Major Problems with the “Master Plan”
As I read the latest flyer from the anonymous “residents against waste” I find serious problems in their plan. On Thursday Feb 3 the school board voted to enact the ‘default option’ should the bond fail. That means for the next five months my team and I will begin to plan for 2 primary schools (prek-2) grades 3, 4 at Jackson avenue, a 5,6,7 building and an 8-12 high school. The enormity of the task should not be taken lightly. Everything will be based on enacting the default option. The budget, personnel excesses, new class and building assignments for students, new times for schools, new bus routes, master schedules for all buildings, all the preparations for physically moving equipment and supplies and many other things I haven’t gotten to yet.
To suggest a new school board could change this is extremely misleading. If and when a new board is seated it will be July 1. How could all of the items listed above be reversed in two months? The most obvious will be the budget. It will be based on a minimum of 14 teacher reductions (retirees and excesses). The only way to keep all the current programs and reduce that many teachers is to change the configuration of the schools. To suggest just closing Cross and “giving the opportunity to assess its reconfiguration plan while keeping the tax levy as low as possible for 2011-12 without raising additional taxes in the current economic environment” doesn’t work.
The rhetoric in this flyer is clear that at least one group of residents wants to keep a 1-5 school configuration. Keeping a grade1-5 configuration and producing budgets with modest tax levies CANNOT happen. (Is anyone paying attention to a 2% tax cap?) To suggest that failing this bond will somehow alter that is just wrong. The majority of the school board has already voted to move to a default option. To try and reverse that decision come July 1 would be detrimental to all children and ultimately the district.
This bond addresses concerns voiced by many residents. Namely they do not want the 8th grade in the High School and the 5th grade in the Middle School. The debt incurred with this bond will replace the current debt already in the budget when we pay off the 2006 bond. Some residents wish you to believe that the Board and I are Chicken Little professing that the sky is falling when it really isn’t. When we finalize the 2011-2012 budget for the 4th year in a row we will deliver a tax levy at or near 2.5%. More importantly- the next budget WILL NOT decrease any programs we have for students. No other district in Nassau County can say the same thing.
I just finished the Letter to the Editor from the Board of Education in the 2/16/11 edition of the Mineola American. I must assume it is from the entire board as it is signed by it’s members.
A new plan was revealed to simply close Cross St and also take $2 million from our undesignated reserve and use it to offset the tax levy.
If we did this and left Jackson, Hampton and Meadow open as 1-5 schools and keep Willis as Pre-K and K, what will we do next year when the money we could have used to create greater long term savings was spent on a “one shot” to close one budget.
I find it hard to believe that the Board of Education has come up with this plan outside of the open meetings I attend. Isn’t there a law in this state about open meetings?
I feel like I’m at the doctors office being told I have bone cancer in my leg. He asks me what I want to do and I tell him I want to keep both my legs. He recommends amputation as a way to assure a long healthy life.
I ask for an alternative and he suggest a magic pill that will make me feel great for about a year, but I would likely die at the end of that year.
I say cut off the leg, it’s not what I want, but it insures my future viability and life.
Don’t force a $2 million dollar pill down my throat. Make the cuts needed today to save our district from tomorrow.
John C., the comments about retaining Marching Band and Sports, at least by me, refer to the claims made by the “Resident(s) Against Waste” which bundled the issues of the bond proposal with upcoming elections.
My concern is that we unite as a community and pass a reasonable budget for all of our children.
There seems to be some misunderstanding about what yesterday’s bond would or would not have accomplished.
Yesterday’s bond vote had no effect on which schools are closing or staying open. Meadow, Hampton and Jackson are staying open. Cross and Willis are closing. The School Board and Administration already made that decision, and this bond would not have changed it.
Yesterday’s vote only allowed the community to decide if it wants to spend $4.4 Million in order to keep 5th and 8th Grades where they are. Since the bond failed, these two grades will now have to move just like all the lower grades from Pre-K to 4 are already going to have to move.
The Board earmarked the $4.4 Million specifically for constructing additional classrooms onto Jackson. Not marching bands or sports or Pre-K.
According to the Outreach, the school district will save $37 Million over 10 years since the bond failed. It would have saved $25 Million over 10 years if it had passed. So technically, the so-called “default option” is more cost efficient.
