District Looks at Fixed Costs in 2012-13 Budget

Staffing cuts at the elementary schools, PEP program and high school remain an open question as the prepares to adopt the 2012-13 budget. In addition, a reduction in clubs and sports is still a possibility.  

Meanwhile, the board is currently proposing a $133,573,806 budget ­– a 2.07 percent increase, falling within the tax levy capital limit of 2.13 percent.

At Tuesday’s school board meeting, Superintendent Dr. Geoffrey Gordon said the district was trying to “keep programming” while reducing payroll in the “least painful way.”

That goal will be met in part through attrition, with the district being able to save $443,000 through early notice incentives.

Mary Callahan, the district’s assistant superintendant for business, presented the district’s fixed costs for human resources, including pension, health insurance and social security. The full presentation is posted on the district's web site. 

According to the district, while the central office makes up .7 percent of the budget, building administration comprises 4 percent, and teachers and nurses are 50 percent. Fixed costs for custodial staff makes up 5 percent of the budget, while clerical consumes 4.5 percent, and paraprofessionals another 6.4 percent.

Gordon said there were “fair proposals” before the Port Washington Teachers Association that would defer step (an incremental increase in salary based on previous qualifying professional experience) or lane (for those earning advance degrees or graduate credits) that if applied, would enable teachers “to keep their jobs” and preserve the district's reserve fund.

Gordon referred to a two-year teacher contract recently announced in Manhasset, where the union agreed to a “delayed step increase in both years, a zero percent increase in 2012-2013, and a 1 percent raise in 2013-2014,” as reported in Newsday.

But Arthur Cooke, the vice president of the Port Washington Teachers Association, said such proposals “have not been made to us.”

And while proposals are not usually discussed publicly, Gordon may have been responding to PWTA President at the last board meeting, in which she said, “Our door is open.” Vasilev's full statement is posted on the PWTA website. 

The board meets next on April 17.