Schools

UPDATE: Weprin: Let City Schools Keep Unused Funds

Councilman blasts new DOE regulation allowing only 50 percent of unused school budgets rollover to next year

Update, March 8, 10:55 a.m.: Here's the statement from Councilman Mark Weprin, D-Oakland Gardens, on DOE's decision today to reduce the turnover rate of unused school funds from 50 percent to 30 percent:

“This decision does not solve the problem,” Weprin said. “Principals who were prudent enough to save funds for the next school year should be able to retain 100 percent of the money, not 50 percent or 70 percent.”

Update: March 8, 9:39 a.m.: We've got fresh reaction to today's decision to allow schools to keep a greater share of unused funds, courtesy of CDEC 26 president Rob Caloras:

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"Would you be happy if a robber came to your house and only took 30 percent?" Caloras said. "It's the school's money. DOE has no right to take any of it."

Update, March 8, 9:01 a.m.: Chancellor Cathie Black reversed city DOE's new policy requiring schools to return 50 percent of unused funds, according to this NY1 report.

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Instead of 50 percent, administrators will only have to give back 30 percent of the funds not spent by the end of the school year.

At last night's , Community Education District Council president Rob Caloras requested that board members draft a letter to Black requesting that the policy be repealed. 

"Schools have been trying to save as much money as they can, and now they're taking it away," Caloras said Monday.

We've a request for comment on the decision from Councilman Mark Weprin.

Councilman Mark Weprin, D-Oakland Gardens, wrote the following letter Feb. 17 to schools chancellor Cathie Black regarding the city Department of Education's recent directive limiting principals' ability to completely rollover unused funds from one school year to the next:

Dear Chancellor Black:

I am writing to you regarding the Department of Education’s recent communiqué to school principals indicating that, according to the Deferred Program Planning Initiative, they can retain only 50 percent of the funds that remain at the end of the school year. I believe the policy is misguided and I urge you to reconsider.

I understand that in years past, principals were able to roll over 100 percent of residual monies from one school year to the next. In this way, DOE rewarded careful budgeting, allowing principals whose prudence yielded surplus funds to establish a small cushion. When the inevitable budget cuts arrived, the savvy planners’ preparedness helped them to better weather the storm. In the natural budget fluctuations, there were ups and downs. Retaining funds from year to year-allowed principals to smooth out the bumps, avoiding drastic spending changes.

This year, fully aware of the severe budgetary challenges facing our city and state, many principals were appropriately parsimonious, with the aim of transferring funds to the next school year. They acted to preserve staffing and programming for their students next year despite the bleak fiscal climate. To withdraw half of the money they worked so hard to save is an affront to their efforts and to the students they are trying to protect.

In addition, removing unspent funds from schools’ budgets at the end of each school year perversely incentivizes principals to spend every last dime, which is exactly the opposite of what DOE should be doing in the current environment. DOE leadership has often said that principals are like corporate CEOs, responsible for their schools and the fiscal management thereof. Removing 50 percent of unspent monies will seriously undermine that concept.

In the interest of fairness, consistency, and fiscal responsibility, I urge you to reconsider the regulation in question. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

Mark Weprin


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