Cuts could cost schools millions

Local school districts are scouring their budgets, looking for places where they can save after word came down last week that Gov. David Paterson will likely try to cut school aid mid-year by more than a half billion dollars statewide as part of his $5 billion Deficit Reduction Plan.

“During a time of uncommon difficulty, we need to work together for the common good and enact a consensus plan that helps us avoid the severe consequences faced by other states that failed to swiftly address their budget problems,” Paterson said in a statement last Thursday. “This will mean hard and painful choices, but that is exactly the type of leadership New Yorkers deserve from their public officials.”

Locally, the cuts would be extremely unpopular among school district administrators, who hope they can be avoided. “It’s my hope that this cut is not going to materialize,” Sewanhaka School District Superintendent Warren Meierdiercks said. “We’ve made significant cuts in this budget already.”

Sewanhaka has had an especially hard time among local school districts because of cuts it was forced to make before the school year even began. If the district has to tighten its belt even further, Meierdiercks said, the impact on the district would be deeply felt. “If we have to absorb that cut, it would just mean significant impacts on everything we’re going to be doing for the second half of the year,” he said.

According to Meierdiercks, the cuts would mean a loss of 9 percent of the district’s total state aid for the year. He said that the school board had not yet met to discuss what programs, if any, would be affected or might be eliminated altogether. All told, the school stands to lose $2.6 million if the cuts pass.

Ultimately, Meierdiercks said, he did not believe that the state Legislature, which has to approve the governor’s cuts with a vote, would follow through on them. “We’re hoping it’s not going to occur, we do not think it’s going to occur,” he said, “but right now I do not have a plan, nor does the board because we haven’t spoken.”

State Sen. Craig Johnson (D-Port Washington) said the state Legislature is poring over the governor’s suggestions now, looking for ways to save money while limiting the ways in which state schools are affected. “No one wants to cut school funding midstream,” Johnson said. “We are examining the governor’s overall proposal as well as exploring other options that will close this budget deficit without imposing additional taxes, or fees.”

Johnson added that the governor’s budget suggestion was doubly disappointing for Elmont because of the lack of consideration for Belmont Park, which could boost school funding with increased attendance and gaming.

Assemblyman Tom Alfano (R-North Valley Stream) also had some choice words for Paterson about education funding. “School aid cuts mean only one thing — higher taxes,” Alfano said. “Cutting our schools is not the right decision for our communities. Education is the great equalizer in society.”

Ultimately, Alfano said, he believes that local parents and administrators had every right to be upset over the possible cuts. “Schools are concerned, and they should be,” he said. “When you cut schools you are only making easy decisions today that will have drastic consequences tomorrow.”

Paterson, in his defense, said that many New York schools have undesignated budget surpluses from last year that are larger than the cuts they face. But that fact fails to account for any spending on capital projects or unexpected expenditures that might come up this year.

Local elementary districts are taking a hard look at spending on supplies and trying to keep it to a minimum everywhere they can. Elmont School District Superintendent Al Harper said the possible cuts have come as a surprise, but not one the district was totally unprepared for. Elmont would stand to lose $1.1 million.

“This is catching us all out of left field,” Harper said. “There’s always the possibility, so you try to curb spending in the beginning when the budget is being prepared so you don’t have to do anything in the event that it does happen.”

Whatever happens, Harper said, parents in the district should rest easy knowing that programs will not be affected at all this year. “Nothing such as class size, teachers, nothing instructional at all is going to be touched,” he said. “The last thing you want to do is touch anything in the classroom.”

In Franklin Square, Interim Superintendent Anthony Pecorale said his first action after the announcement of the possible cuts was to freeze spending at district schools to mitigate the possible loss of $392,000 with the cuts. “As of right now, only items that are absolutely essential for the operation of the schools are approved until further notice,” Pecorale said. “The biggest challenge is going to be for us to meet with our teaching unit and see what we can do.”

The freeze was one of many options that Franklin Square is considering to save money. Another, Pecorale said, is to talk to the teachers union to determine whether salary negotiations could help prevent job cuts or a cutback in benefits.

“The teachers union has a role to play in this,” Pecorale said. “We’re going to open a dialogue with the teachers union because it’s in their best interest to save any positions.”

He added that the district is exploring the option of using natural gas to heat school buildings instead of fuel oil, and possibly equipping some compressed-natural-gas school buses in the coming years. Once the school has slowed spending, Pecorale said, it’s a waiting game to see if the state Legislature enacts the cuts.

“It’s tough to deal with a lot of what-ifs,” he said, “and that’s where we stand right now.”

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