Although the Bethlehem Central School District has passed its budget, plans for next year’s budget process are already being discussed by school officials.
The district set up a Citizens Budget Group two years ago made up of community members, school officials, volunteers and students, in order to get a head start on the budget process and have an objective point of view on school spending.
Although the school’s board of education has lauded the citizens group as both beneficial and practical, at least one member of the group thinks the district should make its salary negotiations more public.
John Giordano, of Delmar, served on the Citizens Budget Group both years and plans on continuing next year, but feels that the group is left out of the biggest portion of the school budget: salaries.
It really isn’t an area that the school district wants to engage regular citizens, Giordano said. `About 85 percent of the budget is current and past salaries of the staff. I discovered that we were left to discuss the last 12 percent of the budget.`
Board of Education President James Lytle and outgoing Superintendent Les Loomis have discussed the matter with Giordano and have concluded that `it is not clear to us that a citizen group targeted to contract negotiations would be either very productive or appropriate,` according to a letter from Lytle.
Lytle said the board members take their fiduciary responsibility to the community seriously, and pointed to the roughly 60 percent of voters who adopted next year’s budget as community support for their work.
Lytle did acknowledge that about 40 percent of the voters had rejected the budget.
`We realize that 40 percent, and it’s not an insignificant number,` Lytle said.
Giordano said he is not targeting teachers or district staff, pointing out that their salaries are contractually protected and they will be paid and given their negotiated raises whether or not the school budget is passed in any given year.
He said he believed there should be `true disclosure of contracts when they are completed.`
Lytle and Loomis responded that much of the school’s budget were items `out of the hands` of administrators.
Loomis said the district is in a constant struggle to remain competitive with the 12 members of the Suburban Council in order to attract and retain the best possible teachers for the district.
`Even though we are one of the highest academic performers our teachers are in sixth place,` Loomis said, referring to the fact that a Bethlehem teacher’s base pay is the sixth highest out of the 12-district council.
Giordano said that’s an issue that needs to be addressed region-wide.
`The problem is that the contracts are done every three or four years and by the time the contracts are up you’re back at the bottom of the list. So every time one of the 12 schools raises their teachers pay everyone has to get a raise?` Giordano asked. `The school budget will never be conservative, it will only grow.`
Incoming superintendent Michael Tebbano agreed with Loomis, and added that he plans to continue the Citizens Budget Group process under his tenure.
The school offers teachers with a master’s degree a starting salary of $42,000, plus benefits, according to school records. The school also pays $75 a day for substitute teachers, but as Loomis put it, `It’s hard get good substitutes when they can go to the next town and get $100 or more.`
Lytle said healthcare is another rising cost for the district, with the biggest bulk of the budget lying in staff expenses.
`It’s obviously a sensitive issue,` said Lytle. `I can appreciate the fact that people are looking at a tough economic environment.`
Giordano said he only wants to open up the dialogue on the school’s biggest expenditure.
`I know it’s going to be uncomfortable and the unions are going to hate it and hate me,` Giordano said. `What is everyone afraid of? Why can’t we talk openly about this?`
Lytle and Giordano differed on their views of what the citizens group was allowed to work on, with Lytle saying `they’re privy to everything, really,` and Giordano saying budget group members were relegated to `deciding to redo the gym floor.`
Giordano, who has a business background and is active with the Bethlehem Chamber of Commerce, said the group pushed through a savings of about $84,000 on a budget that was around $84 million.
When asked why he didn’t run for the board of education, Giordano said he only has this one concern and that the current board is doing `a great job.`
Giordano reiterated that he was in favor of giving teachers raises, but questioned if they were on pace with the taxpayers who pay their salaries. He said he wants to have the community take a good look into the process and bring more people `off the payroll` into the discussion.
`I want teachers to get raises, but I want it to be rational,` he said. `It may very well be that what we find out is that this is very comfortable. But if you don’t get let in it begins to smell like something is wrong.“
