Teacher cuts, fee hikes possible at Valley Stream high schools

A tentative 2010-11 budget for the Valley Stream Central High School District contains a 2.99 percent tax levy increase and a spending increase of less than 1 percent. It includes across the board staffing cuts, as well as program reductions and increased fees for certain services. The proposed cuts total about $1.4 million.

According to Dr. Bill Heidenreich, assistant superintendent for personnel, 4.5 content teaching positions would be eliminated — a full-time teacher in each math, science, English and social studies, and a part-time foreign language teacher — though he said that number could change after March 15. That is the contractual date when retirements are submitted to the district, he said. If a teacher in each subject area were to retire, the district could sidestep excessing four teachers, and just not fill the positions. “If a teacher were to resign or retire, we wouldn’t replace them,” Heidenreich said.

The proposed 2010-11 budget also cuts two administrative positions. The coordinator for career technology education — a stipened position — would be eliminated, saving the district $43,000, and the district director of physical education, athletics, driver education and recreation, would be trimmed to a part-time position, saving the district $87,000. Dr. Marc Bernstein, superintendent of schools, said that reductions had to be made across the board. “I wanted to spread the cuts across everything, so one area is not hit so hard,” he said.

Two part-time social workers — one from Central High School and one from Memorial Junior High School — would be cut, as well as a part-time psychologist at South High School. Those three cuts would total $127,500.

Memorial would also lose a full-time orchestra teacher. Heidenreich said each high school has one orchestra teacher, while Memorial has two. “We looked at the number of students who take orchestra in all four schools,” he said. “We believe we can eliminate a position and there will still be parity among all four schools.”