District cautions slower recovery with contingent budget

A budget meeting was held by the South Country Central School District Board of Education on Tuesday, June 10.

Prior to John Belmonte’s, acting assistant superintendent for finance and management services, presentation of the proposed budget for the June 16  vote and the contingency budget, interim superintendent John Dolan addressed the audience.

“The comptroller’s office and auditors have been loud and clear: poor decisions, poor communication have led to mismanagement and the fiscal crisis we are working through right now… we will thus be more open and transparent going forward… we know how you feel as a community, your frustration, your anger your disappointment; it’s time for us to turn the page and work hard and re-earn your trust,” said Dolan.

The proposed budget for 2026-2027 would cost each household approximately $18.50 a month. According to Dolan, under this plan, 2026-2027 would be a stabilization year and the district could possibly begin building back the following year.

This path to fiscal health was contrasted with the contingency budget, that Dolan said would take three to five years to rebuild and would be at the “mercy of guidelines from New York State.”

“It’s time to put this behind us but never forget. It’s time to put this behind us but keep it on the shelf close by. It’s time to pass this on to the next leadership team,” said Dolan.

Belmonte, before presenting the budgets, said, “Hopefully, when it comes to the budget vote on June 16, everyone can make an informed decision.”

“We’ve been through an awful lot… we’ve looked at programs and we’ve looked at the decisions that got us here and we’re making decisions to fix it… whatever decision is made must be sustainable—these aren’t one shot deals,” said Belmonte.

The proposed 2026-2027 budget has been named by Belmonte the “Balanced path forward” and “[was] built on actual operating costs based on actual staffing levels. Unlike other budgets, this is grounded in fiscal reality and designed to be sustainable.”

The second proposed budget was reduced $5.6 million from the initial May budget to stay under the tax cap. The contingency would require a further reduction of $3.9 million.

Under the cap, Belmonte said significant reductions were implemented, and that while effort was made to protect core instructional programs, difficult decisions were made.

Preservation of the district’s instructional core, athletics, essential transportation, and key support student services were prioritized as well as minimal class size changes.

“There is little to no reserves to fill gap between revenue and expenses,” said Belmonte.

The three components required by New York State for a school budget include administrative, capital, and program expenses.

Administrative expenses (curriculum development, staff development, in-service development, personnel, district audits, printing and mailing, district votes) totaled $17,733,778, or 12.24 percent, of the 2026-2027 budget increased by $374,046.

Capital expenses (facilities costs, debt services, operations/maintenance, supplies, utilities, personnel) totaled 21,528,588 of 14.86 percent of the budget decreased by $296,991.

Program expenses (student services, instructional support, transportation, instructional salaries and benefits) totaled $105,584,214 of 72.89 percent of the budget decreased by $2,317,697.

Belmonte said should the second budget proposed be voted down on June 16, the consequences of the contingency budget would last “well beyond a single school year” and that restoring programs and opportunities eliminated in the contingency would require years of sustained financial recovery and reinvestment.

“That is not fear-mongering; that is reality,” said Belmonte.

At the end of the presentation, board president E. Anne Hayes inquired about building back administrator positions that the proposed and contingency budgets would eliminate.

“If it turns out things are so tight, and there are more than major difficulties within the administrator positions, whether it’s assistant principal, assistant to special education, is there a possibility about building those back in the following year?”

“As we talked about this budget being a flexible spending plan, when you get into the school year and you’re faced with those particular challenges, you may have to look at other options within the current options… there’s also a whole host of other resources under grant funding,” said Belmonte.

Hayes continued and inquired about restoration of activities like the jazz band, ensembles, flute choir after the 2026-2027 school year.

“Absolutely. The district with an improved budget is going to have a much easier time building 2027-2028 than you would if you were on contingency. Think about what is happening if the budget passes; we’re starting at a realistic tax levy. Right now, we are not a realistic tax levy,” said Belmonte.