Oceanside School District tightens its belt

When Oceanside Superintendent of Schools Dr. Herb Brown announced at the Dec. 20 Board of Education meeting that he was looking at the possibility of having to cut 30 positions next year, it was unclear exactly what that meant. And with the district’s first budget meeting drawing closer, things are still somewhat murky — although light is starting to shine through.

Brown announced a retirement incentive package at the same meeting. According to Brown, 15 teachers need to take the package for it to go into effect. And if enough teachers take the package, it could mitigate any potential layoffs.

“I’m confident — not that I know anything as a fact — but the rumors running around are that we’ve gotten the number of teachers needed to take the retirement package,” said Allenby Lyson, vice president of the Board of Education. “It’s a good package. It’s good for the district and it’s good for the individual teachers. So I would be surprised if we didn’t get what we needed there.”

Any teachers 55 or older who have worked in the district for at least 10 years are eligible for the package. They would retire in June, and in July would receive a check for between $15,000 and $30,000, depending on how many sick days they have and how long they have worked in the district.

“The more sick days they have and the longer they’ve worked in Oceanside, the closer they’ll get to $30,000,” said Brown. “In addition to that, we would give them $3,500 a year towards their health insurance payments in retirement for 10 years.” The $3,500, Brown explained, is in addition to what the district already pays teachers through the pension system.

Brown explained that the retirement incentive was offered in the hope that enough teachers would take it to achieve the necessary cuts without layoffs. If not enough teachers take the package, there may need to be layoffs.

“The layoff thing is the very last resort, and I don’t see it happening,” said Lyson, who has been on the Board of Education for 15 years. “I really don’t. I don’t think any board member does.”

The Oceanside Federation of Teachers, the district’s teachers’ union, is doing its part to help mitigate the layoffs. In addition to agreeing to the retirement package, the union ratified a motion to reduce its contractual raises this year from 2.25 percent to 1 percent, in exchange for the contract’s being extended a year. The Board of Education is expected to vote to accept the reduction at its next meeting.

“I think these two measures will significantly reduce the layoffs, and I think that’s important not only for people having jobs, but also for the students,” said Riche Roschelle, the OFT president and a social studies teacher at OHS. “Because, obviously, it keeps the class size at a reasonable level and retains programs. So we’re cautiously optimistic that this will help.

“The Oceanside Federation of Teachers is really trying to give back to the community by reducing its raise,” he added.

The district’s budget woes are the result of proposals by the state as well as reduced funding. The district received federal money for the last two years, but won’t have it next year. In addition, Brown is concerned about Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s talk of instituting a tax cap on schools as well as reduced state aid. The district has also had to make more contributions to employees’ pension plans and health insurance.

“A lot of what we’re talking about is estimates,” said Brown. “It’s possible that we won’t have to cut 30 positions once we see what the state budget is. So these are really preliminary estimates.”