Jamestown Public School 2022-23 Budget

Polls open at noon in Jamestown today for the public to vote on the $93.8 million Jamestown Public Schools Budget.

The 2022-23 spending plan includes no tax increase. The total projected revenues come in at $94,030,000; with state aid making up the bulk of that at an anticipated amount of $75,680,000. That state aid amount is $4.8 million more than in the 2021-22 budget.

Also included in the budget is the hiring of 40 support staff.

Four other items aside from the budget that are on the ballot including the election of two School Board members.

Patrick Slagle said he’s running for a seat again because every year is exciting, “I think we’re doing a lot of great things. We’re going to start the Capital Improvement projects. Hopefully, shovels will be hitting dirt here in the next year or so, so I really want to stick around for that and really help design in the future what the district is going to look like.”

Joe Pawelski, who has been a member of the school board on and off over the last 40 years, is also running again, “I just enjoy being involved in the educational process. That’s my background and it’s just something I enjoy doing.”

Other items to vote on include a proposition to allow the Jamestown School District to pay $225,000 to purchase five parcels on Chandler Street currently owned by First Lutheran Church of Jamestown for parking space for the high school.

A $5 million capital reserve fund for the acquisition of vehicles, machinery and equipment as well as a proposition to establish a $5 million Capital Improvement Reserve Fund.

Polls are open from noon until 9:00 p.m. at Jefferson Middle School, Lincoln Elementary School, and Washington Middle School. More information about the 2022-23 Jamestown Public Schools Budget and propositions can be found at https://www.jpsny.org/budget.

Jamestown School Superintendent Bret Apthorpe during the Dec. 3, 2019 school board meeting.

JAMESTOWN – Jamestown Public Schools Superintendent Bret Apthorpe has announced he will be retiring at the end of this school year.

Apthorpe made the unexpected announcement during Tuesday night’s Jamestown School Board meeting.

Apthorpe said it was with a heavy heart that he announce his retirement, adding that he felt he needed to spend more time with his family.

“It is with much thought and deliberation that I came to this decision. While educating our youth has been my life’s primary mission for the past 30 years, there comes a time when one has to consider his own family. I have spent long hours throughout my career away from my family in pursuit of that goal,” Apthorpe said in a statement (a complete copy of which is provided below). “Despite my love for my work and for the Jamestown community, it has come time to put my family first. While I am leaving at the end of the 2020 school year, I think Jamestown’s future is bright. Initiatives that we started will far outlast my time in Jamestown allowing our students to reach their full potential. I firmly believe that the best is yet to come for the students of Jamestown Public Schools.”

Board president Paul Abbott said that he and board vice president Patrick Slagle were both made aware of the decision last month and said that while he wished Apthorpe was staying, he also understands and supports the decision.

“Dr. Apthorpe has made many improvements during his tenure and has also guided us through some challenging events. Knowing Dr. Apthorpe, I am confident he will be 100% committed to continuing to help us move closer to our goals as a district right up to his last day with us, and even beyond,” Abbott said.

Apthorpe began with the district in September 2017 and started several initiatives while at Jamestown including: launching the Success Academy, creating a district-wide elementary summer reading program, re-aligning curriculum with college and local labor requirements, and identifying long-term physical plant needs in the district.

His tenure hasn’t been without some controversy. At the start of this school year the district hired Rosemary Bradley to be the new high school principal. Bradley resigned just six months later after being the focus of criticism from both parents and teachers for failing to properly deal with student misbehavior. During a school board meeting this past December, Apthorpe said that he felt any criticism of a school administrator or perceived failing within the district ultimately rests with him.

“It ultimately stops with me, the superintendent. So if our environments are not where they need to be I expect to be held accountable for that and the opposite is true of that. I expect people to do there jobs and hold them accountable for that,” Apthorpe said during the December board meeting.

Prior to becoming Jamestown Superintendent, Apthorpe was the superintendent of schools for the Frontier Central School District in Hamburg from 2014 to 2017. He began his educational career at Southwestern Central School as a social studies teacher.

