| Author |
Message |
    
Jerry Moore (Admin)
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 31115
Registered: 01-2000
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, December 05, 2012 - 9:59 pm: | 
|
Tech, career diplomas planned at Scotia-Glenville
District seeks OK from State Ed officials
By Michael Goot / Schenectady (NY) Gazette
December 5, 2012
SCOTIA & GLENVILLE — Scotia-Glenville High School students may be able to apply for a special diploma in career and technical education starting next fall.
The district is seeking approval from the state Education Department to award these new degree designations for students that have completed career programs. School officials are redesigning the curriculum to meet the new state requirements.
* * * *
|
Jerry Moore (Admin)
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 31083
Registered: 01-2000
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, November 28, 2012 - 11:18 pm: |
|
Raise, incentives in Scotia-Glenville's school chief pact
By Michael Goot / Schenectady (NY) Gazette Reporter
November 28, 2012
SCOTIA & GLENVILLE — Scotia-Glenville School Superintendent Susan Swartz is receiving a 2 percent raise and new incentive pay based on performance.
 A 1% raise with a maximum 2% bonus is God's plenty. What the school board has done is hide the true size of Susan's raise from you. They are really giving her a 5% raise and pretending that she has to do something extra to get the "bonus." It's the exact kind of gamesmanship that keeps school costs rising through the roof. School boards simply will not control their employee costs.
The Board of Education on Monday approved adding another year to Swartz’s contract, which now will run through the 2014-15 school year.
“We’re very pleased with the job that Susan was doing,” said board President Pamela Carbone.
Swartz’s 2012-13 salary will be $156,609. Like the rest of the staff, she is taking one day without pay during this school year.
She will also receive a 2 percent increase in 2013-14. Her 2014-15 raise will be subject to the board’s evaluation and discussion.
The new contract contains incentive bonuses based on Swartz’s annual evaluation. The board reviews her performance in nine areas, including planning and goals, budget and finance, curriculum and instruction, operations management, personnel, community relations, Board of Education relationship, personal qualities and professional growth. Each board member gives her a score ranging from 1, the highest, to 4, the lowest. The rankings are then averaged together for a final score for each category.
For every category where Swartz gets an average score of 3 to 3.9 points, she will earn an additional $200; for 2 to 2.9, she will get another $500 and 1 to 1.9, she will earn an additional $750. The maximum possible bonus would be $6,750.
The bonuses will take effect immediately, based on her evaluation last June.
In addition, the contract contains provisions designed to retain Swartz, who has been with the district since 2005. Earlier this year, Swartz was one of three finalists for the job of superintendent of the Schenectady City School District. She took herself out of the running because she was concerned that so many Scotia-Glenville administrators were leaving at the same time, which would have left the district without experienced people in those roles.
If she stays with Scotia-Glenville for eight years, the district will pick up 80 percent of the cost of her health insurance in retirement and she will pay 20 percent. After nine years, the district would pay 90 percent and she would pay 10 percent. After 10 years, the split is 93 percent and 7 percent.
How much is that worth? I mean really, this could amount to over $100,000 worth of bonuses! Just for 2 year's additional work. Do you get deals like that? The educated elite are simply raping the public, and they don't give a damn about the consequences. I don't want to hear a single board member blame state mandates and tax caps for their financial discomfort. There is absolutely no law or mandate that requires it to handout huge bonuses and retirement benefits to overpaid superintendents.
Also on Monday, the board hired two people to fill vacant positions. Anthony J. Peconie was hired as the new assistant principal of Scotia-Glenville Middle School at a salary of $78,000 annually. Pecoine was previously dean of students and a special education teacher for the district before that.
Nancy Lussier was hired as the new director of fine arts at a salary of $85,000. Lussier served in the same position for the Schenectady City School District.
The board also voted to deed a portion of the Beukendaal Fields to the Scotia-Glenville Softball League to resolve a problem that dates back to the summer of 2011. School officials at that time informed the softball league and Scotia-Glenville Pop Warner that they couldn’t use two buildings housing bathrooms, equipment and concession stands because they did not meet code requirements of the state Education Department. They are not handicapped accessible and there was no emergency exit on the second floor.
Softball league officials asked the board to let it have the property so it could continue using those facilities. As a nonprofit, it would not be subject to the education code requirements.
A roughly 21⁄2-acre portion of the 17-acre field housing the buildings was subdivided. School officials said the league will pay a nominal amount per year, likely $1.
School district spokesman Robert Hanlon said the process took a long time because the Scotia-Glenville Softball League had to obtain approval from the town Planning and Zoning Commission and be reviewed by the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
There was also an issue with the septic system on the property. Hanlon said he believed the organization won’t use it and will bring in portable toilets.
This "deed" is also a scam. It's not really a deed at all. The school board can call back the deed and retake possession of the property whenever it wants. This is simply a legal machination to avoid the state education code. In law, it's what's known as a sham--it follows the legal form but it is false, in fact.
Giving away excessive raises and setting up real estate shams. Who could possibly want more from a school board?
|
Jerry Moore (Admin)
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 30927
Registered: 01-2000
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, October 28, 2012 - 12:38 pm: |
|
Pension benefits concern of audit of school district
By Michael Goot / Schenectady (NY) Gazette
October 28, 2012
SCOTIA & GLENVILLE — Scotia-Glenville officials received a generally positive audit [pdf] of the district’s $47 million 2011-2012 budget, but were cautioned about long-term liabilities and use of surplus accounts.
* * *
And like many school districts, he noted, Scotia-Glenville faces a long-term liability in post-retirement benefits.
From page B-29 of the audit, the unfunded accrued liability for post-retirement benefits is $85 million! That's an average of $170,000 per employee. School boards love giving away your money even though they always claim they're prudent. It's a not just a fairy tale, it's a nightmare. If we sold all of the district's capital assets, we'd still owe our retirees $30 million.
BTW, how does Niskayuna have only $28 million in future retirement liabilities while S-G has $85 million?
The district pays anywhere from 40 percent to 95 percent of the cost of the health insurance premiums for its retirees. Accounting principles require that the total cost of that liability be fully funded, which is not practical for most districts.
* * * *
|
Jerry Moore (Admin)
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 30925
Registered: 01-2000
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, October 27, 2012 - 12:14 pm: |
|
Scotia-Glenville school board may increase income limits for senior tax exemption
By Michael Goot / Schenectady (NY) Gazette
October 25, 2012
SCOTIA & GLENVILLE — Scotia-Glenville Central School District officials are considering raising the income limits to qualify for senior property tax exemptions for the first time since 2002.
* * *
Schenectady County raised its exemption levels in 2009. It includes a 50-percent exemption for seniors making less than $29,000 and a 5-percent exemption for those seniors making more than $36,500 but less than $37,400.
* * *
Take care raising seniors' property tax exemption in Glenville
A Schenectady (NY) Gazette Editorial
October 27, 2012
* * *
Senior exemptions run as high as 50 percent, but there are income limits set by the state; for example, no one making more than $29,000 is entitled to the maximum, and localities and school districts can set their limits much lower.
* * *
So the school board needs to proceed very slowly. If it’s going to raise the income limits for this exemption at all, it needs to do so gradually, so non-seniors don’t get hit with any sudden big tax hikes.
* * * *
That's right. Take from the poor to pay teachers $100,000 for 10 months work. It makes perfect sense.
Of course, the Gazette editors write opinions without facts. Exactly how much would it increase the property taxes of teachers and the like to provide some relief to the poor? My educated guess is far less than the size of the annual tax increase the district gets.
The educated elite -- Gazette editors included -- are bound and determined to preserve their status, even if it means taking advantage of the poor. You people are pathetic.
The exemption should be raised to the maximum permitted by law. I'll gladly have my property taxes increased to pay for it far sooner than I would to increase the salaries of educators, which are objectively 20% higher than the free market rate.
To be clear, the exemption would not benefit me. It would raise my taxes. I am not advocating for a tax break for myself.
|
Jerry Moore (Admin)
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 30641
Registered: 01-2000
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, August 31, 2012 - 11:04 pm: |
|
Scotia-Glenville sets policy on showing movies in class
By Michael Goot / Schenectady (NY) Gazette Reporter
August 31, 2012
How would you like to earn $3,000 a year just by coming to work and turning on the DVD player? That's what some S-G teachers earn for showing movies in their "classes." Let students watch movies at home.
SCOTIA & GLENVILLE — Want to watch “Macbeth” in school? If you’re a student at Scotia-Glenville Central School District, you’ll need a signed permission slip from your parents.
The Board of Education has adopted a new policy that requires teachers to inform parents when they are showing a movie, video or other audiovisual material in class. Parents have the right to have their child opt out and be provided with an alternative assignment.
* * * *
|
Jerry Moore (Admin)
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 30556
Registered: 01-2000
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, August 16, 2012 - 11:23 pm: |
|
Scotia-Glenville taxpayers face extra bite due to assessment challenges
By Michael Goot / Schenectady (NY) Gazette Reporter
August 16, 2012
SGCSD Press Release
SCOTIA & GLENVILLE — A decline in the Scotia-Glenville Central School District’s tax base is resulting in a higher-than-expected tax increase for residents.
The Board of Education on Monday adopted a tax rate of $21.05 per $1,000 of assessed value, which is an increase of 3.24 percent from the $20.39 in 2011-2012.
The average Glenville homeowner with a house assessed at $160,000 would see the tax bill increase by $106 — to $3,368 before any reductions from the STAR program are taken into account. STAR will reduce tax bills by $551 for most taxpayers and $1,064 for those in the Enhanced STAR program.
For Charlton residents, the tax rate increases by 4.38 percent to $27.66 per $1,000 of assessed value and for Amsterdam, the rate increases by 2.83 percent to $190.76.
The increase in the total amount being collected in property taxes — roughly $26 million — still complies with the tax levy cap of 2.93 percent. School officials said successful challenges to property assessments are to blame for the rate increase being higher than the 2.93 percent they predicted when voters in May approved the $47.8 million budget. Total assessed value in the district dropped by $4.6 million to $1.24 billion.
National Grid was successful at reducing its assessment by $1.1 million and Westmere Realty LLC, which owns apartments along Glen Avenue, reduced its total assessment by $543,000.
Also, the old Kmart on Route 50, which was assessed at $3.1 million, was demolished to make room for the new Target under construction. That building was only partially completed at the time it was assessed at $1.5 million. In addition, there were various individual or small business reductions. Taxes are due in September.
* * * *
|
Jerry Moore (Admin)
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 30392
Registered: 01-2000
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, July 14, 2012 - 5:25 pm: |
|
School backers look to set up foundation
MICHAEL GOOT / Schenectady (NY) Gazette
July 14, 2012 | Page B1
Scotia-Glenville Central School District community members are interested in setting up a foundation to raise money for academic programs.
Board of Education member Andy Crapo said other area districts, such as Niskayuna and Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake, have had them for years and Broadalbin-Perth just established one. The groups give grants of a few thousand dollars to a teacher or a group of teachers to fund new equipment or programs.
"The foundation is just the spark, if you will, that lets new ideas be tried," he said.
Because district budgets are tight, Crapo said, it is difficult to get funding for teachers to try new ideas.
He had started a website discussion forum about the topic, which has since grown into a Facebook page. An organizational meeting for the group is set for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the St. Joseph's Parish Center at 45 MacArthur Drive.
Who would belong to a website with a mission to mine every bit of personal information from you as possible to create unbelievable wealth for the owners? It's crazy. Take more than you give in return. That's the pathway many take to riches. Myshortpencil has absolutely no tracking or data-mining capabilities -- and no advertising.
"The community kind of has to generate a critical mass. We'll see if that happens," he said.
Crapo hopes a lot of the conversation to establish this organization can take place electronically, using online resources, rather than at a series of meetings.
"People have a lot of demands on their schedule," he said.
About a dozen people attended the first meeting last month, according to district spokesman Robert Hanlon.
The structure of these community foundations vary by district, Hanlon said. One advantage is these groups can serve as a clearinghouse for people who want to donate to a school instead of the various school staff hitting up donors.
"It's one-stop shopping," he said.
At the June meeting, the group heard from the Community Foundation for the Greater Capital Region on how such foundations work. That organization, which has been around since 1968, accepts donations, administers and invests money and obtains grants, according to its president, Karen Bilowith.
"We offer a mechanism to provide both the charitable tax status, as well as provide administrative support," she said.
All of the funds are invested in a diverse portfolio, according to Bilowith, and school districts use the funds in a variety of ways. Bilowith said Ballston Spa has used its foundation to set up a lot of science and technology programs and to provide scholarships for district students.
A lot? It has provided an average of $14,000 in annual support over 16 years. That's the equivalent of less than $2 in annual property taxes per parcel. And look at all the people and effort it takes. People are free to do what they want, but it seems reasonable to believe that the time and talent could be put to better use than by raising such a relatively small amount of money compared to the district's $76.4 million budget. Moreover, the folly of using foundations to make up for school spending problems should be obvious. Schools need to fix their spending addictions.
