School officials ask for pay freezes to ease burden
Scotia-Glenville Board of Education members now know what the final phase of proposed reduction would include to reach a tax increase of 1.94 percent.
Superintendent Susan Swartz presented her revised Phase Three reductions and what further proposed budget cuts in a new Phase Four would entail during the board’s budget workshop on Monday, March 14. The final phase of reductions totaled $40,993 and included continuing a temporary secretary in the Superintendent’s Office, eliminating one full-time equivalent classroom aide position and reducing district equipment purchases. Swartz also hoped some sort of an agreement could be reached on a possible pay freeze or cost reducing options by March 21, before the next budget workshop meeting.
As we work together to try to face a pretty significant budget challenge we have to look at some things, said Swartz. ` I met with the leaders of collective bargaining units on March 3 to talk about potential cost containment strategies. I have sent them away to have a conversation amongst their members to think about things that we might do.`
The revised Phase Three reductions included a total of $275,430 in cuts, which included to 2 FTE Opportunities And Programming for Learners teachers, 2 FTE teacher aides, 0.4 FTE foreign language, 0.6 float nurse and 0.5 FTE teaching assistant, eliminating the Young Scholars at sixth grade and eliminating On-Line Application System for Educators.
Swartz said the library media specialists could step out to help out with the reduction in of OPAL staff.
`The library media specialists serve all of the students in the school. If I am going to look at how to spend my dollars wisely it would be the library media specialists,` said Swartz.
Despite pleas by the foreign language department at a recent meeting, the board seems to have agreed as much as they would like to keep the program staffed at the same level, the cut is just a decision they had to make.
`One of the things I would like to see is flexibility, if other people come out with other alternatives to not eliminate programs if the money comes from elsewhere,` said board member Benjamin Conlon. `I like to hear what the community has to say, but I also like to hear what the bargaining units have to say.`
Board President Pamela Carbone said she doesn’t see any other alternatives for where to cut currently, so unless other options are presented, many of the current cuts might stick.“