School Board Quick Hits: 2011-12 Budget, Security Cameras and More

It was a busy night for the Birmingham Board of Education, with a packed agenda full of several items of note for the upcoming school year.

Board passes 2011-12 budget

Most importantly, the school board approved the district’s 2011-12 general appropriations budget. , which limits the amount of transfers from the district’s $16.7 million fund equity account.

The district is facing a $6 million budget deficit for the upcoming year, and it needs to withdraw approximately 25 percent of the total fund equity in order to make up for missing funds. Board Policy 6215 stipulates that the district withdraw only 3 percent of total expenditures or 20 percent of total fund equity, whichever is less.

Lori Soifer, school board president, said setting board policy aside wasn’t a decision they took lightly.

“We are making a very conscientious choice in dong this,” Soifer said. “We’re not laying off teachers or stripping programs. (This is) a bridge to get to a better economy.”

At a budget hearing June 7, Debbie Piesz, assistant superintendent for business services, presented highlights from the 2011-12 budget, including:

• $100.7 million in projected net revenue, close to the same amount received in 2010-11.
• $107.3 million in projected expenditures, a 4.9 percent increase from 2010-11.
• Expenditures include $63.3 million for instructional costs, $44 million for support services and $2 million for community education.
• A 5.57 percent decrease in taxable value in the district’s seven taxing units, including a 4.87 percent decrease in Birmingham alone.

High school security cameras receive green light

It ended up being a contentious vote, but a resolution to install an additional 65 security cameras at and high schools next year was approved by a 4-3 vote. Soifer, alongside Trustees Geri Rinschler and Susan Hill, voted against.

The $166,182 contract with Peripheral Vision — the company that provides the 42 security cameras currently installed in high school entryways and parking lots — .

Trustees Michael Fenberg, Robert Lawrence, Christopher Conti and Steve Scheidt — all of whom voted for the plan — said they believe the cameras can be used as a tool to help administrators respond to incidents in the building and perhaps deter bad behavior.

But Soifer said installing more security cameras sends the wrong message to students — the message that administrators don’t trust them. In addition, Hill said the district should respond to the incidents that spurred the discussion — — rather than assuming that security cameras will fix the problem.

“I think there is intolerance in the building. I think there is racial tension in the building,” Hill said. “The problem is not solved (with more cameras). The problem has been identified, but it’s going to take a lot of work in the meantime.”

Other resolutions passed Tuesday night

• An amendment to the 2010-11 budget, which includes an additional $1.7 million in revenue since the last budget amendment in February. Those funds, which primarily come from higher-than-expected property taxes, will be put toward the capital improvement fund and building and site fund.
• The awarding of diplomas to the more than 600 graduates of Groves and Seaholm high schools.
• The awarding of three bid packages to Sound Engineering and the Professional Group in order to fund the installation of several interactive technology packages for the 2011-12 school year, including interactive projectors and white boards for more than 400 classrooms.
• Resolutions recognizing the service of the late Nick Deane, Seaholm head football coach, and the late Redi Abazi, math teacher at . , while after battling stomach cancer for more than a year.

Come back to Birmingham Patch for additional stories on security cameras in the high schools and the district's 2011-12 budget.