Funds are set up to enhance programs with teachers or within the school.
"They're doing activities that wouldn't necessarily be funded in the school district," she said.
|
Jerry Moore (Admin)
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 30226
Registered: 01-2000
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 01, 2012 - 9:17 pm: |
|
Union deals ease school costs
Scotia-Glenville district expects to use $90,000 in savings for personnel
Albany (NY) Times Union Staff reports
May 31, 2012
SCOTIA — Two unions in the Scotia-Glenville school district have agreed to concessions that are expected to save the district about $90,000 during the next school year and officials are hoping other unions will follow suit, according to district officials.
The 13-member Scotia-Glenville Administrators Association approved concessions Thursday that will leave an additional $4,500 in district coffers. Two days earlier, it was the 220-member Scotia-Glenville Teachers Association that agreed to concessions expected to save the district about $85,000 in the next school year. Negotiations are taking place with the other labor unions in hopes of more savings for the district.
* * * *
Scotia teachers give up a day’s pay
Schenectady (NY) Gazette
June 1, 2012 | B3
SCOTIA — The Scotia-Glenville Teachers Association has agreed to give up the equivalent of one day’s pay to save the school district about $85,000 in the 2012-13 year.
The cut equals 1/200th of a teacher’s annual salary. The 13-member Scotia-Glenville Administrators approved a similar concession that will save the district an additional $4,500 in the coming year. School officials are negotiating with the other labor unions for similar concessions.
* * * *
|
Jerry Moore (Admin)
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 30189
Registered: 01-2000
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, May 28, 2012 - 2:38 pm: |
|
Educational foundation information session set for june 7
SGCSD
May 24, 2012
Scotia-Glenville will host an informational meeting at 7 p.m. on Thursday, June 7 at the Sacandaga Elementary School library, Wren Street, Scotia, for community members interested in forming an educational foundation.
During the process to develop the 2012-13 budget proposal, several community members expressed an interest in the creation of an independent educational foundation in Scotia-Glenville.
The speaker on June 7 will be Karen Bilowith, president of The Community Foundation for the Greater Capital Region in Albany. The group currently works with the Ballston Spa, Bethlehem, Niskayuna, Greenville and Coxsackie Athens and North Colonie school districts.
The Community Foundation for the Greater Capital Region works “with local schools and districts to provide a vehicle with which they can raise funds to support programs and projects in their communities.”
Local education foundations are non-profit organizations whose boards represent local community and education leaders and who are financially accountable to their communities.
They are not part of the school district and the Board of Education is not allowed to take an active role in their functions.
They are similar to the Scotia-Glenville Friends of Music or All Sports Booster Club, both of which operate independently, raise money for their particular area and donate items purchased with their funding back to the district.
Each foundation is unique in its operation, its programs, and the resources it provides to the community, but all share a common goal of improving education at the local level.
My reflections on a foundation for S-G from an email sent on April 4, 2012:
* * *
Foundations are not unambiguously good. However, none of the leading research papers on the issue are available online, to my knowledge. In general, foundations that supplement what schools do are much better than those that fund or replace basic education services.
To my knowledge, no one has done a study on the impact of school foundations in California on the salaries of educators during the past decade. My impression from reading lots of articles on the issue and keeping an eye on California teacher salaries is that the places where foundations pay for librarians, art and music teachers, etc., are the places where salaries have done better than average. That's what I have deduced from following the issue for 10 years.
I think what's happening is that parents say, "We want the programs you're cutting. We'll form a foundation and fund them." The school accepts. Then, as funding resources stabilize or increase, the unions say, "The parents will keep paying for the programs we eliminated, just put the found money into our salaries." When that happens, the parents end up paying more for the programs and school funding never makes it back to restore the cut programs -- at least not in the short run while fears of future funding cuts loom. At some point, I'm sure the parents will say, "We're not doing this any more. You pay for art." The school will say, "We'd love to, but we've already budgeted the money for raises. We can't afford it, right now." So, the parents will continue paying for a while, but support for the foundation will diminish, or something else will happen over the course of 2 or 3 years, that eventually shifts the responsibility for the program from the foundation back to the school.
From the S-G data, I have seen that when debt expires or when pension payments go down, the first thing that has happened in the past is that the found money moves into salaries. Then, if finances continue to improve, old programs are restored and new ones added. It's not exactly like a ratchet. At first, 98% of found money will go into salaries and 2% into program, and it will eventually change around to an 80/20 split. I fully expect this process to happen when mandated pension contributions fall. The teachers will say, "You were spending that money on us. That is our money. If you don't need it to pay for our pensions, then you can afford to use it for improving our benefits or raising our salaries." Whether that is what they say or not, that is the deal the school board has repeatedly made in the past when spending found money.
I hope you see what a great deal this is. It really is beautiful. The boost in salaries happens even though spending and taxes are quite reasonable. If you have $500,000 in reduced debt and pension payments and put it all into salaries, you don't have to raise spending or taxes by a dime. This is exactly when the biggest bumps in salaries occur. The public is completely uninterested because it doesn't see any warning signs. Spending is level. The board is doing a great job. But, when funding becomes tight in lean years, that's when the consequences are paid. If debt or pension costs jump while funding stays level or falls, the most common ways out are to fund early retirements, improve efficiency and cut staff. The predictability of the cycle is really fascinating.
Another aspect of it is that the board members who had to make the cuts for the school district to survive are voted out of office if staff don't think they are getting their fair share of found resources. This is exactly when Karen Bradley and John Carpenter got on the board. The old timers, remembering austerity, held their grip on finances too tightly to suit staff. When Karen and John got in, they listened to the teachers, as new board members do, and they gave them what they wanted. They had none of the emotions and fears of the earlier board members. And so it was with them and their cohort, that S-G, and boards around the state, began sowing the seeds that amplify the severity of the current budget mini crisis. One of the biggest problems with school boards is the lack of "institutional memory."
I wandered way off topic.
"I personally do not view the value of a
foundation as a money making entity to fund what should be public
education, but rather as a way of influencing the school community by
offering incentive grants to teachers who innovate, use technology in
more productive ways, etc."
That's great! I don't see many problems with that, except, you likely will not get your way for long. The undercurrent of educators' desires affects everything. The foundation will have to compromise with the teachers. Eventually, it may be co-opted by them. When funding is tight, teachers may be relatively quick to agree to anything the foundation wants. They haven't thought out the consequences and they don't have the experience to know how to manipulate foundations to their advantage. Over time, though, they will gain control of the foundation and it will be run to promote their own agendas, assuming the foundation becomes a reliable source of a significant amount of funding. All of this can be dramatically different in different school districts because of the power of personalities and status of foundation members. There are strong, independent foundations and there are weak, puppet foundations.
For the foundation to do tutoring, in connection with the school or on school property, it will have to have the school's permission. I don't see how a foundation gets around contractual issues. I feel confident that the school will want tutors to be fingerprinted, thoroughly investigated, exceptionally trained, and perhaps vetted by and supervised by staff. If staff "like" the people involved, they may not offer much resistance. If they don't like them, or if they believe they should be getting a better deal, the barriers they raise will be insurmountable.
I'm interested in the degree of independence foundations can have from school districts. Can foundations influence school districts to change or do they become another tool for school districts to get their own way? The foundation for Tarrytown has its link and webpage on the district's website, http://www.tufsd.org/foundation/index.html. You can even donate to the foundation right from the district's webpage. It funds extras for the school -- computers, pianos, science equipment, field trips, musical instruments, garden supplies, art supplies, library books, etc. But as the school comes to rely on the foundation to supply these, it budgets less and less for the extras. Does it save taxpayers money? Unlikely. School districts raise taxes by what they think the market will bear. If other school districts are increasing taxes by 4%, so will Tarrytown. The funds other districts spend for the extras that Tarrytown doesn't will likely go into salaries, at least in part. This will cause inflationary pressures throughout the locality, as school boards struggle to match Tarrytown's salaries. As long as the foundations just fund "nice-but-not-necessary extras," the inflationary pressures are small. But when they fund music and art teachers, like in California (or Saratoga Springs, as I have discovered), then the inflationary pressures caused by foundations likely increase substantially.
I looked at the items funded by the Burnt Hills Foundation. http://library.bhbl.neric.org/edfoun/grants.html#funded
It funded $20,000 worth of "enhancements" during 2011. In terms of S-G, that's less than a 1 tenth of 1% increase in taxes, or about $3 a year. And look at all the people it takes to provide the structure to do that:
http://library.bhbl.neric.org/edfoun/Who%20We%20Are.html
It seems that such talent could be put to far better use within the school district than by raising a few thousand dollars for education.
Our former superintendent, Mike Marcelle, opposed foundations. One reason was that he believed those who would support a foundation could put in one-tenth of the effort to pass a budget that could raise more than twice as much for extras than the foundation could hope to raise. I believe he was right. Of course, this puts a funding burden on some who can't afford it, while foundations take only from those who voluntarily give. Moreover, foundations do increase community involvement in public education.
The Saratoga Education Foundation, http://www.saratoga-sef.org/, raises more than $1 million a year. It funds 2 elementary music teachers, science aides, a computer lab teacher, a media technology teacher, the PE program, an art teacher and 4 librarians! That's quite different from the approach of Tarrytown and Burnt Hills. Surely, Saratoga could afford to pay for these from its tax base.
I haven't checked the numbers, but I have some questions. Does Saratoga spend less per student than other school districts? Are its salaries higher, lower or in between compared to other area districts? My guess is that Saratoga is one of the salary cost leaders in the area that is pressuring other school boards to raise their salaries. Are Saratoga residents spending less on taxes than they would otherwise, or has the district simply moved spending from foundation-funded teachers into salaries and benefits? I'd like to see how taxes have changed as the foundation grew, controlling for changes in state aid and real estate development. My guess is that the foundation has benefited teachers far more than students or taxpayers. Foundations aren't unambiguously good or bad.
If money is the issue, I believe the existing booster clubs should provide it. Why should foundations fund librarians or library books while schools fund sports? Music and sports have highly motivated and dedicated advocates who will do what it takes to preserve these programs. They should have been called to action by now. I doubt that any new foundation can raise more money than the music and athletic boosters.
If community participation is the issue, which I believe it is, then a new foundation does provide another point of access for networking and plugging volunteers into public education. Most foundations are not particularly effective for this purpose, but if it were the primary mission of the foundation to discover the talents and skills of community members and to find ways to use them for the benefit of students, rather than to raise money, it could work. It could also be done though a standing subcommittee of the board of education, which I think would minimize wasted effort.
* * * *
|
Jerry Moore (Admin)
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 30126
Registered: 01-2000
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, May 14, 2012 - 7:46 pm: |
|
7 area high schools ranked among best in U.S. by magazine
Niskayuna highest-rated in Capital Region
By Tatiana Zarnowski / Schenectady (NY) Gazette Reporter
May 13, 2012
No S-G here.
CAPITAL REGION — A few local high schools, including Niskayuna, Bethlehem and Shenendehowa, made a national list of best high schools for U.S. News & World Report.
The online publication released the 2012 rankings last Monday.
U.S. News evaluated 22,000 high schools in 49 states based on proficiency in English and math, how well students are prepared for college and how well minority and low-income students do compared with the average of the same groups in their state.
The top 2,000 schools received number rankings.
Niskayuna High School ranked the highest of the local school districts, with a national standing of 743 and 94th in the state.
Niskayuna’s high test scores — 98 percent of students are proficient in English and 99 percent are proficient in math — earned it a 37.7 college readiness index out of 100, higher than any other local school district.
The college readiness index is based on Advanced Placement class participation rate and how well students did on AP tests. Niskayuna boasts 40 percent participation in AP classes.
Ballston Spa Senior High School, which plans to roll out its International Baccalaureate program for students next year, has a 28.9 college readiness index.
Its English and math proficiency rates are 96 and 95 percent, respectively.
Shenendehowa High School has 98 percent and 99 percent proficiency rates in English and math, respectively. Its college readiness index is 28.1.
Shenendehowa and Ballston Spa have the highest student/teacher ratio of the local ranked schools at 15:1.
Schuylerville Junior-Senior High School has the lowest student/teacher ratio, with one teacher for every 11 students.
The small district’s college readiness index is 26.4.
Of the local school districts on the list, Shaker High School had the highest minority enrollment at 19 percent, and most of the minorities are black and Asian.
Niskayuna had the second highest minority rate — 14 percent — and most of the minorities are of Asian descent.
Schuylerville had the most economically disadvantaged students — 18 percent.
Shenendehowa is the largest of the named school districts, with 3,018 students, and Schuylerville is the smallest with 816.
Though it didn’t receive a number ranking, Mohonasen Senior High School got a bronze medal for its test proficiency rates, which were 95 percent in both English and math, and other factors. Its college readiness score is 13.8, not enough to qualify it for a numbered ranking.
|
Jerry Moore (Admin)
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 30109
Registered: 01-2000
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, May 11, 2012 - 9:54 pm: |
|
2012-13 Budget Cuts
It's not enough that school boards stay under the tax levy cap. It's HOW they do it that matters.
