A reorganization of the Curriculum and Instruction Department was approved. This will result in the replacement of three Director positions with two.
Two Psychologist (or possibly Guidance Counselor) positions were added at Meadow Hill and Temple Hill.
Despite the very pessimistic mood in Albany, the BOE was considering items to add back in to the budget. Restoring summer school for Pre-K to grade two has some support. Central Administration did not have a recommendation on this issue though, and did not have data about the impact of summer school on young students.
The Board President invited public comment at the regular BOE meeting which is at 7pm, Tuesday, March 23. If there are parents or teachers who feel strongly about the impact and value of summer school for Pre-K to two, it would be an opportunity to be heard on this issue before the next budget meeting on Thursday, March 25.
Click through for meeting notes.
The next budget meeting is scheduled for March 25 at 5pm.
EXPENSES GROWING -
The BOE needs to cut back on the excessive and growing expense in several budget lines-
According to New York's Office of the State Comptroller's website - www.OpenBookNewYork.com spending has grown up to 86% between 2003-2008 - 5 years.
Below is a list of some of the notable expense catagories;
Transportation UP 50% -----$9,600,000 to $14,400,000
Operations UP 51% -----$15,900,000 to $23,900,000
Administartion UP 67% -----$2,100,000 to $3,600,000
Employee Benefits UP 86% -----$27,900,000 to $52,000,000
What has also grown to pay for these and other expenses TAXES. The same website shows that tax payer revenues have grown 72% for the same 5 year period from $48,120,000 to $116,900,000
What has NOT grown 50-86% between 2003-2008
Household Income
Individual Investments and Savings
Home and Property Values
NECSD Math and English scores
NECSD graduation rates
More money from economically strained taxpayers being spent on non productive expenses.
The Economic Pain is Still With Us
The BOE has to stop looking to protect jobs and their rearends and step up to the plate and present the tax paying public with a genuine NO TAX INCREASE budget. Last year they did present what was called a no revenue increasing budget but still turned into a property tax increase. NOT THIS YEAR!
Based on the workshop notes the BOE still doesn't seem to get it - THERE IS NO MORE MONEY...it was clearly stated -" Board Member Woodhull: the small cities group was told the Governor's budget is at a $9.5B deficit, and next year is $11B. Director of Budget is saing we won't get more" Stop with the wishful thinking - you have yo make the BIG CUTS IN PERSONEL. Now add to that - There is no more money in many households - no jobs, no salary increases, no savings, no anything...no more means no more for the that school budget.
Start with cutting out a dozen administrators and their clerical staff fromt the 45. Consolidate resaonsiblities and streamline the paperwork and bureacracy. Cut back on support services; focus on clear rules with clear consequences and stick with them. Student success depends on three reasearch based facts - the QUALITY OF THE TEACHER, THE QUALITY OF THE MOTHER'S EDUCATION AND THE LACK OF POVERTY - none of these can be helped with social service chit chat and reports - the research does not support such services for the long term - just expensive time out.
Directors are overpaid and busy bodies with no clear purpose but to talk and file reports. If a team of teachers along with the principal and central office admin are unable to monitor and direct the curriculum and lesson plans then they should be dismissed as well.
Summer school is only worth it if it costs the taxpayer zero dollars. If any student can't make the grade and do the work in 180 days then the family can pay for the extra time and staff for a do over, in full.
Then there is "Board Member DeMarco: I wouldn't want to make a decision based on these numbers. [Would rather] talk to staff. What would be result of elimination? Here's another point of view Board Member DeMarco needs to consider - TALK TO AND LISTEN TO THE CASH STRAPPED TAXPAYER! They elect you and pay the bills and they're broke.
Agree and wish to add more
From the time I graduated in the 1990s, the student population has not appreciably increased, yet the staff and the administration, as well as the budget have grown. Why? Bigger than all economic indicators. More than the incomes of the average family. Why? It seems the additional staff members' primary job is to make themselves appear irreplaceable. Administrators, social service employees, directors and library staff have a "make-work" syndrome to justify their positions.
Public education has gone far beyond its original intention to provide a "core" academic education.
Sport facilities, teams, and coaching staffs are out of control. . Dozens of after school activities with little practical need act as publicly funded day care to accommodate the needs of parents till they get home from work while adding to our tax bills.
Special ed is out of control.... new labels arrive with regularity ... and these new dysfunctions all are mandated to receive costly attention. Mandates become another excuse to hire more and spend more rather than use the existing resources of people.
Too many HS courses that number close to 300 fall far from being the “core” credits needed to graduate…College credit courses paid by tax payers to the tune of hundreds of thousands that save a select number of families tens of thousands in college costs.
It's time to cut the schools' fat with a hatchet, not a scalpel.
Mega-schools, like NECSD should not be permitted to even exist because they themselves grow the bureaucracy ... not to mention the absolute loss of genuine knowledge about each kid ... factories work for cars, but not for kids. The original mission of public schools to serve the core education of children has been butchered by edu-experts who feed off of edu-excess and the taxpayers’ wallet.