Newfield Board of Education approves new budget

On April 20, the Newfield Central School District’s Board of Education voted to adopt the budget for the 2022-23 school year. The budget, which totals $22,413,422 and is a 2.9% increase over the previous year’s budget, must be approved by district voters before it can be accepted.

During the meeting, the board heard a report from Business Administrator David Shaw, who discussed the current state of the district’s budget. Shaw warned that the district would face a fiscal cliff in two years when federal funds run out, thus forcing administrators to dip into the fund balance if they want to maintain their current level of spending.

Shaw cited the comptroller’s office report from last month, which gave Newfield a poor rating over its budget (see more information at tinyurl.com/y323nvxw). One of the criteria used for the rating was whether the district was spending more money than it was taking in.

“We’ve been steadily increasing the last three years on our operating deficits,” Shaw said. “This is the source of the problem.”

As Shaw stated at the budget forum, there are two key solutions to the problem of balancing the budget: reducing expenditures and increasing revenue. Shaw said unforeseen events can affect the budget, as was the case with flooding this year, as well as the pandemic.

“We were very close to needing to take out loans just to pay our bills,” Shaw said. “That’s how close we were.”

The current tax levy increase for the budget is 14%, which requires a supermajority to be approved. Jennifer Pawlewicz, board vice president, said many economically disadvantaged families in Newfield are facing hardship with inflation and rising food prices, but the district needs to increase its revenue.

“Asking for money is hard,” Pawlewicz said. “I think now is the time to do it, though.”

The board voted to approve the 2022-23 Property Tax Report Card and then voted to adopt the budget. Most of the board members voted yes for each resolution, with the exception of Melissa Rynone and Jack B. Nelson, who voted no.

While the budget has been passed, the voters must still approve it. The board will hold a budget hearing May 5, and the budget vote and board elections will take place May 17. If the voters reject the budget, the board can resubmit the same budget to voters, submit a modified budget or use a contingency budget.

Referrals up at Newfield Middle/High School

At the April 20 meeting of the Newfield Central School District’s Board of Education, Pat Mahunik, principal of Newfield middle and high schools, reported that more of his middle school students have received disciplinary referrals this year than three years ago.

Mahunik did not read his report aloud at the meeting, but his report was included in the documents folder for the meeting, and Pawlewicz commented on it.

According to Mahunik’s report, this year, there have been 285 referrals for middle schoolers and 190 referrals for high schoolers as of March 22. In the 2018-19 school year, there were 127 referrals for middle schoolers and 241 referrals for high school students.

Among middle schoolers, insubordination was the most common cause of referrals, with 49 students receiving referrals for it, followed by unacceptable language or gestures, which was the cause of 41 referrals. There was a dramatic increase in incidents of physical aggression with no harm done, with 26 incidents this year, up from three in 2018-19.

Pawlewicz said she found it alarming that about 29 high school students received out-of-school suspensions, up from 11 three years ago. She said the numbers are proof that the district needs a middle school administrator, although it does not have the budget for one.

“I think we need to look into why that’s happening,” Pawlewicz said.

Similarly, 79 students received lunch detentions this year, up from 10 in 2018-19, and there have been 69 conferences with students this year, up from 30 in 2018-19.

Pawlewicz asked if administrators could include attendance numbers in their report, noting that there were times when she left her house on school days and spotted school-age children who were not in school.

Newfield Notes appears every Wednesday in Tompkins Weekly. Send story ideas to editorial@VizellaMedia.com.

In brief:

Newfield school board to meet

The Newfield Central School District’s Board of Education will hold its regular meeting at 6:30 p.m. May 5. The meeting will be held in person in the Weaver Conference Room in the elementary school, with masks being optional. It will also be streamed live via YouTube. For more information, including an agenda and a link to the meeting stream, go to the district website at newfieldschools.org.

Newfield Town Board to meet

The Newfield Town Board will hold its monthly meeting from 7 to 9 p.m. May 12.

For more information, including the agenda and the Zoom link to the meeting, visit the town’s website at newfieldny.org.

Library holds workshop on mosaic flower pots

The Newfield Public Library will hold a workshop April 30 from 1 to 3 p.m. Meg Conner will teach a class on how to create flower pots using tile, mirror and ceramic mosaic pieces.

For more information, go to the library website at newfieldpubliclibrary.org/events/art-workshop-mosaic-flower-pots-100/.

Library holds movie night

The Newfield Public Library will hold a movie night from 7 to 8:30 p.m. May 13. The movie that will be shown has yet to be determined.
For more information, see the event listing at newfieldpubliclibrary.org/events/movie-night-700-3/.

Library holds Monarch Return Celebration

The Newfield Public Library will hold Monarch Return Celebration, a butterfly-themed event, May 7 from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m.

For more information, visit the library website at tinyurl.com/y4nqeu9k.