Apthorpe was contracted to be with the district until the end of the 2022-2023 school year. He was a guest last week on WRFA’s Community Matters program and during that conversation gave no indication of his pending retirement.

Meanwhile, the school board has already taken steps necessary to find a new superintendent.

“By giving us some advanced notice, Mr. Slagle and I were able to do some of the preliminary work so that when Dr. Apthorpe made his intentions public this evening, the Board of Education would be able to begin its search almost immediately. Dr. Apthorpe will continue as our superintendent until June 30 and has also expressed his willingness to help in any way during the selection and transition process including staying with us beyond June 30 to help the district until his replacement can begin,” Abbott said.

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Statement from JPS Superintendent Bret Apthorpe

It is with a heavy heart that I announce my retirement today from the Jamestown Public Schools, effective June 30, 2020. It is with much thought and deliberation that I came to this decision. While educating our youth has been my life’s primary mission for the past 30 years, there comes a time when one has to consider his own family. I have spent long hours throughout my career away my family in pursuit of that goal. Despite my love for my work and for the Jamestown community, it has come time to put my family first.

My tenure here in Jamestown has been one of the most enjoyable times as an educator. The Jamestown Public School district, its students, staff, parents and community have welcomed me with open arms. From the minute I accepted the job as your Superintendent, I have felt welcomed in this community. I have received positive feedback and assistance from every segment of the Jamestown community.

While I am leaving at the end of the 2020 school year, I think Jamestown’s future is bright. Initiatives that we started with the JPS Success Academy and the JPS LEAP Summer Literacy Program will far outlast my time in Jamestown. Increasing student engagement, modernizing our high school courses and physical plant will allow our students to reach their full potential. I firmly believe that the best is yet to come for the students of Jamestown Public Schools.

I would be remiss if I didn’t thank the dedicated members of the Jamestown Board of Education. I have enjoyed working with each and every Board member. They are true community representatives who care deeply about the future of Jamestown.

I would also like to say a special thank you to the JPS staff who made my job so much easier. I see firsthand their dedication and devotion to the children of Jamestown. I will truly miss my JPS family.

And last but certainly not least; I will miss the Jamestown children the most of all. We have the most intelligent, creative and extraordinary kids in our district. They have given me great joy and have always been my main motivation for coming to work every day.

I will continue to serve Jamestown Public Schools until the end of June. As I discussed with the Board of Education, I am willing to continue to help with the transition to a new superintendent in any way that is needed.

Thank you for allowing me to be your Superintendent. I have been very happy to be part of the Red Raider family.

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Statement from Jamestown Board of Education President Paul Abbott

A few weeks ago, Dr. Apthorpe informed Vice-President Slagle and I of his intent to step down at the end of this school year. It is with regret that we will see him retire. The Jamestown Public Schools has had an ally, leader and a champion for the children of this community. He will be sorely missed.

By giving us some advanced notice, Mr. Slagle and I were able to do some of the preliminary work so that when Dr. Apthorpe made his intentions public this evening, the Board of Education would be able to begin its search almost immediately. Dr. Apthorpe will continue as our superintendent until June 30th and has also expressed his willingness to help in any way during the selection and transition process including staying with us beyond June 30th to help the district until his replacement can begin.

We wish Dr. Apthorpe was staying, however, we understand and support his decision. Dr. Apthorpe has made many improvements during his tenure and has also guided us through some challenging events. Knowing Dr. Apthorpe, I am confident he will be 100% committed to continuing to help us move closer to our goals as a district right up to his last day with us, and even beyond.

In the weeks and months to come, District business will continue as usual, including work on the 2020-21 budget, as we all do our best to reach our district’s goals, including our most important one: ensuring that each and every one of our students is successful not only in school, but in life.

Although this may not be the scenario any of us would have drawn up, we should all view this as an opportunity and an exciting time. It is an exciting time for Dr. Apthorpe as he moves into a new, hopefully more relaxed phase of his life, but it is also an exciting time and an opportunity for Jamestown Public Schools.

