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Overcast School officials not happy with I.P. aid figure
Apparent drop in help from State attributable to decreased use of BOCES
What looks like a loss of state aid for Island Park schools actually is not, according to Thomas Locascio, aide to State Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos. At first glance, the New York state budget shows that the school district will receive $2.3 million from Albany in 2015-16 — a drop of just over $72,000, or 2.99 percent, from the current year. The numbers don’t tell the whole story, however, according to Locascio.
The reason is that the district did not spend as much this year on services from the Board of Cooperative Educational Services, or BOCES, he explained. “Monies spent with BOCES are reimbursable using a state formula, but if you spent less, you get less back, and that’s what happened in Island Park,” Locascio said. “If you compare what was spent in 2014-15, $659,411, with what is projected for 2015-16, $432,991, you see a net loss of $226,420, so less spending means less reimbursement, not less aid. If you take BOCES out of the budget altogether, you end up with a $154,417 increase.”
“BOCES reimbursement through state aid is for a myriad of services, not just special-student placements,” said Superintendent Rosmarie Bovino. “Remember, the year prior, we were still recovering from [Hurricane] Sandy, so we had many more BOCES services.” They included technology management, teacher training and professional development.
The state aid figures for Island Park show increases in foundation aid (the bulk of aid a district gets), high cost-excess cost (money claimed for students with disabilities who attend public schools or BOCES), software, library and textbooks, and transportation. The district will receive $8,014 less in building aid, which is reimbursement for capital projects and construction.
State Assemblyman Todd Kaminsky said he is confident that more aid will be coming in other forms. “While I cannot promise, I am confident Island Park may see as much as $70,000 additional,” he said. “I plan to fight to make sure Island Park gets at least as much as last year and maybe more.”
