions in order to provide additional help for struggling students without having to hire additional staff.

He said four teaching positions will see retirements at the end of this year.

Two of those positions will be filled with new teachers and two new positions will be created, one in the library and one as a teaching assistant for a new seventh and eighth grade alternative education program. The net change in staff will be zero, he said.

After the presentation, Wilfred Bruneau of Cooperstown asked why the budget couldn’t have a zero tax levy increase for the year.

He said in the lean years, when state aid was not as plentiful as it is this year, the tax levy had been hit pretty hard.

The 2004-05 budget increased taxes by 9.4 percent and the following year taxes increased by 7.83 percent. Last year taxes increased by 3.1 percent.

Bruneau added that with taxes rising more and more every year, it has become nearly impossible for young families to settle in the area.

"They just can’t afford to live here. What kind of society are we creating?" he said.

The school board is scheduled to adopt a preliminary budget at its meeting April 5. The annual budget meeting is May 3 and voters will approve or reject the budget on May 15.