Let’s not forget what is driving the bus.
In all of the discussions about how we reconfigure, let’s not lose sight about why we need to reconfigure. Although it is very early to calculate these numbers, here is what the 2011-2012 budget looks like now.
- Loss of ARRA aid monies in 2011- 650,000
- Loss of ARRA special aid monies in 2011- 480,000
- Reduction of state aid- 2010-2011 amount is $600,000 less than year before
- No assurances that State aid will not be reduced further
- Most recent pension notification states 2011-12 will be a “significant increase over 8.62”
- Health costs expected to increase in January 1, 2011 NYS Empire plan predicts as much as a 13% increase.
- Contractual obligations to pay accrued sick days when staff retire
- GASB 45- eventual requirement to accrue for post employment benefits
- Possible property tax cap
If we rolled over our current budget at 5.5% next year’s proposed budget would be 84,535,644. Right now our revenue would be approximately 6,400,000, making our levy $78,135,644. That is a 6.9% tax levy increase. In order to get the levy to 2.5% we would need to make reductions of $3,244,939. Even with closing a school in 2011 this number will be a challenge to achieve.
Passing the proposed bond will NOT affect the tax levy next year. In fact by the time we borrow the money we will have paid off the current $10,045,000 bond. This will allow the new payments to take the place of the old bond payments. More important, this bond will add a revenue source (renting Meadow) to help offset the loss of Federal monies, thereby reducing the levy and the amount we would need to reduce.
Mr. Duff.
Thanks for your post on teachers and the benefits they earn. They absolutely deserve it. I am also not a teacher but defend these teachers who deserve everything they get.
I would also like to say you are a credit to the children of Mineola. I really enjoy reading your insightful posts on this board.
Well, thanks Jim, for the thoughts. A thorough look at SeethroughNY.com could be very illuminating in regard to the contracts that are available to the municpal unions here in New York. And it’s silly to suggest that anyone would ask someone to work for nothing but it’s great hyperbol. And though you may not be a teacher I can’t help but think you have a dog in this fight somewhere. And I too have a great respect for the teachers of the Mineola school district. Both of my children are products of Mineola schools and in fact my son is still at the high school. So l am well aware of the level of professionalism that exists in the school district. But that changes nothing. The point of my note was that these benefits are entitlements and that the Municipal unions truely feel that they are entitled to these benefits regardless of the consequences. And the consequences are real and they are breaking us as a school district and as a nation. These pension benefits were originally created generations ago when the life expectancy was probably twenty years less than it is today. These fiscal problems will be impacting these kids for their entire lives. Now , as students , where the programs that make going to school enjoyable and exciting, are at risk because of contractual demands and in the future where,as taxpaying citizens, they’ll be asked to pay these absurd pensions and benefits. Their elders have done a very poor job as stewards of their futures. Hey, maybe we can create an elective course at the high school called: Municipal pensions and benefits…or how our parents mortgaged our futures.
I disagree that this decision will have negative psychological and social consequences on children. As for property values I remind you that East Williston has a 5-7 8-12 model and people do not purchase homes there because they can’t afford the taxes. Mineola has one of the lowest tax rates on Long Island and this plan will maintain that, thereby making it attractive to perspective buyers. There are many reasons why a cluster model is beneficial to students. I am just finishing a post that will appear shortly. Here is the link to the article that Ms. Sheehan referenced. http://edfacilities.com/pubs/trends2007.pdf Please read it yourself and see that it actually supports the current bond proposal. Lastly, we are currently in the middle of a bond vote that cannot be stopped. I have spoken with Debbie on several occasions and I believe the plan has some merit. BUT- it is also a gamble not to vote for the current cluster configuration with the hope the second one will pass. Please remember that because this bond generates the most savings and it will be attractive to many people on a fixed income looking for tax relief. Any bond that keeps the 5th and 8th grade as is will generate sustainably less savings and I believe will garner fewer votes. Ultimately it is in everyone’s best interest to make the current buildings bigger. If both bonds fail the result will be a less than ideal space utilization (regardless of it is Willis or Hampton) and we will probably need to save monies in the reserve to make the space better. I know that doesn’t make the choice any easier but please think carefully as you cast your vote.
We have all heard the “fiscal” reasons for what is “driving the bus.” We have all heard why the Board has decided to pursue a bond that will reconfigure the way they have stated. Now I would like everyone to hear what the parents are stating about this.
The majority of Mineola parents are speaking against the new reconfiguration. It is a poor decision that will have negative psychological and social consequences for our children. Yes, it may save the district financially in the future…but it will also impact our property values since many other families will turn away at buying a home in a district with 5th graders in the middle school and 8th graders in the high school. Our children are not ready for such a move…not in these times. The district also stated at a board meeting that they had no prior experience with this setup…therefore, this will come as an “experiment” for them as well as our children.
If reconfiguration needs to be done, then at least reconsider a different format. One possible one is the following:
The “Tobar Plan” – Full Cluster Model
5 day Pre-K for all/Kindergarten at Willis (2 years)
1/2/3 at Jackson (3 years)
4/5 at Hampton or Cross or Meadow (2 years)
6-8 at the MS
9-12 and administration at the HS
According to this setup, the costs would be less and it keeps the 5th graders and 8th graders the same—not move up!