# # #

According to the Post-Journal, all local school districts saw their budget approved by local voters except for the Clymer Central School District.

Jamestown Public Schools – the county’s largest district – saw a light turnout but the results were overwhelmingly in favor of the $90.7 million budget that included no tax increase. The spending plan was approved 367 to 70. Meanwhile, voters also approved the lease and purchase of school buses by a vote of 386 to 48.

Also for Jamestown, incumbent school board members Patrick Slagle and Joe Pawelski were both reelected to new three-year terms. They were the only candidate to appear on the ballot this year.

In Clymer the $11.5 million budget was voted down by a vote of 580 to 459. The reason for the defeat was primarily due to the school board putting forward a spending plan that included a $13.3 percent tax increase over the current year.

At the Southwestern School district residents approved a $29.2 million budget that included a 1.5 percent tax increase, while in Falconer, residents approved a $23.7 million budget that included a very slight increase in the tax levy.

Frewsburg, Bemus Point, Panama, Chautauqua Lake, and Cassadaga Valley all saw their budgets approved as well.

In Jamestown, voters will act on the $90.7 million 2019-20 spending plan that includes no tax increase. There are also two school board seats up for election, but the election will be uncontested with only two incumbents – Patrick Slagle and Joe Pawelski – appearing on the ballot.

School Superintendent Bret Apthrope told WRFA last week he is still hoping for a good turnout on Tuesday, despite a non-controversial spending plan and no contested school board race. That mostly due to the school district incorporating new partnerships and collaborations with community partners for the upcoming school year.

“This budget has in it some unique and first time mechanisms of bringing resources to kids,” Apthorpe said. “We have in this budget lots of partnerships with youth agencies that support kids. We’re going down this road because we realize the supports that our kids need today are just, financially, not something that schools can do on their own.”

• LISTEN TO FULL INTERVIEW WITH DR. APTHORPE

The main program where much of the collaborations will take hold is in the newly created Success Academy, which will open in September at the former Rogers School and assist approximately 75 students who are in need of additional and/or alternative help in order to improve their school performance.

In addition to the budget vote and school board election, Apthorpe said there are also propositions for bus purchases.

The school election and budget vote in Jamestown will run from noon to 9 p.m. at Lincoln Elementary School, Jefferson Middle School and Washington Middle School for registered voters.

For more information on the budget, visit the budget page of the school’s website.

According to school clerk Nita Walter, only Patrick Slagle and Joe Pawelski have submitted petitions to run for the school board’s two seats that are up for a vote next week. Both already serve on the school board, with Slagle currently serving as the vice president.

In addition to choosing the school board members, voters will also vote on the proposed 2019-2020 school budget – which exceeds $90 million but does not include a property tax increase.  It is available to the public at the budget page on the school district website.

There will be two JPS board seats on the May 21 ballot, each for a three-year term, beginning July 1, 2019. Those two seats are currently held by board members Patrick Slagle and Joe Pawelski.

School board candidates must submit a completed petition containing the names of 100 or more qualified voters within the school district to be eligible for the May 21 ballot. Petitions are due back to the Superintendent’s Office on Wednesday, May 1.

Any questions about the Board of Education petition process, voter registration or absentee voting applications can be directed to 483-4420.

Jamestown School Superintendent Bret Apthorpe discusses Small Cities School funding lawsuit with the Jamestown School Board during its Feb. 26 board meeting.

JAMESTOWN – The Jamestown Public Schools district will continue participating in a lawsuit against that state that focuses on more state aid for students.

On Tuesday night the board voted 5 to 2 in favor of spending $35,000 on the Small Cities Schools Lawsuit (Maisto v. New York) for the rest of this calendar year, with board vice president Patrick Slagle along with board member Shelly Leathers voting against it.

The vote comes just a month after a state supreme court judge in Albany – Kimberly A. O’Connor – ruled against the eight small city districts involved in the lawsuit, claiming the state is providing a constitutionally mandated “fair and equitable education” for all students, despite arguments to the contrary by the eight plaintiffs.

