Sound Shore

The Mamaroneck school board and the teachers union are at an impasse in their labor negotiations and will move into a mediation process. The board announced today that there are substantial differences over wages, pension and health benefits, work schedules, and “phasing out a retirement award that provides 25% of salary at retirement.”

Here is the letter circulated by the board:

March 16, 2012

Dear Community Members,

As many of you are aware, the Board of Education and the Mamaroneck Teachers’ Association (“MTA”) have been engaged in collective bargaining for a new agreement for almost a year. The current agreement between the parties expired on June 30, 2011. Since last April, the District negotiating team has met with the MTA nearly 20 times.

The Board approached these negotiations with the goal of reaching a fair and equitable settlement.  We reviewed the relevant financial data with the administration and counsel to understand both the short and long term financial needs of the District. Our review indicated a critical need to slow down the growth of the single greatest factor impacting the District’s budget: teacher wage and benefit costs. Addressing this cost factor is essential to enable the District to achieve a sustainable model of compensation into the future.

Despite the parties’ best efforts, the Board of Education and the MTA have mutually concluded that continued “face to face” negotiations at this time will leave the parties no closer to a deal. At this point we are still far apart on issues relating to wages and slowing down the growth of salaries, on contributions and changes to health and prescription drug coverage, on phasing out a retirement award that provides 25% of salary at retirement, and on time/scheduling issues that would allow the District to make efficiencies and increase student contact time with teachers. As a result, the parties have jointly filed for impasse and will seek the assistance of a New York State appointed mediator.  The mediation process will begin early next month.

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Port Chester teachers from the John F. Kennedy Magnet school are planning a personal visit to Albany this week as part of an effort to press for more state aid to the district. Parents like Nydia Alvarez, pictured below with her son, Aidyn Richmond, are planning to collect letters from their neighbors.

Alvarez is featured in today’s Journal News article. Her son is in Head Start at the Carver Center in Port Chester, and Alvarez is concerned about the impact the cut will have on her family and others. The lobby effort has been galvanized by the plan to move from full- to half-day kindergarten and to shut down the Early Learning Center, a part of the John F. Kennedy Magnet School. Parents are planning a “Save Our School” fundraiser.

The board will meet again March 28 and April 19 as it develops a budget plan. It will meet tomorrow on afternoon for a special session. On the agenda is an agreement with the union representing 15 school administrators.

Three-year-old Nadia Ortiz, at right, was one of the children who appeared at the podium during tonight’s Port Chester school board meeting as parents gave an emotional appeal to keep full-day kindergarten in place next year.

A switch to half-day kindergarten is by far the most serious cut being proposed as the Port Chester district prepares a 2012-13 budget. The move would save $1.7 million and eliminate the equivalent of 26 full-time jobs. Overall Port Chester is looking at $2.1 million worth of cuts and 30 staff positions.

School board members listened to a presentation by Superintendent Edward Kliszus on a draft budget, and officials emphasized that they hoped to ease the cuts by lobbying for more state aid.

Another child, 4-year-old Aidyn Richmond, was lifted to the microphone by his mother and summed up the community response better than anyone: “I deserve a full day,” he told the board, smiling.

One mother said she works in a medical office and questioned whether she might lose her job as she is forced to pick up her son at 11:30 a.m. every day. Nadia’s mother, Stephanie Rodriguez, wants to continue her studies at NYU. She did not attend kindergarten and ended up being held back a grade, she said. Rodriguez said she worried about children who will not be given the right preparation at a critical age, particularly those who rely on bilingual programs.

The district’s plan would close a building known as the Early Learning Center, which serves about 300 kindergartners and first-graders and uses a former Catholic school building rented from the Archdiocese of New York. It’s part of the John F. Kennedy Magnet School, which received a coveted “blue ribbon” designation recently. It serves a high-need population, with 75 percent of families qualifying for free or reduced lunch.

Parents and teachers begged the board to find another way to save money, saying the loss of full-day kindergarten would hurt the very foundation of education in Port Chester; cripple bilingual programs; threaten the household budgets of working parents and single mothers who rely on the full day, and diminish what has been created at the magnet school.

School board members said kindergarten, not mandated by New York State, was one of the few places where sizeable cuts were even possible, and that it would be more harmful to spread the damage throughout district and the grade levels. The district will save $300,000 just in rent at the ELC.

Blanca Lopez, the school board president, pointed to the tax cap and reminded listeners that it would result in cuts for the next five years.

“It should really be Gov. Cuomo who should be sitting here listening to all of you,” she said.

