The Herricks School Board approved a $99 million budget for the 2011-2012 school year Thursday March 24, which calls for a 2.55 percent increase over the current $96.5 million budget.
The budget includes a revised contract for three district employee units, but not district teachers and teacher assistants.
“We have no discussions going on. I still have hope, but there are no meetings scheduled,” said Herricks Superintendent of Schools John Bierwirth. Bierwirth said the school board is at a “stalemate” with the teachers.
Craig Lagnese, president of the Herricks Teachers’ Association, said he was pleased that the HTA, which represents all five employee bargaining units, reached an agreement with three units – aides and monitors, secretaries and custodians – and didn’t rule out the possibility of the board and teachers and teaching assistants reaching an agreement.
“We feel that if the board came back with something to consider we would look at it,” Lagnese said.
Both sides made proposals on March 17, and the proposals were “far apart and the board found the teachers’ proposal – unacceptable just as the board found the proposal to save $1 million – but at a cost of $4 milllion unacceptable,” Bierwirth said.
At its meeting, the school board extended the contracts of teachers aides and school monitors; secretaries, nurses and clerical staff, and custodians for three years at 2.06 percent per year through 2015.
Helen Costigan, the district’s assistant superintendent of business, said concessions from the groups, including a six-month delay of a 1.6 percent salary increase in each of the three years, would enable the district to realize $234,000 in savings.
Retirement incentives adding $500 for each year of service for members of the secretaries and custodial units, and $250 for members of the aides and monitors units, are also part of the revised package negotiated with the Herricks Teachers Association.
School officials estimated that the tax levy would be 3.95 percent. Bierwirth said the district lowered its estimate to 3.78 percent following the restoration of $141,000 in state aid to the district following the approval of the state budget earlier this week. The new state budget will see a reduction of $1.2 million in state aid to the district.
The budget also calls for the elimination of 62 positions districtwide among all the employee groups with teachers making up 35 of the positions.
“This is a very sad day, especially for the board of education,” said Herricks School Board president Christine Turner in introducing the proposed budget. “So no matter what we decide at the end of this evening, we’re looking at cuts.”
The school board based its budget on a 2 percent base increase it had instructed Bierwirth to draft. It restored approximately $1 million in cuts to that 2 percent formula, including a music teaching position and a Gemini teaching position among 5.4 teaching positions, four computer tech positions, $175,000 for athletics (originally reduced by $250,000) and $90,000 for clubs.
Debbie Imperatore, president of the Denton Avenue PTA, said she personally objected to the idea of a three-year extension to the other three bargaining units as a short-sighted solution to an issue needing a longer view.
“We don’t have a crystal ball. It seems to me that this is not a good year. This is a band aid,” Imperatore said. “You as a board have to get – excuse me for saying this – ‘cojones’.”
“I don’t understand why these days, things being what they are, that we would strike a three-year deal,” said Jim Gounaris, a prospective candidate for the school board. “We all wanted zeros. We get that. But where are you going with this?”
Residents concerned by the possibility that teachers would be offered a deal similar teachers aides, school monitors, secretaries, nurses, clerical staff and custodians.
Board members said they did not plan to offer the teachers the same consideration, but were still hopeful of making a deal with teachers.
“The door remains open,” said Board member Peter Grisafi.
The school board previously rejected a proposal from the Herricks Teachers Association at its March 10 meeting would have saved the school district approximately $1 million by both sides’ calculations.
The proposed deal included $750,000 in HTA givebacks and an estimated $350,000 in savings from retirement incentives. The primary source of savings the HTA proposed was a reduction in the 2.75 percent salary increase during then 2011-12 school year to 1.5 percent.
Turner said the proposal was contingent on the board guaranteeing all HTA jobs and extending the existing teachers’ contract by one year beyond 2013-14 with a 2.25 percent increase in addition to “step” increases mandated by state law.
She said the $1 million in savings would be offset by $4 million in additional contract costs. The board unanimously rejected the offer.
“The proposal we received this week is not just a case of ‘too little, too late’. It is late – far too late,” Turner said at the time.
Lagnese subsequently criticized the board for negotiating in public by revealing the HTA proposal.
“We’re going to have to cut back on the programs,” Bierwirth said at the most recent budget hearing.
The open secondary math chair will be left unfilled, according to Bierwirth, who said he was aware of one other possible retirement. If 10 teachers accepted the retirement incentive, Bierwirth said there would be a “rough ballpark” net savings of $315,000.
“It’s not a huge savings, but it’s significant,” he said.
The school district is projected to save $53,000 next year from a voluntary modification of the Herricks Association of Administrative Supervisors contract, with that figure to be slightly higher in the succeeding two years, Bierwirth has said.
In response to one residents’ question about a prospective fee of $40 or $50 for each student going out for an athletics team, Bierwirth said the school board would likely have fees collected through the Herricks Athletic Boosters.
“We’re working on the legality of it,” he said.