Even with all the following cuts, teacher salaries are still going up. The teachers union is coyly awaiting the outcome of the budget vote to decide whether it will agree to concessions to save programs for students. It did the same thing last year and granted no concessions after the budget passed.
Teachers will be getting raises in excess of $300,000 this year -- and that's with a so-called salary freeze that gives out huge step increases plus a $500 sweetener for top-step teachers. That's on top $2.5 million added to salaries during the worst recession since the Great Depression. In 2011, S-G's top-paid teacher earned $95,000, which was 95% more than the average Schenectady County wage, compared to 55% more in 2000 and 41% more in 1969 [source].
While teachers were busy enriching themselves by $2.8 million, they slashed $6.2 million from programs and services for students, including librarians, social workers, counselors, supplies, field trips, athletics, technology, gifted and talented services, monitors, teacher assistants, summer school, drivers education, foreign languages, late bus runs and more. For every dollar in raises they took, they cut $2 from students. Their raises have been more than twice the rate of inflation. If that sounds like a deal, please vote for the budget, but know that it's NOT for the kids. It's for the salaries.
BTW, it's not true that "reductions were made in areas impacting the fewest students." Reductions like that would come exclusively from special education, and almost none did.
Make your own signs
S-G's budget newsletter is here [pdf] and its so-called line item budget is here [pdf].
|
Jerry Moore (Admin)
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 29795
Registered: 01-2000
Rating: 
Votes: 1 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, April 05, 2012 - 11:18 pm: |
|
Swartz: Job cuts hinge on union talks
MICHAEL GOOT / Schenectady (NY) Gazette Reporter
April 5, 2012
Note to SGTA president Eric De Carlo: I've already ordered the yard signs for the school budget vote. I have complete confidence that your union will agree to the same amount of concessions that it agreed to last year: $0. Don't muck this up, now. I'm counting on you.
Forty full-time equivalent positions would be lost under a $47.8 million budget the Scotia-Glenville Board of Education adopted on Monday.
The 2012-2013 budget would increase total spending by 1.59 percent, or $748,240. The property tax levy would increase by 2.93 percent, which is the district's cap, according to the state formula. A homeowner with an average assessment of $160,000 would see school taxes increase by about $95 to $3,357.
The district received an additional $155,000 in state aid beyond what Gov. Andrew Cuomo had originally proposed.
Superintendent Susan Swartz said she wanted to be cautious and included $100,000 of the additional state aid to restore one of the two elementary librarian positions and bring back two days of a full-time guidance counselor position that were going to be eliminated.
"I'm still hopeful for concessions that will allow us to restore that position to full time," she said.
Swartz said discussions with the union are proceeding slowly, but she hoped there would be action the week after school break. She offered the unions three options but did not disclose what they were.
If the district finds more money, Swartz said she would like to restore some of the academic enrichment programs.
Excellent idea.
In addition, Swartz said the district is reopening a 30-day window to allow people to announce their retirement and receive a deferred payout of their unused sick time at a rate of $20 per unused day up to a maximum of $6,500. Normally, staff members are required to notify the superintendent of their intention to retire before Feb. 1. The sick time payout isn't added to the base salary for pension calculation, Swartz said.
Yes, but who gets paid for unused sick leave in the private sector? Nobody. That's quite a gold watch to give away to retiring staff.
School officials trimmed $2.3 million from the district's proposed budget to get to this point. Among the cuts are two administrative positions, 15 teachers, one elementary librarian, a guidance counselor, 15 part-time teaching assistants, a full-time teaching assistant, a nurse and reduced hours for social workers, a psychologist and a speech teacher. Also being eliminated are five aides and monitors, two cleaners, summer school, driver's education, field trips, late bus runs, elementary foreign language, 1-2-3 Success program for students with emotional difficulties, the BOCES Young Scholars program and the Opportunities & Programming for Advanced Learners (OPAL) position.
In addition, the athletics budget was reduced by $115,000 to $400,000.
That $400,000 isn't the total amount we pay for sports. It doesn't count buses, gasoline, drivers, field and court maintenance, utilities, and some other expenses. But, assuming it is the full amount, and that we still have 375 full-time equivalent athletes as we did in 2008 with a larger enrollment, S-G is spending over $1,000 per full-time equivalent athlete. Why are we cutting librarians while spending that kind of money on sports? Shouldn't the boosters be paying more?
At the March 26 board meeting, member Andy Crapo criticized the teachers union for not yet agreeing to concessions to save jobs as their counterparts in South Colonie have done.
Scotia-Glenville Teachers' Association President Eric De Carlo, who was not present at the meeting, took issue with those comments. He said South Colonie teachers agreed to the concessions in exchange for an extension of the contract. In addition, South Colonie teachers are among the highest paid in the area, while Scotia-Glenville is among the bottom tier of schools, according to De Carlo.
The difference in salaries among local school districts is trivial. Besides S-G's salaries are anything but meager. See here. Eric's salary [pdf] went up 18% from 2007-08 to 2010-11, during the worst recession since the Great Depression. In just 3 years of raises, he took home $10,000 more than he would have with raises at the rate of inflation.
De Carlo said that the union agreed to a short-term, two-year contract that contained no cost-of-living raises in the second year but did include STEP increases.
And a $500 sweetener for top-step teachers. BTW, those steps average more than 3% -- virtually unheard of for other government workers and for private sector employees. And they go on for 22 years! See page 50 (A-1) [pdf]. I think it's real interesting that the top step is reported at $86,344, while the top-paid S-G teacher actually earned $95,000 in 2010-11. That's an indication of how much is left out of the salary schedule.
De Carlo said Wednesday that the union is working on a possible concession but had no news to report. He said the union was disappointed by the budget.
"I think the board missed an opportunity to rally the community to go above the cap and restore a lot of programs," he said.
Is that your position in Niskayuna, where you live, or is that reserved for where you work? Last I checked, less than 25% of S-G teachers lived within district boundaries.
But, don't worry, Eric. I intend to rally the community to pass the budget so you can have more money for your wildly excessive salaries. That's not my opinion. It's an indisputable fact. In Unions can lead the way to recovery [registration req'd], New York Teacher reported, "Unions raise wages of unionized workers by roughly 20 percent and raise compensation, including both wages and benefits, by about 28 percent," so educators get about twice the bang out of unions than others. This, despite the repeated news reports about how low teacher salaries allegedly are. Surely, the public knows that unions representing college-educated workers aren't doing worse than other unions.
We know teachers are paid way too much because, locally, hundreds of teachers are applying for very few jobs. Supply way outstrips demand and that tells you that wages need to come DOWN. The high cost of teacher salaries is robbing our children of the education they need to prosper. There is not the slightest chance that any unionized NY public school teacher is underpaid. See, also, Overpaid Public Workers: The Evidence Mounts.
He estimated that the last round of cuts Swartz presented -- about $568,000 -- could be eliminated by having a tax increase above the cap that would have resulted in an additional $1.08 more per week for the average taxpayer.
* * * *
To give you an idea of how much our teachers are abused with their slave wages, check out this story from the depths of the recession:
Niskayuna couple’s Italian house hunt on cable network HGTV
By Lee Coleman / Schenectady (NY) Gazette
August 22, 2010
NISKAYUNA — A local couple with two young sons is featured on the cable television show House Hunters International, which follows their quest to buy a second home along the coast of Italy.
Eric “Ric” DeCarlo is a social studies teacher at Scotia-Glenville High School and his wife, Polina, is a native of Minsk in Belarus and an accomplished international pianist and piano teacher. They love Italy.
The DeCarlos are in their mid-30s. . . .
* * *
“Ric and Polina DeCarlo are stressed out trying to work and raise their two young sons in upstate New York,” says a description of the House Hunters International show.
“So they’ve decided to buy a summer home in the picturesque and affordable region of Calabria, Italy,” the HGTV (Home and Garden Television) statement says.
The DeCarlos hook up with local real estate agent Kerry Roberts and start looking at three possible homes: one is a $167,000 condo that is five minutes from the beach, another is a $208,000 condo just two minutes from the sea and the third is a $132,000 condo that is in the heart of a local town.
* * *
Polina DeCarlo said the family only stays at the new home during the month of July.
“We would love, in the future, to spend more time there,” Polina DeCarlo said. “Go every summer and winter, too.”
* * *
“We have a really nice view of the ocean,” DeCarlo said.
* * * *
My condolences for the great sacrifice you make in working at S-G, Mitt Eric. I feel your pain.
|
Jerry Moore (Admin)
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 29664
Registered: 01-2000
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, March 20, 2012 - 9:56 pm: |
|
Board of Education Meeting - March 19, 2012
SGCSD
March 19, 2012
Don't allow your school board to cut student opportunities without offsetting cuts in salaries. My school district has increased salaries by 20% with inflation of only 4.5%, while cutting student opportunities by $3.9 million over 3 years! Learn more here and get free campaign signs for your district. Tell your Schenectady County school district that you refuse to support inflation-busting raises for educators while average wages have fallen 12.5%, adjusted for inflation. S-G's top-paid teacher now earns 95% more than the average county wage compared to 55% more in 2000 and 41% more in 1969.
By the way, don't ask the school district for the salary information. At best it will mislead you, if not deliberately lie. What you want to know is how much the paycheck of every educator has increased over the past 4 years. If they tell you something like "less than 10%," they don't know what they're talking about. See here.
The final phase of budget reductions totaling $567,956 were presented by Superintendent Susan Swartz tonight after hearing from 29 speakers out of a crowd of more than 100 parents, students, staff and community members.
Her final budget proposals "will change the face of how things look here," she said, adding that she was comfortable that the breadth of the program remains for students now and in the future. However, she noted that the future doesn't look much better and she expected future years to also present fiscal challenges for school districts across the state.
Here [pdf] is the Powerpoint presentation she made this evening.
Speakers addressed all parts of the budget, from reductions in the wrestling program and fewer AP classes to class sizes and enriched offerings for students.
Parent Nicole Broadhead, as did others at the meeting, urged listeners to contact their legislators. "We need to voice our concerns to our legislators...reach out and let our voices be heard," she said. She noted that New York continues to have the second highest taxes in the nation, much higher than Texas where she used to live.
Here is information to complete contact forms for Assemblyman James Tedisco, Senator Hugh Farley and Governor Andrew Cuomo.
Parent Claire Houlihan suggested the board reach out to Schenectady County Community College to fill some of the gaps in programming, such as perhaps offering AP courses or classes for students who are struggling.
* * *
A link to NYS Ed press release GOVERNOR CUOMO AND COMMISSIONER STEINER ANNOUNCE $6 MILLION IN GRANTS FOR "SMART SCHOLARS" EARLY COLLEGE HIGH SCHOOL PROGRAMS
A link [pdf] to Schenectady School/Smart Scholars program brochure
* * *
I think it would be a great opportunity for the students who are accepted into this program, but also potentially allow access to SCCC for
S-G's higher achieving population to take college classes. If a bus is going to SCCC or even HVCC for Smart Scholars, it would make sense to allow other students to ride also. Ballston Spa, in conjunction with HVCC and its Malta-based TEC-SMART campus, has created a pipeline for Students to get high tech jobs at Global Foundries. We should be looking to make the same type of connections with GE and other world wide companies based in Schenectady County. The new battery plant at GE's main plant should be the first place we look.
* * *
Claire Houlihan
Source
Parents stressed the importance of a strong elementary foundation to learning and the ability that children need to challenge themselves, whether through AP and University in the High School courses or sports and activities.
Parent Michele Kraines urged the board to stay with the 2.93 percent state Property Tax Levy Cap maximum and think of long-term solutions to the fiscal problems facing the district.
Student Liz Parisi reminded the board of the importance of maintaining social work services for students, many of whom suffer from depression, eating disorders, anxiety and other teen issues. "Reducing them would be putting kids at risk," she said.
A budget that now complies with the state's Property Tax Levy Cap
Since early March, Swartz has presented $2.3 million in spending reductions in order to comply with the state's Property Tax Levy Cap. The cap allows a maximum increase in the tax levy of $745,000 in the 2012-13 school year.
Tonight's reductions included the equivalent of 9.4 positions - 2.0 administrative, 5.6 teaching staff, four part-time teaching assistants and additional buildings and grounds summer employees.
In total, 40.3 positions have been eliminated from next year's budget - 3.0 from retirements but rest through workforce reductions; Scotia-Glenville's entire staff is around 500 employees. The reductions account for about 8 percent of the staff:
* 2.0 administrative positions. The total number of administrative positions would be reduced from 18 to 16, with the duties reassigned to the remaining administrators. The state-mandated teacher and principal evaluation program will require up to four assessments for every staff member each year - further a further strain on remaining administrators. That will mean a net savings of $89,380.
