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ROTTERDAM
Mohonasen faces staff cuts next year as spending is restricted by tax cap
BY MICHAEL GOOT Gazette Reporter
Reach Gazette reporter Michael Goot at 395-3105 or mgoot@dailygazette.net.

    The Mohonasen Central School District could be forced to cut 34 to 47 positions next year as it tries to comply with the state’s property tax increase cap, according to school offi cials.
    District Superintendent Kathleen Spring gave a preliminary overview of the 2012-2013 budget at Monday’s Board of Education meeting.
    “We’re going to have to make very, very difficult decisions again,” she said.
    “We will be talking about what non-mandated things — if any — can we keep in our program?”
    Elementary art, music and librarians could all be on the chopping block. She urged the community to lobby legislators.
    “I don’t mean to depress people. I’m hoping that we can get people upset enough to speak out,” she said.
    The district was forced to cut 34 positions earlier this year — 19 teachers, four teaching assistants, nine support staff and 2 1 /2 administrative positions. The teachers agreed to freeze their salaries through Feb. 1 of next year and give back two professional development days for a savings of $457,000. The support staff and administrators also made concessions to save another $70,000.
    Maintaining the existing programs would result in a budget of $46.2 million, which would be an increase of $3.3 million from the current budget.
    Spring said the district will likely whittle that down once it gets more specific numbers for health insurance costs.
    Mohonasen is hurt because it is a less wealthy district and is more heavily dependent upon state aid, which has been flat or declining for the last few years, according to Spring. The funding formula doesn’t equitably distribute aid to school districts, she said, and lowwealth districts are being penalized more.
    The district’s “wealth index ratio,” which is a measure of the property wealth, is 0.64. A fi gure of 1.0 means an average amount of wealth.
    Also, federal aid is ending, Spring said.
    The district received $800,000 last year from the federal teacher jobs bill for the current budget year.
    Assistant Superintendent for Business Denise Swezey went through the tax cap formula step by step. The formula takes the current-year tax levy, adds a growth factor if there is any growth in the community and adds any payments in lieu of taxes received during the year. The district is then allowed to subtract any taxes to pay capital improvements, court orders or judgments.
    The district is able to exclude pension contribution costs that increase more than 2 percentage points. For example, if the contribution rate for the Employee Retirement System is increasing from 16.3 percent to 18.9 percent — a jump of 2.6 percentage points — the district can exclude 0.6 percentage points from counting toward the cap but the other 2.0 percent does count.
    Swezey said based on the rough numbers, the portion exempt from the cap would be $28,013 and the net increase is $96,627.
    However, the current figures shows that the Teachers Retirement System contribution is going up from 11.11 percent to 12.5 percent. Since this is below 2 percentage points, the district has to absorb the entire $334,507 cost.
    Swezey said this does not help.
    District officials submitted some hypothetical scenarios. If the tax levy limit were 4.24 percent, the district would have to cut nearly $2.4 million in spending and if the limit were 3.35 percent, it would have to cut $2.6 million. The worst-case scenario would be if the district were forced to adopt a contingency budget with no tax levy tax increase and it had to cut $3.3 million. .............................>>>>...................>>>>.....................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r01400&AppName=1

And our Town....new REGIME  ...plus TB members don't think it possible that the budget that was passed is going to make the

Town any richer??  FDG will be sorely missed....he was on the right track.....

And education is important and now it is in jeopardy....Schalmont will be next.....

altho it's not a popular thought......consolidation may be the answer for our children to get their education....

2 Superintendents, and more than enough in Administration....have to downsize something...

The problem with the school system is the high salaries, pensions, and benefits which keep going up every year by contractual agreements and the taxpayer whose income isn't going up at all so the deficit between them increases every year. In the near future something will have to be done to correct this problem or there will be no school system that anyone can afford.

The time has come to merge ALL 6 school districts in the county into 1 school district - at the very least.