As others have said, we cannot go backwards. We have to move forward to ensure a smooth transition for our children in 2011-2012.
I was disappointed to see that the bond vote failed yesterday.
I didn’t get to read the “Citizens Against Waste” flyer but from what I read here I don’t agree wth it.
My hope was if we passed this bond we could have a stable, more cost efficient school district for years to come. Now we will have to work with the “default option” that some wanted and some didn’t. Low voter turn out and a relatively close vote shows that we will have work to do in the future.
I think there may be some eucational advantages to have the 8th grade moved up to the High School. I hope that they overcome some of the social problems I feel will arise.
Either way it is time to move forward. While I was in favor of keeping all schools open and paying a bit more in taxes, obviously not everyone felt the same. We have moved beyond that now. I feel that trying to turn back the clock will be both inefficient and disruptive to the district.
I have no problem with citizens sending out anonymous flyers about the issue. This is a free country and they are free to give their opinions. I don’t have to agree with them and in this case I don’t, but I agree with their right to do it. It’s not like I read a lot from people who supported this bond. Maybe if more people spoke out in favor of the bond we would have had success.
The focus now should be on getting the next budget passed and working on the plans for next years reconfiguration. I would like to see a smooth transition for all the children, especially with the amount of children that will be effected.
Whatever the outcome today, let’s focus on passing a reasonable budget.
There are a lot of citizens out there who are not represented by the “Citizens Against Waste” and not represented by the current bond option proposed by the CCC committee.
There are reasons to vote “No” on this bond other than hoping for a 7 building configuration to remain in this district and other ends that have been viewed as a means to destroy extra curricular activities, full day kindergarten and other programs that we enjoy in this district
Some are voting “No” because they want to preserve program and save more money than what this bond option leaves us with. They don’t want to spend $4.4 million dollars on construction when we have a 1/2 empty High School building and they don’t want to forgo $12 million dollars in savings over 10 years in order to avoid moving the 5th grade to the Middle School and the 8th grade in the High School. There are educational advantages to having the 8th grade in the High School and regardless of where the grades end up the programs will be “educational sound”, as Dr. Nagler put it. For some, the “default option” (and I wish there was a more optomistic term for it…maybe the Lower Spending Option or the Higher Savings Option) is the preferred option.
Seems like there are quite a few that disagree with the “Residents Against Waste”. I don’t know how many people are represented by the Residents Against Waste but they surely got their message across. I can respect that some people feel the need to remain anonymous. Unfortunately, that hinders our ability to have any intelligent conversations about the current situation. My question is, if the Residents Against Waste can organize, why can’t those of us who disagree with them organize?
Dr. Nagler, I agree with you 100%. Other districts are cutting programs, cutting after school activities, increasing class size, and closing schools. In my opinion, this bond we are voting for is the best in cost savings for Mineola while keeping the best programs for the children. I thank the board for giving us the opportunity to vote and have our voices heard.
I hate to say it but it is now time that the rest of the Mineola School district to wake up and see this situation for what it truely is; an effort by a small but very organized group to ruin our schools and destroy our property values. Theirs is a conscious effort to mislead people that there is an alternative to the new financial realities . That somehow a return to the old status quo is the answer. Or, even more bizarrely , if we merge with the Herricks school district all our problems will simply disappear. This anonymous cabal is working very hard to mislead the residents of this district. Please don’t be fooled. The people of Mineola have worked too long to have this hard won effort pulled away at the last moment. Nothing less than our children’s futures are at risk. Imagine our schools without the programs that our kids are allowed to pick on their own. We should be ashamed of ourselves to let this group of malcontents , and their spiritual leader, put us and our kids at risk. They bring nothing of value to the table. Their ideas, like their economics, are bankrupt.
What I find particularly offensive about this little cult is that they are pushing for higher tax levies so the rest of us can subsidize their lifestyle. They expect our kids to sacrifice Marching Band and Sports so theirs can walk down the block to the fourth grade.
Ya know Mary, I find it hard to believe people have stayed with this group. Those who are bearing the flag are willing to throw the children under the bus to make their point…(even though there may be no bus if they get their way).