* An additional 5.6 teaching staff tonight These are from both core and non-core areas.
So far in the budget process, here are some of the areas impacted by the staffing reductions:
ELEMENTARY: a grade 2 position at Sacandaga will be cut because the class size guidelines increases as those students move to grade 3 and that teacher would not be necessary. An additional elementary librarian (two total) and the OPAL enrichment teaching position was eliminated; the two remaining librarians would continue the I-OPAL program. A retiring full-time reading teacher will not be replaced and 0.4 social worker will be reduced.
MIDDLE SCHOOL: At the middle school, a .2 technology position, 1.0 foreign language (grade 6 exploratory course) and 1.0 guidance counselor.
HIGH SCHOOL: Reductions in these courses would be because of low enrollments (courses must now be taken by at least 15 students to be offered): AP offerings in Java, Statistics and Physics. Students interested in AP Physics would enroll in Honors Physics. University in the High School offerings in Child Growth and Development and E-Commerce.
As well, social studies department offerings in western philosophy, US History-Music and Sociology; Advanced Accounting in the business department; research and design, CAD technical drawing and architectural drawing in the technology department; and advertising/illustration, independent art, Lab in Art A/B and Art History II in the art department. She said perhaps some of these courses will be offered every other year in the future.
Swartz noted, however, that a wide array of AP and University in the High School offerings, which are all college-credit bearing, would continue to be offered.
Overall, the reductions to the high school program are as follows: English, - .4 position; Social Studies, - .6 position; Science, Math and Fine Arts, - 1.0 position each; Family and Consumer Science, - .6 position; Technology, - 1.2 positions; and Physical Education, - .8 position.
Exceeding the levy cap
Voting on school budgets will be held on Tuesday, May 15. Scotia-Glenville's voting on the proposed 2012-13 budget and two Board of Education candidates will be held from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. at the high school gymnasium.
The majority of people in the room said they supported exceeding the Scotia-Glenville's state Property Tax Levy Cap figure of 2.93 percent.
However, board members noted that, before tonight's reductions, that tax increase would have been 5.3 percent - nearly double the cap. If no academic programs were touched, the tax increase would have been nearly 12 percent, an unacceptable level for Board of Education members.
Under the new state property tax levy cap [pdf], school districts must gain a 60 percent approval of their communities in order to exceed the state cap. If they fail to do that, districts would have a second chance to present a budget for voter approval in mid-June. If the budget were defeated twice, the board would be forced to adopt a contingency budget that keeps the tax levy the same as currently - resulting in an additional $745,000 in cuts beyond the 2.93 percent cap level.
Swartz noted that, in order to reduce the tax levy increase to a 2 percent, an additional $232,000 would be needed. To reach a zero percent tax levy increase, $545,000 more in cuts would be needed.
She also said that any restorations to the budget would have to be made with a plan for finding the money.
Board of Education member David Bucciferro said that perhaps local businesses or the All Sports Booster Club would step forward to help fund some of the smaller reductions, like elimination of the elementary intramural sports programs. He also said he'd like to see the .4 reduction in social work services restored, though he didn't know where the funding would be found.
"If we don't pass the budget that we put out, the first time, whatever that ends up being, the second vote (in June) would probably have a lower tax increase and mean more reductions," said Board of Education President Pamela Carbone. "We wouldn't go out with a larger increase the second time around."
Community forums to be held on March 21 and March 24
Community forums will be held from 7-9 p.m. on Wednesday, March 21, and 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, March 24. Both will be held at the Middle School cafeteria. Community members will rotate between three rooms to have discussions of the reductions to the budget, the property tax levy cap and the future of Scotia-Glenville. Attendees will be able to provide their concerns in writing as well.
The Board of Education will continue reviewing the budget on Monday, March 26, and Monday, April 2. Both meetings will be held at the Middle School. The board hopes to adopt the 2012-13 budget proposal on April 2.
|
Jerry Moore (Admin)
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 29599
Registered: 01-2000
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, March 16, 2012 - 9:26 pm: |
|
Budget Articles
Only option is to hurt your children
Community Budget Forums are scheduled for 7-9 p.m. on Wednesday, March 21 and 10 a.m. to 12 noon on Saturday, March 24. They will begin in the Middle School cafeteria.
Don't allow your school board to cut student opportunities without offsetting cuts in salaries. My school district has increased salaries by 20% with inflation of only 4.5%, while cutting student opportunities by $3.9 million over 3 years! Learn more here and get free campaign signs for your district.
By the way, don't ask the school district for the salary information. At best it will mislead you, if not deliberately lie. What you want to know is how much the paycheck of every educator has increased over the past 4 years. If they tell you something like "less than 10%," they don't know what they're talking about. See here.
Scotia-Glenville faces $2.3 budget gap
Layoffs, grade restructuring on the table, school closure talks in the future
By John Purcell / Spotlight News via SGCSD
March 3, 2012
SCOTIA — Scotia-Glenville Central School District is likely facing cuts to teaching positions and programs as it seeks to close a $2.3 million budget gap within the state mandated tax cap.
The district’s tax levy cap for 2012-13 holds it to a 2.93 percent levy increase, which would amount to just over $745,000. A carry forward budget for the district, maintaining all current offerings, would require a spending increase of $2.87 million, which is a 6.1 percent increase. If the Board of Education were to propose a 2 percent tax levy increase there would be a budget gap of around $2.53 million.
“Each year gets harder and harder as we have to make more and more cuts,” Board of Education President Pamela Carbone said. “The easy cuts have already been made, so now we are looking at some really hard cuts that are going to hurt. There is just no way around that anymore.”
Superintendent Susan Swartz said she imagines “there will be something to make everyone unhappy.”
On Monday, Feb.27, Swartz said she isn’t recommending closing one of the four elementary schools next school year, but said the Board of Education should discuss the option after wrapping up work on the 2012-13 budget. The district is “on track” to bring in another 200 students to kindergarten, keeping enrollment steady, said Swartz, but cost savings through closing a school would need to be explored.
“We are just trying to leave no stone unturned,” Swartz said. “It will really take us a year in order to do this and do this well.”
If an elementary school were to close, Swartz said it would likely be Glendaal or Glen-Worden, because students are already bused into the school. Sacandaga and Lincoln primarily serve village residents and have a large portion of students not using bus services.
Swartz is also suggesting a different grade organization within the school, with elementary serving grades K-4, middle school 5-7 and high school 8-12. The elementary schools have less available space available, but the high school would be able to serve the extra students, she said.
“Our elementary schools are a little tighter,” she said. “There are many middle schools that have a 5, 6, 7 combination … I think the thing that people will have to think a bit about is 8-12 for high school.”
Swartz said housing developments in the Town of Glenville could drive additional students to the district, although that development is primarily rental properties.
“If those drive students to the district then potentially I think enrollment wise could go back to K-5, 6-8, 9-12, but not for a while,” she said.
Swartz is going to present her first round of proposed reductions during the Board of Education meeting on Monday, March 5. The cuts will total from $1 million to $1.3 million and include around 22 full-time equivalent positions being cut.
In the school’s 2009-10 budget 5.2 FTE positions were cut. The 2010-11 school year held a larger amount of cut positions at 19.7.
* * * *
Scotia-Glenville may shut an elementary school
By Michael Goot / Schenectady (NY) Gazette Reporter
March 6, 2012
SCOTIA & GLENVILLE — Scotia-Glenville school officials are looking at possibly closing a school and changing the grade configuration of the remaining schools for the 2013-2014 academic year, as the district continues to face fiscal challenges.
Superintendent Susan Swartz said one idea is to shift the eighth grade to the high school and fifth grade to the middle school. This would create a configuration of grades K-4 in elementary school, 5-7 in middle school and 8-12 in high school.
The district does not have a lot of room in its elementary schools but has room at the middle and high school, Swartz said.
“We could handle that configuration. We wouldn’t have to worry about rest rooms for small people, rest rooms in classrooms, the kind of things we have in our elementaries,” she said.
If the district switched to this configuration, it would create space at the elementary schools. It could then shuffle the students around and close one of the four elementary schools.
Swartz said she wouldn’t close Sacadanga, the district’s largest elementary school. She would prefer not to close Lincoln School in the village because students walk there currently.
“To take walking students and potentially add bus runs for them doesn’t make sense,” she said. That would leave Glendaal or Glen-Worden to close.
Swartz is not projecting a large increase in district enrollment. She did note that the last two kindergarten classes have exceeded 200 students and there is potential development of new apartments in Glenville and Scotia that could add to the total. The elementary school enrollment in the district is now about 1,200.
Any changes wouldn’t come until the following year. The more pressing matter for the district is trying to close a $2.3 million budget gap. Everything is on the table for cuts, Swartz said.
Maintaining all of the existing programs and personnel would increase spending by nearly $2.9 million — more than 6 percent. The state tax cap would allow the district to increase spending by $745,000 and require a simple majority of voters to approve.
Among the changes are cancellation of middle school and high school classes with fewer than 15 students in a section unless the course is a graduation requirement. She is also exploring changing the number of periods for middle and high school from nine to eight. The length of the day would not change, but Swartz said it would be fewer free periods and study halls for the district to staff.
On Monday, Swartz presented $1.1 million worth of reductions to the Board of Education. This included not replacing three retiring teachers and reducing support staff to save $784,000, eliminating field trips and late bus runs, reducing the equipment and supply budget and cutting back on use of substitute cleaners to save another $109,000.
Swartz would reassign the duties of the vacant director of technology position to save another $99,000.
Also on the chopping block are summer school, driver’s education and buildings and grounds summer help to save $69,000. In addition, the district is saving another $21,000 because of smaller BOCES costs. That includes not sending another student to Tech Valley High School.
Swartz will present $1.2 million more in reductions at Monday’s meeting.
Board of Education President Pam Carbone said the district has a difficult process ahead of it. “The easy cuts have already been made. Now, we’re going to look at really hard cuts that are going to hurt,” she said.
* * * *
Cuts: Round 2
SGCSD
March 12, 2012
Before dozens of parents, students and community members, Superintendent Susan Swartz tonight presented the second phase of budget reductions - a total of $550,487 - as she and the Board of Education grapple with preparing the 2012-13 budget.
The cutbacks included 9.7 full-time equivalent positions - teaching and non-teaching. Those are on top of the 23.5 reductions already made to next year's school budget.
Tonight's reductions include leaving one elementary library position vacant (three library media specialists would cover four elementary schools), 5.4 teaching positions, one full-time teaching assistant, six part-time positions, the Young Scholars program and an $80,000 reduction to the athletics budget.
Between last Monday's meeting and tonight, the total amount of reductions has been $1.669 million. An additional $630,966 in reductions will be presented at the March 19 meeting.
These reductions are required because the state's property tax levy cap for Scotia-Glenville requires that the tax levy - the total amount of money collected by the school district - not increase by more than 2.93 percent in the 2012-13 school year. To get to that level, a total of $2.3 million in reductions - $848 for every student at Scotia-Glenville - needs to be made to the budget.
Who writes these blatant falsities? The so-called tax cap, which caps absolutely nothing, does not require any public body anywhere to make any cuts! Moreover, if the goal is to meet the tax cap, nothing in the world prevents our professional educators from giving back the excessive raises they were given during the worst recession since the Great Depression.
Last week's reductions included items such as eliminating summer school, driver's education, field trips, late runs and substitute cleaners to not replacing three teachers, cutting support staff, aides and monitors, slicing equipment and supplies by 10 percent and reconfiguring the director of technology administrative position.
Here is the Powerpoint presentation she made this evening [MORE] PDF
Exceed the state cap and give the community a chance to support the schools
Several parents spoke during the open part of the meeting, pleading with the Board of Education to allow the community to vote on a budget that may exceed the 2.93 percent tax levy cap. They said that such deep cutbacks will deter future homeowners from moving here and decrease home values and the community in general.
There is no factual basis for that statement. It's pure speculation. The truth is that the cuts will harm the education of their children and THAT's what they are appropriately most concerned about. They don't care nearly as much about the future value of their homes as they care about the quality of education provided to their children.
Voting on school budgets will be held on Tuesday, May 15. Scotia-Glenville's voting on the proposed 2012-13 budget and two Board of Education candidates will be held from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. at the high school gymnasium.
Board member John Yagielski sought to clarify how a budget defeat would impact the district.
Under the new state property tax levy cap, school districts must gain a 60 percent approval of their communities in order to exceed the state cap. If they fail to do that, districts would have a second chance to present a budget for voter approval in mid-June. If the budget were defeated twice, the board would be forced to adopt a contingency budget that keeps the tax levy the same as currently - resulting in an additional $745,000 in cuts beyond the 2.93 percent cap level.
Swartz noted that she needs to cut an additional $630,966 to reach the cap. To reduce the increase to a 2 percent increase, an additional $250,000 would be needed. To reach a zero percent tax levy increase, $545,000 more in cuts would be needed. In all, a total additional $1.37 million in reductions would be needed to get from where the budget now stands to a zero increase in the property tax levy.
