Smithtown School District Superintendent Edward Ehmann unveiled the proposed 2012-2013 budget Wednesday night, a $215.8 million spending measure which would lay off roughly 45 faculty and staff members and increase 1.63 percent over the current budget.
To reduce the financial gap the district is putting forth a number of staff reductions, decided prior to March 20. The cuts include:
- five full time employees in elementary attrition
- six full time employees from the closing of Nesconset Elementary
- three full time employees from special areas
- one elementary principal and one assistant principal
- one teacher assistant
- .5 nurses
- two greeters
- six lunch monitors
- one clerk typist and one senior clerk typist
- two custodial positions
- five full time employees from a change in the secondary music lesson rotation
- 12.1 full time employees in an increase in high school class size averages
The secondary school music lesson rotation will change from students receiving individual lessons from every seven days to every 10 days. Elementary music education will remain the same.
The staff reductions would result in savings of $3,059,276.
Following the initial reductions decided by March 20 were an additional $625,000 in reductions, which include $425,000 in savings from attrition due to declining enrollment, a social worker and psychologist retiring at the end of the year that won't be replaced, and replacements of a counselor and a reading teacher. An additional $200,000 would be saved by a rebate offered to the district for renewing the bus contract. This would be pending the board's approval.
To hit this number the district is suggesting the use of $1.5 million from the Assigned (Approprated) Fund Balance and $3.8 million from the Restricted (Appropriated) Reserves. This was contested Wednesday by Board of Education member Joseph Saggese, who suggested the district find another way to make the $1.5 million other than by using money from the fund balance or split the $3.8 million through cuts or Smithtown Teacher Association concessions.
Nesconset's closing also would result in savings for the district. According to the Citizens Advisory Committee final report, .
The district will review the information from Wednesday's meeting during Tuesday's board meeting at 8 p.m. in the Joseph Barton Building on New York Avenue. The board will vote to adopt the budget or not on April 17.
For more info, click EMPIRE CENTER on your computer. I hope everything works out for you.
U REALLY WANT A COOKIE OR SOMETHING!!!!!!!!!!!
Open your eyes he threw you under the bus. If you don't believe that Mr Forzano is better than I thought. The 5 music teachers could of been saved if the STA gave a little. Now the students have lessons once every 10 days instead of once every 5 days. But I know Mr Forzano don't care about the students
The community has reached its limit and the union just wants never ending salary increases. The union will never accept a freeze or salary cut. It would sooner go after employees at the bottom of the pecking order and take there jobs away
I do not have to o to Congress and " attend meetings" to have an opinion. That's why we have newspapers. And Bill. Please cool it on the angry rhetoric.
To the union it's a matter of give and take: You give, we take.
After Mr Sagesse leaves the BOE all we will get is talking points Ms McEnroy will be the first one to give the STA's talking points and there will be no one on the board to question her. THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT THE STA WANTS. So there won't be much to learn at the meetings
Don't you remember what was going on in the district before Mr Sagesse & Mr Carlin were on the board. We had huge tax hikes and out of control contracts given out. Ms Waldron was on the board through all this.
You keep saying Ken doesn't go to board meetings I don't reember seeing Ms McEroy or Ms Plourde at board meetings before they were elected to the board where did they get there information from the Sta