Eldred lawsuit dropped, budget reviewed

Anya Tikka
Posted 8/21/12

ELDRED, NY — Superintendent Robert Dufour said during the Eldred Board of Education meeting on March 12 that all the charges brought against the school district regarding alleged bullying in …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Eldred lawsuit dropped, budget reviewed

Posted

ELDRED, NY — Superintendent Robert Dufour said during the Eldred Board of Education meeting on March 12 that all the charges brought against the school district regarding alleged bullying in December of 2013 have been dismissed by the Superior Court.

“I’m pleased to report that on the acting Superior Court Justice ruled in our favor, dismissed all charges, and dismissed the case,” Dufour reported.

The district attorney filed a motion for summary dismissal in December 2014.

The board’s interim treasurer, Larry Lawrence, had some unfavorable news regarding the business accounts. Due to staff changes and consequent late filings, the district may face cuts in state aid.

“We were delinquent in filing some capital projects that go back between seven to 14 years. It could be a considerable amount of money. We don’t have the specifics at this time,” Dufour said. No more details were available. The delinquencies took place before the current administration took charge, Dufour added.

Lawrence gave a presentation of the district’s 2015-2016 preliminary budget review, organized in three parts: BOCES, transportation and undistributed budget components.

Since the amount of state aid is still uncertain, revenues are projections, he reported. Final BOCES costs are also waiting for confirmation, so the costs have been estimated, but Lawrence was able to say in his presentation, “We will be able to stay within the tax cap, but anticipate the need to use $300,000 to $600,000 of fund balance, depending upon final state aid allocations.”

He continued to explain that BOCES programs include athletic program coordination and on-site technology support services among others, with reallocations of some support service costs to the business office, records management and staff budgets.

Under the proposed budget, the transportation program maintains current staff and services, while new buses will be purchased to replace the old buses that are past repair and not able to pass state inspection. “Fifty-five percent of transportation is reimbursed by aid,” he added.

In other business, the Eldred High School has recently re-started the student council with active student participation.

Student council representatives, co-presidents Melissa McMonagle and Griffin Major, gave detailed reports, each outlining what’s going on with the student body, upcoming events, and developments within the student council.

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here