Purvis Outlines Deep Cuts in School Program if Tax Cap Prevails in Scarsdale
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According to Linda Purvis, Assistant Superintendent of the Scarsdale Schools, the tax cap will force local school districts to make some “difficult and grim decisions.” And a look at the numbers she presented at a November 19, 2011 Board of Education meeting shows that complying with this new provision could cut deep into the educational program and undermine some basic tenets of a Scarsdale education, including small class sizes, rich academic and emotional support for students, as well as extracurricular activities and sports that give depth to the student experience.
From reader comments on Scarsdale10583.com it is evident that there are widespread misunderstandings about what the Board can do to cut expenses. Many point to high teacher salaries and benefits. However, the teacher contract is not up for renegotiation until next year and the tax cap has been imposed for the coming year, leaving the Board of Education with an “expense gap.”
Though the state has imposed the cap, they have not offered any mandate relief, and the district’s contribution to the employee retirement system and teacher retirement system will grow dramatically with the 2012-13 budget, both rising 14%. In fact, total mandated expenses for the district are $26 million out of a $134 million budget. These include pensions, benefits and a $12.5 million special education budget that is non-negotiable.
According to Purvis’ most up-to-date estimates in 2012-13 the school district would need to increase the budget by $11 million to maintain the educational program now in place. Under the cap, the district would only be able to raise an additional $2,500,000 over the 2010-12 budget necessitating $8.5 million in cuts.
Here is a preliminary list of what might go if voters don’t elect to override the cap:
- Extracurricular activities including sports and the arts: $1.6 million
- Community services including the Teen Center, youth outreach program, use of public buildings for sports and other activities: $350,000
- All non-essential building maintenance including painting and floors: $250,000
- All technology investment and cable television: $350,000
- 12 service support positions: $900,000
- 35 classroom aides: $500,000
- 42 professional positions (teachers, librarians, elementary language teachers): $4.2 million
- Consolidation of bus routes, leaving children on longer bus rides: $200,000
Voters can approve a budget that exceeds the cap with a super majority vote of 60%, and in prior years the community has approved the school budget with over 70% saying yes. Clearly economic woes have worsened, but if the past is any indicator of the future, an overriding majority of Scarsdale residents value the public schools and will come out to support the district at this critical juncture. Last year when the Board proposed a very modest relaxation of the class size provision for elementary school students there was a loud public outcry. With the prospect of firing 42 professionals, class sizes would clearly go up, a pill that many district parents are not willing to swallow.
The school district has scheduled two community forums in January to garner your feedback – the first will be on the night of January 11, 2012 and the second on the morning of January 18, 2012. Mark your calendars so that you can participate at those sessions and please do submit your comments below to start the discussion.
Question: What do you think? Should the Scarsdale Board of Education submit a budget that complies with the 2% cap or maintain the current educational program and ask the community to vote to override the cap?
School Board Nominating Committee Urgently Needs Candidates
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The November 21, 2011 deadline is fast approaching and the SBNC Administrative Committee still needs candidates to commit to running for the School Board Nominating Committee from all five neighborhoods.
As an editorial in the Inquirer dated Jan 11, 2008 so aptly says:,“ Please keep volunteering!” It’s not just great schools that make Scarsdale a great place to live. “It’s the people, well-informed and well-educated, who understand that they have to give back to their community if they want it to continue to flourish. There are some things money can’t buy, and the volunteer structure that keeps Scarsdale special is one of these things.”
Please make the commitment to volunteer and run for SBNC NOW! The necessary forms can be found at the SBNC’s website at http://scarsdalesbnc.com/join-the-sbnc/. Also, feel free to contact the SBNC Administrative Committee Co-chairs: Nan Berke at [email protected] or Michael Pollack at [email protected].
Now is the time for YOU to step forward and volunteer for the SBNC—don’t delay! Fill out the forms today or encourage at least one neighbor to run for School Board Nominating Committee TODAY! The SBNC is interesting, stimulating and very rewarding.
-SBNC Administrative Committee
At Greenacres BOE Meeting, the Impending Budget Looms Large
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On Monday night the Scarsdale Board of Ed held a meeting at Greenacres Elementary School with parents and residents of that neighborhood. The meeting’s agenda was fairly procedural; a review of the minutes and the approval of a gift of a large, $3,000 flat-screen TV with mount for the Middle School. The Board also presented an education report on World Class Teaching for World Class Learning. This was part of a series of education reports the Board is presenting to the community to illustrate how we can change the schools’ orientation to produce students who are not only curious, but take a sophisticated view of the world’s problems and are better able to design complex solutions to real world problems. It is something that has taken a lot of work and it is an initiative of which we can all be proud.
