Budget on Athletics Program Increases; District Saves on Co-Curricular Activities Budget

The held its first part of the preliminary budget for the 2012-2013 school year on Monday, beginning with athletics and co-curricular activities.

Superintendent of Schools Dr. Ralph Napolitano began by saying the district's philosophy is to provide Yorktown students "with a well-rounded and balanced educational experience that addresses the whole child." 

He emphasized that the majority of budget funding is earmarked to the classroom, about 60 percent of the budget. He said Yorktown is fifth out of 46 districts in the area relative to percentage of budget spent on instruction, based on a BOCES 200-2011 contract analysis.

He said the money invested in supporting athletics and co-curricular programs in grades 6-12 extends the learning from the school day to provide students with something to add to their social, physical, artistic and character development. 

"We're proud of that and hope to continue as we move forward despite the challenges of the budget," he said.

Assistant Superintendent of Business Services Tom Cole reviewed the proposed athletic budget for the upcoming year, which includes 63 different sports over three seasons. More than 1,000 students at the high school participate in after-school athletic programs (with some playing multiple sports).

Cole said the budget-to-budget increases in the athletic program from 2011-2012 to 2012-2013 is less than one percent, and reflects a decrease from the previous five years’ expenses. 

Cost per season: 2011-2012

• Fall sports – $271,300
• Winter sports – $251,300
• Spring sports – $259,800
• Total cost – $782,400

Cole said gate receipts and tournament fees offset more than $23,000 of athletic costs and besides eliminating the modified sports program in 2010-2011, the district expects to eliminate $5,000 from contractual costs after the press box, which was donated to them, is completed in the spring of 2012. 

Administrators also discussed co-curricular activities at the middle and high schools, which include clubs that range from musical productions to student leadership and service organizations involving approximately 1,000 students from each of the two schools (including students in multiple activities). The total estimated budget is $39,200 in the middle school, and approximately $70,000 in the high school. 

There is a savings of 3.3 percent in the budget-to-budget change between the current and upcoming school years (2012-2013), he said. The projected cost to support these programs is less than any of the past five years, Cole said.

Administrators said transportation is a big cost to the district. Athletic director Fio Nardone said the district provides transportation to students only to their games and not to practices. But he said it's a district decision if they wanted to provide transportation to its students. 

For the upcoming year there will be 23 instead of 25 sports offered because there would be no gymnastics and JV bowling teams. That's because, Nardone said, there was only one girl (an independent gymnast) this season and next year he does not anticipate that any other girls would show an interest.  The numbers were also low this year on the JV bowling team, so there will be no boys or girls JV bowling team.

"Cutting programs is one thing, trying to save programs is another thing," Nardone said and added that they do host tournaments and the money goes to offset costs and if needed he would rather save a program, than cut a program.

He said he is ready to start a discussion about what the district could do to save money on sports, whether it's washing the uniforms on campus to save money or eliminating a program.

"It's something we all talk about, it's out there and it shouldn't be hidden as far as conversation because I'm ready for the discussion and hopefully it won't go there," he said. 

Jackie Carbone, president of the board of education, said the district should look at what other districts in the area are doing in order to compare and exchange ideas.

Administrators said "this is an important year of transition and all are asked to work together to write legislators to support mandate relief and to legislate certiorari reform." They also said public support is needed to help identify new funding sources, back the local organizations that support Yorktown schools and to stay informed.

The district serves approximately 3,600 students in five schools: and  elementary schools, , and .

The next budget work session will be at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, February 6, 2012 at the Mildred E. Strange Middle School cafeteria. Topics will include the Facilities, Operations and Maintenance budget discussion. 

Videos of Board of Education meetings are archived and can be viewed on the district website. Meetings are available at 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. on FIOS Channel 27 and at the same times on Cablevision Channel 18 on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

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