Open Topic Forum

May 4, 2012

Public Hearing on the 2012-13 School District Budget

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Open Topics Forum

Using Rye's traditional open topics forum format, the Board of Education conducted a budget hearing on the $73,580,000, 2012-13 proposed general fund budget. Earlier this year, the Board of Education announced that it intended to present a tax levy cap compliant budget; i.e., the Board intended to submit a budget to the community within the limits of the formula of the newly-approved law limiting tax levy increases and requiring a majority vote at the May 15, 2012 budget election.

More than 50 people participated in the forum discussions. There were parents, teachers, administrators, school district secretaries, clerical personnel, computer aides and other members of the community.

The Board of Education has made it clear that a cap on the tax levy without mandate relief, over the long term, will have a dramatic and negative influence on programs and services provided by the District. Reasonable class size at all three levels of the District is valued and the administration's budget recommendation re-enforces that value.

Everyone who works in the District supports its mission of establishing the foundation for life-long learning. In order to make budget reductions/cuts with the least possible impact on students, the classroom teachers who are directly engaged in the teaching and learning process with students must be protected. Budget cuts and reductions will be made in places other than the classroom, if at all possible. Salary and benefits are 80% of the budget. As difficult as it is to face, making reductions in non-teaching personnel and, where appropriate, not filling positions for some retiring teaching personnel is the only way, absent mandate relief, to close the budget gap when enrollment is growing along with increasing pension rates and health insurance premium rates.

The topics presented to Board members and discussed by each group are as follows:

1. Staff reductions in the secretarial, clerical and computer aide positions. It was noted that these are valued people and positions, important to parents, teachers and students. How will the District run without these valued people in the schools every day?

Response: There is no denying the value that all of the people in these positions provide. Sustainable budget reductions must be made, however, in order to stay within the tax levy cap and the administration's projection is that more and more staffing and program reductions will need to be made over the next five years. Unfortunately this is a situation school districts across the state are facing in order to deal with the tax cap without mandate relief.

The current, modified plan submitted by the administration is as follows:

In the schools, there are 15.0 FTE secretarial/clerical positions. Ten of those positions are in the middle school and high school. The revised staffing for the budget includes 13.0 FTE positions, with .5 FTE reductions in four of the five schools, for a total 2.0 FTE reduction. We intend to follow Civil Service regulations which direct that not more than 50% of a position's work can be assigned to another position. Work priorities will need to be established in order to complete essential tasks. We expect administrators to do more and more of their own work; and, with the additional mandates required of the new teacher evaluation system, we expect the use of digital resources (e.g., laptops or iPads and software programs) to help administrators accomplish this work.

Currently, the District has 5.0 FTE computer aides; one position in each school. The budget proposes to keep 3.0 FTE and assign them as follows:

Middle School and High School - 1.0 FTE

Osborn School - .8 FTE

Midland School - .7 FTE

Milton School - .5 FTE

For the majority of new initiatives that the District launched over the last several years, the computer aide has not been responsible for training teachers in the use of the equipment and software, nor are they expected to lead the effort of integrating new initiatives into the curriculum. That is the job of staff development or professional development via consultants, BOCES and/or the District's technology support position. Computer aides have always been eager to assist with new initiatives, but this FTE reduction will not and should not stop technology improvements in the schools.

With salary, pension and health insurance reductions for these 4.0 FTEs, a total of $300,000 is reduced from projected expenditures for 2012-13. In previous budgets, there have been reductions in a custodial position, teacher aides and assistants, library clerks and clerical positions in the schools and at central office.

At one table a question was raised as to why a retirement incentive was not offered to the people in these positions. The answer to that is that the administration is required to provide the Board of Education and the Office of the State Comptroller with evidence that the District will accrue a savings over 3 to 5 years through the incentive process; i.e., the difference in salary and benefits of the person retiring from the person hired in his/her place. In these classified positions, the salary differential from the person retiring to the person hired cannot justify an incentive. In fact, it would cost the District more as health insurance follows the retiree as well as the new hire.

2. Facilities issues were discussed at each table; e.g., locker rooms, heating and ventilation, etc. Also mentioned, was a return to study the Princeton Plan of grade level organization, K-1; 2, 3; 4, 5.

Response: There was general support from almost all those present for the efforts to improve school facilities. The budget includes a fund balance transfer of $800k to renovate the boys' and girls' locker rooms at the high school. This renovation was removed from the March 13 bond and its inclusion in the 2012-13 budget as a one-time expense from fund balance found support among the many people at the meeting. There are continuing concerns regarding heating and ventilation at all the schools, but especially Midland. This need is high on the priority list for the Facilities Committee.

One Board member noted that it was reported that mildew was present on library books at Midland School. No one at Midland School can verify that information.

The Board of Education needs to discuss grade level organization and decide when and how to deal with the issue.

3. Curriculum and Instruction - There were several topics introduced under this heading: math enrichment; middle school library/media position; special education teachers; teacher hiring.

Response: The math enrichment teacher position has evolved over the years. Currently, the teacher pushes in to grades 3-5 classrooms once every two weeks. Four years ago, we initiated a staff developer program with 1.0 FTE position devoted to K-5 math. A significant amount of time and resources have been devoted to math since that time. We see that staff developer continuing to work with teachers. Our math series, Math Expressions, also provides many well-developed resources to help teachers differentiate classroom instruction to challenge all students, including the very able student.

The loss of our middle school library-media specialist is a concern. A retirement from that position does, however, allow the District to reduce a position without affecting anyone else. This July, with the required implementation of the NYS Common Core Learning Standards in English/Language Arts and Literacy, our instructional program will be evolving to incorporate some of the shared key priorities in the areas of research and use of information until we have a better direction for what libraries and media centers will be like in the future and how they will support instruction.

There were three special education teacher retirements and two special education teacher approved leaves of absence. With the District Management Council's recommendations and some changes in the number of students with IEPs in the incoming 6th grade, we have reduced two middle school special education teacher positions in the 2012-13 budget. A total of 14 positions have been reduced to 12 in this 2012-13 budget for some 130 students with IEPs in grades 6-12. Be assured, however, that any further work on the special education staffing and instructional program as a result of the DMC study will include administrators, teachers and parents.

Each year, every effort is made to recruit and select teachers for September by the end of June. This year will be no different.