But the big news of the evening came early on when the parents at the meeting questioned Superintendent Michael McGill and the Board about the impending tax cap and what the budget may look like if an override doesn’t pass.
Without getting into too many specifics—actually with just broad strokes- McGill painted a fairly grim picture. He explained that last year he had outlined a budget that contained about $3.5 million in cuts and said that those who saw it were not pleased by the depth of these cuts. According to McGill, to comply with the tax cap, Scarsdale Schools would need to cut double that, or about $7 million. This would definitely lead to larger class sizes, cuts in all areas and increased out of pocket costs. To refresh, the legacy benefits and healthcare costs will exceed the 2.5% cap that Albany enacted.
When a parent asked if the community would be able to see this budget Board President Spieler agreed that while it is important for the community to see what kind of cuts are involved, she does not want to present a doomsday-type budget out of context. She fears that people will focus on the items affecting their children/schools and fail to see the broader picture of how each item could affect another.
In April 2011 Spieler presented a report titled “What happens to our schools with a tax cap.” This report outlines a couple scenarios. In one scenario the budget 
would need to be cut by nearly $8.4 million, eliminating:
- Plant improvements, roof and plumbing repairs
- Extracurricular clubs, arts activities and sports, community service
- Funding for the Teen Center and Student Outreach team
- Staffing for professionals and support positions
Though this was just one scenario, not the actual budget, it was a wake-up call to what could be down the line for the community.
The Board’s next step is to educate the community about what to expect if there is not sufficient community support for an override of the tax cap. Given today’s economic and political environment that could be a real possibility. McGill and Spieler stressed that educating children are their primary focus but it seemed clear that the cap is weighing heavily on their minds.
There will be community forums to discuss the matter and educate people on what to expect on January 11th and 18th, 2012. Details to follow.
Jen is a freelance journalist who has covered the economy and markets for over a decade at a major financial news outlet. She lives in Scarsdale with her husband and 2 children. Jen has yet to bake a successful batch of cookies.
Teachers' Pay: Top Salaries For Top Performers?
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A recently released analysis of teacher’s salaries in New York State for 2010-2011 showed that Scarsdale teachers are the highest paid teachers in the state, earning an average of $126,261 per year. Edgemont was also in the top ten, with average teacher salaries reported at $107,652. Westchester County has the highest average salaries in the state, with County teachers earning an average annual salary of $96,088.45. For these calculations the salaries are for teachers only, not administrators.
We spoke to Scarsdale Schools Superintendent Michael McGill about the salary data, and here is what he told us:
Scarsdale has offered highly competitive teacher salaries for decades, a practice that's been discussed at Board meetings, in other public forums and in publications. The objective has been to attract, hold and reward excellent teachers.
The number one ranking also goes back many years. An investment in teachers has seemed sound, especially in view of the salaries paid in other fields, like professional athletics. Further, past boards, and by extension, the community, have historically taken the view that salaries, and thus the quality of teachers we are able to hire, are the most important factor leading to the success of the Scarsdale school system and its students. Additionally, somewhat higher salaries have bought the district unusual flexibility with regard to contractual work rules.
The salary levels reflect many factors. Among them:
- The district tries to hire seasoned, proven teachers with excellent track records; it rarely hires people with little or no experience.
- Many teachers have advanced education beyond the MA, and the district creates financial incentives to encourage and reward professional growth throughout teachers' careers.
- Salary incentives are also used to reward master teachers and teacher experts for providing their colleagues with extensive mentoring, peer coaching and other extended professional development.
- A number of positions that would be classified as administrative in many districts are held part-time by teachers in Scarsdale. This reduces administrative costs -- Scarsdale has one of the lowest, per pupil, in the region -- but it also has a material impact on the level of teachers' salaries.
In the last round of negotiations, both the Board and the faculty organization recognized that Scarsdale risked getting too far out in front of the rest of the market and made a specific goal of bringing salaries into closer alignment with the top of the market. In its first year, the new contract began to reduce the disparity. However, the recession intervened. Salary growth in other districts flattened in ways nobody could have predicted, so that even with the $2 million plus reduction teachers took voluntarily in 2009 and 2010, salary growth in Scarsdale has been larger than growth elsewhere, relatively speaking, since the start of the recession. The size of the gap will be a priority in the next negotiations, which occur next year.
Halloween Hijinks at SHS
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Scarsdale High School Seniors didn’t let snow, downed wires and power outages interrupt their Halloween festivities at SHS on Monday morning October 31. Seniors showed up in a dazzling array of costumes – dressed as superheroes, movie stars, angels, gangsters, Keystone cops, leopards and more. They hooted, romped and reveled in front of the school, despite freezing temperatures and black ice.
Take a look at our gallery of costumed seniors below:
