Valley Stream high school board looking for savings

The Valley Stream Central High School District will look to cut its 2012-13 school budget by $1.1 million in order to meet the state’s new tax levy cap. Administrators recommended potential cuts to the Board of Education at the Feb. 7 budget meeting.

Superintendent Dr. Bill Heidenreich and his staff outlined ways to reduce the budget after the board, at a previous meeting on Jan. 7, agreed to stay within the limitations of the tax cap. According to Heidenreich, administrators looked at the 2011-12 school budget and put all of the district’s expenses into a continuation budget. It was then estimated that to maintain all of the district’s programs, the tax levy increase would need to be 3.4 percent, greater than the allowable tax levy increase of about 2 percent.

“In order to meet that goal,” Heidenreich said, “essentially, we’d have to reduce the continuation budget by $1.1 million, and that represents about the third consecutive year that we’re looking at program reductions, redesigning and restructuring in order to put forth a budget that maintains instructional opportunities at a tax rate that we believe the community can afford and support.”

Wayne Loper, assistant superintendent for finance and operations, explained to the board many of the recommended ways to make these reductions. Loper said there would be 10 positions cut in the plan, including four teaching assistants, one physical education and health position, one copy machine operator, one copy machine operating aide, one technology aide, one typist clerk from the Instructional Services Center and a part-time typist clerk from the Adult Education department. Heidenreich said that the district has a retirement incentive and many of the personnel reductions will be done through attrition.

The district would also disband the ISC Department at Memorial Junior High School, which handles printing and district publications. The work would be transferred to Nassau BOCES. Individual copy centers at each school would be established and two part-time clerks would be hired at each location to operate the centers. In total, Loper said that the equivalent of four full-time positions would be cut form the ISC Department and the district would save about $331,000 next year.

One potential cut that sparked discussion amongst the board was the proposed shift in schedule for the district’s maintenance workers. Loper said that those employees currently work from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., and under the proposal that would shift to 3 to 11 p.m. The district would hire laborers to work during the day to cut down on overtime costs. He estimated a savings of $60,000.

Board Vice President Anthony Iadevaio disagreed with the proposal, citing three phone calls he received from people who opposed the idea. Iadevaio said the board should have met with the maintenance staff earlier to see if any of them wanted to shift their schedules.

“Also,” Iadevaio said, “the fact that a majority of these people, in order to maintain their own homes and live in the district, have a second job in the evening and now we’re going to be cutting right into that, arbitrarily and capriciously assigning them to a 3 to 11 p.m. position.”

Other board members cited the tough economic times in support of the proposal. “I don’t think there’s any board member here, or member of the public, that is happy with making these cuts,” Trustee Bill Stris said, “but these cuts have to be made because we have to pass a budget. None of these employees are going to lose their job.”

Trustee Ken Cummings added, “Our job is to teach kids and get the most money we can into the programs that benefit kids and if that means we have to rearrange some people’s schedules, unfortunately I think that’s what we have to do.”

Iadevaio said he would have people put a petition together to oppose the idea. “I think this is totally erroneous on the administration’s part to even bring this to the table,” he said.

The board will continue its budget discussions in the coming weeks. Heidenreich said he anticipates the board adopting the proposed 2012-13 spending plan at the March 13 business meeting.