The V.I. Board of Education approved a 2015 budget proposal Wednesday and adjourned to executive session to discuss a lawsuit filed against them by the V. I. Department of Education.
The budget of $1,718,278, which will be forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget by Friday, is almost $110,000 less than the 2014 budget, but it included substantial increases in fringe benefits and communication expenses.
After OMB review, the budget will sent to the Legislature for approval and approximately $1.3 million is anticipated to be allocated by the Senate for scholarships and grants.
Laurie Isaacs, business and finance director for the board, and accountant Apryl Vialet presented the budget proposal to board members Winona Hendricks, Mary Moorhead, Terrence Joseph, Nandi Sekou, Arah Lockhart, Judy Gomez and Chairman Oswin Sewer. The meeting was held by videoconference and telephone. Martial Webster was absent.
The largest budget expense is for personnel, $665,412 for 2015 – almost $32,000 less than the 2014 budget due to staff reduction. Two part-time positions were rolled into a full-time job and a secretary and assistant executive director positions were cut, Isaacs told the board.
The Senate eliminated the assistant executive director position, and the board was told, if the position is reinstated, funding for the $70,000 salary should be available.
Although salaries were reduced, stipends were increased for board members by $5,000 and fringe benefits jumped $44,495 more than last year’s budget of $226, 928. Fringe benefits include government insurance, according to Isaacs. The increase in fringe benefits was neither explained nor questioned by board members.
The other large increase of almost $63,000 was attributed to “other,” in the “Other Services and Charges” category that includes professional services, communications, travel, advertising, insurance, vehicle and building maintenance, office rental, training and security services. Also in the other “Other Services” category was $10,000 for lodging and $15,000 for meals.
Travel expenses for the board and staff were approved at $113,650, including $38,500 for nine members to attend a convention and $24,000 for inter-island tickets. Another $28,000 will be set aside for other conferences. Other transportation costs for taxis and gas will total around $6,000 in 2015. The same amount was allocated in 2014.
Moorhead was the only one to comment on travel expenses and she said she didn’t want to see the budget decreased because the cost of travel is increasing.
According to Isaac, the “other” increase is due to an increase in services from Innovative Companies. Communications expenses of $55,000 include phone, Internet and postage stamps. Innovative will be paid almost $33,000 for phone and Internet service for staff and board Ipads. The budget for Choice is $16,200, AT&T is $1,400, Sprint is $1,600, and $3,000 will be set aside for stamps.
Other categories that increased for 2015 were building maintenance, training, secretarial and other professional services.
According to the budget, utilities for the St. Thomas and St. Croix offices run around $70,000 a year and insurance is $10,000.
Board members discussed the budget and asked questions about expenses. Gomez asked about training, salaries and capital expenses. She said she wanted a line-by-line list of expenditures.
“I have a right to know what I am approving and not approving. We do a lot of things blindly on this board,” she said.
Sekou retorted, “I do not do anything blindly because the expense reports come every month.”
Isaac said she would present the information in another, “more understandable format,” if necessary.
The board also talked about reinstating the assistant executive director position and clarifying their status as an independence agency, not part of the executive branch.
Joseph, Sekou, Hendricks, Lockhart and Sewer voted to approve the budget. Moorhead and Gomez did not vote.
After the vote, Hendricks moved that the board should go into executive session.
According to Joseph, board secretary, the executive session was to discuss a lawsuit file by the Education Department and is to determine who has the power to fire employees. He said, according to the V.I. Code, the board has the right to review and reverse terminations, which it did recently in two cases.
Joseph said the board had just received the information about the suit and didn’t yet know the court date or other specifics.
Ananta Pancham, Department of Education spokeswoman, was contacted for information about the lawsuit. “No comment,” was her response.
