During these difficult economic times, PCSD faces many fiscal challenges including potential and real revenue shortfalls, rising costs in many budget areas, and taxpayer fatigue. At the same time, our educational community continues to expect the same high quality of educational and extra-curricular programs and services for the children in our schools today. It is essential that we continue to employ thoughtful strategies for controlling expenses while keeping our eye on the main mission of providing an excellent education for our students. Selected examples of how we manage costs follow.
The District works diligently to contain costs and seek efficiencies. Although not exhaustive, the following list highlights some of the cost containment and efficiency strategies we employ:
·Mitigate Health Care and Worker’s Compensation Costs through employee contract negotiations and District participation in county-wide, educational consortia.
·Expand Bidding Processes andparticipate in Cooperative Agreements with other school districts thus reducing unit costs and accessing state aid available through cooperative agreements.
·Share Resources with the Town, including large construction equipment, staff expertise, and the District’s fuel depot thereby reducing the cost of duplication for Pittsford residents.
·Reduce Energy and Utility Costs by installing cost control devices like computerized mechanical systems; improving insulation, roofing, windows, doors, and lighting; implementing geothermal systems at Calkins Road Middle School; and, eliminating employee use of personal appliances in District buildings.
·Standardize Bus Models because interchangeable parts provide efficiencies in purchasing, storage, inventory control and maintenance.
The District undergoes various audits each year to ensure adherence to Education Law and Board of Education policy. These audits examine various aspects of the District’s business:
1.Internal Claims Auditor examines and verifies all invoices and payments to vendors daily.
2.Independent External Audit is performed annually by an external accounting firm to verify that goods and services are procured in the best interest of the taxpayers. It also ensures that sound internal control structures are in place and internal controls are appropriately designed and operating effectively. Finally, the external audit checks that school district assets are safeguarded against loss, waste and abuse.
3.Internal Audits are performedannually by an external accounting firm. The audit includes fraud testing and detection efficiency.
4.New York State Audit by theState Comptroller is performed to ensure that programs achieve their established goals, funds are used efficiently, and assets are adequately protected against fraud, waste and abuse.
PCSD takes auditor findings seriously. The Audit Oversight Committee,comprised of three Board of Education members, reviews auditor findings, identifies corrective action plans, and tracks the implementation of adjustments. Any necessary changes to practice or procedure are implemented swiftly and checked regularly.
Another important fiscal practice is properly managing reserve funds. Reserve funds are like savings accounts that homeowners and families have in case of unexpected repairs or expenses. In the case of PCSD, reserve funds are in place for different purposes. Two such purposes include capital improvements to maintain taxpayers’ investment in facilities, and the purchase of buses to rotate old buses out of the fleet and add new ones.
By using reserve funds, the District avoids spiking the tax levy for expenses such as capital improvements, legal challenges, tax settlements, and other such allowable purposes. The use of reserve funds is legal and such use prevents tapping into educational program funds when emergencies and certain legally identifiable needs arise.
In answer to this economic climate, our strategy has been to stay as far from the classroom as possible while scaling back, trading off programs, and reducing in many areas. We recognize taxpayer fatigue and are working diligently to maintain the excellent programs in Pittsford Central School District while managing expenses.