Jamestown is one of those eight districts. The seven other small cities districts joining Jamestown are Utica, Poughkeepsie, Mount Vernon, Kingston, Newburgh, Port Jervis and Niagara Falls. Because districts can not directly sue the state, the eight districts are individual members of a group that is paying the legal fees to help the case move forward and each district pays a membership fee to that group.

The January’s State Supreme Court decision will likely be appealed and Tuesday night’s action was required if Jamestown were to continue on with the appeal process, ensuring it would benefit from any final positive outcome in the case.

The issue of providing proper funding to ensure a fair and equitable education for all students has already dragged on for the better half of two decades and Jamestown property tax players have already invested over $300,000 in the legal battle associated with the case.

That was part of the reason Slagle voted against continuing the effort.

“I just think the district has been involved for too long now. We’ve spent too much of the taxpayers’ money chasing after an uncertainty. I think the better approach would be to contact our legislators and look for legislative action, since ultimately any success in the lawsuit and what’s going to spur more money is legislative action. So I think that $35,000 for this year and possible more money for future years could be better spent within the district,” Slagle told WRFA following the meeting.

Prior to the vote Jamestown School Superintendent Bret Apthorpe gave a presentation on the history of lawsuit and the implications for continuing the case, admitting that while attorneys involved in the lawsuit are optimistic an appeal would be favorable for the district, it would only mean the case would continue to drag on because the state would then likely appeal that decision, forcing the matter to go before New York’s highest court – the Court of Appeals.

Following the meeting, Apthorpe said he didn’t envy the school board for having to make the decision.

“I don’t think its fair to put boards of education in this situation,” Apthorpe said. “This is about taking taxpayer moneys to advocate for constitutional rights of the poor against a government, again funded by taxpayers, opposed to that. So they’re being asked to take a stand using money from a poor school to continue a court case. It’s a true double-edged sword.”

According to Apthorpe, if the state legislature were to provide proper funding totals with the constitutional mandate in mind and by following the enacted foundation aid formula created ten years ago, Jamestown would be getting an additional $8 million in aid for the 2019-20 school year. As it stands, the governor is proposing $49.8 million in general purpose aid for Jamestown next year – up just $711,000 from the current year’s school budget. Apthorpe notes that increase doesn’t even keep up with the current rate of inflation based on the state consumer price index.

Jamestown Public School finance director Vern Connors goes over details of the proposed 2018-19 school budget with Jamestown School Board members and staff during the board’s April 10, 2018 board meeting.

JAMESTOWN – The Jamestown School Board is getting closer to approving the district’s $86.23 million budget for next school year.

During the board’s meeting on Tuesday night, school finance director Vern Connors walked the board through an updated budget presentation that was put together after the state finalized its school aid numbers for Jamestown.

According to Connors, Jamestown will see an increase of $1.2 million in aid over the current year’s budget, bringing total state aid to about $67.86 million for next year. That amounts to 78.7 percent of total revenue for the district. The district’s property tax levy of $14.64 million would cover another 18.9 percent of total revenue.

With an expected surplus from the current year, combined with additional aid for next year, Connors said the 2018-19 budget is intended to serve as a transitional budget for the district that will focus on long-term needs and liabilities, including reducing the district’s debt service and freeing up future moneys for program needs.

It also calls for restoring or establishing various funds, with that money being utilized for future anticipated and unanticipated expenses without having to rely on tax payer money to offset those costs.

The budget also calls for $1 million to be put toward immediate capitol improvement and infrastructure needs, along with the purchase of five new school buses without having to borrow.

The board has also agreed that it will focus on adjusting programming in the 2019-2020 budget and as a result, is only looking to add 14 positions for next year – with six of them being listed as contingency positions – ad a cost of an additional $530,000 over the current year’s budget.

Compared to the current year’s budget, the total spending for next year’s proposed budget would see an increase of $1,003,372 – an increase of 1.18 percent.