She also said that her plan to decrease the number of periods at the secondary level from the current 9 to 8 will not be able to be done next year. That is because of mandated courses for grade 8 students. And it would make no sense to keep 9 periods at the middle school but reduce the number of periods to 8 at the high school. She expressed hope that the shift could happen in the 2013-14 school year.
Swartz presented a list of programs that she asked the board to think about because further cutbacks may reach into some of these non-mandated areas: kindergarten, elementary librarians, nurses, social work services, OPAL enrichment, UHS / AP (college-preparatory) and business, family and consumer science and technology courses.
"We can't reduce spending by $2.3 million and expect that we will still be able to do everything we are doing right now," said Swartz. "Something's going to suffer...that's just going to have to happen."
Board President Pam Carbone, who has been on the board for 16 years and helped to create many of the programs now being reduced, asked how many board members would be willing to present a budget to the community that exceeds the 2.93 percent cap.
"This is killing me because we've added all of these things over the years to make this a better district; we are just taking away so many things that are beneficial to the kids," she said.
Board members, while not ruling out a higher-than-the-cap budget, said they wanted to see the next wave of reductions before deciding whether to present a budget that exceeds the cap.
Don't forget those not in attendance
Board member Andrew Crapo said that, while he was pleased to see so many school supporters in the audience, the parents in the room do not reflect the cross-section of the community.
"I feel obligated to say something for the people who are not here, who may be living on fixed incomes and been very hurt in this economic downturn, just like we have been in the school district," he said.
He said that school taxes, 20 years ago, consumed about six percent of the typical person's adjusted gross income in Scotia-Glenville. That figure has now risen to 11 percent of gross adjusted income.
"Let's not forget about the people who are on fixed incomes and who have had their retirement incomes cut in half because of the economy," he said.
|
Jerry Moore (Admin)
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 29594
Registered: 01-2000
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, March 07, 2012 - 8:15 am: |
|
Super's Myths
Only option is to hurt your children
Don't allow your school board to cut student opportunities without offsetting cuts in salaries. My school district has increased salaries by 20% with inflation of only 4.5%, while cutting student opportunities by $3.9 million over 3 years! Learn more here and get free campaign signs for your district.
By the way, don't ask the school district for the salary information. At best it will mislead you, if not deliberately lie. What you want to know is how much the paycheck of every educator has increased over the past 4 years. If they tell you something like "less than 10%," they don't know what they're talking about. See here.
Superintendent Swartz presented her first round of budget cuts here [pdf]. She began the document with a dispelling of 5 myths. The one that begs commentary is "The Board of Education and/or Superintendent can freeze or reduce salaries."
Who makes that claim? Nobody. It's a manufactured myth. Everyone with half a brain knows all about the overwhelmingly generous contracts that school boards and superintendents give to administrators and teachers. They have heard repeatedly that these contracts trump your children's rights to a basic and sound education. In other words, the superintendent and school boards believe they are more powerful than the NY Constitution. It's ridiculous and as long as voters let them get away with it, educators will continue to put their billfolds before the jobs they are being paid to do.
So, if nobody makes the claim that school bosses have the power to freeze or cut salaries, why does Swartz create the myth? Because it serves her self-interests. She doesn't want to do the hard work of dealing with tenured teachers to get sufficient concessions. It's easier to cut programs and services for students. So, she leads you to falsely believe that nothing can be done about salaries. She doesn't say that, but she implies it by not pointing out that salary negotiations can start at any time and everyone involved is completely free to agree to additional concessions to preserve programs and services. She wants you to believe that her hands are tied, when they aren't. More importantly, she doesn't want you to know that faculties around the country have agreed to take salary cuts to preserve jobs and student programs. Finally, she wants to eliminate debates over salaries and get down to the relatively easy business of hurting your children.
How long are you going to let educators get away with this? I know that even if you vote NO on CUTs, there is no guarantee that salaries concessions will be made in round 2. But it's the only chance you have, and this year, you have more power than you've ever had to force fiscal changes. Hopefully, we will not waste this rare opportunity.
|
Jerry Moore (Admin)
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 29461
Registered: 01-2000
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 20, 2012 - 12:17 am: |
|
S-G Budget Presentation Compared to Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake
For the May school budget vote, don't allow your school board to cut student opportunities without offsetting cuts in salaries. My school district has increased salaries by 20% with inflation of only 4.5%, while cutting student opportunities by $3.9 million over 3 years! Learn more here and get free campaign signs for your district.
S-G residents should compare the S-G budget presentation [pdf] to the one given [pdf] at Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake. It's like night and day. That's what happens when you have a superintendent studying for a doctorate degree and interviewing for a job in another school district. Something's gotta give and it was the welfare of the school district. She started the budget process late and she hasn't held any budget forums like many area school districts.
You should also compare BHBL's budget page to S-G's budget page. Again, S-G's performance is seriously deficient.
A note to BHBL residents: There are lots of misleading facts in the budget presentation. Your superintendent is slick. Bet you think educators salaries are only going up by about 1%. Very likely, you'd be wrong about that. You can't tell by looking at the increase in the salary line item how much of an increase educators are getting. You have to look at each educator's salary year by year and track their increases, much like I did in the following post. When you do this, you'll find that the average increase in salaries is completely different from the average raises given to educators.
How can that be? Because factors like retirements, advising opportunities, extra work days, teacher retention rates, job cuts and more affect the line item for salaries and these generally conceal the true size of the raises being given away. This obfuscation is entirely intentional because school insiders don't want you to know the truth.
Let's do an example. Suppose I have 12 teachers. 4 earn $50,000, 4 earn $75,000 and 4 earn $100,000 at the top step. Steps are $2,500. My salary line item is $900,000 this year. I have 1 teacher retiring, 1 $75,000 teacher moving and 1 cut of a $50,000 teacher. My salary line item is going up by 1% to 909,000. What's the average size of teacher raises?
Well, next year I'll have 11 teachers. 2 at $50,000, 3 at $52,500, 3 at $77,500 and 3 at $100,000. That comes to $790,000. That leaves $119,000 to be spread over 11 teachers with an average salary of $71,818. So there's $10,818 to give to each teacher, raising the average salary to $82,636. That's an average 15% pay raise plus $2,500 for every teacher except those on the top and bottom steps. 6 teachers are getting the $2,500 step, for a total of $15,000. Averaged over 11 teachers, that's $1,363 a piece. That's equivalent to an average 2% increase, rounded.
I'll bet you didn't see an average 17% pay raise coming out of a 1% increase in the salary line item. The point is that educators can get inflation-busting pay raises even while the salary line item increases at half the rate of inflation. What's relevant isn't how fast the salary line item is rising but how big the raises to individual teachers are.
But what do school districts tell voters? Well, they give them the smallest percentage increase. If that's the salary line item, that's what they report. If all the teachers are getting freezes with no steps, then that's what they report, even though the salary line item could be exploding upwards from new hires, increased paid teacher development days, increased paid curriculum development days, more summer school positions, etc.
How do I know that? Well, your superintendent told you that 83 teachers wouldn't be getting any raises. Ok. So how many teachers are there and what's the average raise being given to all teachers, including steps? He didn't say. What a surprise!
Educators only tell you what's consistent with the image they are trying to convey -- in this case a fiscally conservative district wrenched by mandates, cuts in state aid and tax caps. The truth is almost certainly that your educators have been getting inflation-busting increases in salaries over the past 5 years during the worst recession since the Great Depression.
|
Jerry Moore (Admin)
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 29456
Registered: 01-2000
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, February 19, 2012 - 10:42 pm: |
|
Tech Valley: A work in progress
Experimental high school’s grades mixed
By Sara Foss, Michael Goot / Schenectady (NY) Gazette Reporters
February 19, 2012
Don't allow your school board to cut student opportunities without offsetting cuts in salaries. My school district has increased salaries by 20% with inflation of only 4.5%, while cutting student opportunities by $3.9 million over 3 years! Learn more here and get free campaign signs for your district.
CAPITAL REGION — When Tech Valley High School opened in 2007, officials envisioned it as a place to prepare students for high-tech jobs at new and expanding technology companies in the Capital Region.
* * *
Officials at schools throughout the Capital Region gave different reasons why their enrollment at Tech Valley had lagged.
* * *
The Scotia-Glenville Central School District currently sends two students to Tech Valley — a senior, who will graduate in the spring, and a sophomore. The district is committed to seeing the sophomore graduate, but doesn’t plan to send any more students, largely because of costs.
Tuition at Tech Valley this year is $12,000 per student; school districts receive partial reimbursement from the state based on their BOCES aid funding, which varies from district to district.
But Scotia-Glenville Superintendent Susan Swartz said that even with the reimbursement, paying for students to go to Tech Valley represents a challenge. “We’re so concerned with where we’re going to be budgetarily,” Swartz said. “Even with the minimal restoration of state aid, this is going to be a very difficult year for schools.”
Robert Hanlon, a spokesman for the Scotia-Glenville district, said that after state aid and a transportation reimbursement have been factored in, it is costing the district $17,746 to send the students. “Is that a value we want to put on this, for two kids?” he said.
* * * *
Let's examine these statements.
Our net cost for sending 2 students to Tech Valley is $17,746. Our current budget is $47,080,915 [pdf] for 2,711 students. That's an average cost of $17,367 per pupil. So, sending 2 students to Tech Valley costs us about half as much as our average cost for 1 student, locally. Still, it's cheaper not to send students to Tech Valley because of our fixed costs. We can't shrink buildings or staff based on the reassignment of up to 4 students per year to Tech Valley.
Now, the superintendent continually asks these questions [pdf]:
1. What do we want for our students?
2. How can we best achieve it?
3. How will we know we have been successful?
4. What will we do if we’re not successful?
If you look at the joint decisions between her and the school board during the past 4 years, you can only conclude that what we want for our students is higher paid administrators and teachers and fewer programs, courses and services. In other words, fewer opportunities for students and more money for teachers. There is no other possible conclusion, based on the data.
Full-sized images [pdf]
Over the past 3 years, S-G has cut $3.9 million from the budget while paying full time administrators and teachers $2.2 million more, adjusted for inflation, over the 3 years from 2008-09 to 2010-11. During the worst recession since the Great Depression, our educators have been given average salary increases more than 4 times larger than the rate of inflation.
It's important to note that these excessive costs are recurring, just as are the cuts. The inflation-busting raises never go away. They simply become the new base on which to add future raises.
The superintendent's share of this excessive cost is $15,729 over 3 years. Her average annual salary increase during this period is $6,768. At the rate of inflation, her annual increase would be $1,978.
Notice that the excessive cost above the rate of inflation, $15,729, is nearly enough to send 2 students to Tech Valley. And that's just for 1 of our 218 full time administrators and teachers who have been continuously employed at S-G from 2007-08 to 2010-11.
So, what do we want for our students?
More money for educators, fewer opportunities for students.
How can we best achieve it?
By negotiating contracts in secret and depriving the public of an opportunity to comment on them before the board adopts them. By telling the public that high education costs are the state's fault. It imposes mandates while cutting aid. By never mentioning that the combined inflation-adjusted increases in salaries, FICA and Medicare contributions, and health insurance exceed the $3.9 million in cuts made from 2009-10 through 2011-12.
3. How will we know we have been successful?
When students lose opportunities and educators are paid more money.
4. What will we do if we’re not successful?
Don't worry about it. I've been watching S-G for over 15 years. It has never failed to be successful at protecting salaries at the expense of students. NEVER.
Now you know why we can't afford to give up to 4 students a year the opportunity of a lifetime.
|
Jerry Moore (Admin)
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 29405
Registered: 01-2000
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 13, 2012 - 10:02 pm: |
|
2012-13 budget and district policies
Don't allow your school board to cut student opportunities without offsetting cuts in salaries. My school district has increased salaries by 20% with inflation of only 4.5%, while cutting student opportunities by $3.9 million over 3 years! Learn more here and get free campaign signs for your district.
See S-G educator salaries from 2007-08 to 2010-11 sorted numerically [pdf] or alphabetically [pdf].
Superintendent Swartz (SGCSD) presented the 2012-13 Rollover Budget [pdf] at the Feb. 13 board meeting. She needs an additional $2.9 million (6.11% increase) to run the same programs next year. As presented, anything over about $750,000 will require a 60% super majority of voters to pass. To achieve a 2% tax rate increase, the budget can increase by only $500,000. The budget didn't mention state aid or reserve fund balance--both of which can change these numbers.
The budget says, "We must let some things we value go." Why? So educators can keep their inflation-busting salary increases from 2007-08 to 2010-11? So they can keep getting step increases and signing bonuses for approving contracts? Exactly why do we have a public school? To teach kids or to pay excessive salaries to educators?