It's time New Yorkers vote in a Scott Walker style governor and break up the public union monopoly and stranglehold they have on the taxpayers.  Merging school districts will just make sure a larger number of people have an equally poor education.  

But I guess it would sound like a great idea if I wasn't a parent and didn't have children.  It's easy to make those claims when you don't have to put YOUR children throught the already shitty public school system.

Quoted from DemocraticVoiceOfReason

The time has come to merge ALL 6 school districts in the county into 1 school district - at the very least.

2009 article published in boston.com (http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2009/03/08/together_we_wont/?page=full)

".........But a wave of research from around the country shows that consolidation does not improve schools or lead to better academic results. Spending on education does not go down; indeed, budgets often balloon with increased transportation costs and more administrators to run enlarged districts. Consolidation leads to schools closing and to bigger schools, with less parental involvement and community participation. And, in many parts of the United States, it has led to children on unconscionable bus rides lasting several hours a day.

"There is either no advantage or actually a disadvantage to making these enormous uber-districts," says Andrew J. Coulson, director of the Center for Educational Freedom at the Cato Institute in Washington, D.C., who has conducted two major studies on consolidation. "They just don't help kids." "

Many states have 1 school district per county --- not 600+ like New York -- and there is no evidence that having a larger school district negatively impacts educational outcomes.

Bottomline -- consolidation means that LESS money will be spent on administrative salaries and overhead -- thus freeing up money to   a) be spent on the ACTUAL INSTRUCTION of students or  b) given back to the tax payers in the form of tax cuts.


BTW --  I whole-heartedly support funding education in the state of New York through the State Income Tax and other state revenues.    Vouchers would be given to the parent(s)/guardian(s) of school aged children  (one set amount for elementary students, one set amount for middle school students and one set amount for high school students)   ---------- the parent(s)/guardian(s) would then have the freedom to choose the IN STATE school --   public or private or parochial school-- that their child would attend.  Charter schools could remain but would be considered private schools and would get no special treatment.

The state already picks up 40% to 55% of the cost of public education through "state aid" and other programs --- and these funds are so politically distributed that it is a crock and a shame.  

My proposal would ensure that every student would have the same $ amount voucher whether they were a child from affluent Westchester County or from impoverished  Harlem or Schoharie.

Quoted from joebxr

2009 article published in boston.com (http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2009/03/08/together_we_wont/?page=full)

".........But a wave of research from around the country shows that consolidation does not improve schools or lead to better academic results. Spending on education does not go down; indeed, budgets often balloon with increased transportation costs and more administrators to run enlarged districts. Consolidation leads to schools closing and to bigger schools, with less parental involvement and community participation. And, in many parts of the United States, it has led to children on unconscionable bus rides lasting several hours a day.

"There is either no advantage or actually a disadvantage to making these enormous uber-districts," says Andrew J. Coulson, director of the Center for Educational Freedom at the Cato Institute in Washington, D.C., who has conducted two major studies on consolidation. "They just don't help kids." "

The quote contradicts itself  -- in one place  it says it "doesn't help kids" in another place it says "there is neither no advantage or disadvantages".    

By the way -- the CATO Institute is hardly a non-partisan or non-ideologically biased study group --  therefore I stand by my previous statements --  THERE IS NO EVIDENCE that having one school district for a county rather than a half dozen or more has diminished educational outcomes.  

I know that my niece graduated from a public school system in a western state --- one district for the entire county -- but the county school district still maintained more than one high school, more than one middle school and several elementary schools ----- she never had to travel more than 3 or 4 miles one way to attend school during the 13 years she was in the school system  --- and both she and the school system were high performing.

There are a number of other great ideas that western states use that we should incorporate in New York State and in our local government.

Consolidation worked so well when Mont Pleasant and Linton combined into the Schenectady School District. First education standards went down, taxes went up, administration costs went up, and gang problems and bullying are rampant.