The true test will come when the budget vote arrives. If this community remains complacent and allows a vocal few to decide the future of this district, they will have nobody to blame but themselves. Should apathy prevail and the people do not turn out and vote, then a small group of irrational people will dictate the future of our entire district. The future that they envision is fraught with danger and ill advised ideas.
The programs that we will lose in austerity are 50% of what the colleges look for when accepting students. Grades are #1 and the extracurricular activities on their resumes are #2. No child of Mineola will be able to compete without the current programs we offer. The silent and anonymous minority don’t seem to care about that.
Terry, Will and Chris have made tough decisions. John has fought against anything without any regard for the impact and Irene just keeps asking “what are we voting on?”
Will and Terry will hopefully run for another term, even though I wouldn’t blame them for giving up. If you don’t allow them to see this reconfiguration through and replace them with another patsie to John, you will doom this district, it’s children and yes, your home values. It’s time for everyone to stand up and say, “ENOUGH”, let’s move forward and try to survive the new state mandates that will ruin many school districts. Mineola is on a path to meet both the state mandates and the expectations of our children. I assume that will be a rarity over the next two years in Nassau County. Don’t allow a small group of malcontents to stop a viable course of action to survive the current fiscal disaster our state and county are in.
It is hard to believe we back here again. The point we have gotten to and the reasons why we are here have been played out in Board meetings for years. Those of us who have followed closely remember and understand why we are here. Those putting out the flyers and encouraging a no vote on the budget are at the very least uninformed or misinformed or intentionally trying to misinform. How can anyone think that a school district can maintain a status quo in today’s financial environment? With state aid being cut, a possible tax cap, increased unfunded mandates, increased burden of pension and retirement costs falling on school districts…. we are so lucky to have been able to come up with a plan to become more efficient while maintaining program instead of grappling last minute and cutting programs (PreK, full day K, music, sports, foreign language) to cut costs. And it has been a process – a 2 year long process with so much community input along the way. And may I remind everyone that keeping 5th and 8th grade where they are came up as a top priority from parents over and over again. The bond vote on Tuesday is simply giving the community the chance to say whether they value that so much that they are willing to have some construction costs. If not, then the “default option” will go into effect. And perhaps “default” has a negative tone. When actually what these two options really are are the 2 options presented by the CCC – a committee of parents, teachers, principals, community members coming together and working together. I just hope common sense prevails. We cannot go backwards, we have to move forward.
Yes Pat, this group is truly willing to destroy our schools. The last bond vote they screamed about the loss of home values. Just try and sell a home in a district with no Pre-K, Half day Kindergarten and no sports, or possibly transportation.
People need to see the whole plan of a group before they hitch their wagon to it. As of right now, several of them have broken ranks since hearing about the past two “secret society” meetings and finding out the true agenda. Now that they have left, they are naming names. Not too many of which come as a suprise to me.
Remember the 160 name petition? 148 northern names and many are already expressing regret for signing now that they are hearing this groups true goals.
Bravo, Artie. The plan of Anonymous is to elect two BOE members who can personally afford whatever tax levies are necessary to protect the status quo, representing their own interests rather than that of the average taxpayer, and frankly, without regard for our ability to pay levies that would exceed 7%.
Any fool who would campaign against a reasonable budget has no respect for our community and its children. No child gets to be ten or fifteen again. And if this renegade “group” is concerned about home values, consider what would happen if austerity caused us to gut the Middle and High schools.
The BOE finally chose a plan very close to what the CCC requested. That plan was well-considered by about 30 people over 30 hours, and was about a compromise that would honor some of the interests of most of the community.
This anonymous mailer is no better than an arsonist, always an ineffective person who sets fires and watches the effects from afar.
What the anonymous mailers failed to include is their master plan, ie:
1. ELIMINATE PRE-K
2. CUT KINDERGARTEN TO HALF A DAY
3. FAIL THE BUDGET, NOT JUST THE BOND
4. ELIMINATE MARCHING BAND, SPORTS AND VIRTUALLY ALL EXTRACURRICLUAR ACTIVITIES IN AUSTERITY
Beware people, the Wolf’s at the door and it’s time you all wake up and see him for what he is.