I have completed my salary calculations based on the most recent data available from SeeThroughNY, which you can view in the pdf files linked above. The average salary increase for administrators and teachers who were in the district from 2007-08 to 2010-11 was 20%! That's during the greatest recession since the Great Depression! Educators wages went up by one-fifth in just 3 years. You want to know why we have to let some things go? This is why. Take a look at the salaries of our top 20 (out of nearly 250 administrators and teachers), which went up a total of 19% for an average annual pay increase of $5,440.
| Last, First | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | Percentage Increase | Salary Increase | | Swartz, S | $131,858 | $142,914 | $148,614 | $152,163 | 15% | $20,305 | | Castronovo, L | $106,694 | $115,306 | $120,158 | $122,985 | 15% | $16,291 | | Dunham, J | $94,113 | $101,580 | $105,612 | $119,861 | 27% | $25,747 | | Keller, S | $94,192 | $101,694 | $105,805 | $110,732 | 18% | $16,540 | | Fitting, S | $94,606 | $102,113 | $106,167 | $108,539 | 15% | $13,933 | | Tobiassen, J | $92,447 | $99,781 | $103,741 | $108,267 | 17% | $15,820 | | Jenkins, R | $89,498 | $97,884 | $100,635 | $102,890 | 15% | $13,392 | | Comley, A | $89,182 | $96,187 | $99,970 | $102,333 | 15% | $13,151 | | Gatta, M | $84,613 | $91,639 | $95,825 | $100,777 | 19% | $16,164 | | Geniti, J | $85,288 | $92,098 | $95,775 | $98,277 | 15% | $12,989 | | Eagan, T | $83,485 | $90,157 | $93,849 | $96,025 | 15% | $12,540 | | Brooks, K | $81,470 | $90,702 | $93,050 | $95,901 | 18% | $14,431 | | Stedman, R | $79,056 | $85,172 | $86,071 | $95,392 | 21% | $16,336 | | Grant, J | $78,210 | $83,796 | $86,012 | $95,140 | 22% | $16,930 | | Monty, R | $71,265 | $78,269 | $86,284 | $95,014 | 33% | $23,749 | | Francois, D | $82,863 | $89,315 | $92,105 | $94,689 | 14% | $11,825 | | Calhoun, A | $76,201 | $83,731 | $91,585 | $94,644 | 24% | $18,444 | | Zack, C | $75,253 | $82,582 | $90,500 | $92,700 | 23% | $17,447 | | Reidy, M | $77,310 | $83,476 | $85,776 | $92,396 | 20% | $15,086 | | Fortna, B | $76,633 | $86,055 | $88,180 | $91,940 | 20% | $15,307 | | Total | $1,744,238 | $1,894,450 | $1,975,713 | $2,070,664 | 19% (avg) | $326,426 | |
Inflation was 4.5%, folks. S-G top salaries went up more than 4 times faster than inflation. And the superintendent tells us that we have to let some things go. What unmitigated gall.
(I note that some salary increases, typically those over 21%, were likely due to the payment of unused sick leave upon retirement, but a salary increase is a salary increase, no matter how you get it).
BTW, there is no contingency budget this year. If voters defeat the budget twice, even a 2% tax rate increase, the tax levy is frozen. If educators want to cut our programs while feasting on our taxes, then the only thing we can do is to stop increasing funding until they promise to stop it with the pay raises and bloated step increases. The number and size of steps need to be cut in half. That would put teachers on par with other government workers with master's degrees.
Also, the average 2011 annual wage in Schenectady County was $48,724, based on Schenectady best for workers, Schenectady (NY) Gazette, February 8, 2012, Page A1. The 2011 average was $1,200 lower (-2.4%) than the 2010 average. The median household income in Schenectady County is $78,100 (source [pdf]).
Here's a graphic from this post [registration required], showing S-G's superintendent and top teacher salaries, and the average job earnings for Schenectady County. Notice that county job earnings have increased to $48,724 from $46,753, for a $1,921 (4.2%) gain. S-G's top teacher salary is now $95,000, up from $72,477, for a $22,523 (31.1%) gain. The superintendent's salary has jumped to $152,163 from $120,321, for a $31,842 (26.5%) gain in a school district with 14.4% fewer students than in 2001. Does that give you a perspective on the inability of school boards to control educator costs? (Inflation from 2004 to date is 20%).
Here are the updated numbers in constant 2011 dollars. The % change columns show amounts that exceed or fall short of inflation.
| . | 1969 | 2001 | 2011 | % change 1969 to 2001 | % change 1969 to 2011 | % change 2001 to 2011 | | S-G Superintendent | $121,314 | $143,278 | $152,163 | 18.1% | 25.4% | 6.2% | | S-G Top Teacher | $75,030 | $86,306 | $95,014 | 15.0% | 26.6% | 10.1% | | Sch'dy Cty Avg Wages | $53,316 | $55,673 | $48,724 | 4.4% | -8.6% | -12.5% | | NY Minimum Wage | $22,320 | $14,062 | $15,080 | -37.0% | -32.4% | 7.2% |
Over the last decade, the Scotia-Glenville school board has given educators the biggest raises relative to inflation and Schenectady County wages than at any time during the past 40 years! The superintendent's salary has increased 6.2% above the rate of inflation and Scotia teacher salaries have increased 10.1% above the rate of inflation while average Schenectady County wages have declined 12.5%. The minimum wage has risen 7.2%, but it is 32.4% below its inflation-adjusted 1969 level.
If S-G's top-paid teacher still earned 3.4 times the minimum wage, like in 1969, the top salary in 2011 would have been $50,692, not $95,000!
In 1969, S-G's top-paid teacher earned 41% more than the average Schenectady County wage. By 2000, the gap increased to 55%. In 2011, S-G's top-paid teacher earned 95% more than the average Schenectady County wage. Every new contract we are told the deal is "fair." I'd like to know when the school board and the superintendent think it would be unfair. At 200% of the average county wage? 500%? Just how far are educators willing to push this?
Similarly, the superintendent's salary has gone from 227% of the average Schenectady County wage in 1969 to 257% in 2000 and 312% in 2011. Excessive wages not only produce higher taxes and program cuts, but they also put pressure on the pension system, which is a major reason why future teachers will be getting worse pension deals with tiers V and VI.
To comply with the new FOI law, the district has decided to post documents online that it will refer to in board meetings, starting with the Feb 13 meeting. To see these documents, you must first open an agenda, located here, then click on the link within the agenda. For the Feb 13 meeting, the available documents are here.
The school district could have done this years ago, but apparently it took a state law to get it to do what is right.
The district has also published district policies. Unfortunately, this is not a comprehensive listing of all the rules parents and students must follow, but it's a start.
|
Jerry Moore (Admin)
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 29310
Registered: 01-2000
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, February 07, 2012 - 8:47 pm: |
|
School districts expected to do more with less – for a fourth year running
Aid projections show minimal increases as mandates continue to crush schools
Scotia-Glenville Winter 2011-12 Newsletter
As schools brace for the restrictions of a property tax levy cap, the unknowns of a statewide teacher
evaluation system and the need to merge Common Core standards into daily classroom instruction, the state has once again told schools to do more with less.
School aid has been static or declining for four years.
Who writes this fraudulent material? First, schools aren't being told to do more with less for 2012-13. The Governor told them last year that they would be getting more state aid for the coming year. Under the executive budget S-G's aid will be going up by nearly 1%.
Moreover, since 2006-07, S-G's aid had dropped for exactly 2 years, total -- 2010-11 and 2011-12. Every other year was an increase over the prior year. So, it simply isn't true that S-G's school aid has been declining or static for 4 years. When you add in the federal money that schools got to pay teachers, it's not true for almost any NY school district that school aid has been static or declining for four years.
Governor Andrew Cuomo’s budget proposal on Jan. 17 proposed an $805 million increase in education aid for the coming 2012-13 school year. One third of the increase will be for competitive grants, one-third for school reimbursements and most of the rest is targeted to high-needs (typically urban and rural) schools.
Scotia-Glenville, according to projections, is slated to receive a net additional $130,477 or 0.83 percent in state aid, including a lower-than-expected reimbursement for building costs.
The budget proposal continues to include a “gap elimination adjustment” (GEA) for every school district. Every district must pay the GEA “contribution” to reduce the state’s deficit. Scotia-Glenville is required to return $3.117 million to the state from its expected state aid in 2012-13 to pay the GEA.
S-G isn't paying the state anything. The state simply isn't paying S-G the amount it had hoped to receive based on projections from years ago -- pre-recession.
Last year, when Cuomo proposed millions in state aid cuts and the property tax levy cap, state legislators and the governor promised to lift some school mandates that drive up costs. Educators are still waiting for meaningful mandate relief.
Mostly a lie. Nearly every mandate--especially the most costly ones like pensions and the Triborough Amendment--are mandates that educators worked to enact and they will fight long and hard to keep them.
“These are difficult times for everybody – for our community, for our parents, for our businesses and for the state,” said Superintendent Susan Swartz. “However, schools have been placed in a squeeze between the property tax levy and state aid caps on one side and rising costs and the need to provide programs for our students on the other side.”
While everyone understands the difficult economy, “schools and education are an investment in our futures. I can’t believe that the state is willing to throw that away,” added Swartz.
Keeping the lid on taxes, spending
Swartz, who will detail her 2012-13 budget proposal in late February, said the next school year doesn’t look much better than the past several school budgets.
Since the 2006-07 budget, the Scotia-Glenville school tax rate has risen from $19.21 per $1,000 assessed value that year to the current $20.39 per $1,000. That is a 6.1 percent increase over six years or an average of 1.02 percent per year.
Tell 'em how you did it. It's not magic. While the tax rate went up a mere 6.1%, the TAX LEVY went up almost 25%! That's 4.2% a year!!!!! You know how they did it? Mostly by depleting reserves. In 2006-07, $1.6 million of our $24.9 million levy was paid for with district reserves and fund balance. The 2011-12 budget called for $5.1 million of the $31 million levy to be paid for with reserves and fund balance.
My guess is that the district is feeling a sizable squeeze, not because of funding issues and tax caps, but because of diminishing options for reducing the size of the tax levy with district funds. We haven't been living on borrowed money, but we have been living beyond our income by spending down our reserves.
Scotia-Glenville’s diligence has come as the state has frozen or reduced state aid to schools while health care and pension costs for its nearly 500 employees have risen steadily.
So have salaries -- by more than 15% over the past 3 years. The school board keeps handing out raises like nothing has changed on the revenue side. It has been wildly foolish. I expect to publish salary data within the next 2 weeks. You'll be amazed by how big public employee raises can be during the greatest recession since the Great Depression.
The school district’s 2006-07 budget stood at $42.01 million; this year’s budget totals $47.08 million. That is a spending increase of 12.1 percent over six years or an average of 2.02 percent per year.
With a steadily declining enrollment. BUT, it's important to note that budget comparisons have become distorted because of funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which, amazingly enough, is not shown on the budget because it is federal money. NY school budgets don't show total spending. They show total non-federal spending. Federal money has been used to pay for operations previously funded with local or state money. So, spending has been more than reported in the budget data.
As the economy bottomed out over the past few years, Scotia-Glenville has responded:
* In the 2009-10 S-G budget, state aid was frozen, $1.3 million in proposed expenses and 5.2 full-time positions were cut.
* In 2010-11, state aid was cut by $2.3 million. Proposed spending was cut by $2 million and 19.7 positions eliminated.
In one of those 2 years, S-G got $600,000 for converting to full-day kindergarten from transitional kindergarten. That $600,000 is not being mentioned or included in these numbers.
From S-G's budgets, here's the state aid reported:
2006-07 - $16.17 million
2007-08 - $16.84 million
2008-09 - $18.28 million
2009-10 - $19.02 million
2010-11 - $16.71 million
2011-12 - $15.43 million
2012-13 - $15.91 million (executive budget); $16,067,125 (legislative budget)
* In the current 2011-12 budget, budget-to-budget spending was reduced by nearly $250,000 as state aid was cut by $1.27 million – $473 for every Scotia-Glenville student.
Principal positions at Glen-Worden and Lincoln were filled temporarily; one out of two OPAL gifted education positions, a full-time teacher aide, part-time float nurse and teaching assistant jobs were eliminated; field trips and grade 6 Young Scholars were eliminated; and buildings and grounds and equipment budgets were sliced.
But SALARIES WEREN'T TOUCHED. The primary mission of public schools is to enrich educators. You look at what they repeatedly do with success year after year and that's the only conclusion you can draw.
|
Jerry Moore (Admin)
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 28267
Registered: 01-2000
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, August 29, 2011 - 10:13 pm: |
|
Scotia-Glenville school tax rates increase by 1.86% from previous year - same amount as projected in May
SGCSD Press Release
August 22, 2011
The Board of Education tonight adopted school tax rates that are 1.86% higher than the 2010-11 school year, in large part because of historic reductions in state aid.
At the time of the vote on the proposed $47.080 million 2011-12 budget in May, the district projected a tax rate increase of 1.86%. The budget approved by the community in May was $248,245 less than the previous school year's budget.