Other cuts envisioned in the $80.9 million spending plan affect the “educational intervention” programs, out-of-district placements through BOCES, and buses that take students to “out-of-zone” elementary schools.

The budget presentation is available on the district website.

As Port Chester prepares for difficult choices in the 2012-13 school budget, Assemblyman George Latimer has made an appeal to Speaker Sheldon Silver for $2 million in additional state aid to help prevent large-scale cuts.

The district faces dozens of layoffs in order to manage a $2.3 million shortfall under the tax cap. Latimer echoed a call by school officials to tap into a state fund set aside for competitive grants, saying the money should benefit high-need school districts:

The proposed 2012-13 New York state budget has set aside for $250 million in aid to be used for competitive grant allocations among school districts. While the concept of competition for resources can motivate districts to identify innovative solutions and strategies to improve educational performance, there are districts in great need of merely maintaining their existing base of services to students. Port Chester is one such school district.

Superintendent Edward Kliszus is scheduled to release a recommended budget at the school board’s meeting Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in the middle school auditorium.

Mamaroneck parents with children in private schools are blasting a plan to save $150,000 for the district next year by having about 100 sixth- through 12th-graders switch to public transportation. The school board has not made any decisions, but heard a recommendation from Superintendent Robert Shaps to save a total of $700,000 by making that change and by fully outsourcing school-bus service.

Criticism at Tuesday’s board session centered on the logistics and safety of moving children off district bus routes, and the minimal savings that would result. No parent, said one speaker, would let a 12-year-old ride a public bus or train alone. The change would apply to students at six private schools, listed in today’s Journal News story: the French American School, German School of New York, Rye Country Day School, School of the Holy Child, Iona Preparatory School and the Ursuline School.

Larry Farkas accused the school district of treating children like “packages  on a UPS truck.” His own children and grandchildren attended public schools, but he said he spoke in defense of taxpayers who send their children to private schools. With the means to afford private school tuition, they tend to be the higher-paying property owners in town, he said.

Margaret Kaufer, who has two children at the German School and three in public schools, said the impact would go beyond grades 6-12, as routes would be adjusted for younger kids. The change would put more cars on the road, making it less safe for children walking to school, she said. And she questioned how well students would be able to learn, after a bus/train journey of up to two hours each way. “I implore you to consider the educational impact of this decision,” she said.

One board member, Linnet Tse, commented that although the savings would be a tiny fraction of the budget, the plan is part of efforts to stay within the tax-levy cap, which allows Mamaroneck about a $2 million spending increase. Board President Robin Nichinsky responded to a comment that the board was being “cavalier,” saying the panel was listening carefully to the comments.

CSEA union members also turned out to protest the idea of fully outsourcing bus service. The district says it will cost about $2 million over the next 10 years to maintain its own fleet. Shaps emphasized that safety was a top priority and that the district would keep its own mechanic and dispatcher on staff. Union spokeswoman Jessica Ladlee raised doubts, saying, “The transportation of your children, it’s not something you want to bargain-shop.”

Got something to say to your state and county government reps?

State Assemblyman George Latimer and Westchester County Legislator Judy Myers are holding office hours – “Coffee with George and Judy” – on Saturday:

9:30 – 11 a.m., Ruby’s Oyster Bar and Bistro, 45 Purchase St., Rye

2 – 3:30 p.m., Nautilus Diner, 1240 W. Boston Post Road, Mamaroneck

Latimer is also speaking Friday at the League of Women Voters’ monthly “Issues Breakfast” at 8:15 a.m. at the Mamaroneck Diner, 405 E. Boston Post Road in Mamaroneck. Cost is $8.

No appointment is required for either. For information on the , call Assemblyman Latimer at 777-3832, or Legislator Myers at 995-2802.

Assemblyman George Latimer brought the school budget discussion straight to the students today at Port Chester middle school and high school, acknowledging that this is not foremost on their young minds. “It’s not talking about Jeremy Lin,” he told them. “It’s a little harder, it’s less cool, but it’s important.”

The students needed no convincing, it turned out. A Q&A with the state lawmaker ventured freely into the challenge of unfunded mandates, the needs of immigrant students and the injustice of an education system funded mainly by property tax, and therefore riddled with inequities.

Latimer made references to the wealth of neighboring Rye as he argued for more state aid to high-need districts like Port Chester. “To have the same opportunities – that’s what’s at stake here,” he said. District and state representatives have encouraged a grass-roots show of support for state aid that would alleviate cuts being contemplated to meet the new state tax cap.