TO MR. RONNIE:     Of course you are more knowledgable than everyone else. I won't waste time providing more "facts" becuase you cannot understand them.  You are soooooo smart and successful that we absolutely MUST take your words as GOSPEL...screw the false experts that do these studies for a living and are called on for consultation and guidance...they obviously don't have the brain power of the might DVOR. We are humbled and honored that you grace us with your wisdom.

Quoted from Shadow

Consolidation worked so well when Mont Pleasant and Linton combined into the Schenectady School District. First education standards went down, taxes went up, administration costs went up, and gang problems and bullying are rampant.

Mt. Pleasant is just one sure proof example that consolidation does NOT work. My friends who live in Arizona, my nephew that lives in ny city, and others who are living the 'consolidation phase' in other states through out the country, are of the same mind though, and that it does not work. Their taxes have all but tripled, the quality of education has declined and it produced a larger union base.

In all of the studies that were done in these school districts, it show that it does not save the taxpayers any money. The quality of education declined. Most of these areas were all eager to try the consolidation based on promises of a proficient and cheaper education.

From what I hear through the school's grapevines............consolidation is not even a thought. The Unions do not want consolidation either. So it really isn't even an option or even remotely being discussed among the educators at all levels.

Quoted from Shadow

Consolidation worked so well when Mont Pleasant and Linton combined into the Schenectady School District. First education standards went down, taxes went up, administration costs went up, and gang problems and bullying are rampant.

Your example doesn't prove your argument ----
Mont Pleasant High School and Linton High School were BOTH a part of the Schenectady School District BEFORE the two schools merged.

I would also argue that gangs were a problem long before the two high schools merged --- gangs were around in the late 1960's and 1970's when my siblings and I were in the school system.  

Taxes went up for a variety of reasons --- mainly because tax base has not kept up with inflation while costs have increased ....  and it would have been MORE expensive to keep  2 High Schools open -- so taxes would have been higher still. Also -- administrative costs would have been HIGHER if you had kept 2 high schools open.

Education standards at the state level have been going down for decades -- that has nothing to do with mergers of schools within a district or consolidation of districts.

The Schenectady School District barely has a 50% graduation rate which neither Mont Pleasant or Linton had before the merger.The taxes have doubled, and the gang problems before the merger were minor and now they are a major problem along with the drugs that go with them. There are many people who are on this board who went to either Mont Pleasant or Linton and will tell you that both were good schools that provided a quality education.

Quoted from Shadow

The Schenectady School District barely has a 50% graduation rate which neither Mont Pleasant or Linton had before the merger.The taxes have doubled, and the gang problems before the merger were minor and now they are a major problem along with the drugs that go with them. There are many people who are on this board who went to either Mont Pleasant or Linton and will tell you that both were good schools that provided a quality education.

I attended Mont Pleasant for 2 years and graduated from it -- I know that Mont Pleasant had gangs, drugs, guns, drop out problems and a whole lot of other problems BEFORE it merged with Linton  --- Linton had the same problems at the time.

The FACT is that the Schenectady School District existed as 1 district with 2 high schools and at least 2 middle schools for MANY years BEFORE it chose to  merge  the 2 high schools into 1 high school and  to merge some middle schools into 1 larger middle school at the old Mont Pleasant High school building.

So -- the merger of Linton and Mont Pleasant had ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with  CONSOLIDATING SCHOOL DISTRICTS.    

I am proposing consolidating the 6 school districts into 1  - countywide district  ..  the number of high schools, middle schools and elementary schools would not necessarily have to change   ---------------and - once again -- there is NO evidence that  having fewer larger school districts negatively impacts educational outcomes.

Quoted from Shadow

The Schenectady School District barely has a 50% graduation rate which neither Mont Pleasant or Linton had before the merger.The taxes have doubled, and the gang problems before the merger were minor and now they are a major problem along with the drugs that go with them. There are many people who are on this board who went to either Mont Pleasant or Linton and will tell you that both were good schools that provided a quality education.

You are absolutely correct! No one was happy with that merger since they were both doing very well independently. It was yet again a promise of better education that would be cheaper for the taxpayers. Well, they came up short on both!