District 24 faces painful budget cuts

Jacqueline Roth is in her fifth year as a teacher in District 24. She teaches a sixth-grade class at the William L. Buck School, where she was rated highly effective for the past two years. Due to cuts in the district’s proposed 2015-16 budget, however, she was advised to look for a new job.

“I’m devastated,” said the 30-year-old. “This is something that is my life. I love teaching … I live in Massapequa, but I feel like Valley Stream is my community now. I feel like I’m doing everything I’m supposed to be doing as an educator.”

Roth and 10 other teachers are due to be laid off as part of the proposed budget, which goes to a vote on May 19. It’s a bitter pill, said Superintendent Edward Fale, since those teachers would lose their jobs only because they fall behind others in seniority.

“The emotions are high,” Fale said. “The staff that we are unfortunately having to excess are staff members who, over the past three to five years, we have placed a lot of time, effort and energy into their development into being excellent teachers.”

The teachers with the least seniority are also tend to be the youngest, and therefore would potentially have the most time with the district ahead of them. Losing them is losing an investment, Fale said, but the law dictates that layoffs be done that way to protect against districts laying off those with higher salaries.

For Roth, leaving the district would mean leaving a social fabric she has come to be a part of. She has been invited to the Everyday Hero assemblies at Memorial Junior High School and South High School for the past three years because she has been named in a former student’s essay each time.

Her psychology studies at Hofstra University taught her techniques she uses to connect with her students and help them process issues they might bring to class. In one case, she asked a girl whose parents were going through a divorce to write down her thoughts when she felt emotional. She said she often hears from students who graduate to high school and email her for support, or to let her know how they’re doing.

“It goes beyond what the test scores are,” Roth said. “I love going to their sports games. I bond with students and their parents outside of school.”