RSS 2.0 FeedMarch 31, 2011, Bellmore Life
School districts give back to save classes, teachers
Savings was expected from the savings to avoid further cuts.
Concerned that cuts in state aid to schools will alter the educational abilities of local school districts, the CHSD Board of Education put its destiny in its own hands last week by announceing that district teacher and administrative unions would decline their contractual pay increases for 2011-2012 in the hope of saving teachers’ jobs and classroom sizes.
A total of $840,000 in savings was expected from the savings to avoid further cuts, and enable the district to save some student programs while lessening increases in class sizes, said a prepared statement from the board.
The unions include the Bellmore-Merrick United Secondary Teachers (BMUST), and the Bellmore-Merrick Association of Building Administrators.
Mike Dolber, president of BMUST, e-mailed a statement to Bellmore Life saying that the “teachers have agreed to forego their negotiated salary percentage increase for the 2011-12 school year. Teachers offered to forfeit a scheduled increase of approximately 2%. In addition, the administrators have also agreed to forfeit a salary increase for next year. As a result of these actions, the district will save over $800,000.
“The union understands the difficulty the district is facing due to rising costs and the large cuts in state aid in Governor Cuomo’s budget, and we believe that this forfeit was the right thing to do in this current financial situation.
“We understand the potential burden placed on our taxpayers by the massive cuts that the state is imposing. By taking this action, we have helped the district to maintain educational programs, to reduce the size of a large number of classes, and to maintain the jobs of our colleagues that would otherwise have been lost. We are confident that all of this will serve to benefit our students and our community.”
Fewer job cuts coming?
While Bellmore Life reported in its February 23 issue that a first draft of the 2011-2012 CHSD budget reflected numbers suggesting 13-25 teachers’ jobs could be eliminated, and class sizes increased, a spokeswoman for the district said that final numbers on class sizes and numbers of layoffs would be released during its Wednesday, April 6, budget meeting.
She said with more certainty that the number of staff being laid off may no longer fall necessarily on teachers, but may instead include a mix of full- and part-time positions, thanks to the newfound savings.
“We thank each and every teacher and administrator in the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District for their selflessness in these tough economic times,” said Board of Education President Nina Lanci at the March 23 school board meeting.
$2 million in savings
Meanwhile, Arnold Goldstein, superintendent of North Bellmore Schools, told Bellmore Life that its district was in the second year of a four-year contract that would save it $2 million, and was finalized when it signed its new contract with the North Bellmore Teachers Association in 2009.
“The teachers association was very forthcoming during contract negotiations in 2009, and it was approved by a 97% vote,” the superintendent said.
Among key points hammered out in negotiations was a 12-20% increase in teacher contributions to their health plans over a four-year period; a first-year salary freeze in 2009 and subsequent salary freeze in 2010; a no-step increase in 2011, for a 2.5% savings; a step increase in mid-year in 2012; and a new salary scale for new hires.
Gloria Panella, President of the Bellmore Faculty Association, told Bellmore Life that the association has just negotiated a retirement incentive for teachers that will save the district – and taxpayers – a considerable amount of money, though she has no financial figures at present, or number of teachers who may take the incentive.
She added that the present contract, negotiated in 2009, has built-in givebacks in which faculty are paying increasingly more contributions for their own health insurance each year. “Faculty are now contributing 18% toward health benefits,” she said.
She concluded that the association will sit down with the district at any time to negotiate to help the district weather issues that impede education of the students in the future.