For the typical homeowner in Scotia and Glenville with a $160,000 assessment, that means a tax bill of $3,262.40 before savings from the state's STAR school tax reduction program.
The Board of Education adopted these tax rates:
Because of changes in the state's equalization rates, the impact of school taxes is felt differently in the three communities that make up the Scotia-Glenville school district. About 99.8 percent of the district is located in the village of Scotia or town of Glenville.
* Glenville: $20.39 per $1,000 assessed value – 1.86% increase
2010-11 Glenville rate: $20.01 per $1,000
* Charlton: $26.50 per $1,000 assessed value – 1.86% increase
2010-11 Charlton rate: $26.02 per $1,000
* Amsterdam: $185.51 per $1,000 assessed value – 0.17% decrease 2010-11 Amsterdam rate: 185.83 per $1,000
* * *
The Basic STAR ($27,300 in 2011-12/$26,460 in 2010-11) and Enhanced STAR ($54,690 in 2011-12/$51,090 in 2010-11) discounts for Scotia and Glenville increased from last year and will result in a slight additional savings for S-G property owners.
A change to the state law this year limited STAR savings to a maximum 2 percent increase each year and also attached a $500,000 family income maximum to the Basic STAR program. There had been no income cap in the past.
The result is that the STAR program in Scotia-Glenville will save $540 for Basic STAR property owners and $1,043 for Enhanced STAR property owners. Last year year, those STAR savings were $530 and $1,022, respectively.
The STAR reduction is taken off the tax bill before it is computed and sent to homeowners.
A word about the state's property tax cap
It should also be noted that the property tax cap approved by the state Legislature calls for a maximum 2% or rate-of-inflation increase in the tax LEVY, whichever is lower.
For the 2011-12 budget, the tax RATE (the amount calculated on the individual tax bill) increased by 1.86% while the tax LEVY (the total amount of taxes collected by the school district) increased by 1.1%.
Changes to Glenville's assessments
Despite a $6 million decrease in the tax rolls from the estimated provided by the town of Glenville assessor in May, the school tax increase was maintained at 1.86% by using an additional $121,000 from the school district's fund balance/rainy day fund.
Businesses and homeowners have until the end of May every year to challenge their property assessments. Courts then must decide on challenges in many cases. Reduced assessments mean property owners pay less in taxes to the school district, town and village.
Since the school budget was adopted, these major assessment reductions occurred:
* The new Mohawk Honda dealership on Route 50 was granted a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) agreement, meaning they will pay an increasing portion of their full tax bill each year over the next several years.
* Walmart's assessment was reduced.
* The McDonald's restaurant on Mohawk Avenue in Scotia was demolished, removing its assessment from the tax rolls.
* A long-standing settlement with Verizon was resolved, resulting in the loss of assessment from the tax base.
Property assessments in Scotia and Glenville total $1.244 billion. The school district expects to collect $24,429,903 in taxes during the 2011-12 school year.
Board of Education extends superintendent's contract, raises salary
SGCSD Press Release
August 25, 2011
The Board of Education on Monday, August 22, extended Superintendent Susan Swartz's contract by one year. Her employment agreement now expires on August 14, 2014.
Her salary was also increased by 2 percent to $154,164 for the 2011-12 school year.
Swartz, a previous administrator at the Shenendehowa Central School District, has been school superintendent at Scotia-Glenville since August 2005. She is the fifth person to serve in that capacity since the school district was centralized in 1950.
|
Jerry Moore (Admin)
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 27905
Registered: 01-2000
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, June 28, 2011 - 11:05 pm: |
|
Board of Education approves two-year contract with Scotia-Glenville teachers' association
SGCSD Press Release
June 27, 2011
The Scotia-Glenville Board of Education and Scotia-Glenville Teachers’ Association (SGTA) have agreed to a two-year contract that includes a small increase in salaries while switching employees out of two popular HMO insurance plans.
The agreement, approved overwhelmingly by the teachers' association on June 17, becomes effective July 1 and expires on June 30, 2013. The previous four-year contract ran from July 1, 1997 to June 30, 2011.
The agreement covers 237 teachers in the SGTA.
“In these difficult times for school districts across the state, we are very pleased that we have been able to reach an agreement with our teachers that reflects the difficult times facing our community while also providing savings for the district," said Superintendent Susan Swartz.
"We have an excellent educational program and feel this agreement adequately rewards that excellence."
The agreement:
• Provides a 1% cost-of-living salary increase in the 2011-12 school year and 0% cost-of-living increase in the 2012-13 school year. In the 2012-13 school year, teachers who do not receive the 'step' increase will receive a $500 payment.
A new teachers' starting salary with a bachelor's degree in September 2010 was $40,400. In September 2011, that will increase to $40,804. In September 2012, the starting salary will remain at $40,804. Higher starting salaries are a key way for school districts to lure and keep good teachers.
A teacher on step 23 with a bachelor's degree in September 2010 was paid $86,344. In September 2011, that will increase to $87,207 and stay there in September 2012.
By state law, teachers advance one 'step' for each year of service.
In the proposed contract, the 'step' increase averages 3.0% across the 23 steps in the teachers' contract. So, Scotia-Glenville teachers will receive the 1% cost of living increase plus the average 3.0% increase in September 2011. In September 2012, the average 3.0% step increase would be the only increase received by teachers with fewer than 23 years; as mentioned, employees not on the 'step' schedule with more than 23 years' experience would receive the $500 payment.
• Eliminates the option of having MVP HMO (Health Provider Organization) and CDPHP HMO health insurance. Instead, employees will be able to enroll in the less expensive CDPHP EPO (Exclusive Provider Organization) as well as the Blue Shield Preferred Provider Organization (PPO).
An HMO is community experience rated, which includes everyone’s overall health experience, while an EPO is based on the smaller group's experience. An EPO, which will offer identical benefits for employees, has a lower total premium - a benefit to the school district and to employees.
The health insurance switch will save the school district $206,000 for the 2011-12 school year and $275,000 per year after that.
Factoring the salary increases and health care savings, overall employee costs would be reduced by $76,000 at the end of the two-year contract.
Teacher contract finalized
BY MICHAEL GOOT, Schenectady (NY) Gazette Reporter via SGCSD
June 28, 2011
Scotia-Glenville teachers will see an average of 3 percent step raises in a 2-year contract unanimously approved by the Board of Education on Monday. The contract affects 237 teachers.
The salary for new teachers will increase from $40,400 during the past school year to $40,804 for 2011-12. For those teachers on the top step, who are in their 23rd year of service, the pay will rise from $86,344 to $87,207. This does not include any stipends or other payments teachers receive for serving as coaches or advisers for extracurricular activities.
In addition, there will be a 1 percent cost-of-living increase in the 2011-12 school year and no increase in the following year. Teachers who have more than 23 years’ experience would receive a $500 payment in 2012-2013.
The existing 4-year pact was going to expire at the end of the month.
Superintendent Susan Swartz said both the district and the union did not want a long-term deal. “We agreed that given the uncertainty of the time, we were interested in settling quickly for a shorter period of time,” she said.
The implications of the recently passed 2 percent property tax cap are yet to be known, Swartz said. One question is whether the cap can be overridden with 60 percent of registered voters or 60 percent of voters in the school board election.
“There seems to be an awful lot of unanswered questions,” she said.
Also, Swartz said she has yet to see meaningful relief from state education mandates. One of the only changes to come out of the legislative session was allowing very small school districts to share superintendents — something that would not affect Scotia-Glenville.
The contract also contains changes to health insurance coverage. It eliminates the MVP HMO and CDPHP HMO plans. Instead, employees will be offered a choice of CDPHP Exclusive Provider Organization and Blue Shield Provider Organization. These plans differ because they take the health care use of a smaller group of people into account in setting the premium rather than the community at large. School offi cials estimate the change will save the district $206,000 for the coming school year and $275,000 for every year following.
|
Jerry Moore (Admin)
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 27701
Registered: 01-2000
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, May 27, 2011 - 9:34 pm: |
|
Scotia-Glenville settles longstanding contract impasse with union
By Michael Goot / Schenectady (NY) Gazette Reporter
May 27, 2011
SCOTIA & GLENVILLE — The Scotia-Glenville school district has settled a nearly 2-year-old contract dispute with its school aides’ and monitors’ union.
The Board of Education on Monday approved the three-year agreement retroactive to July 1, 2009. The 83 members of the union will receive 3 percent raises for 2009-2010, 2 percent for the current year and 2 percent for 2011-2012.
* * *
These employees generally make $9 to $10 per hour, according to Hanlon. Starting this July, the starting wage will be bumped up 20 cents to $9.20 an hour.
Also, employees get additional longevity bonuses after certain specified intervals — an additional 20 cents per hour after their sixth and seventh year; 30 cents an hour after their 10th; 40 cents an hour after their 11th; and 50 cents after their 12th.
The agreement also contains health care changes that Scotia-Glenville has been implementing with all of its bargaining units, according to Hanlon. The district is switching from health maintenance organization plans to exclusive provider organization plans for CDPHP and MVP. The difference is the new plans base the premiums on how much health care a smaller group of public school employees use instead of the community at large.
* * * *
|
Jerry Moore (Admin)
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 27695
Registered: 01-2000
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, May 26, 2011 - 10:46 pm: |
|
You can know the tax cap by its enemies
By Carl Strock / Schenectady (NY) Gazette columnist
May 26, 2011
You can tell the tax cap being negotiated in Albany is for real by the reaction of New York State United Teachers, whose president, Richard Iannuzzi, declared in response to it, “There’s no question this strikes at the heart of the educational needs of the most vulnerable students, especially children of color and children who live in poverty.”
What is NYSUT worried about? Every year, after 90+% of budgets pass, NYSUT declares that it's because New Yorkers overwhelmingly support public education. (It implicitly has nothing to do with contingency budgets that permit schools to increasing spending even when budgets are defeated). If that's true, then it will be no problem to pass tax increases of 6% or more with a 60% super majority.
When they pull “children of color” out of their union hat, and “children who live in poverty,” that’s a giveaway. And when they refer to “the majority of voters who want to invest in their local schools,” as Iannuzzi also did, that’s another.
Investing is a key word for them, conjuring images of our little tykes growing up to be the productive citizens of tomorrow, as opposed to “spending,” which might conjure images of teachers’ relentless step increases, multiple days off, early retirement and generous pensions, just as the educational needs of children of color is a more sympathetic concept than simply higher and higher pay for teachers, which is what a tax cap really strikes at the heart of.
What exactly is this tax cap that appears close to approval by our otherwise paralytic Legislature? It’s a limit on the amount of money that local governments and school districts can raise through property taxes. Not a limit on the tax rate but on the tax levy, which is harder to dodge.
The limit would be a 2 percent increase over the previous year, or the rate of inflation, whichever is lower, unless a super-majority of voters approve a larger increase, a super-majority being 60 percent for a school district, two-thirds for a municipality.
One significant loophole in the case of school districts is pension costs, some portion of which could be excluded from cap calculations.
It’s significant because pension costs continue to rise at budget-busting rates as the bill comes due for all the giveaways to teachers over the years — all the early retirement credits and incentives and all the generous salaries on which pensions are based.
Still, even a small hike above 2 percent wouldn’t be bad compared to what we’ve been through the past 10 years, when school taxes have risen an average of 6.3 percent a year.
With a cap in place of 2 percent or the rate of inflation you would have to figure that the pay of teachers and administrators could only rise each year by about that much, since the other expenses of running a school district — or a town or city — would naturally rise at the rate of inflation. I refer to the costs of heating buildings, operating buses, clearing snow.
That is no doubt what Richard Iannuzzi figures also. The money simply wouldn’t be there. And — yikes! — what does that do to his members? They would have to live like the rest of us. Never mind children of color and children who live in poverty. We’re talking about the NYSUT membership!
What would happen to teachers’ everloving step increases, those guaranteed annual raises that typically run about 3 percent before their official raises kick in, is an open question. They couldn’t just be canceled. They are guaranteed by the infamous Triborough Amendment, which requires that all contract provisions remain in effect even after a contract technically expires.
As things stand now, with teachers rarely agreeing to even short-term pay freezes, school boards that must cut costs have to lay people off and reduce programs, which is basically what teachers dare them to do, knowing how such cuts will upset parents.
That can only get worse. By law, school boards must pay those step raises, but by law they will not be able to raise the money to pay for them if the tax cap is finally adopted.
Of course teachers’ unions and their confederates on school boards are no slouches when it comes to devising little tricks and sleights of hand to enrich teachers.
In Scotia-Glenville, for example, teachers are allowed 14 sick days a year, which is obviously more than a normally healthy person would ever need, especially considering the shortness of the school year. But they can accumulate unused sick days up to a maximum of 325 days and then, when they announce their retirement, get paid for them at the rate of $20 a day (maximum $6,500) over their final four months, plus get another $500 “attendance incentive,” for a total of $7,000 “to be treated in all respects as base pay.”
