Great Neck Public Schools officials said Monday the district is proposing to use $591,000 in restored Gap Elimination Adjustment funds for the restoration of school programs rather than to retain laid off teachers and school staff.
The district unveiled a $218.93 million budget last month that calls for cuts to 14 teaching positions and 21 other employees.
“While there have been efficiencies and there have been some reductions, I want it to be known that there will be no change to the instructional program for our students,” Superintendent of Schools Teresa Prendergast said. “However, yes, there were efficiencies that were done in terms of teaching staff, which is unfortunate that it had to occur, but I also want it known that occurred mostly due to declining enrollment and to the credit of the secondary level staff and administrators, who were able to be more efficient in the scheduling processes for the 2016-17 school year.”
State legislators eliminated the Gap Elimination Adjustment, an unpopular method the state introduced in 2010 to cover a budget deficit at the expense of public schools, in approving a $155 billion budget on Friday. The elimination of the Gap Elimination Adjustment provided Long Island schools with an $155 million in additional funding.
While Great Neck schools did receive almost $591,000 in restored GEA funds, Prendergast said, about $360,000 of it is a one-time payment.
“Many of the items that I am going to identify with opportunities for restoration in our program are recurring expenses,” she said. “And it is not a good idea to support recurring expenses with one-time moneys because that money will not be available the following school year.”
Prendergast said she was proposing the board use the funds to restore the early morning drop-off program for elementary school students, hours for elementary English Language Arts and Math support programs, a percentage of the Student Index Allocation, which allows school building principals to use supply, material and equipment money “in ways they see fit,” and to continue the district’s technology initiatives.
She also said she was proposing the board use the $360,000 one-time payment to reduce the amount of money currently used from the district’s reserve fund to balance the budget.
Board Vice President Larry Gross said at the March 14 board meeting after hiring 24 new full-time positions last year the district would need to reduce the number of teachers by 14 in the 2016-17 school year.
District Assistant Superintendent for Business John Powell said 21 non-teaching positions would also need to be eliminated to keep the budget under the state-mandated tax cap that this allows the district to increase the tax levy by .17 percent.
These employees include one full-time administrative staff member, nine paraprofessionals, three full-time and three part-time clerical staff members, one buildings and grounds department supervisor and four cleaning attendants.
Powell said the district was looking at ways to rehire employees who get laid off.
“Through retirements, we are going to be able to consider many of those people for other positions if they qualify for them,” he said. “We’re trying to reduce as much through efficiency and attrition but where possible we will re-employ some of these people in existing openings that were not slated to be reduced.”
Matthew Moshen and Andrew Laufer, two parents with children attending Great Neck schools, asked the board if they would consider allowing the public to vote to pierce the tax cap to combat the need to cut teachers and prevent budget deficits.
Board President Barbara Berkowitz said while parents of students who are taxpayers in the district may be willing to pay more in school taxes taxpayers without students in any of the district’s schools may object to increased taxes.
“While we would like to be able to afford everything that we can, we also don’t want to see a community that turns against a school district or a budget,” Berkowitz said. “It’s always a major concern of all of us that we need to, unfortunately or fortunately, represent the entire community’s needs and desires.”
She added that the school district has received a lot of support over the years from the Great Neck community because they have never pierced the tax cap.
The preliminary budget for 2016-17 school year calls for a $2,229,611, or 1.03 percent, increase to the current year’s budget.
Azim Keshwani, Great Neck South High School’s student body vice president, said he did not feel the district was considering the concerns of students during the budget process.
“Students feel like they are not being represented,” Keshwani said. “They don’t feel like they have a voice in our political process here.”
Among students’ main concerns, he said, were the teacher cuts and air conditioning in the district’s buildings.
On March 19, the board presented how it intended to spend $19 million of a capital reserve fund established last year after residents voted to approve a 10-year capital plan for infrastructure improvements to the district’s school buildings.
If air conditioners were installed in every school within the district in addition to roofing repairs, Powell said, it would add an estimated $12.1 million in costs — something he said he did not think was practical.
An official budget hearing and adoption is scheduled for April 19 at 7:30 p.m. at South High School.
For registered voters living north of the LIRR, the final budget vote is set for Tuesday, May 17, from 7 a.m.-10 p.m. at E.M Baker School, while registered voters living south of the LIRR are required to go to South High School’s west gym to vote.
