Dear Fairport Community:

Our District’s Board of Education voted to adopt the 2018-19 school budget at a Special Meeting on Tuesday, April 17. The $129,015,913 total budget is a 1.56% increase over the prior year’s budget, and is in compliance with the Property Tax Cap.

Given the District’s declining enrollment, natural efficiencies will be realized. This final budget proposal does include staffing reductions, which we communicated last month. The reductions total the equivalent of 28.25 full time teaching positions and approximately 25 additional positions including paraprofessional, clerical and other areas. Some of these positions are being reduced through attrition/retirements and other opportunities are anticipated to be available through recall to long-term substitute and/or part-time positions. The final impact of these reductions will be finalized once scheduling is complete for next school year.

While disheartened with these reductions, we have a responsibility to make thoughtful decisions so we can continue to offer meaningful experiences to our current and future students. This budget plan allows us to maintain high quality programs for students. Our student-centered experiences and whole-child mindset remain firmly intact.

Here are some of the highlights of the 2018-19 school budget proposal:

• The estimated tax rate is a projected $23.77, a 3.21% increase.
• The proposed budget includes similar opportunities for students that it has in the past
• Class sizes will be adjusted slightly in the proposed budget; however remain comparable to Monroe County schools and credible for learning to occur

As always, our goal is to continue to have a transparent process with our finances. While these past few years have been challenging, we are committed to our pathway to sustainability. We are focused on maintaining exceptional programs and opportunities for students in the future. A disciplined approach to cost-containment practices and policy deployment relative to educational programming, fiscal sustainability and facilities planning will continue to be central themes for future years.

Our next budget event is the Public Hearing on Tuesday, May 1 at Fairport High School at 6:30 p.m. in room 512. Residents will vote on this budget Tuesday, May 15 from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. at Johanna Perrin Middle School. For more information, visit www.fairport.org/budget.

Sincerely,

Brett Provenzano
Superintendent of Schools