A recent article in the Mineola American (9/15/10) was written by a Mineola parent who also expressed herself very eloquently about why she is also against this reconfiguration. I thank her for taking the time to express her points about this for all of us.
And so, I urge Dr. Nagler and the Board to rethink about putting the 5th graders in the middle school and the 8th graders in the high school. If clustering needs to be done, then opt for a better format. Also, please look over the “Tobar” plan. Thank you.
To John Napolitano, you are 100% right teachers should work for free and they shouldn’t get any benefits at all! As a matter of fact why don’t they pay us for the privilege.
There is a big difference between pensions/benefits and welfare. The first is earned the second is given.
It is true that times are hard finacially for everyone but I don’t think that the current country wide fiscal crisis is in any way the fault of our teachers. Going forward as a district we may have to work with our teachers on more responsible contracts in these difficult times.
P.S. I am not a teacher but I am glad we have such great teachers in our schools.
I will agree with John C. to the point that no single board member is entirely to blame for our situation. That said, at the close of the last teachers contract, in the Mineola American, May 30, 2008, the member in question was reported to have said:
“McGrath felt comfortable voting for the contract because, he said, the board was able to get some concessions from the teachers that will allow the district to close schools if the board chooses to.”
Correct me if I’m wrong, I believe concessions are items given back to a community to save money on a contract. If a member of the board who accepted those concessions refused to implement them, he/she would in fact be responsible for failure to bargain in the best interest of his/her constituents.
He is further reported to have stated in the May 15, 2009 “Meet the Candidates” piece:
“He believes it has gotten to the point where the board cannot make additional cuts to the budget without closing a school. ”
So, I will stop short of placing all the blame on one board member and simply suggest he is significantly culpable.
I didn’t choose to target an individual board member. He chose to write a letter that was nothing short of propaganda.
We deserve better.
There’s an article in today’s Newsday entitled “Back To School: New Fiscal Reality”. It lists out the 3 main reasons why school costs keep rising: “1. Pay raises for unionized teachers and other professionals – always the biggest factor in school budgets; 2. Larger required school district contributions to state-run employee pension funds; and 3. Higher employee health insurance premiums.” Just to set the record straight, these are the facts and no single board member is to blame for the situation that Mineola and other school districts across Long Island are in.
Karla states:
“There were financial decisions inappropriately made and now the district is trying to make up for those mistakes. We should all ask why this is happening.”
I agree, we should all ask.
Ask the man who voted to expand the district while on the board of education.
Ask the man who refuses to admit this mistake and would rather fight to maintain the status quo.
Ask the man who has sat through the collective bargaining sessions which resulted in 80.4% of our budget paying salary and benefits.
Ask the man, his name is John McGrath!
Recently, John McGrath, Trustee to the Mineola School Board wrote a long and inaccurate article in the Mineola American. Specifically:
• However you feel about the Willis Ave School please remember Mr. McGrath was on the Board when the school was built.
• Mr. McGrath espouses his long-term experience on the Board. Is that why we have one of the highest costs per student in the country?
• Mr. McGrath’s opposition to defending a fellow trustee in a lawsuit has now boomeranged costing the school district thousands of dollars. He now continues to inaccurately attack other Board members.
We can only hope that Mr. McGrath sees the light and either resigns or gets voted out of office and is replaced by someone who will represent the whole community.
It these difficult economic times we need Trustees on the Board that value the entire community they represent and will work to achieve both an excellent educational program for the students and an affordable community budget.
I hope everyone has a chance to read the article in the Mineola American( 8-25-10) written by John McGrath, Mineola board member. There are many important points mentioned, for example, it shows that there is disagreement within the board about the proposed bond.
I feel that we have always voted to pass the Mineola school budget year after year. However, the district is now having to make up for their financial troubles by closing schools and supposedly “saving” in the long run? There were financial decisions inappropriately made and now the district is trying to make up for those mistakes. We should all ask why this is happening.
I am also strongly against the 5th grade in the MS and the 8th grade in the HS. These children shouldn’t face additional stress of being with older children due to “clustering” and “saving money.”
It seems the input from the community is not being taken into consideration. We shouldn’t be facing these choices.
And therein lies the rub. All of this great weeping and nashing of teeth revolves around money. We are all being distracted by the debate regarding the closing of local community schools that we are continuously missing the larger issue of contractual obligations . If the district was not under such incredible financial pressure because of these contractual obligations some of these school closings and bond issues would not be necessary. Of all the obligations that Dr.Nagler mentions in the post above the one I like the best is the payment for accured sick days not taken.At a time when the unemployment rate is hovering around 10% and federal and state governments are operating with trillion and billion dollar deficits respectively, we are being asked to pay people for not having called in sick ?! Truth is always stranger than fiction. Though it must be acknowledged that many of these obligations are state wide mandates for all municipal employees we must begin to contact our school board and our other local and state representatives and tell them that we’ve had enough. In the 1960’s and 1970’s the complaint was that we were turning into a Welfare state. The kids of this century should now be concerned with two new behemoths that will make the Welfare state look like a lapdog. Penfare and Benfare. Pensions and benefits.