Board Members Discuss Tax Reduction

School board members Shelly Leathers and Patrick Slagle again lobbied for a slight 1 percent ($146,415.76) reduction in the property tax levy, saying that because the district now has some financial flexibility, it may be the time to provide relief to city property owners.

“This is a great budget and I can’t see why anyone would vote against this budget. We’re doing a lot of great things and we’re setting ourselves up to do some great things in the future,” Slagle said. “But I think that a 1 percent tax reduction is well within our means without sending things out of control… every year I’m always willing to say lets see what we can do to reduce the tax burden on our citizens.”

However, other board members, including Nina Karbacka, Christine Schnars, Dan Johnson, and Joe Pawelski all said that that the board has done a good job in holding the line on taxes – considering there’s only been one permanent increase during the past 10 years.  They also said that some of the long-term financial planning the district is pursuing will help to continue holding the line on taxes.

“In deciding our budget goals, we talked about wanting to maintain a stable school tax levy and I am certainly, absolutely in support of that – that we don’t increase the tax levy and we don’t increase taxes for our tax payers. But we also said we want to improve student performance and we have things coming up in the future like the Success Academy that we want to promote, put money into it, and provide success avenues for our students…. I would be opposed to giving money back to the taxpayers and reducing the tax levy, instead of doing some of the things we could do to improve student achievement,” Schnars said.

“I think our first obligation is the student in our school system. Though we have kept our program stable, it does not acknowledge the fact that over the past ten years we have lost almost 100 positions,” Karbacka said, adding, “I think that keeping [the tax levy] where it is is very fiscally responsible. It’s been there for ten years. As our cost of living and expenses have going up over the past ten years, our taxes have remained the same. You could almost look at that as a tax reduction because everything else has gone up for everyone, except for our taxes.”

Board president Paul Abbott said he would be in favor of a slight tax cut as well, but added that he would support the budget with or without a tax reduction, so long as there was no tax increase.

“For the first time I think I’m prepared to also support the idea of a half percent or 1 percent decrease in the tax levy,” Abbott said.

Superintendent Bret Apthorpe said he appreciated the spirit of the tax cut discussion, but also reminded the board that it needs to be careful on how it proceeds.

“The work we’ve done does dignify long term planning. It does dignify the challenges our city has. It does dignify decreasing our debt service because our debt service is about 12 percent of our budget, and that’s too high. If we want to maintain long-term stability – and that means quality student programming and we keep the zeros on the tax levy moving head – the budget that we’ve worked on here has been trying to dignify all those things.”

Still, Apthorpe said he and his staff will work on a couple of different options to pursue in regards to the tax cut issue and bring details forward during the next school board meeting.

The board will see a final version of the budget – along with what impact a tax cut would have on future budgets – during next week’s board meeting on Tuesday, April 17. It will then vote on the final spending plan, which would then be put forward for a public vote in May.

Members of the Jamestown School board listen to Finance Director Vern Connors (far left) as he provides details and options to consider for the 2018-19 school budget.

JAMESTOWN – As the Jamestown School Board continues to review and discuss the estimated $85 million 2018-19 school budget, members are faced with the task of what to do with a multi-million surplus that will carry over from the current school year.

During Wednesday’s school board budget work session,  Jamestown School Superintendent Bret Apthorpe and Finance Director Vern Connors presented the board with the latest information regarding the current year’s budget, as well as what options to consider for next year’s spending plan, which the board must finalize by the end of April.

The two administrators pointed out that the district is expected to finish the current school year with a $9.9 million in unassigned fund balance money.  Under state law, the district can put up to $3.4 million of that money into a fund balance reserve for next year – which would equal 4 percent of its overall budget. The school board is then left with the decision on how to appropriate the remaining $6.5 million.

The school administration is recommending the school board apply $2.34 million into the district employee retirement reserve fund, to help address possible future financial challenges related to employee retirement contributions to New York State. Another $2 million was recommended to go toward overdue building repairs and infrastructure work that can’t wait until the next capitol project proposal, which is three years away. And another $2 million was suggested to be placed in a newly created Capitol Reserve Fund to cover local taxpayers’ share of future capital projects.  If the board decided to go with that appropriation, a public referendum would have to take place to establish the new capitol reserve fund.

