CARRIE MILLER PHOTO | Riverhead superintendent Nancy Carney discusses the board’s budget goals at Tuesday night’s meeting.
The Riverhead School District will invest an additional $25,000 in equipment purchases next school year, marking the only significant controllable increase in the portion of the budget unveiled by Superintendent Nancy Carney Tuesday night.
The presentation covered the areas of curriculum, instruction, operations and transportation, accounting for nearly $55 million in the superintendent’s proposed 2013-14 budget. The entire budget proposal will be presented to the public April 9.
Ms. Carney said the additional equipment funds would be used to purchase a tractor that can convert to a snow blower, a floor cleaner and a new sander.
“These are pieces of equipment that we plan to purchase next year that are very necessary for the ongoing maintenance of the building,” Ms. Carney said.
The purchases will raise the equipment line in the district’s budget to $65,000, up more than 60 percent from the $40,000 budgeted for the previous two school years.
Ms. Carney said most of that money will go to “antiquated equipment we need to replace.”
Other increases in the budget areas unveiled Tuesday include a 4.2 percent hike in transportation service contracts, a 3.5 percent increase in maintenance service contracts, a 3.2 percent boost in BOCES spending and a 2.5 percent increase in security salaries.
Among the significant reductions are a 5.6 percent drop in contractual classroom expenses, a 4 percent decrease in non-instructional salaries and a 3.8 percent decrease in maintenance supply costs.
In total, the items covered Tuesday showed an increase of about $1 million over the current year’s budget.
On March 19, Ms. Carney will unveil the projected tax levy.
The board is expected to adopt the proposed spending plan at its April 23 meeting, and the budget vote is scheduled for May 21.
