District Spells Out Budget Options

The extent of the cuts faced by the came into a little sharper focus Monday night as administrators laid out two specific scenarios.

Both would require layoffs and possible program cuts; the key question is how many and how much.

Administrators are considering two main options, as directed by the board. The first, producing a budget of $107.4 million with an increase of  2 percent, could lead to the loss of 54.6 instructional positions and 60.5 non-instructional jobs. The other main alternative, a 3.5 percent increase leading to a $108.7 million budget, would lead to  47.6 instructional layoffs and 58.5 non-instructional cuts.

A common theme heard at school board meetings this year was sounded again Monday night. "We as a community, a board, parents, administrators, teachers, we really need to work together to maintain a strong educationa program while still coming in with a tax increase that our community is willing to support," Bill Dwyer, president of the school board said.

"Obviously we're in a really really difficult budget season," he said. "And we didn't do anything to get here except be New Yorkers."

Monday's meeting was called to review budget possibilities and invite public comment.  Superintendent John J. Finello and assistant superintendent David Grackin reviewed the numbers before the the public comment period began.

One person after another stepped to the lectern to express views on what needed to be done.

A Huntington High School senior came up to note that she had just been awarded a scholarship by the University of Delaware and to ask that programs be saved where possible.

"It wouldn't have been possible without the extracurriculars, the opportunities" she had at the school, the student said. "I can't imagine coming back to a district I no longer recognize."

Adam Spector, who ran unsuccessfully for the board last year,  joked to the board, "I'm glad I didn't win," before turng serious to ask the board to cut judiciously. "Consider that there are programs available to all children and others available only to some children. If there are programs only available to certain kids you ought to consider those sooner rather than later."

He, like others, suggested some volunteerism might help save some programs.

The Rev. Jerry Artis spoke about budget priorities. "We should tell Gov. Cuomo to leave the children alone. Why is education the first thing that has to be dealt with? Leave our children alone. The price of denying our children is too great. Please find a way to save our children.

"Teachers are a vital part of our communty.  Everybody involved is vital. Our children are our future. If we let this thing pass, the taxes are going to have to be raised to pay the police to protect us from the children you didn't educate," Artis said.

Looming mostly but not entirely in the background was the status of negotiations and contracts with several bargaining units. As Dwyer noted, there are nine separate bargaining units in the district. The teachers form the largest unit and their contract expires at the end of June.  Dwyer, answering a question about contracts, said  "We have a good relationship with our teachers.  They are aware" of the need to negotiate under tough financial conditions.

Donna Blair, representing aides, monitors and other workers,  described the role of her colleagues. "If a school was a body, we would be the blood," she said.  "We flow through every building.  We are the backbone of this district." She said her colleagues were sending her messages to ask the board, "Do you know who we are? Do you know what we do?"

She mentioned three colleagues with 43, 33 and 21 years, respectively, on the job, and said, "Their salaries do not reach $35,000. How much are you saving? How much do you have to cut? Is it worth putting your children's safety at risk?"

Board members and administrators also discussed the future of programs that might face drastic cuts and how fundraising efforts might work. Grackin and Finello said schools were not allowed to institute "pay for play" with parents required to pay a specific fee for participation but rather an organization might raise money to make up for a shortfall in a program's funding.

But each mention of a team or group, held  up as an example of how funding might work, led administrators and board members to take great pains to note that they were not signaling that that particular program would be cut.