Apthorpe and Connors did not recommend that any of the money be applied toward a property tax reduction for next year. The concern from the school administration is that any decrease in property taxes would impact the district’s property tax cap formula in future years and limit future budget decisions. The school district has not had a tax increase since 2011.

The board will decide on how to appropriate that money at some point in April when it finalizes its 2018-19 budget plan.

WAITING FOR FINAL STATE FUNDING NUMBERS

Meanwhile, the school board continues to wait for the state to finish its budget so school officials know specifically how much state aid the district will be receiving. The state budget is expected to be passed on Thursday and officials re projecting it will cover about 78 percent of total revenue for the school year.

As school officials wait for the final budget numbers to come in, school administrators are recommending the addition of at least eight Full Time Equivalency (FTE) positions and 6 contingency FTE positions for the next year. Additional positions could be added, depending on how much additional state aid the district may receive.

School board member Nina Karbacka noted that she would like to see more of a focus on restoring teaching positions and program, which saw a drastic cuts during the past decade.

Apthorpe said that he and his staff are continuing to review and develop the district’s Success Academy plan and approach to improving student performance. As a result, he said it’s likely the board will act on even more staffing additions in the 2019-2020 school budget.  He said the 2018-19 budget is really more about “getting out of survival mode and entering financial planning mode.”

With the surplus and better financial positioning for next year, both school board members Shelly Leathers and Patrick Slagle lobbied for a slight 1 percent decrease in next year’s tax levy, which is projected to be $14.6 million – the same as the current year.

“We’ve got the surplus and we’re looking at putting $2.3 million in [the employee retirement fund], so I’m just looking at distributing the surplus differently,” Slagle said. “Just brainstorming… but we can just put $2.1 million in there and then we have enough left over for a 1 percent tax get back.”

However, that suggestion didn’t appear to garner enough support from other board members, due to the concerns it would have on future tax cap formulas. Even though it’s doubtful a tax decrease is in the cards, all board members agree that there will be no tax increase for property owners for the eighth consecutive year.

“In the years it was difficult we made difficult decision and in the years things are going better I think we owe it to our students and our goals,” School Board President Paul Abbott said. “I think we should just keep it flat. I’m very committed to the idea that we don’t raise taxes in a year like this, when things are good. And in the years when things are bad, I’m still committed that we don’t raise taxes. Good times and bad, that has been this board’s position. We’re starting to see the positives from that approach and I think with the goals that Dr. Apthorpe has set, we should continue on that course.”

Apthrope and his staff will present their final budget recommendations next month, with the school board then working to finalize the plan so it can be put up for a public vote on Tuesday, May 15. A public hearing on the budget would take place on Tuesday, May 8.

The Chautauqua County Board of Elections reports that all 18 districts in the county saw their budgets approved by voters. In addition, every district that had additional propositions (most dealing with borrowing for bus/transportation purchases) were also approved.

Every district in the county also held a school board election, with most of them being uncontested. However, in Jamestown four candidates ran for two board seats – with incumbent board member Patrick Slagle gaining the largest number of votes to secure his reelection. In addition, former board member Joe Pawelski, who ran as a last-minute write-in candidate, received the second highest number of votes.

More than 960 residents came out to vote in the Jamestown school election, with Slagle picking up 851 votes and Pawelski gaining 638. Coming in third was Jeffrey Yeates with 258 and Todd Rushforth finished fourth with 198.

Current school board president Joe DiMaio also had his name on the ballet but said that he had decided against seeking another term on the board. Despite his announcement he still received 101 votes.

The $79.18 million Jamestown school budget was approved 757 to 207 while the $930,000 transportation proposition was approved 772 to 191.

All results from the election are unofficial until the canvass of votes, taking place Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. in the Board Room at 197 Martin Road. The board will also hold a regular meeting as well.