Jones: Pat-Med School District Could Be Affected By Sequestration

Should automatic federal cuts from sequestration currently set to take place on Friday come to pass, the Patchogue-Medford School District might feel the impact, according to Donna Jones, assistant superintendent of Business.

"The impact is of cuts to school districts, I'm sure that we will not be excluded from those cuts," Jones said at Monday's board of education meeting when asked about the issue by trustee Joseph LoSchiavo.

Jones said that she is continuing to do research to find out exactly how it would impact the district, and said that as of Monday's meeting the numbers as to what that would involve were not available.

"I think that as a school district and as a business official it is always my desire to do more with less to minimize the expenses, maximize the revenues for the district and we continue in that endeavor," Jones said.

Jones mentioned that the district is working on plans to increase the district fund balance to help its fiscal stability as much as possible.

She also mentioned that there is a proposed increase in state aid, but that the building aid for the district is up for recalculation this year. Recalculation happens every 10 years, she said.

Jones said the district has been made aware by the state education department that the current aid numbers are inflated since they do not yet reflect the recalculation.

"While I'm optimistic I'm also cautious because we have been notified of that," Jones said.

Jones said these factors will further be discussed at the Board of Education Budget Planning Workshop on Monday, March 4. The meeting will be at South Ocean Middle School's Conference Room at 7 p.m.

Sequestration is a fiscal policy process established in the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Deficit Reduction Act of 1985 that forces lawmakers to be aware of the federal budget deficit as lawmakers approve appropriations. It triggers automatic cutbacks if stipulated spending is exceeded.