And if you need a translation, that means it will count toward their pension, which is based on their average salary for their final three years. An extra $7,000 in pay raises the final average salary by $2,333. If the pension is 60 percent, which is standard after 30 years of employment, then the pension is boosted by $1,400 for the rest of the retiree’s life.
Tier 1 and possibly tier 2 employees can enhance their pensions with unused sick leave. Most of them have already retired.
It’s a little good-bye kiss sneaked into the contract by aggressive union negotiators and compliant school district representatives, who, after all, are operating out of public view. It gives you an idea of why taxes go up and up.
A Scotia-Glenville teacher can be sick three or four days a year and still accumulate enough unused sick days in a 30-year career to qualify for a $7,000 pension booster. Let future school boards worry about how to pay.
The current S-G board of education loves to rob taxpayers and students of their just due and give it away to their friends and relatives on staff. Its members are the pimps for educator wishes, with a couple of exceptions.
I am willing to bet that NYSUT attorneys are racking their brains in search of similar tricks to work if the tax cap should take effect: Pension increases won’t count against the cap, so they’ll figure out new ways to raise the pensions rather than the pay.
But even with that, a 2 percent limit on the annual increase in the tax levy I believe will compel a new way of doing the public’s business in New York. It will no longer be possible for teachers, cops and firefighters, especially, to squeeze the public fisc with the confidence that the rest of us, ultimately, will have to replenish it.
It will change the way teachers’ unions negotiate, and it will change the way state arbitrators resolve stalled negotiations for police contracts, which typically is to order a municipality to pay more without regard to financial condition.
I don’t want to get too excited about this — I never underestimate the ability of governments to undermine their own laws — but I do believe it has promise.
Swell gift to clinic, but why the need?
By Carl Strock / Schenectady (NY) Gazette Columnist
June 2, 2011
* * *
Not so fast
I wrote a few days ago that the Scotia-Glenville teachers contract provides for retiring teachers to get paid up to $6,500 for unused sick days plus another $500 in “attendance incentive” and further that this extra money “will be treated in all respects as base pay,” in the words of the contract. I took that to mean it will boost the retiree’s pension, since the pension is a percentage of the final average salary.
“That may have been the intention,” the union president, Eric DeCarlo, tells me, when the contract was adopted four years ago, but that’s not the way it has worked out, because the Teachers Retirement System, which manages the pension operation, does not accept the contract provision.
Bob Hanlon, spokesman for the school district, agrees. “Our contract is incorrect,” he said. “The TRS [Teachers Retirement System] has a ruling that does not allow that.”
Indeed, the Teachers Retirement System has a rule that “buyouts/termination pay” don’t count toward final average salary.
Scotia-Glenville can call the extra $7,000 “base pay” all it wants, but that doesn’t make it so in the eyes of the people who actually make the decisions.
So the teachers get the extra money, but it is not part of their official final average salary, and therefore it does not boost their pensions.
The union tried, and the school district tried, to make it happen, but it didn’t work. They are in the process of negotiating a new contract now, and Hanlon told me, “That will be cleaned up in the new contract.”
Too bad. I thought it was a very cute dodge.
* * * *
|
Jerry Moore (Admin)
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 27566
Registered: 01-2000
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, May 04, 2011 - 11:14 pm: |
|
Meet the Candidates Night
I attended meet the candidates night and the hearing on the budget. As for the budget, it is below the contingency budget amount so, vote for it or not, it will become the budget, with a minor $50,000 variance if the budget fails twice. There is no reason to bother with a budget vote.
As for school board candidates, I found them all to be ill-informed, to make false assumptions and to say things based on their ignorance. Not one of them seemed to know that the proposed 2 percent property tax cap allows for a voter override of the cap. This is the way school boards routinely operate. They make assumptions about the things they don't know (but can easily find out except they don't bother), then they take positions based on their false assumptions, then they make decisions that affect your taxes and your children based on their misguided positions. There was not one candidate running for the school board that I would trust to balance my checkbook, let along create budgets that affect the lives of 2,800 students.
Finally, I agree with the majority of voters. The school budget election can be totally ignored. Spend the time with your families.
|
Jerry Moore (Admin)
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 27337
Registered: 01-2000
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, April 05, 2011 - 9:19 pm: |
|
Board of education adopts final budget - taxes would rise 1.86%
Scotia-Glenville CDS
April 4, 2011
Schenectady Gazette article
The Board of Education tonight unanimously adopted a 2011-12 budget that uses part of the district's state aid restoration to add one of the two OPAL teaching positions that had been previously cut.
The budget will go to the voters on Tuesday, May 17.
The spending plan totals $47,080,914, a $248,246 spending decrease from the current school year's budget of $47,329,160. The budget includes one-time revenue of $810,000 from the Education Jobs bill last August.
A public hearing on the budget will be held at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, May 4, at the middle school.
If the budget were approved by the community, the Glenville tax rate would increase by 1.86 percent or an estimated 37 cents per $1,000 assessed value. For the typical Glenville home with a $160,000 assessment, that means an increase of $59.45 per year, before savings from the state's STAR tax reduction program.
After the Community Forum on the Budget last Monday, March 28, board members agreed to reduce one grade 6 position in exchange for restoring funding for the grade 6 foreign language program, 1-2-3 Success program and the grades 6-12 summer school program.
Superintendent Susan Swartz said tonight that the restoration of about $400,000 in state aid, as a result of the resolution of the state budget, meant that one OPAL gifted and talented teacher could also be restored. That position will work with students at all four elementary schools in grades K-2; the library media specialists at each elementary school will work with OPAL students in grades 3-5.
She also said she was hopeful of finding money within the transportation budge to restore late bus runs at the middle and high schools for two or more days per week. The buses now run four days per week.
The proposed budget would increase the tax levy by 1.57 percent in the 2011-12 school year. Tax rates, as mentioned above, are what is on annual tax bills and what is used to compute a tax bill. Tax levy refers to the entire amount of money that a school district collects in taxes. For the current year, Scotia-Glenville collected $25,156,037 in property taxes; the proposed budget would allow the district to collect $25,550,902 in property taxes.
There has been talk in the state Legislature of implementing a property tax cap, which would cap the amount of increases that could be seen in the tax levy part of school budgets. A property tax cap would not control tax rates.
The property tax cap, as proposed by the governor and passed by the senate, would not directly control tax rates. However, it is possible to write tax caps that cap the growth of both tax levies and tax rates.
Those are calculated by several factors, including property value growth and equalization rates. Equalization rates, effectively how current and up-to-date property values are in a community, are set by the state in August.
Voting will be held from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Tuesday, May 17, at the high school gym. The community will consider the proposed budget as well as filling three seats on the Board of Education.
|
Jerry Moore (Admin)
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 27302
Registered: 01-2000
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, April 03, 2011 - 12:35 pm: |
|
Scotia-Glenville school board poised to restore some cuts
By Michael Goot / Schenectady (NY) Gazette Reporter
March 28, 2011
Budget Q & A
Scotia-Glenville's 2011-12 budget response form
Community Budget Forum of March 28
Budget Forum Materials
Budget Development 2011-12
SCOTIA & GLENVILLE — Sixth-grade foreign language, summer school and a program that helps children with emotional difficulties were removed from the chopping block Monday by the Scotia-Glenville Board of Education.
However, the board stopped short of adopting the budget — currently proposed at about $47 million — preferring to wait until it learns later this week how much aid the district will receive from the state.
Based on some very preliminary information, Superintendent Susan Swartz said the district may receive about $240,000 in additional aid. She cautioned the board about relying on those funds.
“We’re not going to budget money we don’t know really exists,” she said.
The board’s decision to wait until its meeting next Monday followed a 90-minute public forum during which residents expressed concern about the potential elimination of two instructors who teach the gifted and talented program.
Swartz proposed having the library media specialists take over those duties, which Swartz noted is the case in school districts such as Schenectady and Menands.
Jennifer D’Arcy of Glenville said her first-grade son is very advanced and can read the Harry Potter books on his own. He becomes bored in regular class but enjoys Fridays when he is in the gifted program.
Gifted children should not be overlooked, she said.
“I just don’t see how those needs are going to be addressed for those kids,” she said.
Swartz said the district remains committed to developing a program for these advanced learners but acknowledged it would not be perfect right away.
Other options the district is considering are accelerating students by a whole grade or by a course subject.
Linda Lewis, a retired school psychologist from the district who now volunteers there, said she understands the concerns about holding the line on taxes. However, eliminating the 1-2-3 Success Program, which serves about 50 elementary school students with emotional issues annually, is not a good idea. The program provides one-on-one time with those students identified as at risk of not completing school.
“The research has consistently shown that preventative programs such as 1-2-3 Success are helpful,” she said.
The board agreed to restore 1-2-3 Success.
Swartz also proposed a compromise to bring back summer school and the sixth-grade foreign language program. The district has a relative small class of fifth graders that will move on to sixth grade next year so they can have one fewer sixth-grade teacher.
However, it would create two teaching teams — one with four teachers for math, science, English and social studies — and the other one with teachers for math, science and English. The social studies responsibilities would have to be shared among those three for that team.
With the restorations, the tax rate increase would be 2.03 percent.
The board agreed only to restore one gifted and talented teacher if it receives additional state aid.
|
Jerry Moore (Admin)
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 27072
Registered: 01-2000
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, March 01, 2011 - 10:27 pm: |
|
Superintendent presents 2011-12 budget
Read the Powerpoint (PDF) of the superintendent's presentation [HERE]
Scotia-Glenville CSD News
February 28, 2011
Superintendent Susan M. Swartz tonight presented a school budget for the 2011-12 school year that included a wide-ranging list of potential reductions in three phases that would bring the tax increase to slightly more than 2 percent.
The Board of Education asked her to return on March 7 with an additional $50,000 in "Phase 4" reductions to bring the possible tax rate increase to 2 percent or below. Members said additional potential reductions would also give them an opportunity to restore some of the reductions she had proposed by substituting other reductions for them
Swartz mentioned that there may be additional saving in health insurance costs and additional revenue from the increasing tax base in Glenville.
"I do not propose any of these reductions lightly. We are trying to keep as much of our program in place for kids while still making some reductions to lessen the impact on the tax rate and the community," she said.
Swartz said she was hopeful that the state's Mandate Relief Team would offer some cost savings by lifting expensive mandates on schools. However, since the team had only met twice and was expected to issue a report by March 1, she was not hopeful of any substantial relief for the 2011-12 school year.
She also felt that the Triborough Amendment to the NYS Taylor Law, which guarantees step salary increases for teachers and other public employees after a contract expires, would also be considered for review and/or repeal.
|
Jerry Moore (Admin)
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 26961
Registered: 01-2000
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 14, 2011 - 8:18 pm: |
|
Athletic leagues, school reach deal
BY MICHAEL GOOT Schenectady (NY) Daily Gazette Reporter
2/14/2011
Scotia-Glenville school officials plan to sell property adjacent to Beukendaal Field, resolving a dispute that had threatened to evict two local athletic leagues.
The Scotia-Glenville Junior Tartans and Scotia-Glenville Softball League found out last summer that members would no longer be able to use buildings housing their concession stand, announcer’s booth and bathrooms because they did not conform to state Education Department building codes. Though the buildings are safe, they lack handicapped access and an emergency exit on the second floor. Because they are technically school property, they have to adhere to code.
League officials asked the Scotia-Glenville Board of Education if it would sell them the property for $1. After a few months of discussion, the district plans to accept the offer at its meeting tonight at 7 p.m. at Glen-Worden Elementary School.
The school district will sell the leagues the two buildings, the parking lot and the driveway to the property, according to district spokesman Robert Hanlon.
“The entire parcel will revert back to us if the groups cease to exist or we give three years’ notice if we want it back,” he said.
Do you know what the district did with that clause, assuming Hanlon is accurate? It created a sham sale. There's no real transfer of ownership and if anyone is injured in the buildings as a proximate cause of violations of State Ed regulations, the school district will be sued--at least if the lawyer is more competent than the lawyers who told the school district that this deed constitutes a transfer of ownership. The district may win or loose the case based on a sham transfer of ownership, but that's not really the point. The point is it will have to spend thousands upon thousands of dollars to be removed from the case or to defend it, if any such case ever arises while the property is under the control of the leagues.
I'm all in favor of helping the leagues, but you really have to make a transfer of ownership, you can't just do a wink and a nod and say it's a transfer while retaining the right to call back the property with notice.
The district would retain ownership of the fields, which are located next to the district’s bus garage on Sacandaga Road.
A stipulation is the buildings cannot be used for private purposes, Hanlon said. The town of Glenville has to approve a subdivision of the property, which is the next step pending school board approval.
Roughly 300 people are involved in either softball, flag football or cheerleading through the leagues.
Brian Burns, president of the Junior Tartans, said Sunday he was unaware of the news.
Softball league president Ed Rosenberg could not be reached for comment.
|
|
Closed: New threads not accepted on this page