Students questioned why budget cuts always seem to threaten programs they care about most – sports, for example, and the renowned marching band. That prompted a discussion over mandated vs. discretionary expenses.

Senior Elizabeth Vincento, who plays clarinet in the band and is vice president of the student senate, said she can’t imagine school without such programs and the socializing they provide.

“The school bond wouldn’t be there as much, without everyone getting together and interacting,” agreed Chris Mott, the student senate president. Chris said the budget conversation reminded him of what it will mean to become an eligible voter when he turns 18 in July.

The option of exceeding the 2 percent tax levy cap through a 60 percent override by the public didn’t even come up in the discussion. Chris and Elizabeth were not surprised, noting the local voting dynamic. “You’re pushing the envelope. There’s only so much you can do,” Elizabeth said.

“In Port Chester there’s a lot of people who can’t vote, and a lot of people who can vote (tend to) vote the opposite way of what you want them to,” Chris said. “A lot of the old people with no kids, they’re not going to vote to pass this. They don’t want the increase in taxes.”

“Maybe if we have a town meeting,” he added. “I don’t know if that’s even in the cards. A town meeting?”

The Port Chester school board, for its part, plans to read a letter today a forum being held by Latimer in New Rochelle, pressing for state aid. The text is posted below. (more…)

Blind Brook schools chief William Stark tonight outlined a $40 million draft budget for the 2012-13 school year that stays within the statewide tax cap and avoids any major cuts. The plan raises the tax levy by 1.71 percent and marks a 1.23 percent increase over the current year’s budget. It would not require an override of the 2 percent state tax cap (which would require a 60 percent majority vote by the public on May 15). But any additions in expenses, without equivalent cuts, would change that equation.

With only 6 percent of revenue coming from state aid, the district is shielded from some of the impacts that other districts are facing this year. Health and retirement benefits costs are not rising as high as anticipated, easing the need for cuts that had been explored earlier, administrators said. (Earlier projections would have cost the equivalent of about eight full-time positions.) Under the plan going before the school board for review, class sizes and staff levels would stay about the same.

Among the changes:

Three full-time positions would be cut: An elementary school teacher, due to declining enrollment in the lower grades; one of two foreign-language instructors at the elementary level, reducing the frequency of those classes; and one school psychologist, whose responsibilities for students with disabilities in a category known as “Section 504” would be transferred to the guidance department.

Added positions include a one special education teacher, one middle school teacher and two high school teachers.

The budget presentation and documents will be posted tomorrow on the Blind Brook website.

The Port Chester school community is bracing for a budget that could bring layoffs, a switch to half-day kindergarten and the loss of benefits and full-time status for aides and nurses.

No announcements have been made yet, but presumably the 2012-13 budget will conform to the 2 percent statewide tax cap and make some serious cuts in the school program. A draft 2012-13 budget was due for release Thursday night, but the school board said it was still reviewing the options and awaiting decisions on state aid. Students and parents have been enlisted in a lobbying push, which now focuses on  $250 million in state funding that could go toward districts in need. Or not.

Rather than announce a plan for budget cuts, the board heard a presentation by Port Chester High School Principal Mitchell Combs that was decidedly more cheerful.

Combs gave an update on efforts to create an International Baccalaureate program that could eventually replace Advanced Placement. (See an online presentation here.) He also charted several years’ worth of improvements in the high school’s graduation rate, numbers of college-bound graduates, AP enrollment and other benchmarks. The high school, where 13 percent of students are in some form of ESL studies and many students come from low-income households, has been a focus of the board for years.

Some highlights:

The percentage of graduates with a Regents diploma went from 82 percent in 2004-05 to 94 percent in 2010-11.

The four-year high school graduation rate went from 67 percent among the class entering in 2001 to 84 percent among those entering in 2006.

Overall, Combs described the state of the high school as “strong.”

Superintendent Edward Kliszus will release a draft 2012-13 budget March 8. Residents vote on the board’s adopted budget May 15.

School budgets are likely to get lots of attention and scrutiny this year, and here’s another way to keep up in Blind Brook. The board of education meetings will be broadcast live, starting Monday, Feb. 13, when the superintendent is scheduled to discuss a proposed 2012-13 budget.

Blind Brook meetings have been available on video, but now they will be televised live on Cablevision Channel 77 and Verizon FIOS Channel 27.

The district may begin live-streaming the meetings via Internet in the next few weeks, depending on the success of the broadcast.

The website keeps budget documents on this web page and the next agenda here.