I have received numerous emails and phone calls asking what an austerity budget is, and if it is the State telling us what our school budget should be.   Below is a short version answer:

An austerity budget is NOT a directive by the State or any other agency telling us what our school budget should be.   It is actually just the opposite - it is a LIMITATION imposed ON THE SCHOOL BOARD by the State prohibiting the school board from ignoring the demands of the voters.   Here's how it works:

1.   The school board drafts a budget that they would like to adopt.   Usually, they start with the prior year budget, and regardless of need or surplus, they just add on from there (for those of you who are familiar with accounting, many smart businesses and municipalities have started using a "Zero Based Budgeting" program, which would be ideal for our school district, especially in light of the clown we have controling our $185 million now - I'll discuss this further at a later time);

2.   That budget is then submitted to the voters for approval or rejection;

3.   If the budget is rejected, like the North Rockland School Budget was by an overwhelming majority, the SCHOOL BOARD has THREE CHOICES on how to proceed next:

        a. The SCHOOL BOARD can review their proposed budget, and decide if any of their proposed increases can be reduced or eliminated, and present a new, "tighter" budget to the voters.   This usually occurs when the budget is rejected by a large number, as in North Rockland yesterday; OR

        b. The SCHOOL BOARD can propose the same budget for another vote.   This sometimes happens when the vote rejecting the budget is close; OR

        c.   The SCHOOL BOARD can ignore the pleas and demands of the voters, and increase the budget by as much as they possibly can until hitting a cap under State Law - known as an AUSTERITY BUDGET. The austerity budget is the biggest budget the Board is allowed to pass under State law.

Last night, at about 12:20 am,   the School Board went behind closed doors before releasing the vote numbers.   When they finally emerged just before 1:00 am, they announced that the $185 million proposed budget was rejected.  Then, in an absolutely shameless showing of unimanginable impudence, and without any public discussion whatsoever, they immediately adopted a $183.5 million austerity budget - THE ABSOLUTE MAXIMUM THEY COULD HAVE ADOPTED UNDER STATE LAW!!

It is hard to believe that they wouldn't even take a few days to digest what 4,000 voters had just demanded - some controls on spending growth.   I really do not know whose gutless and brazen idea it was to do this, but if it was a final blow to us by Dodge Watkins and James Johnston, as I suspect, the Board should be ashamed of themselves for following along blindly without so much as a discussion in public among themselves.

Stay tuned for our follow-up plans.